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The Rocky Mountain Front
Conservation Easements Supporting Protection of Rich Wildlife Habitat
The Rocky Mountain Front is a convergence of mountains and plains that stretches in a 50-mile swath over 300 linear miles of Montana and Alberta. The Rocky Mountain Front and its surrounding Crown of the Continent Ecosystem have some of the greatest biological diversity in the lower forty-eight states.
Two hundred years ago, Lewis and Clark encountered vast assemblages of wildlife. While the wild buffalo is gone, almost all other plants and animals the explorers encountered have survived here. Home to grizzlies, black bear, wolves, cougars, lynx, wolverine, elk, deer and moose, the Front is recognized by wildlife managers as ranking within the top one percent of habitat in the nation.
Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex in the U.S. and Banff and Waterton Lakes national parks in Canada, serve as the protected spine of the Front’s highest peaks. But a critical zone, where the mountains give way to the prairies, is mostly private – held in century-old ranching lands.
Private ranching operations have shared the Front’s natural wealth with herds of elk and wandering grizzly bears. Tribal lands along the Front harbor not only the mirrored images of mountains in the still surface of a prairie pothole, but also plants and animals the Blackfeet Tribe hold sacred. Cooperative conservation partnerships among local landowners, Native Americans and government agencies are key to the success of this project.
The Nature Conservancy’s strategy along the Rocky Mountain Front is to secure habitats used most heavily by grizzly bears. An ever-widening network of partners – including local landowners, government agencies and Native Americans – are working together to protect this magnificent habitat. This cooperative approach allows us to maximize our conservation dollars and builds conservation capacity among communities over the long-haul.
The Rocky Mountain Front advisory committee has also been established to guide our conservation-project decisions, and explore mutually beneficial conservation and economic development ideas with local ranchers and community leaders.
The Conservancy has protected about 50,000 acres of private lands through conservation easements or protected ownership. However, escalating land prices are adding pressure to complete conservation projects before land becomes unaffordable. Luckily, landowners on the Front will have an expanded opportunity to use conservation easements to protect their lands.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife has expanded its conservation easement program on the Front. The Service, working with the Conservancy, will acquire conservation easements from private landowners on as many as 170,000 acres of important fish and wildlife habitat. Congress also recently approved $1 million to fund the purchase of such easements from willing landowners.
For More Information:
- Where We Work: The Nature Conservancy in Montana
The Nature Conservancy has worked with Montana landowners and communities since 1979 to conserve almost 500,000 acres of important ranchland and wildlife habitat. - Places We Protect: The Rocky Mountain Front
The Rocky Mountain Front and its surrounding Crown of the Continent Ecosystem have some of the greatest biological diversity in the lower forty-eight states. - Online Field Guide: The Rocky Mountain Front
The Rocky Mountain Front, running from Alberta south through Montana, marks the easternmost edge of a functioning wilderness. - Experience Nature: Hiking the Rocky Mountain Front
The vibrant September colors that paint the dramatic Rocky Mountain Front landscape each fall provide a spectacular backdrop for hiking. - Press Release: Two Rocky Mountain Front properties covered by conservation easement
Two landowners along the Rocky Mountain Front have signed voluntary conservation agreements with The Nature Conservancy that protect prime grizzly habitat from future subdivision. - How We Work: Nature Conservancy Partnerships
The Nature Conservancy pursues non-confrontational, pragmatic, market-based solutions to conservation challenges. This makes it essential for us to work collaboratively with partners – communities, businesses, government agencies, multilateral institutions, individuals and other non-profit organizations.
