Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), Region One, has completed an environmental assessment (EA) for a fee-title acquisition of 50 acres of the Hodges property located in Sanders County. This property is locally known as the “Bighorn Sheep Viewing Area” just east of Thompson Falls below Koo-Koo-Sint Ridge along Highway 200. FWP proposes to complete the acquisition at a cost of approximately $450,000, with major funding coming from the Montana’s Bighorn Sheep Auction Fund. This proposal represents an exciting collaborative bighorn sheep conservation project between Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Flathead Wildlife, Inc., Montana Chapter of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, the Five Valleys Chapter of Safari Club International, a private individual, and the Plains High School ninth grade science class. The Hodges project will conserve winter range and lambing habitat for the migratory Thompson Falls bighorn sheep herd in FWP Bighorn Hunting District 121. In addition to bighorn sheep, this property would be managed as a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) to conserve and enhance habitat for a diversity of wildlife species in the lower Clark Fork region east of Thompson Falls, Montana. FWP adopts the draft EA as the final EA and proposes to complete acquisition as described in the decision document, which is attached for your information.
