December 22, 2006 - HELENA, MONTANA - This week marked two major land transactions as part of the 88,000-acre Blackfoot Community Project.

The Nature Conservancy of Montana purchased 13,970 acres from Plum Creek Timber Company, bringing the total number of acres purchased as part of the project to 68,076.

Also, the Conservancy sold 2,480 acres of previously purchased land in the Ovando Mountain and Lincoln areas to the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

With this transaction, the Conservancy has re-sold a total of 26,480 acres of former Plum Creek lands to public agencies, in accordance with a community-developed plan led by the local landowner group, the Blackfoot Challenge.

“I can say to the folks of the Blackfoot, and to the public in general, who have supported this project from the beginning that we’re well underway in meeting our goal of protecting the rural character of this valley. What a great way to end the old year and bring in the new,” said Jim Stone, chair of the Blackfoot Challenge.

Of the new lands purchased on behalf of the Blackfoot Community Project, 6,035 acres in the Chamberlain Creek area south of the Blackfoot River is slated to eventually be re-sold to the Bureau of Land Management. Plum Creek’s ownership there was in a checkerboard pattern with lands already owned by the BLM.

The purchase of these lands is a top priority for the BLM because it will “consolidate our ownership there,” said Jim Ledger, BLM’s realty specialist based in Missoula.

Blackfoot residents have supported selling some of the lands publicly, because of their interest in maintaining public access to these lands for recreation and other uses that was allowed under Plum Creek ownership.

The Chamberlain Creek area is in Powell County. It is heavily forested and important habitat for elk as well as bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout, said Caroline Byrd, the Conservancy’s western Montana project director.

It’s not clear when the BLM will purchase the lands from the Conservancy. “With the change in Congress, we’re not sure when funding for this purchase will be approved,” said Ledger.

The Conservancy will continue to pay taxes on its temporary land holdings as it does for all its land statewide. Also, as part of the Blackfoot Community Project, the Conservancy and the Blackfoot Challenge will set up an endowment to offset any loss in county tax revenues once the land goes public. 

The additional 7,935 acres the Conservancy purchased this week are farther south in the Douglas Creek area. The plan is to re-sell that land to private landowners with conservation agreements in place.

“The Blackfoot Challenge has been in communication with ranchers in the area who have expressed interest in the land,” said Stone.

The DNRC’s purchase this week of 2,480 acres from the Conservancy was made possible because of the agency’s new land banking program. The program allows DNRC to sell lands that contribute little to the school trust and to use those funds to purchase additional lands that bring in more revenues, said Mary Sexton, DNRC state director.

“We were interested in buying these particular lands in order to expand our timber base and provide more public access for recreation,” said Sexton.  

Another key element of the Blackfoot Community Project project is the Blackfoot Challenge’s purchase of the 5,600-acre Blackfoot Community Conservation Area on and around Ovando Mountain. The Conservancy and Challenge still need to raise about $2 million in private contributions by September 2007 to reach a $10 million goal and to meet the terms of an $850,000 challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation.

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The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit conservation organization that conserves critical habitats for plants, animals and natural communities. The Conservancy’s Montana chapter, based in Helena, has six community-based programs around the state. It has worked with landowners since 1979 to conserve almost 500530,000 acres of land in Montana. For more information, visit Nature.org/Montana.

Note to editors: See related DNRC press release titled “DNRC Land Purchase Benefits Public Land Trust Beneficiaries” released today by DNRC.  For more information about the DNRC and its land banking program, visit its website at:  www.dnrc.mt.gov