Media Contacts
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Paige Cohn
The Nature Conservancy
Email: paige.cohn@tnc.org -
Charlie Booher
Montana Association of Land Trusts
Email: charlie@watershedresults.com
Conservation easements make Montana a better place to work, live, and play. Between 2022 and 2026, easements created a total economic impact exceeding $284 million, according to a new report from the Montana Association of Land Trusts.
The Working for Montana report, developed by the Montana Association of Land Trusts and Heart of the Rockies Initiative, offers new economic data explaining how Montana producers leveraged federal agricultural easement programs to improve their farming or ranching operations. The report also highlights specific examples of landowners utilizing land trusts for their communities, national security, and Montana’s major industries, including farming, ranching, mining, logging, and outdoor recreation.
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“In nearly every corner of our state – from Baker and Plentywood to Troy and Lima – landowners, businesses, community leaders, and public institutions have used conservation easements to achieve goals that are important to their families, businesses, and communities. As you'll read in the latest Working for Montana report, this tool has been put to work for ranchers, farmers, miners, loggers, hunters, outfitters, the Montana National Guard, and a wide range of local communities,” said Paul Travis, Past President of the Board of the Montana Association of Land Trusts and Executive Director of the Flathead Land Trust.
Over the last 50 years, 3,500 Montana families have partnered with land trusts to conserve their private lands in perpetuity through a conservation easement. The report shows:
- 96% of conservation easement funds were invested back into landowner businesses.
- Every federal dollar from NRCS and US Fish and Wildlife Service programs leveraged $1.97 of economic activity in Montana.
- Agricultural landowners used compensation from conservation easements to invest in operational improvements, increase acreage, pay down business debt, and support the succession of their farm or ranch.
“The Working for Montana report highlights how Montana landowners and businesses utilize perpetual conservation easements to support Montana’s diverse economy, safeguard land-based industries for the future, and maintain Montana’s character and exceptional way of life,” continued Travis.
This report builds on a 2022 report titled “Working for Montana Agriculture,” which was produced in partnership with the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Montana Association of Land Trusts. The full report is available online at report.montanalandtrusts.org.
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The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more resilient. The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 86 countries and territories (41 by direct conservation impact and 45 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. For more news, visit our newsroom or follow The Nature Conservancy on LinkedIn.