Plum Creek purchase

More than 40,000 acres of Mineral County land will be part of a multimillion dollar conservation purchase made by the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land that was announced last week.

The Montana Legacy Project, a conglomeration of efforts from the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, plans to purchase 320,000 acres from the Plum Creek Timber Company for $510 million. They announced that they had come to an agreement with Plum Creek in a press release on June 30.

“Plum Creek has converted to a real estate investment trust and they are looking at other uses for their land other than timber production,” said Tana Kappel, a representative for the Nature Conservancy.

According to a press release from the Montana Legacy Project, the land being purchased is part of the “Crown of the Continent,” and is one of the most “ecologically diverse and biologically intact” areas remaining in the United States.

Kappel, who has been Montana’s communications director for the Nature Conservancy since the beginning of this year, said that this project will help preserve recreational access on Plum Creek Lands.

“On a lot of these lands Plum Creek has allowed access for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, timber harvesting etcetera. What we wanted to do with this project is preserve that public access,” Kappel said.

Of the 320,000 acres, 42,800 will be in Mineral County. Most of the land is in the Fish Creek drainage, while some of it lies in the Lolo area.

The main reason behind the purchase is Plum Creek’s recent shift from timber production to residential subdivisions. Kappel said that the Montana Legacy Project aims to keep the property much as it is now, and allow the community to voice its opinion on the issues surrounding the purchase.

Kathy Budinick, a Plum Creek Representative, said that while the company has been dabbling in development, their main pursuit is timber harvesting. She said that in the past five year the company has sold 210,000 acres in Montana and only 3,000 of those acres have been used for subdevelopments.

Mineral County has the second largest chunk of land in the deal, with Missoula County surpassing it at 223,400 acres.

Kappel said that the Montana Legacy Project will not happen all at once and that people should look for meetings with local officials to discuss how these lands should be best managed.

The Montana Legacy Project will not actually keep any of the property purchased through this deal. Kappel said that the lands will be distributed and sold to state and local entities as well as some private holders who will have to meet the requirements of conservation easements.

“One of the big things we’re doing with this project is trying to ensure that local communities can plan for appropriate development,” Kappel explained.

The easements will help the community ensure that these properties remain open for recreation and sustainable timber harvesting. Kappel said that by preventing subdevelopments from being put in far-reaching areas of the county the county will actually be saving money because they will not have to expend extra resources protecting homes from fire that are far away from the rest of the county’s population.

Kappel said that possible landowners after the project is concluded include the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation or private owners with conservation easements.

Mineral County Commissioner Judy Stang said she was concerned that the land purchase would actually damage the county’s tax base slightly. She added that she thought the potential benefits could outweigh the small tax revenue loss.

“That’s not a bad idea. A lot of that stuff people have been using for hunting and fishing access for years. If someone else had bought it, like for a subdivision, they probably would have put a gate on it,” Stang said. “This way it allows access for everybody.”

According to the press release from the Montana Legacy Project, the purchase will be made in three phases; a third of the land will be purchased each phase.

Half of the $510 million used to purchase this property will come from Qualified Conservation Forestry Bonds mechanism in the recently passed U.S. Farm Bill. The bill, championed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., may provide the project with up to $250 million.

Kappel said that the rest of the funding for the project will come from philanthropists, private investors and fundraising. She said that all of the money has not been found to pay for the purchase yet, but they will have the money by the time each phase is complete.

“There’s a lot of planning that needs to go on in the next few years as to who buys the land and that kind of thing,” said Kappel.

The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land have been involved in conservation in Montana for many years. Kappel said that the two organizations purchased over 100,000 acres in the Thompson/Fisher area and the Nature Conservancy purchased 89,000 acres in the Blackfoot River area for conservation.

Even after this purchase, Plum Creek will still be one of the nation’s largest landholders with more than 600,000 acres of land in Montana alone.