from Plum Creek, bringing the total number of acres purchased within the 88,000-acre Blackfoot project 

 area to 54,000. Of this, 9,460 acres have been re-sold to public and private landowners. Another 11,000 

 acres is expected to be sold to the U.S. Forest Service. 



Flathead Land Trust (FLT) 



The FLT, based out of Kalispell, is a community land trust that actively works with local landowners, 

 community members and organizations in the Flathead Valley to protect wildlife, scenery and water 

 quality through voluntary conservation easements. Once an easement is completed, the trust initiates 

 regular monitoring to ensure that conditions of the easement are being observed. The Trust currently 

 manages 32 conservation easements in the Flathead Valley and 7,000 acres of protected wetlands, 

 farmland, wildlife sanctuaries, and working forests. The FLT has also received several grants recently that 

 will increase their ability to add new conservation easements as well as monitor and steward existing 

 easements. 



Great Northern Environmental Stewardship Area (GNESA) 



GNESA is a partnership comprised of private landowners, citizen's organizations, business corporations 

 and government agencies with a presence in the Middle Fork Flathead River corridor: an area that bisects 

 the natural lands of the Bob Marshall Complex and Glacier National Park. This corridor encompasses 

 unparalleled natural landscapes, critical wildlife habitat, a pristine free-flowing river and vital 

 transportation and utility routes, all of which contribute essential values to the region. The goal of the 

 partnership is to work collaboratively towards resolution of important resource issues in an effort to 

 promote enlightened stewardship and collaborative responsibility. Projects undertaken by GNESA 

 include: 



• reducing human and grizzly conflicts and preventable bear deaths 



proactive efforts for safe transport of hazardous materials through the corridor 

 improving corridor communication and emergency response coordination 

 conservation planning for private lands 



Montana Land Reliance (MLR) 



Primarily using conservation easements, the MLR works with Montana's private landowners both one- 

 on-one and in neighborhood-based groups to provide long-term, legally sound conservation strategies to 

 protect the economic and natural elements of their land and neighborhoods. The goal is to protect 1 

 million acres of private lands through conservation easements in Montana by 2010. Presently, the land 

 trust has put 400,000 acres in conservation easements, including four around Flathead Lake. The 

 organization has played an active role in the Swan Valley, completing 22 additional easements to protect 

 roughly 2,000 acres. Easements completed in 2004 have increased the total land in the Montana portion 

 of the NCDE to nearly 13,000 acres. The organization also has a Land Stewardship Program to develop 

 management plans with landowners. 



Northwest Connections (NWC) 



NWC engages in community based projects which assist land managers and private land owners in 

 better understanding, conserving and restoring critical habitats and habitat connections in the Swan 

 Valley and surrounding areas. As part of its long term grizzly bear strategy, NWC, in conjunction with 

 the Flathead National Forest, plants blister-rust resistant whitebark pine seedlings, helps conduct surveys 

 to assess remnant whitebark pine populations and monitors open and closed roads and trails. 



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