U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
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October 6, 2004
   
  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Explore Cooperative Conservation Effort on the Rocky Mountain Front  

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Jeff Fleming - 202-208-5634


The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said today it will launch an effort to explore the establishment of a voluntary, incentive-based easement program to conserve wildlife habitat on private land along the Rocky Mountain Front in north-central Montana.  The proposal would examine the potential for purchasing conservation easements, from willing sellers whose lands provide important habitat for fish and wildlife species on the Front.

 

"The Service and private landowners are finding common ground in Montana," Service Director Steve Williams said.  "Together, we realize that protecting important fish and wildlife habitat and maintaining working ranches go hand in hand.  Conservation easements are an effective, proven approach to accomplishing both of these objectives."

 

The Service has successfully used its conservation easement program to work cooperatively with private landowners to conserve nearly 60,000 acres in the Blackfoot and Centennial Valleys of western Montana.  This approach enjoys broad support from hunters, anglers, landowners, and Montana's congressional delegation.  The Rocky Mountain Front has long been recognized as one of the nation's most significant wildlife areas, and expansion of the Service's conservation easement program there would provide an important means by which to conserve the Front's outstanding resources.

 

The Rocky Mountain Front is situated at the intersection of the western edge of the

Northern Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains.   Diverse habitat types such as mid-grass prairie, foothills prairie, montane forest and alpine tundra occur in close proximity to one another, resulting in a rich mix of animals and plants. Nearly every wildlife species described by Lewis and Clark in 1806, with the exception of free roaming bison, still exists on the Front in relatively stable or increasing numbers.

 

Under the proposed program, the Service would seek to purchase conservation easements from willing participants within a geographic area lying west of Highway 89 and north of Highway 200 to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.  Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements between landowners and government agencies (or qualified conservation organizations) that restrict the type and amount of development that may take place on a property in the future.  Service easements typically prohibit subdivision and development activities but generally allow for continued agricultural use.  No fee title or outright purchase of private land would occur under this proposed conservation effort.

 

Beginning in November 2004, the Service will conduct an environmental assessment (EA) to analyze the potential impacts of a conservation easement program on the Front.  A key initial phase of the EA is the scoping phase, during which the Service will work with county commissioners, the State of Montana, conservation organizations, landowners, and other individuals to collect additional information about the Front, wildlife and wildlife habitat, and the potential impacts of a conservation easement program there.  Following scoping, the Service will complete the EA, the outcome of which will determine whether the Service should proceed with the proposed conservation easement program.

 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

 

- FWS -

For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov


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