The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a series of open house meetings during the third week of December to discuss a proposal to expand the Service's conservation easement conservation easement
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or qualified conservation organization that restricts the type and amount of development that may take place on a property in the future. Conservation easements aim to protect habitat for birds, fish and other wildlife by limiting residential, industrial or commercial development. Contracts may prohibit alteration of the natural topography, conversion of native grassland to cropland, drainage of wetland and establishment of game farms. Easement land remains in private ownership.
Learn more about conservation easement program along the Rocky Mountain Front. The meetings will give the public the opportunity to learn more about the Service's proposal to purchase conservation easements from willing sellers along the Front whose lands provide important habitat for fish and wildlife resources. The proposed expansion of the program would not authorize any fee title acquisition or outright purchase of private land.
Service staff will share information, answer questions and take public comments about the easement program at the following open house meetings:
- Tuesday, December 14, in Augusta, Montana, at the Augusta Community Center, 314 Main Street, from 4 pm to 7 pm.
- Wednesday, December 15, in Choteau, Montana, at the Stage Stop Inn, 1005 Main Avenue North, from 4 pm to 7 pm.
- Thursday, December 16, in Great Falls, Montana at the La Quinta Inn, 600 River Drive South, from 4 pm to 7 pm.
"Using conservation easements, the Service and private landowners have worked cooperatively to conserve nearly 60,000 acres of wildlife habitat in western Montana," said Gary Sullivan, State Coordinator for the Service's Realty program. "Conservation easements are proven, effective tools for maintaining the rural character and agricultural land base vital to wildlife habitat conservation in this state.?
The Service is initiating an environmental assessment to analyze the potential impacts of a conservation easement program on the Front. The open house meetings are part of the scoping phase for the EA, during which the Service is working with county commissioners, the State of Montana, conservation organizations, landowners, and other individuals to collect additional information about the Front, wildlife and wildlife habitat, and the potential impacts of a conservation easement program. Following scoping, the Service will complete the assessment, the outcome of which will determine whether the Service should proceed with the proposed conservation easement program.
- FWS -
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
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Visit the Mountain Prairie website at: http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov
