Group To Discuss Montana Conservation And Restoration Needs

Friday, April 11, 2008
Headlines

This article was Archived on Sunday, May 11, 2008

The first meeting of the Montana Conservation and Restoration Partnership steering committee, a group formed to advise agencies and organizations on how to best carry out new conservation programs, will meet in Helena on April 22 at the Red Lion Colonial Inn.

The new partnership grew from a need identified during a workshop sponsored last year by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Montana land trust community. More than 140 people representing industry, county governments, conservation groups, agriculture, and state and federal agencies attended the workshop and urged FWP to develop a coordinated approach for habitat conservation and restoration in Montana.

"In response to that recommendation, FWP worked with the Montana Association of Land Trusts and The Nature Conservancy to establish the Montana Conservation and Restoration Partnership," said Paul Sihler, chief of FWP’s Field Services Division.

The steering committee’s primary focus will be to work toward funding, carrying out, and explaining Montana’s recently completed fish and wildlife action plan. Sihler said the state’s action plan, which was approved by Congress last year, seeks to keep common species common and other species off the endangered species list by conserving important fish and wildlife habitat while it is still affordable. Steering committee members are:

Mark Aageness           Trout Unlimited                                            M issoula

Lane Adamson           M adison Valley Ranchlands                          Ennis

Jennifer Boyer              Watershed Council                                        Bozeman

Jay Bodner                Montana Stock Growers Assoc.               Helena

Rich Day                    Montana Wildlife Federation                       Butte

Dave Galt                   Montana Petroleum Assoc.                          Helena

Steve Headstrom         Montana Assoc. of Conservation DistrictsRaynesford

Lyle Hodgkiss               Landowner and Banker                          Choteau

Pete Husby                 Natural Resources Conservation Service   Bozeman

Deb Love                    Trust for Public Land                                    Bozeman

Glenn Marx                 Montana Assoc. of Land Trusts                Whitehall

Eleanor Morris           The Nature Conservancy                              Missoula

Jeff Mosely                 MSU Extension                                             Bozeman

Roger Muggli              Landowner                                                     Miles City

Monica Pokorny         DNRC–Governor’s Restoration Initiative     Helena

Linda Poole                 Ranchers Stewardship Alliance                    Dodson

Tom Ray                   Plum Creek Timber Company                     Columbia Falls

Tom Rice                  Beaverhead County Commission                 Dillon

Jim Rokosch               Ravalli County Commission                          Hamilton

Allan Rollo                  Teton Watershed Group                            Great Falls

Lynda Saul                  DEQ—Wetlands Program                           Helena

Paul Sihler                 FWP                                                               Helena

Gary Sullivan               U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service                  Great Falls

The April 22 meeting—set for 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Red Lion Colonial Inn, 2301 Colonial Dr.—is open to the public.   For information call Shelly Juvan at 406-444-2602.