The BLM lands include 708 miles of roads on the land acquired from The Nature Conservancy. A management plan for road access for the many interested parties is being developed.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been acquiring land in the Blackfoot Valley from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) since the early 1990s, when it owned 40 acres in the Blackfoot Valley. Today it manages nearly 44,000 acres, with more to come.
Currently, the BLM is developing a Travel Management Plan (TMP) for managing access on the bureau's land in the Blackfoot watershed in order to develop a recreational use plan, manage the forest resources and restore Reserved Tribal Treaty Rights on federal land.
The TMP will determine public access and transportation system opportunities that allow for restoration and sustainable management of these newly acquired lands. The BLM is evaluating 708 miles of roads and is doing scoping and public meetings to determine best uses for recreational loop trails, land management and fire management roads.
The TMP will determine opportunities for sustainable recreation including motorized, non-motorized and over-snow activities that work in harmony with other resources and allow different user groups to recreate without conflict, providing a range of recreation experiences.
Options are in the works for using current roads to develop a multi-purpose trail from the BLM lands north of Highway 200 to Placid Lake in partnership with Seeley Lake ROCKS, a local group seeking to develop healthy children, strong families and vibrant communities through outdoor recreational opportunities. The trail would be for Off Highway Vehicles (OHVs) in the summer and a comparable gravel bike trail would be set aside. Snowmobilers would have road access in the winter.
Other plans would develop a trail for The Road to the Buffalo through the area, also called the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. There is a possibility for a pedestrian bridge over Belmont Creek and for considering areas for e-bike-authorized trails on the railroad grade and other designated routes.
In addition to public interests, the BLM seeks to utilize the management of the roads for active forest restoration for forest resiliency, watershed function, wildlife and aquatic habitat quality and sustainable supply of forest products.
As these lands come under federal management once again, tribal treaty rights from the Hellgate Treaty of 1855 are restored. These rights include fishing, hunting, gathering berries, roots and plant materials plus putting up shelters for curing of harvests for tribal members on federal lands bordering the reservation. Traditional tribal values will be included in the assessment of the land for travel and transportation systems.
By November 2024 Claire Romanko, BLM spokesperson, said they hope to have a draft for proposed action done. Public meetings and opportunities to comment will follow.
"It will be difficult to strike a balance between all the players," Romanko said. "But we're up for the challenge."
Starting in 1998, a TNC land transfer created the expanded area of BLM management. After proposed land transfers with TNC are completed, there will be approximately 60,000 acres of BLM administered land in the area. The area has been divided into seven management areas with specialized management for each area. The areas are Lower Gold Creek/Twin Creeks, Upper Gold Creek, Belmont Creek, Sunflower Mountain/Little Belmont Point, River Corridor, Morrison Mountain and Ninemile/Woodchuck.
Since 1998 TNC has transferred approximately 44,000 acres in the Lower Blackfoot to the BLM. The land was formerly Plum Creek Timber Company land that TNC acquired. Plum Creek developed an extensive road network for logging operations in the area.
Over the next two years TNC hopes to sell 17,300 acres of the remaining Twin Creek-Gold Creek watersheds to BLM, Kloetzel said.
"The BLM is getting a jump-start on Travel Management Planning for the acquired lands as well as the planned acquisitions, and has conducted initial scoping to help develop a robust range of alternatives to consider," Kloetzel said. "Travel planning is likely to be a one to two year process, with much opportunity for public involvement."
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