Previously owned by Plum Creek Timber Co., the upper Blackfoot Valley land will now be resold - mostly to adjoining ranches, all with conservation agreements.
Wednesday's announcement covered the final 4,600 acres of a deal unveiled in February and achieved in three installments.
As developed by the Blackfoot Challenge, a group of valley landowners, the plan calls for consolidation of the conservancy-purchased parcels with adjoining ranches in the Helmville area.
All of the affected landowners have expressed an interest in conservation agreements that keep the land in ranching, said The Nature Conservancy's Tana Kappel.
In addition, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks manages the nearby Nevada Lake Wildlife Management Area and would consider holding and managing conservation easements on the lands. The agreements would include walk-in public hunting access.
"We feel we can achieve our objectives of providing winter habitat for elk and mule deer, and public access for hunting and other compatible recreation, with private ownership," said Mike Thompson, a wildlife biologist for FWP.
"Basically," he said, "a conservation easement would maintain the traditional ranching operations, which have supported wildlife and hunting for many years."
In all, the project would preserve as ranch and timber land large patches of property between Clearwater Junction and Lincoln, in the upper Blackfoot Valley.
"We want to keep these lands intact for ranching and allow ranchers to expand their operations, while still maintaining the important wildlife habitat," said Jim Stone, chair of the Blackfoot Challenge and an Ovando-area rancher.
The Blackfoot Challenge initiated its "Blackfoot Community Project" in the fall of 2002 as a proactive response to the anticipated sale of some Plum Creek timberlands in the Blackfoot Valley.
The Nature Conservancy, in turn, agreed to assume the financial risk of obtaining loans and purchasing the land - which would then be resold to conservation-minded buyers.
"The local community continues to support this project because it will preserve this area's rural character and unique wildlands for future generations," Stone said.
With the first series of purchases complete, The Nature Conservancy would like to eventually broker another phase of the project - and potentially bring 89,000 acres into the Blackfoot Challenge's fold, Kappel said.
But all future work depends on financing, she said, so it's too uncertain to discuss in any detail.
In the meantime, The Nature Conservancy has 42,927 acres of land to manage.
For starters, Kappel said, the conservancy will provide the same access for hunting, personal wood-cutting and recreation allowed under Plum Creek ownership.
The lands involved are in the following areas: Marcum Mountain, Monture West, Ovando Mountain, Tupper Lake, Alice Creek, Bear Creek, in-holdings in the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area, some lands north and south of Lincoln, and Nevada Creek.
Some of the areas are covered by block management rules, including Ovando Mountain, Sunny Slope, Marcum-Kershaw Mountains and Shanley Creek. All are posted with specific public use regulations.
In all cases, walk-in access for hunting, non-motorized recreation and personal-use firewood gathering of down and dead wood is allowed.
Reporter Sherry Devlin can be reached at 523-5268 or at sdevlin@missoulian.com.
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