BLM purchases more than 7,000 acres in lower Blackfoot watershed

MISSOULA – On Nov. 21, the Bureau of Land Management's Missoula Field Office preserved public access by acquiring 7,268 acres of land in the Blackfoot River Corridor. Using Sportsman's Access funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the acquisition from The Nature Conservancy is helping stitch together what had been a patchwork of interspersed public and private land.

The Belmont Creek acquisition, located 25 miles northeast of Missoula, was part of 117,000 acres purchased by TNC from Plum Creek Timber Company in 2014. As was typical through Western Montana, much of this land had been part of a checkerboard pattern of public and private land that dates back to 1862. At that time, Congress gave the two main railway companies every other one-mile section of land within a 10-40-mile corridor along their railroads. The remaining sections remained in the hands of the government. Eventually, most of the railroad land ended up under the ownership of a series of private timber companies. That checkerboard of intermingled public and private land made its management difficult and costly.

The acquisition is the result of a collaborative effort by the BLM aimed at securing access in the Blackfoot River Corridor on former timberland. It is the first of several additions to public lands within the Lower Blackfoot River watershed which will take place over the coming months and years. 

The goal is to maintain working lands with continued grazing, as well as active forestry and fire-management projects that would reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires and improve the health of the forest. The area also offers high-quality hunting and fishing access and close-to-home recreation opportunities in the Blackfoot.

"The BLM, under Secretary Bernhardt's leadership, is working on multiple fronts to expand access to public lands for all Americans and to increase opportunities for hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation on the more than 245 million acres we manage," said BLM Deputy Director for Programs and Policy William Perry Pendley in a press release. "This important acquisition embodies our commitment and we're proud to work with local landowners and sportsmen's groups to continue to enhance public holdings in the Blackfoot River watershed."

TNC and BLM have been working in partnership on both forest restoration and stream protection projects ever since TNC's purchase of the land from Plum Creek. That work will continue after this sale.

The BLM has participated in collaborative stakeholder discussions about this potential acquisition for several years, collecting information and insight from public land users, state land management agencies, county officials and local landowners regarding acquisition opportunities in the area.

"We are deeply grateful for the rigorous and open public process that involved many stakeholders to determine who best to manage these lands," said Missoula Field Manager Joe Ashor in a press release. "We truly appreciate the overwhelming support we received from local landowners and sportsmen's groups as well as key partners and look forward to managing these lands for a variety of benefits and opportunities such as hunting and fishing, grazing, and active forestry and fire management projects that will improve the health of the forest."

The land had been traditionally open to the public but there was no guarantee that access would continue. By consolidating it with the adjacent public land, access for the public is secure and the outstanding recreational values of the land itself continue to be available to the public.

Rancher and semi-retired logger Denny Iverson of Potomac said in a press release that the success of the deal hinges in large part on how the partners engaged the local community.

"This sale comes after a deliberate process to get community input, which secured the support of local folks. It means the area will remain intact while still serving as a working landscape."

Recreational groups also felt their voice was heard.

"We're always psyched when we see more land conserved and kept in public ownership," said Ben Horan of MTB Missoula, a local biking group, in a press release. "We're excited about continuing to work with the BLM on this land."

Amanda Tripp Johansson's family has been hunting on this land for generations.

"All of the meat that my family eats comes from this land. It has become kind of sacred to us. There is nothing more valuable than having the security that my family will continue to have this land for more generations to come."

"We couldn't have done this without LWCF," said Chris Bryant, TNC's Western Montana Forests Director. "We are encouraged that legislation to permanently fund LWCF is moving forward and hope that we will see a vote on the legislation by the full Senate as soon as possible."

In addition to the LWCF, TNC is extremely grateful for the generosity of a number of funders, including the Wyss Foundation, whose support enabled both the purchase and our on-the-ground work to improve the condition of the land.