Conservation Grant Protects Montana's Mission Valley

An $8.2 million USDA grant will fund conservation easements on private farmland in the Mission Valley near the Lower Flathead River.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in National Parks

Wide view of a winding river through green farm fields in a broad valley, with conifer-covered mountains rising in the distance under clear late-afternoon light. — The USDA announced an $8.2 million grant to the Flathead Valley Land Trust to fund conservation easements on farmland in Montana's Mission Valley, matched by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced an $8.2 million grant to the Flathead Valley Land Trust for the Mission Valley Conservation Partnership. It is the only Montana project selected this year under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

Why it matters

The grant is several times larger than any previous award to the land trust and reflects a matching offer from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to place easements on tribal lands. Supporters say it aims to forestall sprawling development in Montana's Mission Valley.

The grant covers half the value of development rights, with landowners donating the other half, and the project area extends up to 10 miles east of the Flathead River. Funding is expected to conserve an estimated 3,000 acres of private farmland.

The players

Flathead Valley Land Trust

A conservation nonprofit founded in 1985 that works to protect land in northwestern Montana's Flathead Valley.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

The federally recognized tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation, which owned about 60 percent of the land within reservation borders as of 2018.

U.S. Department of Agriculture

The federal department that administers the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and announced the grant.

Michael Dolson

Chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who wrote a letter of support for the proposal.

The details

Permanent conservation easements are legal agreements in which a landowner amends the property title to eliminate most future development rights. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes offered a voluntary easement on 3,000 acres of tribally owned land along about 15 miles of the Lower Flathead River, a matching offer cited as a major factor in the award.

1910: The federal government opened the Flathead Indian Reservation to non-Native settlement.
August: CSKT Chairman Michael Dolson wrote a letter of support for the proposal.
Last week: The USDA announced the $8.2 million grant.

Roadmap

The Mission Valley award is one of 42 projects chosen from roughly $2 billion in applications under the USDA's Regional Conservation Partnership Program this year. It is the only Montana selection, and it builds on tribal efforts to reclaim land on a reservation where the federal government opened non-Native settlement in 1910.

Visitors to the Flathead region may see more protected open land along the Lower Flathead River as easements take effect. Travelers planning trips to the Mission Valley should check current access rules, since easement terms on private land may affect where the public can go.

The takeaway

Permanent easements can keep farmland and river frontage open even as nearby development pressure grows. For travelers, the Mission Valley's protected landscapes may offer more open space in the years ahead.