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Montana Conservation Gets Big Boost
The new $32.2 billion dollar Interior Appropriations Act includes millions of dollars to federal agencies for the purchase of conservation easements. The allocations, part of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, target several of the areas of the Conservancy’s conservation efforts. $3.75 million to the US Fish and Wildlife Service for conservation easements on the Rocky Mountain Front. The Conservancy is a long-time partner with USFWS. For example, this summer, we worked with the agency and The Conservation Fund to secure a 12,130 acre easement on the Crawford Ranch outside of Choteau. The ranch contains vital habitat for grizzly bears and completes an important strip of protection that includes our Pine Butte Swamp Preserve and another 20,000 acres of easements on neighboring ranches. “We are really scrambling to address the demand for easements right now.” says Senior Program Director Dave Carr. Right now, the Conservancy has been approached about easements on approximately 120,000 acres on the Front. Another $2.9 million was awarded by the U.S. Forest Service through its Forest Legacy program for easements on the Blackfoot $1 million will be available for purchase of land adjacent to Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley.
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