Major Land Deal in Montana and Washington

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John, I thought you might be interested in a major land deal The Nature Conservancy just announced. Yesterday, we announced a $134 million, 165,000-acre conservation project in Washington's Central Cascade Mountains and Montana's Blackfoot River Valley. One of the largest land deals ever undertaken by TNC, the project secures some of the most important wildlife habitat on the continent, connects vast wilderness areas and protects sources of clean water for people and nature. The project builds on years of work by TNC and partners to consolidate vast stretches of western land that are broken into a checkerboard pattern of public and private ownership. We look forward to formally closing this deal in the next few months and working with local communities to develop a shared vision for the future of these lands. For more details on the project, please see the below press release. Additional information, including maps<http://www.washingtonnature.org/centralcascadesmaps>, a slide show<http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/checkerboard-project-saving-land-in-the-american-west.xml>, a video<http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/forests-for-americas-future.xml?intc=nature.hp.sp1> and factsheets, is also posted on nature.org<http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/forests-for-americas-future.xml?intc=nature.hp.sp1>. Thank you as always for your leadership and support of conservation. If you have any questions or if there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know. Best regards, Mark ----- Mark Tercek [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 703-841-5330<tel:703-841-5330> (phone) | 703-527-3729<tel:703-527-3729> (fax) NATURE'S FORTUNE: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature Available at marktercek.com<http://marktercek.com/> Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/marktercek Nature Conservancy Announces Major Land Purchase to Promote Water Quality, Wildlife Habitat and Outdoor Recreation in Two Western States 257 Square-Mile Project Will Unite Checkerboard Ownership Patterns in Key Areas of Montana and Washington MISSOULA, MT & CLE ELUM, WA - October 27, 2014 - The Nature Conservancy today announced a $134 million conservation project that will preserve recreational access and help conserve the ecological integrity of 165,073 acres - 257 square miles - of forests, rivers and wildlife habitat in the Cascade Mountain Range of Washington and in the Blackfoot River Valley in Montana. The Conservancy is acquiring the lands from Plum Creek, including 47,921 acres in the Yakima River Headwaters in Washington and 117,152 acres in the Lower Blackfoot River Watershed in Montana. "This project will secure some of the most important wildlife habitat on the continent," said Mark R. Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. "These lands serve as critical linkages between vast wilderness areas and will protect sources of clean water for people and nature. We are excited about the opportunity to work with local communities to develop a shared vision for the future of these forests and rivers." In the months ahead, the Conservancy in both states will actively engage with local partners to identify the best possible permanent outcomes for these lands. Options include, in some cases, transfer to public ownership or private ownership with conservation easements. The Conservancy's management focus during the time it manages the lands will be on forest restoration to enhance wildlife habitat and to protect water quality. This transaction is one of the largest land acquisition projects ever undertaken by the Conservancy. Dubbed The Great Western Checkerboards Project, this collaborative project seeks to conserve lands granted in 1862 by Congress to the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads. Through an act of Congress, every other section (one square mile) of land within 10-40 miles of a proposed railroad right-of-way was granted to the railroad company while the federal government retained the neighboring sections. As a result of this history, there are vast stretches of western land that are broken into a checkerboard pattern of public and private ownership. This makes the management of the intermingled public land more difficult and costly. The Great Western Checkerboards Project builds on years of work by many organizations, individuals and government agencies to consolidate the largest remaining checkerboards in Washington's Cascades Range and the Crown of the Continent area of Montana, a 10-million-acre landscape that envelops Glacier National Park. In Washington, the lands the Conservancy is acquiring stretch for nearly 25 miles along either side of I-90 east of Snoqualmie Pass, just a little over an hour's drive from Seattle. They connect federal and state wilderness areas and encompass the headwaters of the Yakima River, one of the most important salmon and steelhead rivers in the state. The Cascade forests span rugged and beautiful country, home to elk, wolves, spotted owls and other raptors. People across the region prize these forests for outdoor recreation. "Today's transaction creates an opportunity to open community dialog around the future for these 48,000 acres of prized lands-to connect and secure important wildlife habitat that is becoming all too scarce, to continue to protect clean water in rivers and lakes right along the I-90 corridor, and to create a place where people can enjoy fishing, hunting and hiking," said Mike Stevens, the Conservancy's Washington state director. The Montana portion of this project conserves 117,000 acres of ecologically important lands in the state's storied Blackfoot River Valley, a place known for its vast forests, blue ribbon trout rivers and multi-generation family ranches. The conservation of these new lands builds on the historic achievement of the Montana Legacy Project, which in 2008 conserved and re-connected more than 310,000 acres within the Crown of the Continent. The Crown is a magnificent, 10-million acre natural system that has not seen a plant or animal go extinct during recorded history and whose waters feed rivers that flow across the continent into three different seas. Over the years, the Conservancy has worked with Plum Creek in this area to secure key lands for conservation. The Montana lands being acquired are among the largest and most ecologically important tracts of private land in the Crown of the Continent. The project will ensure that the Crown's grand mosaic will be conserved, securing this place as a hub for wide-ranging wildlife, such as grizzly bears, lynx, and wolves -- whose survival depends on the ability to move, unobstructed, across hundreds of miles of wild lands in Montana, Idaho, and into Canada. These lands and waters create an outdoor playground that's been popular with Montanans and visitors from around the world for generations, and which serves as an economic base for many of the surrounding rural communities. "We're excited about working with all of our partners to balance the tremendous natural and community values of this land," said Richard Jeo, state director of The Nature Conservancy in Montana. "With their input and our science and stewardship, we can create a future for these lands that contributes to the extraordinary quality of life that defines Montana." ### The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org<http://www.nature.org/>. Contacts: Geraldine Henrich-Koenis [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> (703) 841-3939 - office (703) 314-1137 - cell Erin Hendel (Montana) [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> (406) 495-2267 - office (406) 422-3938 - cell Robin Stanton (Washington) [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> (206) 436-2267 - office (425) 478-5641 - cell