BLM purchases 4,600 acres from TNC

GREENOUGH – Last week the Bureau of Land Management purchased 4,600 acres in the Ninemile/Woodchuck area. This purchase is part of a years-long cooperative effort with The Nature Conservancy to secure public access on former industrial timber lands throughout the Blackfoot River watershed.

"These lands will provide for opportunities for continued access for public recreation, access to sacred areas and other important areas for tribes and forest management for multiple benefits including restoring wildlife habitat and ensuring proper watershed function for aquatic species," said Erin Carey, Field Manager for the Missoula Field Office. "The BLM will continue the legacy of working lands through active forestry and fuels programs as well as continued grazing."

This first purchase of the Ninemile portion of the land is part of a larger 11,000-acre project in the lower Blackfoot. The land is near Ninemile Prairie, approximately 30 miles east of Missoula. The BLM plans to purchase the adjacent Woodchuck parcel later this year.

The BLM used $6.8 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to purchase the 4,600-acre Ninemile parcel from The Nature Conservancy. Since 1998 the BLM has acquired approximately 32,000 acres of former private timberland in the Blackfoot River watershed from The Nature Conservancy.

The land offers high-quality hunting and hiking, as well as limited summer and winter motorized use, and will be managed similarly to other BLM lands in the Blackfoot Special Recreation Management Area.

A BLM Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) recognizes unique and distinctive recreation values and is managed to enhance a targeted set of activities, experiences, benefits and recreation setting characteristics, which become the primary management focus. According to Carey, the objective of the Blackfoot SRMA is to provide a wide array of recreational opportunities including rafting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, scenic driving and snowmobiling. The newly acquired lands are located more than a mile from the Blackfoot River with access via Johnsrud Road (lower Blackfoot Corridor) and the Ninemile Prairie Road east of Potomac.

"The primary recreation uses are hunting and hiking," Carey said. "These uses will continue, and the BLM will further explore comprehensive recreation management planning in this area."  

In addition to public access for recreation, the goal of the acquisition is to maintain working lands including active forest restoration and fuels projects that would improve forest health and watershed function.

"This is a great milestone in our partnership with The Nature Conservancy to acquire former private timberlands for public ownership," Carey said in a press release. "The BLM is proud to take on the stewardship of these lands and manage them for the benefit of the public over the long term."

Chris Bryant, Western Montana Land Protection Director, echoed that sentiment in the press release, "From the beginning, our goal in buying this former Plum Creek timber land was to secure it for public use and to restore the forests so we pass it on in better condition than when we bought it."

According to the press release, this acquisition aligns with the Department of Interior priorities, including supporting local economies and conserving America's lands and waters.