The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved a proposal to purchase a 52,930-acre conservation easement in the Cabinet Mountains.

The proposed purchase represents the second and final phase of the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement. State officials sealed the deal on the first phase of the project in February with the purchase of a 32,821-acre conservation easement near the Thompson chain of lakes from Green Diamond Resource Company. The Montana Land Board is expected to make a final vote on the second phase of the project before the year’s end. 

Under the terms of the conservation easement, Green Diamond would retain primary ownership of the forestlands, including the right to harvest timber products. The state would gain the right to manage certain aspects of the land for the benefit of wildlife and outdoor recreation. If the land is later sold, these terms carry on to the next owner, creating what Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks officials described as quasi-public lands. 

“Talk about manna from heaven,” said Ryan Chapin, the Montana field manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. 

Chapin was one of several representatives to speak in favor of the conservation easement at an Aug. 21 commission meeting, describing the project as perfect for preserving access to hunting opportunities. Members of the Libby Rod and Gun Club, Trout Unlimited, the Montana Wildlife Federation, the Trust for Public Land and the Montana Conservation Society heaped similar praise on the proposal. 

“It is really, really cool,” said Will Israel, executive director of Montana Outfitters and Guides. “This is the right way to do land management in Montana, and what it does, in reality, is address a big concern which is checkerboard lands.” 

According to a report from Headwaters Economics, 49,120 acres of undeveloped land in Flathead County was converted to housing between 2000 and 2021, and the project’s environmental assessment reports that landowners like Green Diamond have received upwards of 16 unsolicited offers per month to sell parcels of land in the Cabinet Mountains.   

While Green Diamond and its predecessors, Weyerhaeuser and Southern Pine Plantations, have historically allowed recreational use on the property, the terms of the perpetual conservation easement would ensure public access remains even if the land is sold. The easement also prohibits intensive development, including the conversion of the area to subdivision housing. 

Erik Schallen, the real assets director for Green Diamond, described the conservation of the forestlands as a potential boom to the rural economy in the area. Green Diamond will continue to pay taxes on the land, and Schallen suggested that the company also intends to continue timber production within the easement. 

“We still cut logs. We still grow trees, and we still do good forestry, and the taxes still flow in,” he said. 

According to the project’s environmental assessment, the proposed 53,000-acre addition to the easement produces about 3 million board feet of timber each year, contributing about $12 million to the local economy. 

The conservation easement was appraised for a purchase price of $57.5 million, but Green Diamond is contributing an in-kind donation of $20 million. About $35.8 million is expected to come from the United States Forest Legacy Program, and $1.7 million will be contributed from state funds.    

WRH Nevada Properties LLC provided the sole voice of dissent for the purchase. The company owns 825,000 acres of mineral holdings in western Montana, including the mineral rights for portions of the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].