28,000 acres - Brought to you by LWCF

[Ben Lamb]

http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/finding_common_ground/26535/

The next time someone says that the Land and Water Conservation Fund doesn't do anything for the common hunter or angler, point to this:

Don Clark, president of the Libby Rod and Gun Club, said he isn’t a fan of conservation easements that lock up land privately, but he supports the Stimson project because of its commitment to public access. More people, often retirees, have been moving to the area and purchasing land in recent years, Clark said. He’s concerned about maintaining the region’s rural character.

“This helps keep things a little more small-townish,” Clark said of the easement. “We’re kind of a slow-paced, almost rural setting here and I like that. If you take this 28,000 acres and you sell it all, then you might get too much immigration and these people who move in want to make it like where they came from and that changes things for locals. I don’t want that.”

The proposal has received widespread support from the community, project coordinators say, mostly because everybody seems to agree on the importance of public access on undeveloped lands. Wood said locals have seen first-hand the consequences of forestland turning into subdivisions. When Plum Creek sold the 28,000 acres to Stimson in 2003, it also sold another chunk of land to a developer, who then subdivided it, Wood said.

“Those folks in Troy saw what happened there in terms of access,” he said.