Montana’s Forest Legacy Committee will meet Aug. 12, in Helena to examine three grant requests totaling $9.7 million.
Forest Legacy projects generally seek to increase available wildlife habitat, provide public access, maintain productive forests or protect the health of watersheds on private lands.
The seven-member Forest Legacy Committee, representing private landowners, federal and state agencies, reviews and recommends Forest Legacy grant proposals for funding. Projects that receive FWP and the U.S. Forest Service approval, go to the U.S. Congress for final approval.
Tuesday’s meeting is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Wingate Inn, 2007 N. Oakes. Here is a summary of projects submitted for the 2005 funding year:
* The Nature Conservancy, a national conservation organization, is seeking to acquire a 4,124-acre portion of the 88,000-acre Blackfoot-Clearwater watershed in western Montana owned by Plum Creek Timberlands at a cost of $3.3 million. The land is critical forested winter range for elk and mule deer, occupied habitat for grizzly bears and gray wolves and a valued public hunting area. The proposal is part of a larger Blackfoot watershed project involving The Nature Conservancy and The Blackfoot Challenge, a local watershed group.
* The Grizzly Ranch near Yaak in northwestern Montana is seeking a conservation easement on 315 acres. The proposed Forest Legacy grant of $475,000 would be used to purchase an easement on 244 acres. The landowner will donate 25 percent of the cost and donate a full easement on 71 unforested acres. FWP would manage the easement.
* In association with northwestern Montana’s Swan River Valley Forestland Conservation Initiative, multiple parties, including private landowners and the Flathead National Forest, seek to purchase a $6 million conservation easement from Plum Creek Timberlands. The project is part of a broader conservation plan in the Swan Valley and encompasses Phase II of the conservation initiative.
Through the Forest Legacy Program, the USFS provides 75 percent of the cost of purchasing conservation easements or fee title sales of private land. The remaining 25 percent is from non-federal sources, including private landowners.
FWP is responsible for administering the program, informing private landowners of the grant process, identifying needs, and assisting in the development of successful projects. FWP is also responsible, with other state agencies, for the monitoring and management of completed Forest Legacy projects.
The public is welcome to attend the meeting. Public comments will be heard following the scheduled presentations.
For more information on the National Forest Legacy Program, go to the FWP web site at www.fwp.state.mt.us and click on Inside FWP and then on the FWP Library.
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