Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approves purchase of northwest Montana conservation easement

Horseshoe Lake, in the Thompson Chain of Lakes, and its surrounding forestland, which are within the footprint of the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement, funded in part through Habitat Montana. (Photo by Getty Images).

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission at its Aug. 21 meeting approved purchasing a conservation easement across a more than 50,000-acre swath of land spanning three counties in northwest Montanan, permanently providing public access and protecting wildlife habitat.

Phase Two of the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement Project will more than double the protected land in the Cabinet Mountains between Kalispell and Libby, following the acquisition of a similar easement that the Montana Land Board approved last fall.

The land is owned by Green Diamond Res