FWP officials clear proposed conservation easement

Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks are recommending the state agency secure a roughly 27,000 conservation easement on private land in Lincoln County.

Known as the Kootenai Forestlands Phase II, the easement would fall on timberland and wildlife habitat owned by Stimson Lumber Co. At points the unconnected tracts of land to the south and east of the county seat border the Kootenai River, Libby Creek and the 142,000-acre Thompson-Fisher Conservation Easement.

Planning for the proposal began earlier this year. FWP released a draft plan detailing the easement for public comment in late June and held a meeting for area residents in the Ponderosa Room of Libby City Hall in July. Stimson representatives attended the Libby event, throwing the company’s support behind the easement.

“We grow trees; that’s our business,” said Barry Dexter, Stimson’s director of inland resources, at the July meeting. “We also feel like we’ve got some of the best habitat in northwest Montana in private hands. It’s important to make that available to the public, but at the same time keeping it working forest.”

Following the closure of public comment on July 28, Jim Williams, Region One supervisor for FWP, endorsed the project.

“In reviewing all the public comment and other relevant information, and evaluating the environmental effects, I recommend that the Fish and Wildlife Commission approve the purchase of a conservation easement for Kootenai Forestlands Phase II,” Williams wrote in the Aug. 11 decision notice.

Many of the comments addressed in the document regard recreational access to the land. For example, unnamed writers asked whether they could use all terrain vehicles on the property or go camping overnight. Those decisions rest with Stimson, FWP officials said, as the property remains in the company’s hands.

“This is not a ‘public’ conservation easement ... It is a conservation easement that FWP holds with the land remaining in private ownership,” reads the document. “The main goal of this conservation easement is to prevent residential and commercial development of the property while allowing the property to continue to be managed as a working forest.”

To the point of preventing residential and commercial construction, one writer asked for Stimson to set aside 5 to 10 percent of the land for future sale and development. Officials with FWP noted that it was within Stimson’s ability to sell or develop the land, but the company appeared set on preserving it as working timberland. The land most feasible for future development falls in areas most in need of preserving, according to the document, including creek beds and winter ranges.

At the July meeting in Libby, Stimson officials noted the possibility of development, but told residents that commercial or residential growth was contrary to the company’s plans for the land.

“Selling it, making it private land, it becomes locked up and we’re not going to be able to use it again,” Dexter said.

In all, FWP officials received 71 public comments. Of those, 68 supported the easement. One comment was a question, FWP officials said.

The state agency first identified the area as a possible easement in 2019. Since then, the market price of the land has shot up. For funding, the state has turned to partners, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. That organization has pledged $470,000 for the effort while the Forest Legacy Program is adding $6 million to the pot. FWP Conservation Trust will pitch in $50,000.

Still, the land is valued at $16.3 million, according to a draft environmental assessment. Officials remain in the process of gathering extra streams of funding.

With the blessing of the Region One supervisor, the proposed easement should go before the Fish and Wildlife Commission on Oct. 28. An environmental impact statement is unnecessary for the proposal, according to the notice of decision.

“Through the public review process described above, the public raised some issues [and] concerns with the project, but all have been addressed in this decision document,” Williams wrote.