The Montana Land Board approved a 53,000-acre conservation easement in the Cabinet Mountains of northwest Montana that will protect public access to working timberland owned by Green Diamond Resource Company.
The board, comprising the state’s five top elected officials, voted 4-1 to advance the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement proposal, which was developed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). The vote came after an hour and a half of debate about the mineral rights below Green Diamond’s land and the value and constraints associated with perpetual conservation easements.
Attorney General Austin Kndusen issued the lone “no” vote. Secretary of State Christi Jacobson, Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen and Commissioner of Securities and Insurance James Brown joined Lt. Gov. Kristin Juras, who represented Gov. Greg Gianforte’s vote, in approving the project. The Land Board authorizes large or expensive conservation easements following a 2021 state law that gives elected officials more oversight of acquisition and easement projects.
Introducing the project, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director Amanda Kaster told commissioners the area, which is situated between Kalispell and Libby, supports about 9,500 public hunting and fishing days annually and provides habitat for a variety of game animals and endangered or threatened species, including grizzly bears, Canada lynx, bull trout, mule deer, elk and moose.
Most of the easement’s $58 million price tag is supported by federal funding from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program. Green Diamond is donating about $20 million of the land’s value, and Habitat Montana is contributing $1.5 million. Habitat Montana is an FWP-administered fund that secures wildlife habitat with funding from hunting and fishing licenses and taxes on recreational marijuana.
A similar mix of funding was used for a smaller, earlier phase of the easement project, which the Land Board voted to approve in December.
FWP Director Christy Clark said the easement “ensures healthy forest management” and will provide public access to Green Diamond’s private land “for generations to come.”
“By approving this easement, you’re not just protecting trees and acres, you’re protecting a way of life built on open land, wildlife and public access. You’re ensuring that the future generations will have the same chance to hunt, fish and breathe in the same wild country that shaped us,” she told commissioners during comment on the proposal.
Other easement supporters who spoke at the Land Board meeting include Republican state Sen. Mike Cuffe of Eureka, who said he doesn’t want the land subdivided or turned into a “rich man’s hunting paradise,” and representatives of the Lincoln County Commission, the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association and the Montana Logging Association.
Lloyd Parsons of WRH Nevada Properties, which owns the mineral rights to half of the acreage incorporated in this phase of the project, opposed the easement, describing it as a “huge detriment” to exploration and mining of company-owned mineral deposits.
As it did in the first phase of the easement project, which included 33,000 acres, WRH argued that approval could compromise the company’s ability to secure investment for mineral exploration and development. Parsons also told commissioners that FWP coordinated with the Forest Service to “stifle” dispute about the agencies’ valuation of WRH’s mineral estate.
Matt Vincent, with the Montana Mining Association, described his opposition to the project as a “pro-private property rights” position. He added that he has concerns that Montana’s handling of the mineral rights considerations with this project could compromise its ability to secure federal funding for future conservation easements.
Vincent said his organization feels bullish about the odds of a legal victory blocking the easement. In August 2024, WRH sued the state to prevent phase one of the project from moving forward. That lawsuit is currently before a district court judge in Lincoln County, who has yet to rule.
Brian Thompson with Green Diamond and Barry Dexter with Stimson Lumber Company countered that Montana law holds that individual and corporate owners have the right of reasonable access to the surface in order to access minerals below, even in such “split-estate” situations. They also cited specific project language preserving WRH’s right to explore and mine the subsurface estate.
Dexter told commissioners that commercial access to timberland is becoming increasingly difficult, and that conservation easements like the Great Outdoors Conservation project can ease that strain.
“Over the past two decades, much of the industrial forestland in western Montana has been subdivided and sold off. What remains today is pretty damn important for the long-term future of the forest products industry in Montana and the economics of our rural communities,” he said. “Growing a crop of timber takes a significant amount of time—multiple decades—and it requires stability for the landowner. Conservation easements provide both time and stability.”
Peter Scott, an attorney representing Citizens for Balanced Use, an organization that advocates for motorized and industrial use of public land, pushed back on that characterization, arguing that reversing the decline of the timber and mill industries with conservation easements is not a “credible” strategy. He also noted that the state Republican Party opposes perpetual easements funded by federal dollars and argued that Green Diamond is positioned to realize a “very handsome profit” from the easement and a charitable contribution that could bring the company’s tax bill down significantly.
During the Land Board’s discussion, Knudsen described his position on perpetual easements generally—“forever is a long time, and we don’t know what the future holds,” he said—and his concerns about the nation’s access to rare earth minerals and the federal deficit before voting against the proposal. — Amanda Eggert, Montana Free Press
