Glacier Institute hopes to purchase 142 acres adjacent to Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area

The Glacier Institute is hoping to purchase a 142-acre property adjacent to the Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area in Columbia Heights that would serve as a new headquarters as well as a year-round nature center and educational facility.

During a tour on Thursday with area newspapers, Institute Director Anthony Nelson said it’s an ideal location for the nonprofit's mission and is already a de facto nature preserve, home to black and grizzly bears, a herd of elk, lynx, whitetail deer and a host of different bird species.

The property, currently owned by Twin Peaks LLC, has a spring creek, three ponds, a man made waterfall and an expansive grassland — most of which is largely hidden by the surrounding topography.

The property already has a home and shop, which would serve as the Institute’s offices. Nelson said the Institute would sell its property and offices on Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls and use those monies to help finance this purchase.

All told, he estimates the Institute needs to raise about $2.5 million of the $3.5 million asking price for the property.

“This is pristine Montana habitat,” Nelson said. “It’s awesome to think about education here.”

In 2021, during a strategic planning exercise, the Institute’s board of directors identified that a nature center somewhere between Columbia Falls and West Glacier would be extremely beneficial for the community and it became one of their goals to find a potential site.

“While we initially intended to pursue this more seriously in a few years,” Nelson said, “this opportunity fell into our lap and we will always regret it if we don’t try to make it happen.”

Time is of the essence, however. Nelson said they’ve been given about a month to bring the funding together.

If the funding comes together it would further create a contiguous nature preserve along the Flathead River from the Bad Rock Canyon south to the Heights. Nelson said outside of building a nature center in the future, the Institute would leave the property in its undeveloped state.

The privately held Wilkinson Trust lands — more than 150 acres — are immediately adjacent as well. Some of the Wilkinson lands were eyed for a housing development, but the family recently announced they were not for sale.

Combined with the Bad Rock WMA, the three properties would amount to about 1,000 acres of farmland and undeveloped wildlands.

The bulk of this property is currently a cow pasture that is below a bench. In the future, the Institute would hope to build a nature center, where folks could participate in day programs throughout the year. The property would have excellent cross country skiing and already has a host of trails and even a few rustic cabins, including a horse stable.

The land has been on and off the market for the past 15 years. Most recently, it was proposed as a potential site for apartments and housing developments. The sale fell through when the proposal on a nearby 22-acre parcel connected to the sale was declined, which is when the Glacier Institute reached out to the landowners.

“We are not an anti-development organization,” Nelson said. “But this particular piece of land holds an incredibly high ecological value to a wide host of species. The community has already expressed an interest in preserving this land, we’re hoping to do it in a way that everyone can benefit from.”

People interested in helping fund the project can donate by calling the Glacier Institute offices at (406)755-1211, or email naturecenter@glacierinstitute.org.

The Institute has been providing educational programs both in and out of Glacier National Park for decades. It has eight full time staff members and about 20 contract instructors.

It also runs the Big Creek Educational Center up the North Fork, which includes a host of summer youth camps. In addition, it has an educational camp in Glacier National Park along the Middle Fork of the Flathead.

To learn more, visit its website at www.glacierinstitute.org