The Forest Service’s Community Forest Program awarded the Foy’s to Blacktail Trails project a $400,000 grant that will go toward purchasing 170 acres of forested land needed to access Forest Service land from Herron Park, just southwest of Kalispell.

The grant was awarded as part of $3.5 million distributed between 11 community forest projects across the United States.

“It (the 170 acres) represents a gateway to Plum Creek land, which is a bridge to Forest Service land,” Foy’s to Blacktail Trails board chair Cliff Kipp said. “We’re excited. It’s quite a boon for our project.”

Foy’s to Blacktail is an organization working to complete a trail system that connects Herron Park to Blacktail Mountain. The land they want to purchase is part of a 320-acre parcel of land above Herron Park purchased by The Conservation Fund in 2007. The Conservation Fund is an organization holding onto the land until the trails project has the money to purchase it.

Over the last three years Foy’s to Blacktail raised about $1 million and purchased 150 acres from the Conservation Fund to add to Herron Park’s 120 acres of land.

Kipp said with the $400,000 grant, the project needs to raise an additional $1 million to complete acquisition of the remaining 170 acres of land.

Once that’s done, the park will sit at 440 acres and will reach Plum Creek land that can connect Herron Park to the Flathead National Forest’s Blacktail Island Unit.

“Most of it (the grant money) will go toward purchase,” Kipp said. “But there are contingencies.”

The contingencies include using the forest as an interpretive and educational space for local students, landowners and families. The Community Forest Program is a way for the Forest Service to provide financial assistance to local governments and nonprofits establishing community forests that are accessible to the public.

It requires that the community be involved in long-term forest management decisions and the establishment of the community forest itself.

The grant also requires a 50 percent non-federal match.

The Community Forest Program money will be awarded through Flathead County Parks and Recreation.

Kipp said county parks and recreation has been an instrumental part of getting Foy’s to Blacktail Trails closer to complete.

“Without Flathead County,” Kipp said. “We’d be nowhere near where we are right now.”