Bear Creek Lolo Trails, MT
In 2022, RMEF worked with YT Timber to conserve and open access to two parcels that made up a 1,040-acre inholding within the Lolo National Forest about 15 miles south of Missoula in western Montana.
It is the last remaining and intact wildlife movement zone between the Bitterroot Mountain Range and Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness to the south and west, the Sapphire Mountain Range to the east and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem to the north.
In addition to supplying important migratory habitat for elk and other wildlife, the acreage features key riparian habitat as the headwater streams of Bear, Camp and Sleeman Creeks all feed into Lolo Creek below, thus protecting spawning and rearing areas for native westslope cutthroat trout and other fish species.
The properties also have significant cultural importance since they lie within or are next to segments of the Lewis and Clark and Nez Perce National Historic Trails.
And given the area’s fragmented pattern of landownership, the project alleviates challenges for hunting access while also supplying new access points to several thousand acres of public land.
Creating and improving public access is a long-time focus of RMEF’s mission.
Since 1984 – RMEF has opened or improved public access to nearly 1.6 million acres.
To view the sites and boundaries of RMEF land conservation and access projects, turn on the RMEF layer and use the code RMEF when you sign up for your onX subscription to receive a 20 percent discount.