A presentation at the Montana Natural History Center in Missoula on Oct. 21 featured co‑authors of a new book chronicling half a century of land conservation in Montana, the speakers said. The authors described how voluntary conservation easements, land purchases and partnerships among ranchers, land trusts, tribes and government agencies have conserved about 6,000,000 acres of private land in the state over roughly 50 years.

The speakers said the book documents the rise of easements as the primary private‑land conservation tool after the state legislature passed the Montana Voluntary Open Space and Conservation Easement Act in 1975. “This book is a love story. We love Montana,” said Jack (professor emeritus of geography at New Mexico State University), one of the co‑authors.

The book puts private‑land protections at the center of statewide conservation: roughly 10% of the nation’s conserved land‑trust acres, the presenters said, are in Montana despite the state’s small share of the U.S. population. The co‑authors described several regional case studies — the Blackfoot watershed, the Rattlesnake watershed near Missoula, the Rocky Mountain Front and portions of the Greater Yellowstone — to show how easements, purchases and community negotiation combined to conserve working ranchlands and wildlife corridors.

Speakers highlighted the Blackfoot watershed as a point of origin for easement activity, saying about 85% of that watershed is now permanently protected through a mix of easements and purchases. The Rattlesnake watershed and adjacent city lands were singled out as a long‑running local example: speakers said roughly 90% of the Rattlesnake watershed is conserved today after a combination of land trades, easements, federal designation and local bond measures. One co‑author credited Montana Power Company land trades, federal legislation and community organizing in the 1970s and 1980s for the Rattlesnake outcomes.

The presenters described the mechanics of easements: rather than regulatory limits, easements are negotiated agreements in which landowners limit subdivision or development rights, sometimes in exchange for payment or tax benefits. “Instead of trying to regulate someone to not subdivide, you talk to them. You negotiate. You build a relationship,” Jack said, summarizing the approach the book documents.

Tribal contributions and distinct approaches to conservation were also emphasized. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) produced a chapter and a separate map for the book, and tribal speakers and authors contributed examples such as tribal wilderness and wildlife management areas on the Flathead Reservation and new tribal management of the National Bison Range.

The authors discussed funding and institutional roles: national organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, local land trusts (including the Montana Land Reliance and 5 Valleys Land Trust), federal agencies and private philanthropy all played roles at different times. The presenters said the project’s production also depended on several donors and a $120,000 budget for photography, cartography and design.

Several historical policy moments were described. Panelists said federal land programs and funds — including the Land and Water Conservation Fund — shaped opportunities for protection, but they also described times when federal support waned. Speakers recalled the springboard effect of a 1970s conservation movement and the 1975 state statute that enabled easements, and they traced subsequent waves of action through the Rocky Mountain Front and the American Prairie project in eastern Montana.

Speakers also addressed recurring political challenges to easement permanence. They said some Montana legislators periodically propose bills to limit or time‑limit easements; presenters said those efforts usually fail when landowners who have donated or sold easements testify in support. “Every legislative session, people come up there and gun after the conservation easement statute,” Jack said, noting that ranchers and rural landowners often defend the tool.

Local outcomes cited at the event included the recent removal of a dam that had diverted Rattlesnake Creek water for the city; presenters said its removal reopened historic fish passage and helped bull trout run farther upstream. The authors pointed to the Rattlesnake, Blackfoot and Rocky Mountain Front examples as evidence that landscape‑scale protection — including privately protected valley bottoms as winter range and migration corridors — complements public land protections in high country.

The event also highlighted photography and maps in the book; the co‑authors said cartography by Hannah Schafer and photography by Kevin League were essential to telling the story. Organizers encouraged attendees to buy the book and mentioned partnerships with local media outlets and Missoula Community Access Television (MCAT), which recorded the talk.

The co‑authors left the audience with a recurring theme from the book: that voluntary, negotiated conservation can work across ideological divides when landowners, land trusts, tribes and government agencies find shared interests in keeping landscapes intact. They urged continued attention to funding and local relationships to sustain the protections. Attendees were invited to ask questions and to purchase the book after the presentation.