The Trust for Public Land announced last week that the protection of land and water in Haskill Basin is the Forest Service’s top-ranked working forest conservation project.

Last summer, the Trust and F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. announced plans to conserve more than 3,000 acres of Stoltze-owned land straddling Haskill Basin.

The drainage provides about 75 percent of the city of Whitefish’s drinking water supply. The land will be permanently protected for water, wildlife and recreation, as well as continued sustainable forest management.

The Forest Service ranked the project at the top in 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 will provide $7 million of the estimated $17 million total cost.

Stoltze is Montana’s oldest family-owned lumber company. The company was founded in 1912, but it grew out of the State Lumber Co., which began operating in the Flathead in 1891.

“We are very excited and appreciative of receiving the highest priority national ranking for the 2015 Forest Legacy Program,” Stoltze vice president and general manager Chuck Roady said. “This No. 1 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.”