The Montana Land Board approved last week the first phase of a large conservation easement in Northwest Montana in a 3-2 vote.  

Known as the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement, it will protect nearly 33,000 acres of working timberlands from development.   

“I would like to be on record supporting this easement,” said Gov. Greg Gianforte, who chairs the board, at the meeting.  

Board members approved it with the condition clarifying that mining rights would be protected and allow for the extraction of resources. 

The 32,981-acre tract is in the Salish and Cabinet mountains and enjoyed the support of county commissioners, Northwest Montana residents and timber companies. The land remains privately owned by Green Diamond Resource Company and will stay on the tax roll, remain open to public access and protected for future timber production. 

“The importance of these state private lands are extremely timely, especially for Northwest Montana,” Paul McKenzie, vice president and general manager of FH Stoltze Land and Lumber, told the Land Board. “Not only do we rely on [private] landowners for a source of timber, they rely pretty heavily on us.” 

Conservation easements, specifically on lands that have good timber stands, help support family-owned businesses like Stoltze, he said. Without the easements the acres would see more houses go up than trees. 

That sentiment was shared with most who testified.  

“If these lands don't stay on a large industrial base, we can forget seeing any manufacturing capacity in Lincoln County for wood products. We just can't bear that, that's who we are,” Mark Peck, a Lincoln County representative and former county commissioner.  

Kyle Schmauch, the communications director for the state Senate Republicans, who spoke as a private citizen, described growing up near the tract of land. It is where he shot his first deer and learned to elk hunt. He recalled hiking and camping in the area. He is the sixth or seventh generation of his family to do so, he said.  

Schmauch also pointed out how popular the land is for Flathead Valley residents, an area that has already seen immense growth and development. Without the easement, that land could succumb to the pressure for development. 

If the land was parceled out and made private, it would “fundamentally destroy the character of Northwest Montana as it’s always existed,” Schmauch said. 

The first phase of the easement is valued at about $40 million. Funding for the project came from public and private sources, along with Green Diamond committing to donate about $13.8 million of the easement’s appraised value.  

A point of contention during the discussion led to at least one vote against the easement. Peter Scott, a Bozeman attorney speaking on behalf of Citizens for Balanced Use and WRH Nevada Properties, told the Land Board that approving the easement would be “premature” due to mineral rights.  

WRH owns mineral rights beneath the Green Diamond property and sued to stop the easement. They also sought an injunction to stop the Land Board vote, which Lincoln County District Court Judge Matthew Cuffe denied.  

Nothing in the easement prevents WRH from capitalizing on its mining interests, Cuffe determined. Mineral owners have the right to reasonable use of the surface regardless of whether the landowner gives permission, according to the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. 

The draft environmental assessment, released in May by FWP, states that should a third-party mineral right holder discover mineral resources in the area, the conservation easement would not prevent that entity from developing and extracting those resources. 

“I don't think the Land Board decision directly affects the litigation,” Scott said after the meeting. “However, it does present an opportunity to discuss potential revisions to the conservation easement that might address some of the concerns in the litigation.” 

Gianforte accused Scott of misleading people in his testimony. As of this week, the case is still working its way through the courts. The state Supreme Court is expected to hear WRH’s appeal for the denied injunction. 

The Land Board passed the easement with an amendment to change the wording to clarify the mineral rights associated with the property would remain, something that Scott argues it does not currently have. The amendment was proposed by Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, who voted in favor of approval.  

The amendment deterred Superintendent of Public Schools Elsie Arntzen from voting in favor of the easement. She, along with Attorney General Austin Knudsen, voted against the easement.  

According to Arntzen, she was cautious about entering an agreement while litigation is pending.  

Knudsen on the other hand voted against the easement for fundamental reasons, he said. He opposes perpetual easements.  

“I just simply don't personally, philosophically like the idea of a forever, forever, forever conservation easement so I will not be supporting this,” he said.  

Each conservation easement is written for a specific tract of land with different requirements. When a piece of land is under a conservation easement, the land cannot be developed in the future. 

Green Diamond Resource Company in January 2021 bought the land from Southern Pine Plantation which had purchased the property from Weyerhaeuser, and worked with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Trust for Public Land to create the easement. A second phase of the project that organizers hope to see secured next year could bring the total easement to 85,792 acres. 

Representatives from Stimson Lumber, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Montana Wildlife Federation and the Trust for Public Lands also spoke in support of the easement.  

The Land Board will vote on the updated language at its next meeting in November.  

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