Authors at Montana Natural History Center trace 50 years of land conservation in Montana

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…