The protection of land and water in Haskill Basin near Whitefish is the nation’s top-ranked working forest conservation project for the U.S. Forest Service, The Trust for Public Land announced Monday.

Last summer, the trust and F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co., Montana’s oldest family-owned lumber company, announced a plan to conserve more than 3,000 acres of Stoltze-owned land. 

The property straddles the Haskill Basin drainage and provides about 75 percent of Whitefish’s drinking water supply. It would be permanently protected for water, wildlife and recreation while continued sustainable forest management would be allowed.

“We are very excited and appreciative of receiving the highest-priority national ranking for the 2015 Forest Legacy Program,” said Chuck Roady, Stoltze’s vice president and general manager. “This number-one rank reflects the significance, importance, and broad recognition of the Haskill Basin project to the city of Whitefish municipal watershed, to the Western Montana recreational community, and to the continuous commitment by Stoltze to sustainable forest management for this critical area.”

The project was top-ranked by the Forest Service for its Forest Legacy Program, which provides grants to states to purchase permanent conservation easements and other property interests that protect forest land resources. 

The Forest Service would provide $7 million of the estimated $17 million cost.

“We knew Haskill Basin was one of the most important projects in the country and this budget proposal just confirms that,” said Deb Love, Northern Rockies director of The Trust for Public Land. “Not only will conservation of Haskill Basin ensure continued timber jobs in the area, it protects outstanding wildlife habitat, a popular trail system, and most importantly, Whitefish’s drinking water supply.”

Love said more funding is needed to permanently protect the land.

“The Trust for Public Land will be working with the local community to raise additional money from private donors and various public funding sources to make possible the protection of this beloved resource.”

The Forest Service ranks the Stolze project as its highest priority for the program in Fiscal Year 2015, which begins Oct. 1. President Barack Obama sent the government wide budget to  Congress last week.

The request was part of the broader budget for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Obama proposed to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million.

The project has the support of Montana Sens. Jon Tester and John Walsh, both Democrats, and Republican Rep. Steve Daines.