Regional Conservation Strengthens Watershed Resilience

In October 2025 the Montana Land Board approved a conservation easement protecting 53,000 acres of private timberland between Kalispell and Libby, part of the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement. Together with the first phase, this project now safeguards a total of 85,792 acres of working forest. While most of these lands drain toward the Fisher and Kootenai rivers rather than directly into the Flathead, their protection still matters for our watershed. The same mountain ranges and forest systems that sustain the Flathead’s headwaters extend westward into this landscape, providing connected habitat for wildlife, buffering against wildfire and erosion, and maintaining the forest cover that stabilizes the region’s climate and water resources. We extend our thanks to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Green Diamond Resource Company, The Trust for Public Land, the Montana Land Board, and all the partners whose collaboration has made this landmark working forest easement possible.

Flathead Beacon story
Daily InterLake story
Project map