“This is all the headwaters of the Blackfoot and Clearwater rivers,” said Quinn Carver, Seeley Lake District Ranger. “This is all the ‘River Runs Through It’ legacy lands.”
Carver referred to the Norman Maclean novella celebrating fly-fishing and family on the “Big Blackfoot” River and Missoula, which has fueled international interest in the region. However, the area also endured a century of intensive logging, mining and other development that resulted in unmaintained roads, sediment-filled streams, degraded wildlife habitat and other management challenges.
“Any time you can get rid of checkerboard and get it in contiguous management, it makes things easier,” Carver said. “TNC has done a ton of work on this road system already. A lot of those roads were put in a long time ago and have undersized culverts.”
The mountains harbor significant populations of deer and elk, threatened bull trout and grizzly bears. They are also popular with snowmobilers and backcountry skiers, anglers, backpackers, berry-pickers and mountain bikers. The Rattlesnake and Mission Mountain wilderness areas and the Flathead Indian Reservation’s South Jocko Primitive Area border this forest.
“This is the culmination of a great partnership with TNC and other partners in that particular landscape,” said Lolo District Ranger Jen Hensiek, whose jurisdiction abuts Carver’s. “I know our kids and kids’ kids are going to be able to enjoy that landscape. It allows more wildlife continuity, more recreation access into those areas, and into the (Rattlesnake) national recreation area. And I know it comes with some work.”
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