Conservation easements along Thompson River another step closer

Representatives from the Green Diamond Resource Company and The Trust For Public Lands met with local citizens about the future of the Thompson River corridor, and to thank those who have supported the effort for a conservation easement along the river.

Green Diamond Resource purchased 291,000 acres of forestland in northwestern Montana in early 2021, with much of it within the Thompson River corridor.

Green Diamond is a family-owned forest products company with holdings in 10 states and has been in business for over 100 years.

The purchase sparked enough concerns from locals about future access to the land that Zach Whipple-Kilmer, owner of the Limber Lost Brewing Company in Thompson Falls, got involved. His concern was for continued public access through the Thompson River corridor and to keep it as forestlands and from being commercially developed.

Whipple-Kilmer hopes are becoming reality with the help of a nonprofit organization called The Trust For Public Lands.

Catherine Schmidt, a Trust For Public Lands representative based out of Bozeman, has been instrumental in obtaining federal funding from the Forest Legacy Program to purchase a conservation easement, known as the Upper Thompson Connectivity Project from Green Diamond Resource.

The Trust For Public Lands are the lead partner along with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

The purchase will be in two phases, with the first phase projected to cost of $6 million and awaiting federal funding. Phase 2 is in progress.

Phase one is in conjunction with the ongoing efforts, with the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Project, the Lost Trail Conservation Area and Green Diamond will also assume the terms of the Thompson-Fisher River Conservation easement. All areas are within the Thompson River drainage. The Upper Thompson Connectivity Project is ranked number one in Federal funding priority.

The Thompson River conservation easement has received wide support from local residents, Sanders County commissioners and from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The completion of the easement will allow continued public access as well as forest management through timber harvesting.