On the Horizon: An Opportunity to Permanently Protect Prized Montana Wildlands!

According to The Wilderness Society, Montana’s federal delegation has a unique opportunity to permanently protect critical wildlands in the state, ranging from the Flathead National Forest and the North Swan River Valley in the north, to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in southwestern Montana.  This opportunity to safeguard some of the most spectacular and vulnerable places comes through funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and Forest Legacy program.  Congress must authorize monies through the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and Forest Legacy program for these specific Montana wildlands. 
 
How the Land and Water Conservation Fund Works:
Congress made a farsighted investment in 1964 to protect America's public lands when it created the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Since its inception, LWCF funding has purchased over 7 million
acres of open space and has been instrumental in the creation of nearly 40,000 recreation and park areas.

Every year, Congress must vote to appropriate money for the Land and Water Conservation Fund in the Interior Appropriations bill to continue funding critical projects. Over the past 6 years this funding has been cut by more than 75%, culminating in this year's Bush Administration’s FY 2008 request which proposes one of the lowest funding levels for LWCF in the program's history.

The 110th Congress has a real opportunity to reverse this downward funding trend for LWCF. The Forest Legacy program complements LWCF by helping states conserve and protect privately owned forests so that they continue to provide clean water and habitat for wildlife. The President has proposed $29 million for Forest Legacy this year, but 41 states have submitted 82 projects identifying $192 million in need for the program!

It's crucial that both the House and Senate provide increased funding for priority LWCF and Forest Legacy projects. It’s up to citizens who care about these special places to make their voices heard and let their delegation know how important this funding is. 

Please contact Representative Dennis Rehberg and Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus.  Ask them to request funding for these critical programs and projects this year. 

To learn more about this issue and/or to see a sample letter to send to your representatives, please see The Wilderness Society's action center at:

http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/LWCF_MT_fy08

And speaking of the Land and Water Conservation Fund…

Please thank Senators Baucus and Tester for recently recovering more than $1.25 million in federal funding for the Bureau of Land Management to complete the purchase of nearly 5,550 acres for the Iron Mask conservation project in Broadwater County.

The funds were lost when Congress didn't fund specific projects, also known as earmarks, in the fiscal year 2007 spending bill earlier this year, requiring the senators to lobby agency officials directly for the funding.

The dollars will serve to protect important elk habitat, bighorn sheep and antelope habitat in the Elkhorn Mountains and are part of the Iron Mask conservation project, which will provide the public with access to 5,548 acres for hunting. This property is one of the largest intact public landscapes free of development on the east flank of the Elkhorn Mountains. 

In 2005, The Conservation Fund, in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, acquired the 5,548-acre Iron Mask property. Using federal funds and monies from the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the partnership sold 2,480-acres to the BLM to manage for public use. The $1.25 million secured by Senator Baucus and Tester enables the BLM to purchase remaining lands from the partnership and complete the project this year.