Conservation groups celebrating 317-acre Elkhorn Mountains acquisition

Many times, conservation projects are years in the making and few and far between. Sometimes projects come in bunches.

As the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Elkhorn Chapter gears up for its 30th annual banquet on Oct. 3, it will be celebrating the latest of a series of successful land acquisitions in the greater Helena area. Jenkins Gulch, located about 14 miles west of Townsend, secured 317 acres of ranch land for wildlife habitat in the Elkhorn Mountains.

While Jenkins Gulch may be the latest property to become public land, acquisitions in Ray Creek east of Townsend, Whitetail Prairie north of Helena, Tenderfoot Creek in Meagher County and York Gulch near York have come through the work of RMEF and other organizations such as the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Mule Deer Foundation and Prickly Pear Land Trust.

“I’d say it’s been a perfect storm of opportunities with good timing and good landowners that have the patience and ability to let us work on these projects,” said Elk Foundation Lands Program manager Mike Mueller. “Other than Tenderfoot that took seven or eight years, these all happened really quickly and that should mean a lot of happy hunters out there.”

Jenkins Gulch is made up of open grass slopes, sagebrush and strips of conifers. The area is known big game winter range with other species also relying on the habitat.

“Jenkins Gulch was really a key acquisition for the Conservation Trust that stepped up in a huge way with an over $400,000 grant awarded; otherwise it may have taken a couple of years.” Mueller said. “We’ve got to give them total credit because it doesn’t get much better than that.”

The Conservation Trust was pleased to be part of the acquisition, said Bill Orsello, trust chairman.

“This parcel was our flagship project for 2015 and helps to ensure that the Forest Service can manage habitat, wildlife, access and recreation for the benefit of the public,” he said.

For those who use public land for hunting, hiking, camping or wildlife watching, the acquisitions make a big difference, said RMEF Elkhorn Chapter president Joe Cohenour.

“As a person that’s really involved, it’s nice to see the national organization invest locally in public access,” he said. “It’s kind of cyclical thing and we’ve seen all the land acquisitions happening in Helena and a lot of times that’s checkerboarded property that guarantees access to the rest.”

A road goes through Jenkins Gulch, and securing the property means maintaining access to adjacent public land, Cohenour said.

As the Elk Foundation and other conservation organizations celebrate the expanse of public ownership they are also well aware of the potential loss of state and federal funding that has supported them in the past.

Habitat Montana, administered through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, that often funded acquisition was restricted to only conservation easements in the last Legislature.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which takes a portion offshore oil royalties and turns them into matching grants for conservation and access, is set to sunset at the end of September.

Opposition comes largely from a philosophical opposition to public land ownership and also the costs of managing the lands once acquired.

But Mueller and others are crossing their fingers that Habitat Montana and LWCF will find support from state and federal lawmakers to remain viable tools for conservation.

“It’s absolutely critical for these great projects,” he said. “Take that away and it really impacts the Elk Foundation and everyone’s ability to conserve these important places.”

Elkhorn Big Game Banquet

What: Rocky Mountain Elk Chapter’s 30th annual banquet

When: 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 3

Where: Gateway Center, 1710 National Ave.

Details: Features live music by Jason DeShaw; live and silent auctions

Contact: 449-4441 or www.rmef.org/montana