Huge conservation easement in the works for SPP lands

Nearly 200,000 acres of timberlands stretching from Glacier National Park to the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness and down to the Selkirks and Idaho Panhandle have become available for permanent conservation through pending “working forest” conservation easements.

The acreage has been made available for conservation through The Trust for Public Land, which is working in partnership with Southern Pine Plantations, the Georgia-based land investment company that purchased 630,000 acres in Northwest Montana from Weyerhaeuser in early 2020.

The acquisition prompted questions from residents in several Northwest Montana communities — Libby and Kalispell included — that rely on the lands as a means for economic support. Aside from the timberlands feeding local lumber mills, the area historically has been made available for public recreation through the block management program offered by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The acreage has been an outdoors Mecca for tourists and residents who have enjoyed hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and other recreational pursuits on the property for generations.

“The announcement of the sale of Weyerhaeuser’s Montana lands was a crushing blow to the citizens of Lincoln County and left us wondering what could become of these core recreational lands and our timber-based economy,” Lincoln County Commissioner Mark Peck said. “The willingness of Southern Pine Plantations to work with TPL (Trust for Public Land) is a win-win solution and a wonderful opportunity for the residents of Northwest Montana.”

According to a press release, soon after Weyerhaeuser sold its property to Southern Pine, the public, state of Montana and Montana’s elected officials launched a comprehensive campaign to see if some of the lands could be protected in perpetuity. Following the campaign, Southern Pine, doing business now as SPP Montana, agreed to work with The Trust for Public Land to place a conservation easement on nearly 200,000 acres “if funds are secured quickly,” although no specific timeline was provided.

“We recognize that a viable timber industry and outdoor recreational access are both important to the people of Montana. If a conservation easement can be secured on these lands, it will provide a long-term solution toward preserving both,” said Pat Patton, the manager for SPP Montana. “We look forward to working with the federal, state and nonprofit partners to reach this goal.”

The property available for conservation would stitch together 317,000 acres of conservation work completed over the last 20 years that protects important working timberland. The nearly 200,000 acres up for conservation consideration, all owned by Southern Pine, would essentially connect a network of easements that already exist in areas including the Thompson/Fisher area, Stimson Forestlands in Lincoln County, the Haskill Basin and Whitefish Watershed.

If a conservation easement is secured, it will be protected from future development while remaining in private hands so its timber can be actively managed for the long-term, thus securing wood-product jobs throughout Northwest Montana. The public will also be provided permanent access to the property for recreation and valuable wildlife habitats will be protected, as will several critical wildlife corridors.

The conservation easement would remain intact should the land be sold at a later date, meaning future private landowners must still adhere to easement guidelines. According to a FWP definition, a conservation easement is “a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that limits certain uses of the land in order to protect its specific conservation values.”

“The opportunity to protect this property completes the connectivity of previous conservation efforts and would ensure permanent public access to a highly used recreational corridor. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Dick Dolan, Northern Rockies Director for The Trust for Public Land, which creates parks and protects lands for people and future generations. “The framework is in place but we and our partners and donors need to act quickly to ensure we are successful.”

AS IT is currently envisioned, the 200,000 acres would be divided among two major projects spearheaded by two different entities.

For a project known as the Montana Great Outdoors Project, Montana FWP would hold conservation easements totaling 130,000 acres that would stretch through portions of Flathead, Lincoln and Sanders counties. This undertaking is still in its beginning stages, according to FWP Region 1 spokesman Dillon Tabish, but in the coming weeks the agency is expected to submit a proposal to the Forest Legacy Program. The program, which is administered by the U.S. Forest Service in partnership with other agencies to is primarily funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

“We are very grateful of Southern Pine. They’ve been great partners since the start of this,” Tabish said.

The remaining 70,000 acres of the 200,000 acres would go toward creating the recently proposed Lost Trail Conservation Area. This project is also in its infancy and is undergoing public scoping, but if ultimately approved, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would hold easements on the lands surrounding the existing wildlife refuge west of Kalispell.

Together, these easements would protect vital public recreation and natural resources while maintaining important traditional economic activity.

At this time, there is no estimate on how much the large easement will cost, as thorough appraisals still need to be performed.

But according to the press release, private philanthropy will be a “critical part of fundraising to protect this landscape.”

Chris Deming, senior project manager for The Trust for Public Land, said the “umbrella of funding” for the easement will likely be a combination of federal, state and private funding. The majority, he said, will hopefully come from federal funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Deming said Southern Pine, which he described as being a “wonderful partner” throughout this planning, is willing to sell the easements at less than fair-market value.