The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission has given final approval to a conservation easement covering more than 34,000 acres in the Thompson River drainage, securing permanent public access and wildlife habitat protections on privately held timberland in northwestern Montana.
The Easement and Its Location
The easement applies to land owned by Green Diamond Montana Timberlands LLC, situated in the Cabinet Mountains north of Thompson Falls and Plains. At 34,610 acres, the parcel represents a significant block of contiguous habitat in a region known for its wildlife diversity and recreational use.
Under the terms of the agreement, development on the property is permanently prohibited and free public access for recreation is guaranteed. At the same time, the easement preserves the landowner’s ability to continue commercial forest management and timber harvesting, making it a conservation tool that does not remove the land from productive use.
Wildlife and Recreation Value
The Thompson River drainage supports a broad range of wildlife, including elk, moose, deer, mountain lions, and black bears. The area already draws substantial recreational activity — roughly 10,000 days of public hunting and angling use each year — making it one of the more heavily used private lands open to the public in the region.
By locking in that access through a permanent easement rather than relying on landowner goodwill, the commission ensures that future ownership changes cannot close off the land to hunters, anglers, and other outdoor users.
Funding Breakdown
The project carries a combined value of approximately $20 million. The U.S. Forest Service contributed $13 million through its Forest Legacy Program, a federal initiative designed to keep private forest lands under active forestry while protecting conservation values. Green Diamond donated the remaining $7 million as an easement value contribution, reducing the cash outlay required to complete the transaction.
The commission’s vote served as the final approval needed to move the project forward, closing out a process that brought together federal funding and a private landowner donation to protect one of the larger undeveloped tracts in the Cabinet Mountains corridor. Montana has pursued similar land protection strategies elsewhere in the state, including a recent $6.32 million purchase near Laurel for a forensic mental health facility — a different type of state land acquisition but reflecting the same use of strategic property transactions to achieve public goals.
What Comes Next
With commission approval secured, the easement can now be formally recorded and the access and habitat protections put into effect. The Forest Legacy Program funding process will proceed through the U.S. Forest Service, and the conservation terms will attach permanently to the deed regardless of future ownership of the underlying land.
Green Diamond will retain ownership of the timberland and continue forest operations under the easement’s guidelines, which limit uses that would conflict with wildlife habitat or public recreation but do not prohibit sustainable timber management.
Broader Context
Conservation easements have become an increasingly common tool for Montana land managers looking to protect habitat and recreation access without removing private land from the tax rolls or eliminating working-forest economies. The Cabinet Mountains region, which sits along a corridor connecting larger wilderness areas, has drawn interest from conservation groups and state agencies alike due to its role in wildlife movement across northwestern Montana.
The Thompson River drainage easement also fits into a broader pattern of federal-state cooperation on land conservation in Montana. The Forest Legacy Program has supported several similar projects across the state, pairing federal dollars with private contributions to stretch public conservation funding further. Environmental and regulatory activity in Montana has drawn considerable attention in recent months, including a public hearing at Montana Tech that scrutinized a federal cleanup proposal for the Butte Superfund site — another example of federal and state interests intersecting on natural resource and land management questions.
The commission’s approval ensures the Upper Thompson easement moves from negotiation to permanent protection, locking in recreational access and conservation standards for one of the Cabinet Mountains’ larger timberland blocks.
