Trumbull Creek | North Fork Preservation Association

Congratulations to everyone, including the Stoltze company, who worked to make this happen . . .

A $9.5 million, 7,068-acre conservation easement has been finalized for the Trumbull Creek area north of Columbia Falls, the Trust for Public Land and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Park announced Friday.

The land-use agreement for the property, owned by Stoltze Land & Lumber Co., permanently bars commercial and residential development, while allowing timber management and public recreational use to continue. Stoltze contributed to the cost of the easement by donating a portion of the land value. The majority of the $9.5 million came from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, Forest Legacy Program and Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.

“It really has high resource values,” Trust for Public Land Northern Rockies Director Dick Dolan said in an interview. He added that the land includes grizzly bear and Canadian lynx habitat, and serves as the headwaters for bull trout spawning areas.

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Looks like the Trumbull Creek land deal is a go . . .

A large land conservation deal northwest of Columbia Falls will benefit from passage of the Land, Water and Conservation Fund.

The fund uses off shore oil and gas lease revenue for conservation projects across the U.S. Congress extended the measure for three years when it passed a massive budget bill just before the holidays. Nationwide, Congress appropriated about $450 million to the fund.

Montana’s largest LWCF project this year is the Trumbull Creek conservation easement with F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. The Trumbull Creek easement is a $9.5 million deal, with $6.5 million from the Forest Legacy program, $2 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Habitat Conservation Plan program and $1 million from private donations.

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