Huge chunk of Montana forests now preserved
When it comes to Green Daily's eco-minded readers, it seems that there's one thing that almost all of us can agree on -- land conservation is awesome. So, good news! A deal was struck this week to permanently preserve a 500 square mile stretch of grizzly bear country in Montana from development. Equivalent to about 1/3 of Rhode Island, this hodgepodge of forest areas represents one of the largest ever sales of forest land for the sake of preservation -- 320,000 acres. The land currently belongs to Plum Creek Timber, which has agreed to let the land go for a cool $510 million over the next 2 years.
Half of the money for the deal comes from the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, while the other half is coming from the federal government. To be specific, the government's half is being financed by a bond mechanism created by the controversial farm bill. Although I don't think this constitutes farming exactly -- I imagine this is a better use for the money than the ridiculous pork projects it could otherwise be spent on.
The project equates to major gains for both biodiversity and firefighters, who can now travel through larger stretches of forest unimpeded. While the forest areas will be hands-off in terms of development, the agreement allows Plum Creek Timber to lease the logging rights for the next 15 years. They will, however, be monitored by a third party forestry organization.
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