Partnering with Vital Ground Foundation from Missoula, Montana, Atira Conservation assisted in the protection of the 100-Acre Wood property. The area where this property is located in in the Kootenai River Valley, situated between Montana’s northwestern corner and the northernmost reaches of the Idaho Panhandle, playing a major role in the conservation of the two smallest groups of grizzlies persisting south of Canada. The 100-Acre Wood property features mixed conifer forest, with a seasonal creek running through the acreage. It includes high-quality seasonal habitat for grizzlies and migratory birds, moose, elk, and rare species including Canada lynx and wolverine. Located in the Smith Creek drainage, the property is a mile from other Vital Ground protected lands, and serves as a valuable wildlife corridor to other state and national forestlands and the Boundary-Smith Creek Wildlife Management Area.

Furthering Vital Ground’s larger One Landscape Initiative, the 100-Acre Wood property combines with other land protection efforts in northern Idaho and the Montana portion of the Kootenai Valley, creating a connected landscape for the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak’s recovering grizzlies. With limited gene flow between these populations, maintaining habitat connectivity is crucial to avoiding a future of genetic isolation and eventual extinction for grizzlies. This acquisition also mitigates the immense development pressure across the region.
Property Cost: $696,250; Atira Conservation Funding: $11,250