2025 is shaping up to be a big year for private land conservation in our region. Last fall, three of Five Valleys’ conservation easement projects were approved for funding through the Missoula Open Space Bond. These projects represent high priority conservation lands: all hold important agricultural values that sustain and connect habitats for a great variety of wildlife.
North of Missoula, along LaValle Creek, the Indreland Ranch project was awarded $688,000 to help purchase the project’s 1,656-acre conservation easement. Down the hill, the 285-acre Hayden-Grass Valley donated conservation easement project near the Missoula Airport was awarded $26,000 to help cover project transaction costs. In Potomac, the Case Ranch project was awarded $994,000 in open space bond funds—the largest award in the bond’s history—which will be used to help purchase a 2,330-acre conservation easement that will straddle Highway 200 and protect over two miles of Union Creek.
Only a handful of Montana counties have open space bond programs. Since it was first passed by voters in 1980, the Missoula Open Space Bond has remained an important conservation tool. Voters have renewed the bond three times, in 1995, 2006, and again in 2018. Over the last 45 years, the bond has been used to protect iconic landmarks such as Mount Jumbo, Mount Sentinel, and Marshall Mountain, as well as dozens of private conservation properties. On average, Five Valleys and other organizations have brought $4 of other funding—private or public—to leverage each open space bond dollar invested.
As Missoula County has grown, so has the bond’s reach and uses. The 1980 bond was limited to open space projects within the City of Missoula. In contrast, the 2018 bond funds conservation of agricultural lands, wildlife habitat, and community open space, as well as public access infrastructure and restoration projects. The City and County each manage half of 2018 bond’s funds and may approve funding for projects within their respective jurisdiction. The entities may also jointly fund projects in places where their jurisdictions overlap, such as for the Indreland Ranch project and Marshall Mountain.
With support from the Missoula Open Space Bond, 4,271 acres will be forever protected this year across the Indreland Ranch, Case Ranch, and Hayden-Grass Valley conservation easement projects. Thank you, Missoula County voters!
Header photo: Aerial view of the Indreland Ranch by Jahrig Media
