By Keely Larson, Editor, Seeley Swan Pathfinder | Oct 17, 2024
The Missoula County Commissioners approved spending a portion of funds from a 2018 bond to preserve 158 acres in the Swan Valley for conservation.
The funds made available in 2018 were part of a voter-approved open space bond measure. This bond provided $15 million that was to be used to enhance open space for purposes including access, agriculture, fish and wildlife habitat, rivers, streams and scenic views, per the ballot language. One way those purposes can be realized is through the purchase of conservation easements, for which the $300,000 the commissioners approved to spend from the bond on Oct. 3 will be used. While funding is approved, the project is still in the development phase.
Property owners Jeff and Carol Stowell primarily live in Park City, Utah, but first bought property in Condon in March 2021 during the covid-19 pandemic. Jeff Stowell said one of the things they noticed when they first came to Condon was they were not the only ones who flocked to the valley during the pandemic.
“Everybody and their dog had sort of decided we can go outside now because that’s the one thing we can do,” Stowell said.
Stowell noticed the pressure that influx put on the valley and wanted to help preserve the character of Condon and the Swan. The first parcel of property the couple bought in 2021, which includes the couple’s home, is also under a conservation easement. The new easement will be on land to the north of their original property, creating an opportunity for a corridor of conserved land on which Glacier Creek, a tributary of the Swan River, runs and serves as habitat for a variety of wildlife.
Conservation easements are not an easy process, Stowell said, and a property owner can give up a pretty high monetary value in terms of land sales while also spending a significant amount to set up the easement. The Stowells are contributing $48,600 toward that end. Stowell said Missoula County’s open space bond program helped make the decision easier for a landowner considering the financial contributions.
“From our perspective, it was just sort of obvious this particular piece of land had a lot of development potential but also had a ton of conservation potential,” Stowell said, which to him outweighed the value of development.
Other financial contributions are coming from Montana Land Reliance, Heart of the Rockies and Atira Conservation out of Georgia.