Swan Valley Connections (SVC) members accept their plaque. Pictured (L-R): Michael Mayernik, SVC Conservation and Stewardship Associate; Helene Michael, SVC Board Chair; Anne Dahl, founding member and first Executive Director of Swan Ecosystem Center and current Director Emeritus of SVC; Rebecca Ramsey, SVC Executive Director and Luke Lamar, SVC Conservation Director. Mayernik and Lamar were both also members of the Elk Creek Conservation Area (ECCA) Management Committee.
The many collaborators of the Elk Creek Conservation Area pose with the Missoula County Commissioners on the bridge going over Elk Creek.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes council members James "Bing" Matt and chair Tom McDonald read a temporary sign which describes the Elk Creek Conservation Area. The current sign is located where the management team plans to put up a kiosk with information for visitors.
Mark Vander Meer, member of the Elk Creek Conservation Area Management Committee, holds a bit of ash from the collapse of Mount Mazama which came up with roots from area trees which blew down from a windstorm in 2020. Vander Meer is an original member of the management committee.
SWAN VALLEY - The Missoula County Commissioners recognized partners from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) and Swan Valley Connections, formerly Swan Ecosystems Center (SEC), May 10 for their work to acquire and maintain the natural resources of the Elk Creek Conservation Areas (ECCA) in the Swan Valley.
The Missoula County Open Lands Citizen Advisory Committee wanted to present the groups involved with recognition of their hard work to conserve the area and research its history, and the commissioners agreed, said Patrick O'Herren, chair of the County Open Lands Citizen Advisory Committee.
The group of partners toured the area and received plaques for their work from the commissioners.
The plague read: We are gathered here today on the eastern slope of the Mission Range, the mountains ̓ known to Salish speakers as Snyelmn Mqwmóqw, meaning Place-Where-You-Surround Something Mountains, at the confluence of Elk Creek and the Swan River, the waterbody known from time immemorial as Snlaqi Sewłkws, meaning Sweathouse's Waters. For thousands of years, the people of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have cared for these places - have lived in relationships of respect with these lands and waters and the plants and animals that reside here. And in more recent years, some of the newcomers have also done great work to ensure that these priceless resources will be here for the generations to come. The Missoula County Commissioners are therefore honored to present this award to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Swan Valley Connections and its precursor the Swan Ecosystem Center, in recognition of their perpetual and enduring commitment to the protection of all the living creatures and the land, the water and the air present in the Elk Creek Conservation Area.
In 2006, Anne Dahl, former executive director of the SEC, worked to form a partnership with the CSKT to purchase the 640-acre parcel from Plum Creek, O'Herren said.
At the time, bull trout habit protection was part of the conservation strategy, said Rebecca Ramsey, Executive Director of Swan Valley Connections. Swan Ecosystems Center led the effort to identify the most valuable piece of land in the area as far as conservation was concerned.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks identified Elk Creek as one of the most important bull trout streams in Montana.
The Elk Creek Conservation Area is situated in the Condon area, less than a mile from Highway 83. Its legal description is T21N R17W Section 35 (Figure 2). The CSKT owns the east half of section 35 and SEC, now SVC, owns the west half.
The purchase required a joint management plan between SEC and the CSKT which was developed in 2007. The purchase of the parcel was made possible by funds from Bonneville Power Administration as part of mitigation monies owed the tribe.
The ECCA Management Plan outlined that Elk Creek is a vital corridor for many wildlife species. It has consistently been ranked the highest and best in every category biologists catalog and has core habitat for bull trout production. Bull trout are native species listed as "threatened" on the federal Threatened and Endangered Species list. The cottonwood and willow streamside areas and the many wetlands also offer important low-elevation habitat for grizzly bears, winter range for deer and elk and important rare plant habitat.
The management plan outlines that no further development or subdivision can be made of the parcel, Ramsey said.
The ECCA plans to add a kiosk near Elk Creek to provide area history for visitors. For more information about the ECCA visit https://www.swanvalleyconnections.org/elk-creek-conservation-area. To read the full Proclamation read by the Missoula County Commissioners visit https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/elk_creek_proclamation.pdf
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