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| MAPS Download maps for the following portions of the MLP: Lolo
The Montana Legacy Project protects most of the critical habitat left in the Rockies for threatened Canada lynx. Join a search for lynx.
More than 70% of all the water howellia in the world grows within the Swan Valley. |
The Montana Legacy Project is conservation at a scale that can make the difference between survival and extinction for some species.
The Nature Conservancy in Montana, along with our partner, The Trust for Public Land, has purchased more 310,000 acres of private forest land from the Plum Creek timber company.
The MLP is within the heart of the Crown of the Continent – the 18 million acre mosaic of wild habitat encompassing Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and surrounding lands. The Crown is one of barely a dozen places left on Earth that has not had a single post-industrial plant or animal extinction. This system harbors the largest population of grizzlies and it's a last toe hold for endangered Canada lynx in the lower 48 states.
Threats
Unchecked, piecemeal development is the single biggest threat to this extraordinary place. If these critical areas of habitat are broken up, and the connections between vital seasonal range are severed, the wealth and vitality of its wildlife, forests and water will be seriously damaged.
Climate change is already altering essential habitat in this region.
Vital Connections
These forests and valleys encompass the intersection of pathways connecting vital habit for wildlife throughout the Northern Rockies. As climate change alters the planet, the need to preserve habitat is even more urgent for the survival and resilience of some of the Rockies most emblematic animals.
Goals & Strategy
This is one of the most complex & innovative projects undertaken in conservation because:
- It is the product of an unusual collaboration of public & private interests -- representing the high level of financial, scientific & political expertise needed to negotiate such a large transaction.
- It recognizes the land's intrinsic, natural value & its role in the economic sustenance for rural communities.
Ultimately, the land will be conveyed to a combination of public & private conservation owners. In the meantime, the Conservancy will own, and be responsible for managing, the land. Already, approximately 112,000 acres have been transferred to the U.S. Forest Service. The State of Montana is in the process of purchasing at least another 26,000 and other sales are being considered.
Photos: Sunset over Seeley Lake © Angie Kimmell/Blue Yonder Photography; Canada lynx © D. Robert Franz; Howellia © Maria Mantas/TNC.
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