A vital wildlife haven in the Mission Valley was protected today through a conservation easement with Flathead Land Trust. This easement serves as a crucial link, connecting the Mission Mountain Wilderness to a vast network of over 18,000 acres of previously conserved lands, including the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge.
The 40-acre property provides critical habitat and a travel corridor for grizzly bears and a wide range of wildlife species. Mollman Creek, meandering through the parcel for a third of a mile, and several pothole wetlands provide crucial water sources and riparian habitat. The landowners have observed frequent visits from grizzly bear, black bear, and white-tailed deer along with bobcat, mountain lion, elk, and a myriad of other mammals and birds.
Near the Kicking Horse Waterfowl Production Area and Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge, an Important Bird Area designated by Montana Audubon, the property significantly enhances critical bird habitat.
The landowners have observed 116 bird species on-site including 11 species of concern, such as a great grey owl pair that raised their young on the property. Northern goshawk also utilize the property. This easement provides essential nesting and wintering grounds as well as resting and refueling habitat. It lies within a major stopover site in the Intermountain West portion of the Pacific Flyway.
Northern goshawk, a Montana species of concern, photographed on the conservation easement.
The conservation easement also safeguards a unique habitat and a rare plant species. A skunk cabbage-dominated wetland, similar to a habitat type listed as “imperiled” by the Montana Natural Heritage Program, forms part of the diverse riparian mosaic along Mollman Creek. Nestled within a few of the wetlands is a rare Impatiens species.
This conservation project was made possible through funding from the Cinnabar Foundation, Vital Ground Foundation, Richard King Mellon Foundation through the Heart of the Rockies Initiative Keep It Connected Program, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Wildlife Mitigation Program. Completion of this conservation easement has helped Flathead Land Trust increase pace of conservation in a rapidly growing region. Flathead Land Trust has placed 80 properties under conservation easement over the course of 40 years, collaboratively protecting nearly 20,000 acres in northwest Montana.
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