News
October 21, 2009
Election 2009: Ballots arriving in Seeley Lake, Evaro this week
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by KIM BRIGGEMAN
Ryan said among the first issues a community council could help guide is the transfer of lands next year from Plum Creek to the Montana Legacy Project and...
September 20, 2009
Environmental groups log former Plum Creek lands for sake of preservation, access
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by ROB CHANEY
Phase 1 of the Legacy Project closed Dec. 15, 2008. ... Another important player may be the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks...
Related Video: The Legacy Project Update
1 Minute, 19 Seconds, The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - produced by ROB CHANEY
Montana's largest public-private land sale nears its completion...
May 10, 2009
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation marks 25th year
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by ROB CHANEY (PDF)
"It was a really important effort and a precursor to the Blackfoot Community Project. And now (there's) the Legacy Project,” he (Mike Thompson) said of the 310,000-acre land transfer from Plum Creek to conservation ownership...
April 25, 2009
Timberland-purchase bill gains final approval in Senate at last
The Independent Record (Helena, MT) - by MIKE DENNISON, IR State Bureau (PDF)
The bill enabling the state to buy 26,000 acres of former Plum Creek Timber Co. forestland east of Missoula finally won Senate approval Friday, some eight days after initially being stalled...
April 23, 2009
Marshall Block given $6M grant
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by ROB CHANEY (PDF)
A $6 million federal grant will help protect thousands of acres of fish habitat north of Seeley Lake.
Word of the money came Tuesday when the U.S. Department of Interior released $58 million in Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund money for 27 states. Montana's allocation will help preserve up to 4,771 acres around Marshall Lake in the Mission Mountains...
April 6, 2009
State ownership can sustain rural lands
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Guest Opinion by GARY BURNETT and 24 co-signers, the Potomac Working Group of the Blackfoot Challenge (PDF)
Many thanks for the bipartisan efforts of Reps. Bill Nooney, R-Missoula, Chas Vincent, R-Libby and Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena, to deliver the House’s nearly unanimous support for a proposal to allow the state to purchase nearly 26,000 acres in the Potomac Valley. Now it’s up to the Senate to close the deal...
March 31, 2009
Legislature 2009: Timber bills endorsed in House
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by MIKE DENNISON of the Missoulian State Bureau (PDF)
HELENA - Two bills designed to help Montana's struggling timber industry and complete a conservation land deal in western Montana won easy endorsement in the House Monday...
March 30, 2009
2-party duo pushes timber bills
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by MIKE DENNISON of the Missoulian State Bureau
HELENA - The completion of part of a huge conservation land deal in western Montana - along with help for Montana's timber industry - are part of an emerging agreement at the Legislature, with bipartisan support to achieve both goals...
March 17, 2009
Bill helps hunters, anglers, loggers
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Letter to the Editor by GENE MILLER, Bonner, MT (PDF)
I grew up in the Swan Valley near Condon on land that was surrounded on all four sides by Northern Pacific, and later by Plum Creek Timber Co., land. These lands were logged in the 1960s and have since recovered into healthy forests...
March 7, 2009
Legislature should pass HR 14 to buy Plum Creek land
The Clark Fork Chronicle (Superior, MT) - Letter to the Editor by BOB BROWN, Missoula, MT
The legislature should pass House Bill 14 by Rep. Bill Nooney (R-Petty Creek).
Approximately 25,000 acres of prime western Montana forest land, formerly owned by Plum Creek Timber Company and containing merchantable timber valued at about $10 million, is now available to the state for $800 an acre...
February 25, 2009
Second phase of huge Plum Creek land sale completed
The Hungry Horse News (Hungry Horse, MT) - by CHRIS PETERSON
Another big chunk of Plum Creek lands has been purchased under one of the largest land conservation deals in history...
Land bill HB14 deserves passage
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Letter to the Editor by MICHAEL KANTOR, Lolo, MT (PDF)
Western Montana outdoorsmen and women can breath a great sigh of relief with Tuesday’s (Feb. 17) momentous conclusion of phase II of the Montana Legacy Project...
February 22, 2009
Buying Plum Creek land benefits our rural residents
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Guest Opinion by BILL CAREY, Missoula County Commissioner (PDF)
As a Missoula County commissioner, I have the opportunity to travel to Helena this session to testify in front of our citizen legislators on a number of issues. It is part of my job to make sure that Missoula County’s voice is heard at the Capitol on issues that will affect our economy, our industries, our landscape and our way of life...
February 19, 2009
Bill will protect Montana's open land
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Letter to the Editor by HUGH SHEEHY, Potomac, MT (PDF)
This year is an important time for Missoula County and Montana. In an effort to protect western Montana’s open spaces, the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land are purchasing large areas of Plum Creek Timber lands.
February 10, 2009
Deep support for purchase legislation
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Letter to the Editor by STEVE ELLIS, Bigfork, MT (PDF)
On Jan. 26, my wife and I traveled to Helena to attend a hearing on HB 14, popularly known as the Montana Working Forests Bill. This bill provides a mechanism through which the state of Montana could purchase some of the lands in western Montana owned by Plum Creek...
January 28, 2009
Group hears progress on dam, land, Clark Fork
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by ROB CHANEY (PDF)
The Nature Conservancy is a major partner in the Montana Working Forest Project that's converting 310,000 acres of Plum Creek land into public property...
January 22, 2009
Leaving a legacy for future generations
The Western News (Libby, MT) - Letter to the Editor by CAROL BIBLER, Montana Land Reliance
In 2009, we have a uniqure opportunity to protect an important part of Montana's landscape by supporting the Montana Legacy Project...
Plans For TNC's Land Holdings in Valley
The Seeley-Swan Pathfinder (Seeley Lake, MT) - by CHRIS BRYANT, The Nature Conservancy (PDF)
At the end of last year, The Nature Conservancy and The Trust For Public Land purchased about 129,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Company land in Western Montana...
December 25, 2008
Montana Legacy Project Timber Management Will Benefit Economy and Ecology
The Seeley-Swan Pathfinder (Seeley Lake, MT) - Letter to the Editor by MARIAH REES, Missoula, MT (PDF)
The Montana Legacy Project is a prominent land conservation plan that will use sustainable logging and stewardship contracting...
December 19, 2008
First phase of 'Legacy' project complete
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by MICHAEL JAMISON (PDF)
Nearly 130,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Co. land changed hands Thursday, the first in what eventually will be the largest conservation land purchase in United States history ...
December 18, 2008
Secure, manage Swan's forestlands
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Guest Opinion by
NEIL MEYER, Swan Ecosystem Center
I’ve been a logger all my life. My wife and I have managed the timber on our land for more than 50 years, and we still have trees for the future. As longtime residents of the Swan Valley, we have a deep concern for the area ...
December 12, 2008
How Wall Street is destroying the timber way of life
Crosscut.com (Seattle, WA) - by DANIEL JACK CHASAN
Welcome to the modern economy, where there's no chance that in Montana, or any place else, the forest products industry of the future will look anything like the forest products industry of the past ...
December 8, 2008
In New Era, Timber's Struggles Stir Broad Concern and Support
The New York Times - by KIRK JOHNSON
A scramble is under way here in Montana to save the historically important, culturally resonant timber industry - once a pillar of the state's identity, now under siege as demand for housing and wood products has plummeted in the national economic downturn ...
November 17, 2008
Montana Legacy Project will keep lands available to public
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Guest Opinion by TIM ALDRICH
I have paid close attention to discussions about the Montana Legacy Project, which seeks to acquire 314,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Co. lands in western Montana as a way to preserve recreational access and other public interests in the land ...
October 21, 2008
Legacy Project partner says mills still needed
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by BILL SCHWANKE (PDF)
So said Caroline Byrd of The Nature Conservancy, a key player in the Montana Legacy Project, which involves the largest conservation land purchase in US ...
October 20, 2008
Legacy Project features 'working forest' component
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by BILL SCHWANKE (PDF)
Following her presentation about the Montana Legacy Project to the monthly City Club Missoula forum, Caroline Byrd - western Montana program manager for The Nature Conservancy ...
September 25, 2008
Legacy Project may protect more land than thought
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by MICHAEL JAMISON (PDF)
The nation's largest land conservation deal may protect far more acres than it actually purchases, by allowing Missoula County to limit development through zoning ...
September 23, 2008
Plum Creek to Retain Zoning Veto Power in Parts of Missoula County
New West (Missoula, MT) - by MATTHEW FRANK
Plum Creek Timber Co., in identifying which of its lands to divest as part of the Montana Legacy Project, retained majority ownership of the private land -- and the zoning veto power that confers -- in some of Missoula County's most ecologically and economically valuable areas ...
September 20, 2008
Keeping Montana Montana requires action
Bozeman Daily Chronicle (Bozeman, MT) - Guest Column by BOB EKEY, The Wilderness Society (PDF)
About 15 years ago the Earth seemed to shake in the Gallatin Valley when Big Sky Lumber announced it had purchased all of the Plum Creek timber lands on the Gallatin National forest and planned to develop those lands ...
August 13, 2008
The work is just beginning for Montana Legacy Project
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Guest Column by HANK GOETZ, Blackfoot Challenge (PDF)
For the past five years I have had the pleasure of working for the Blackfoot Challenge, a landowner-based watershed group whose mission is to protect and enhance the natural resources and rural way of life in the Blackfoot River valley ...
August 12, 2008
Montana Legacy Project is a dream come true
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Letter to the Editor by MIKE KANTOR, Lolo
I am writing to enthusiastically endorse the Montana Legacy Project, which will protectfrom residential development over 300,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Co. wildlands in western Montana ...
August 1, 2008
Mixed Emotions at Montana Legacy Project meetings: Praise, questioning greet Plum Creek land deal talks in Lolo, Seeley Lake
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by JOHN CRAMER (PDF)
TheNature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land and the Plum Creek Timber Co., received praise but also some pointed questions the past two nights during public meetings about the Montana Legacy Project in Lolo and Seeley Lake ...
July 30, 2008
MT land deal discussed in Seeley Lake
KPAX-TV (Missoula, MT) - by IAN MARQUAND
Another public meeting is set for Thursday in Lolo to talk about the Montana Legacy Project. Seeley Lake residents will hear a presentation by the Nature ...
July 24, 2008
A Small Town's Questions on A Big Land Deal
New West (Missoula, MT) - by MATTHEW FRANK
About 20 people lined the wooden benches of the Evaro Community Center to learn about the nuts and bolts of the Montana Legacy Project. And, more importantly, to convey their thoughts and concerns and on-the-ground knowledge as the two ...
July 15, 2008
Group wants feedback on land deal
KPAX-TV (Missoula, MT) - by IAN MARQUAND
You've heard a lot in the last couple of days about the Montana Legacy Project. The puchase of huge amounts of Plum Creek timberland by the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land. Now the conservancy want to hear from you ...
July 9, 2008
People will benefit from Plum Creek deal, too
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Guest Column by MELANIE PARKER, Northwest Connections (PDF)
The historic Montana timberland purchase announced last week is most certainly a great deal for Montana’s land, water and wildlife, but what about the people? I believe rural communities stand to benefit from this conservation project as much as elk and grizzly bears ...
July 7, 2008
Progressive preservation: Agreement will protect public land while allowing working forests
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Guest Opinion by
MAX BAUCUS (PDF)
Montana is like no other place on Earth. As Montanans, we have at our fingertips world-class hunting and fishing, unmatched hiking, camping and snowmobiling and a view of the heavens so complete, and so unique, that our state is known simply as Big Sky Country. Without a doubt, Montana is the Last Best Place, and we know how lucky we are to live here ...
July 5, 2008
Closed-Door Deal Could Open Land In Montana
The Washington Post - by KARL VICK
The Bush administration is preparing to ease the way for the nation's largest private landowner to convert hundreds of thousands of acres of mountain forestland to residential subdivisions ...
July 3, 2008
Plum Creek deal once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by GREG TOLLEFSON (PDF)
Last Sunday evening, I made the drive home from the family cabin at Swan Lake as I have done so often over the years. Always, there is a dreamlike quality to those drives through the long summer twilight. For many miles the highway slices through the forested landscape in an arrow-straight line, disappearing from view only at the top of a distant rise ...
July 1, 2008
Deal Is Struck in Montana to Preserve Forest Areas
New York Times - by KIRK JOHNSON
Checkerboard ownership is a legacy of the railroad-building of the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the government offered millions of acres of the West as ...
Massive land deal in works
The Daily Inter Lake (Kalispell, MT) - by Jim Mann
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Motn., announced "the most significant land conservation project in the state's history" on Monday, a sweeping purchase of 320,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Co.
land ...
June 30, 2008
Plum Creek announces details of largest conservation land purchase
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by MICHAEL JAMISON (PDF)
The “Montana Legacy Project,” as it is known, is anchored in legislation authored recently by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and included in the nation’s farm ...
Baucus, Plum Creek, Conservation Groups Announce Massive Land Deal
The Flathead Beacon (Kalispell, MT) - by DAN TESTA
Dubbed, “The Montana Legacy Project,” The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land are buying the acreage for $510 million, and will finance payments on the land over the next three years through private and public sources, ...
Rocky Mountain land deal tops $500 million
Associated Press - MSNBC
Some of the most prized land in the northern Rocky Mountains is being protected from development in a conservation land deal hailed as the largest of its kind in U.S. history ...
Plum Creek selling big Montana tract to conservation groups
Associated Press and Seattle Times staff
A deal that will protect some of Montana's most prized land is being hailed by conservationists and elected officials ...
Conservationists to Buy 500 Square Miles of Montana Timberlands
Environment News Service
Two conservation organizations announced today that they will purchase 500 square miles of western Montana forestland from Plum Creek Timber Company for $510 million ...
June 8, 2008
Conservancy groups, Plum Creek on brink of historic deal
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - Guest Column by
KAT IMHOFF, The Nature Conservancy and ERIC LOVE, The Trust For Public Land (PDF)
Montana has a unique, once-in-a-lifetime chance to conserve large swaths of its important forest lands ...
This opportunity was made possible through the great work of Sen. Max Baucus, who helped secure lead funding for a land project that could convey around 300,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Company timberland into conservation ...
May 24, 2008
Plum Creek says sale of 300,000 acres nears fruition
The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) - by TRISTAN SCOTT (PDF)
Rick Holley, president and CEO of Plum Creek, said the deal will include lands in the Swan Valley, the Seeley Lake area and in Missoula County, but
stressed ...
May 23, 2008
Baucus Seeks to Protect Plum Creek Forestlands from Development
New West (Missoula, MT) - by PETER METCALF
Specific parcels to be sold have not been finalized, but include land in the Swan Valley, Marshall Grade, Lolo and Fish Creek drainages ...
Baucus Eyes Major Land Conservation Project
PR Newswire - US Newswire (New York, NY)
The Trust for Public Land and its partners have conserved more than 25,000 acres of land in Montana's Swan Valley, including key habitat for endangered
fish ...
