The Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Grizzly Bear Management Plan in Western Montana, 

 2005 (this document) outlines the States goal to manage for a recovered grizzly bear population in 

 western Montana and to provide for continuing expansion of that population into areas that are 

 biologically suitable and socially acceptable. The objectives of the EIS are to (i) give a comprehensive 

 presentation of the subject (ii) review the many variables involved (iii) develop a framework for review of 

 alternatives and (iv) through public discussion, weigh the merits and impacts of various alternatives thus 

 allowing selection of a program for future regional grizzly bear management. Included in the plan is 

 direction for habitat monitoring and management, including guidelines for road densities, cover, seasonal 

 closures road construction and human activiHes in seasonally important grizzly habitat. Livestock conflict 

 resolution is also dealt with. 



Additionally, as mentioned in the preceding Corporate Lands section, Montana FWP together with the 

 Plum Creek Timber Company, and other partners, completed a conservation agreement on more than 

 1,800 acres of land formerly owned by Plum Creek and Genesis Mining Company. The result was the 

 creation, in 2005, of the Bull River Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which is to be managed by FWP. 



In December 2005, Montana FWP also announced that it plans to purchase conservation easements within 

 Lake County as part of its North Swan Valley Conservation Project. The project encompasses 

 approximately 10,880 acres in Lake County, with lands generally checker-boarded within the Swan River 

 State Forest. FWP will acquire a conservation easement on 7,200 acres of this total, and will purchase the 

 remaining 3,680 acres in fee, as funding allows. FWP proposes to convey any fee lands that it acquires to 

 another management entity (agency or nonprofit) that will manage the land consistent with the habitat 

 conservation and working forest principles of the Forest Legacy Program. 



3.2 Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Lands (DNRC) 



Montana DNRC manages land that contains important seasonal and year long habitats for grizzly bears 



in western Montana. It is the policy of the Montana DNRC to conduct programs and activities in a 



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