Title
The Clearwater-Blackfoot Project: Large Landscape Conservation through Public-Private Partnerships
Abstract
Across the West, corporate timber companies continue to divest lands as their real estate values increase. This transition presents a great opportunity for conservation. In 2004, working with partners through the Blackfoot Challenge, The Nature Conservancy purchased roughly 89,000 acres from Plum Creek Timber Company in the upper Blackfoot watershed. In 2008, The Conservancy purchased another 310,586 acres throughout the Southern Crown of the Continent in what is known as the Montana Legacy Project. The Clearwater-Blackfoot Project builds on this earlier work with communities, organizations, and government agencies to conserve northwest Montana’s natural and cultural heritage. In January, The Nature Conservancy purchased 117,152 acres of Plum Creek lands in the lower Blackfoot River Valley, constituting all of the company’s remaining holdings in the watershed. Clearwater-Blackfoot Project lands provide critical habitat for threatened Canada lynx and grizzly bears and are regularly traversed by wolverines. The streams provide habitat for Westslope cutthroat and bull trout while the forests, meadows and wetlands support a diversity of birds and other wildlife species.
Generations of people have worked and played in these mountains and high valleys. While decades of timber harvest have left the forest in need of rest and restoration, this area can continue to contribute to future resource economies. Ultimately, these lands will be conveyed into a mix of federal, state and private ownership following a community-based process with the Blackfoot Challenge to identify the best possible permanent outcomes for these lands for both conservation and the rural way of life.
Start Date
24-4-2015 12:00 PM
End Date
24-4-2015 2:00 PM
Document Type
Poster
The Clearwater-Blackfoot Project: Large Landscape Conservation through Public-Private Partnerships
Across the West, corporate timber companies continue to divest lands as their real estate values increase. This transition presents a great opportunity for conservation. In 2004, working with partners through the Blackfoot Challenge, The Nature Conservancy purchased roughly 89,000 acres from Plum Creek Timber Company in the upper Blackfoot watershed. In 2008, The Conservancy purchased another 310,586 acres throughout the Southern Crown of the Continent in what is known as the Montana Legacy Project. The Clearwater-Blackfoot Project builds on this earlier work with communities, organizations, and government agencies to conserve northwest Montana’s natural and cultural heritage. In January, The Nature Conservancy purchased 117,152 acres of Plum Creek lands in the lower Blackfoot River Valley, constituting all of the company’s remaining holdings in the watershed. Clearwater-Blackfoot Project lands provide critical habitat for threatened Canada lynx and grizzly bears and are regularly traversed by wolverines. The streams provide habitat for Westslope cutthroat and bull trout while the forests, meadows and wetlands support a diversity of birds and other wildlife species.
Generations of people have worked and played in these mountains and high valleys. While decades of timber harvest have left the forest in need of rest and restoration, this area can continue to contribute to future resource economies. Ultimately, these lands will be conveyed into a mix of federal, state and private ownership following a community-based process with the Blackfoot Challenge to identify the best possible permanent outcomes for these lands for both conservation and the rural way of life.