500,000 Square Miles of Rocky Mountains to be Acquired
A company with headquarters in Seattle agreed to sell 300,000 acres from the Rocky Mountains for conservation. It is worth mentioning that in such a way the company looks forward to protect some of the most prized territories in the region from development. The current land deal is considered to be the largest of its kind in the history of the United States.
Over 300,000 acres of land featuring threatened and endangered animals such as grizzly bears and lynx will be transferred to public ownership after the government made a deal with the Seattle-based company, Plum Creek Timber. The deal is valued at $500,000 and for signing the agreement a ceremony took place in Montana on June 30.
It's interesting to note that after the agreement backed by the federal government the company would give away more than quarter of its holdings in the region. According to Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat who represents the state of Montana, in its deal with Plum Creek Timber, the federal government is pitching in $250 million.
The state director of the Nature Conservancy of Montana, Jamie Williams, mentioned that the deal is going to be performed in three phases that will last for about three years. In this period of time, the conservation groups will provide their help regarding the payment for the land. These groups will raise about $250 million.
The purchased land features big parcels in the beautiful Swan Valley, located north of Missoula and next to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. According to the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, the purchased acres are going to be managed as a working forest, which will include areas of harvestable timber. The land has a total area of about 500 square miles and it extends over the territory known as the Crown of the Continent. Environmentalists consider this territory to be one of the most intact ecosystems in the United States.
For some time the Seattle-based company was highly criticized by the environmentalists for the fact that it sold its land to private owners. The critics were concerned about the fast development of the land, exploited by the private owners. The traditional access for local people was closed and logging was prohibited. Representatives of the conservation group assure that they will make everything possible for the land to remain open for recreation.
