The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking comments on the proposed Bad Rock Canyon conservation and recreation project near Columbia Falls.

From a Flathead Beacon news article:

Known as the Bad Rock Canyon project, the property is located off U.S. Highway 2 and would be preserved as a Wildlife Management Area (WMA). FWP has detailed the proposal in a draft environmental assessment that is open for public comment until 5 p.m. on Sept. 8. A virtual public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. to provide information on the project and answer questions from the public. The online meeting will be streamed via Zoom online at https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/regions/region1.

FWP’s purchase of the property would “safeguard vital habitat and a travel corridor for wildlife species such as grizzly bears and bull trout,” according to agency officials. The property is located at a geographic pinch point where the Flathead River flows through the narrow Bad Rock Canyon corridor. The land is adjacent to a sizable block of public land and would add to a 12,000-acre network of conserved land along a 43-mile stretch of the Flathead River between Columbia Falls and Flathead Lake.

“This project creates a unique opportunity to protect wildlife habitat and public access on the doorstep of the Gateway to Glacier and along the Flathead River,” FWP Regional Supervisor Jim Williams said. “We appreciate our partners, CFAC and the Flathead Land Trust, for working towards a common goal of land stewardship that will benefit everyone into the future.”

MALT strongly supports the proposed project.