Various conservation easements are set up in the Condon area. Since the 2006 open space bond was passed, 1,694 acres have been conserved in the Swan.
This map shows the movements of 10 collared grizzly bears over four years, with an arrow pointing to the conservation easement on the Stowell's property between the Mission and Swan Mountains.
The Missoula County Commissioners approved spending a portion of funds from a 2018 bond to preserve 158 acres in the Swan Valley for conservation.
The funds made available in 2018 were part of a voter-approved open space bond measure. This bond provided $15 million that was to be used to enhance open space for purposes including access, agriculture, fish and wildlife habitat, rivers, streams and scenic views, per the ballot language. One way those purposes can be realized is through the purchase of conservation easements, for which the $300,000 the commissioners approved to spend from the bond on Oct. 3 will be used. While funding is approved, the project is still in the development phase.
Property owners Jeff and Carol Stowell primarily live in Park City, Utah, but first bought property in Condon in March 2021 during the covid-19 pandemic. Jeff Stowell said one of the things they noticed when they first came to Condon was they were not the only ones who flocked to the valley during the pandemic.
"Everybody and their dog had sort of decided we can go outside now because that's the one thing we can do," Stowell said.
Stowell noticed the pressure that influx put on the valley and wanted to help preserve the character of Condon and the Swan. The first parcel of property the couple bought in 2021, which includes the couple's home, is also under a conservation easement. The new easement will be on land to the north of their original property, creating an opportunity for a corridor of conserved land on which Glacier Creek, a tributary of the Swan River, runs and serves as habitat for a variety of wildlife.
Conservation easements are not an easy process, Stowell said, and a property owner can give up a pretty high monetary value in terms of land sales while also spending a significant amount to set up the easement. The Stowells are contributing $48,600 toward that end. Stowell said Missoula County's open space bond program helped make the decision easier for a landowner considering the financial contributions.
"From our perspective, it was just sort of obvious this particular piece of land had a lot of development potential but also had a ton of conservation potential," Stowell said, which to him outweighed the value of development.
Other financial contributions are coming from Montana Land Reliance, Heart of the Rockies and Atria Conservation out of Georgia.
By putting the 158-acre parcel of land just west of Condon under a conservation easement overseen by Montana Land Reliance - the project's sponsor and nonprofit land trust - it will take the area out of potential development possibilities, prohibiting subdivision. Other prohibitions are on utility lines, waste dumping and billboards.
Particular agriculture activities and timber management will be allowed under the conservation easement's parameters along with fences and roads controlled by the easement's terms. Montana Land Reliance is responsible for ensuring the terms of the easement are met.
One five-acre building envelope is allowed, providing a small portion where someone could live in the future. Stowell said that's one of the challenges of considering a conservation easement. They're permanent, "And forever's a long time when you start thinking about it," he said.
The property has no structures and has been used for recreation and logging. Glacier Creek runs north to south, which supports a diverse riparian forest habitat critical to a wide variety of wildlife, including 17 bird species listed as species of concern, Canada lynx, western pygmy shrew - which are also listed as species of concern - grizzly bear and elk.
A map provided during the presentation of the easement to the commissioners showed the Stowell property being right in the center of grizzly migrations between the Mission and Swan Mountains.
As private land, the public won't be able to access the property, but Mark Schiltz, western manager with Montana Land Reliance said at the commissioners' meeting that the public will benefit from the scenic open space and can view the property while recreating on Glacier Creek.
"The Swan Valley contains one of the most diverse ecosystems in Montana and Montana Land Reliance is pleased and honored to work with Jeff and Carol Stowell to help protect their amazing property near Condon," Schiltz said via email. "The conservation of this important property will enhance the work of both Montana Land Reliance and other organizations that consider the Swan Valley a conservation focus area."
The entire project is just over $1 million and about a third of it comes from Missoula's open space bond.
Kali Becher, open land project manager for Missoula County, said the 2018 bond was just the second city-county open space bond passed by voters. Half of the $15 million was designated for the city of Missoula to use to fund conservation projects and the other half was given to the county. Part of this bond, along with a portion of the 2006 open space bond, was used for the purchase of Marshall Mountain by Missoula County. Both the city and county contributed $1 million in total from both bonds to the purchase.
In 2006, the impetus for a $10 million city-county open space bond - of which now most has been spent - was something Montanans are familiar with almost 20 years later - development.
Prior to 2006, only city-wide open space bonds were available. Before the election cycle, a group of landowners representing various county interests, like ranching and forestry, formed a working group to come up with recommendations on how to address concerns regarding natural resources being lost to development. One of the recommendations was the concept of a county-wide open space bond that would set aside funds to preserve open space. Another recommendation was to establish an open lands advisory committee, which has been in place since and makes recommendations to the commissioners on what should be preserved as open space.
Becher said since the 2006 bond passed, 1,694 acres have been set aside as open space in the Swan Valley and 987 in Seeley Lake. Throughout the county, over 13,000 acres have been conserved using $6 million of open space funds.
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