Wildlife and riparian habitat preserved through 640-acre FWP aquisition

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Five Valleys Land Trust facilitated an acquisition of 640 acres of key wildlife and riparian habitat near Seeley Lake from Plum Creek Timber. The parcel will be permanently incorporated into FWP’s adjacent Marshall Creek Wildlife Management Area, which will be managed for wildlife habitat but also for public recreational use including hunting, hiking, bird-watching and continued use of a popular snowmobile trail system.

“These lands provide clean drinking water, places for people to enjoy the outdoors, and unrivaled wildlife habitat,” FVLT Manager Lewis Kogan said. “Protecting these lands is a great outcome for the Seeley Lake community.”

Conserving the property was a high priority because it contains a 1.3 mile reach of Deer Creek, an important spawning stream for native bull trout and cutthroat trout and a direct cold-water tributary to Seeley Lake, the community’s municipal water source. It also protects productive habitat for Canada lynx in the western United States, as well as valuable cover for grizzly bears moving across the Clearwater Valley.

“Recent research data proved what locals have known for years — Deer Creek is heavily used by bears, lynx, moose, elk and dozens of other species as primary habitat and as a forested corridor connecting the Mission Mountains and Clearwater River Valley,” Jay Kolbe, FWP wildlife biologist, said.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, FWP, local government agencies, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided funding as part of a group effort to conserve the 640 acres. The purchase consolidates public ownership in a crucial area for fish and wildlife conservation and ensures permanent public access to it.

“This small tract of wild Montana land is extremely important for a variety of wildlife — from elk to trout,” Blake Henning, RMEF vice president of Lands and Conservation, said. “We’re glad we could utilize our strategic land protection fund and money raised by our RMEF chapters in Montana to help make this purchase possible.”

RMEF is leading a conservation initiative that protected or enhanced habitat on more than 6.2 million acres — an area larger than Yellowstone, Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Yosemite and Rocky Mountain national parks combined. RMEF also is a voice for hunters in access, wildlife management and conservation policy issues. RMEF members, partners and volunteers, working together as Team Elk, are making a difference across elk country. For more information, go to www.rmef.org or call 800-225-5355.