About 214,000 acres on the Kootenai and Flathead national forests will serve as what Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte called the “initial sandbox” for a shared stewardship agreement between the state and U.S. Forest Service.

Signed in June 2025, the agreement seeks to increase the pace and scale of forestry projects on national forestlands in Montana through long-term state and federal partnerships. Under the plan, the state agreed to take on the implementation of certain restoration goals for an as-yet-unidentified tract of National Forest system land in Northwest Montana, “with a focus on areas with marketable timber.” 

Three units on the Flathead and Kootenai national forests were ultimately earmarked for co-management with the state. The “Libby Checkboard” encompasses 142,308 acres between the Thompson chain of lakes and Libby. The 25,432-acre Rand Creek Unit extends west of Ashley Lake, along the southern border of the Tally Lake Ranger District, and the Haskill Island Unit includes 46,171 acres on and surrounding Blacktail Mountain. 

About 200,000 acres in the Bitterroot National Forest have also been designated under the shared stewardship agreement.   

“These areas were selected intentionally based on wildfire risk to nearby communities and infrastructure and readiness for implementation,” said Amanda Kaster, director of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, at a March 6 press conference announcing the tracts designated under the agreement. “In Northwest Montana, on the Flathead National Forest, our teams are already advancing the Blacktail Powerline Project Timber Sale, the first initiative under this shared stewardship framework.” 

Flathead National Forest approved the project on Blacktail Mountain in December 2025, under an emergency action determination.  

The shared stewardship agreement commits the state to co-management of the designated tracts for 20 years. 

“That is going to allow certainty in log supply so we can keep our mills open,” said Gianforte. 

The shared stewardship agreement includes a commitment by both parties to “an annual sustainable volume of up to 100 million board feet” in shared management projects under the Good Neighbor Authority. The agreement states that the quota is a response to President Donald Trump’s directive to increase timber harvest on federal lands. 

Gianforte alluded to the president's focus on timber extraction in his own comments on the agreement, saying he was “thrilled with the night-and-day change between the last administration and this one.” 

“I think the working relationship we have with the Forest Service at this point is really unprecedented,” he said. “And we want to do the right thing by Montana and by the forest, so we’re going to press ahead aggressively here under this new authority.” 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].