Elk NetworkMontana Project would Improve Public Access to 26,000 Acres

General | October 25, 2018

Imagine acquiring a 442-acre plot of land that opens the door to 26,000 acres of extremely difficult-to-access public land behind it. Such an endeavor is exactly what the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is focusing its sights on in west-central Montana.

“That’s quite the trade-off, 442 acres for 26,000,” Mike Munoz, district ranger for the Rocky Mountain Ranger District of Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest (HLCNF), told the Great Falls Tribune.

The property is about 30 miles southwest of Augusta along the Rocky Mountain Front. It features more than a one-mile stretch of Falls Creek including the scenic Falls Creek waterfall.

“This is a special place,” Mike Mueller, RMEF senior lands program manager, told the Great Falls Tribune. “You don’t even see this in a lot of national parks.”

If fundraising efforts are successful by the December 31, 2020 deadline, RMEF will purchase the land for inclusion in the HLCNF which will then be available for anyone to access for hunting, fishing, hiking or other recreational pursuits.

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