The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has extended the public scoping period on a proposal to establish a Missouri Headwaters Conservation Area in southwestern Montana.
USFWS is in the first phase of the planning process and is gathering information, including comments, issues, ideas and suggestions.
If created, the proposed 5.7 million-acre conservation area would encompass portions of Beaverhead County and portions of Madison, Deer Lodge, Jefferson and Silver Bow counties.
The agency would seek willing sellers of conservation easements on up to 250,000 acres. The easements would protect wildlife habitat and open space while allowing agricultural uses.
Money for the easement purchases would come from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
In a fact sheet distributed by USFWS, the agency said the easements are designed to restrict development and subdivision but contain no restrictions on grazing, allow existing agricultural practices and permit existing residences and agricultural buildings. The easements also do not require public access.
USFWS said the area offers a stronghold for habitat connectivity and corridors for grizzly bear, pronghorn, elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the Crown of the Continent and wilderness of central Idaho.
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT-02) sent a letter to USFWS Director Martha Williams on Sept. 8, calling the proposed conservation area a “land grab,” and criticized the agency for consulting with non-governmental agencies and local municipalities without public notice.
“This is a topic that significantly affects my constituents and the state,” Rosendale wrote. “Having one of the largest proposed conservation areas in the nation’s history go on without any public comment or even being known to anyone outside the group plotting this land grab is a disservice to the country and Montanans.”
According to the letter, The Nature Conservancy and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) coordinated the meetings with county officials to discuss the proposal’s details.
In a statement, TRCP said voluntary conservation has been a success for working lands, and they are excited to support Montana’s farms and ranches. TRCP said the agency has an extensive history of working with landowners to create conservation areas in the state with similar projects on the Rocky Mountain Front and in the Blackfoot River Valley.
USFWS announced it was accepting comments in the scoping period on Sept. 20. Initially, the deadline was Oct. 26, but it has been extended to Nov. 27.
Comments can be emailed to MOHWCA@fws.gov or sent to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Attn: Ben Gilles, 922 Bootlegger Trail Great Falls, MT 59404. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
