The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission recently unanimously approved the acquisition of 772 acres of land east of the Flathead River outside of Columbia Falls last week for the proposed Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area.

The approval marks one of the final steps of acquisition of the property from the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., which owns the land.

It now goes before the land board on Nov. 15 for final consideration. If all goes well, the purchase should close by the end of the year.

FWP partnered with the Flathead Land Trust on the project. CFAC gave the organizations until the end of 2021 to complete the acquisition. If the project fails, the property would most likely be sold, subdivided, and developed into a high-density neighborhood that would directly impact the conservation value of the site.

The appraised value of the acquisition is $7.26 million. Funding sources include $4 million from the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program, which is funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund that collects revenues from offshore oil and gas; $2.5 million from FWP’s Habitat Montana program, which uses several big game license revenues that are earmarked for the protection of wildlife habitat, particularly “important habitat that is seriously threatened;” and $590,000 raised by the Flathead Land Trust in a local fundraising effort that collected private individuals, organizations, and foundations. CFAC would donate the remainder of the value.

The project has seen overwhelming public support, as it’s one of the last large privately-owned tracts of land near Columbia Falls.

It is home to a host of wildlife species, including bald eagles, black and grizzly bears, elk and deer and a host of different songbirds.

It’s also key habitat for native fish like bull trout and west slope cutthroat trout.

If the Land Board approves the sale, it will not be open to public access this winter, as it’s a wildlife management area, and key winter range for deer and elk.