For decades Montanans’ access to treasured land has been guaranteed through little more than a handshake. But at a time when Montana is seeing break-neck growth, TPL and our partners are doing everything we can to keep Montana, Montana by protecting access to our favorite hunting spots, hiking trails, or secret fishing holes. The Lost Trails project represents all the best aspects of conservation in Montana: sustainable timber management, protection of wildlife, and preserving access to these lands into the future.

Trust for Public Land, in partnership with Southern Pine Plantations (SPP), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), protected 38,052 acres within the Lost Trail Conservation Area in 2022. The conservation easement provides permanent public access to exceptional recreation lands, while allowing SPP to continue sustainable timber harvesting, and protecting incomparable wildlife habitat. We will continue working to protect up to 100,000 additional acres in Lost Trail through the use of conservation easements to ensure everyone’s access to a beloved wild outdoor playground.

The Lost Trail project’s significance to wildlife habitat protection cannot be overstated. The property lies immediately north of the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge, providing an exceptional ecological buffer, and offering some of the best and most popular elk hunting in northwest Montana. The property is also critical habitat for grizzly bears and Canada lynx, creating space for these creatures to roam between the Northern Continental Divide and Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystems.

This project is one example of our work to help stitch together hundreds of thousands of acres from Glacier National Park through the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness to the Selkirk and Coeur d’Alene mountains in the Idaho panhandle. All of that means more forest for more people—to work in, to play in, or both. We’re protecting Montana’s vast wilderness for everyone’s benefit, now and for generations to come. Learn more about how conservation easements works.