Landowner and retired conservation biologist John Weaver, with the help of the Flathead Land Trust, just placed his 122-acre Mission Valley property under a conservation easement.

“Dr. John Weaver's stunning 122-acre property just east of the [National] Bison Range, previously platted for development, will now be permanently protected for agriculture, wildlife, and open space,” said Jen Guse, the land trust’s communications, outreach and special projects coordinator in an email.

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement that limits development on the land to protect its conservation values. Weaver put the first half of his ranch, 159 acres, under an easement in 2015. 

“I was drawn to it because of the surrounding beauty,” Weaver said of his property. “Over these past 25 years [living on this ranch in] Montana has become increasingly developed. I wanted to protect this special place.”

The easements reflect his passions following a lifetime committed to conservation biology. Weaver has played key roles in large carnivore conservation in the U.S. and Canada. He has held leadership positions with the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for several endangered species. Weaver helped reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone National Park and also served as senior scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society. 

Successfully placing his land under a conservation easement was an emotional experience, Weaver said while reflecting on the fact that it is protected in perpetuity. The outdoors and nature, Weaver said, have always been essential to his work. 

Homesteaded in the early 1870s, the ranch has a tradition of agriculture. More than half of the property contains “farmland of local importance” as determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. 

The newly protected land is a wildlife corridor, specifically for grizzly bears and birds. It is downstream from the Mission Mountain Wilderness and includes a section of Mission Creek, both grizzly bear strongholds. Around 96 species of birds utilize the area as well. 

“This vital property adds to a network of protected lands, creating a critical wildlife corridor for grizzly bears along a mile of Mission Creek,” Guse said. 

Weaver’s second easement also adds to an already protected, 18,000-acre wetland complex, which provides critical nesting habitat and is a migratory stopover in the Intermountain West portion of the Pacific Flyway. The wetland and a portion of the spring creek on the property are used by rare fireflies. 

The easement was made possible with funding from the North American Wetland Conservation Act, Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation through the Heart of the Rockies Keep It Connected program, Cinnabar Foundation and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Wildlife Mitigation program.

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.