Funding protects timber economy, wildlife habitat at McArthur Lake

Congress last week approved funding for a Forest Legacy project that will fund conservation agreements that protect private working forests and wildlife habitat at McArthur Lake.

The funding will be used to purchase 3,700 acres of permanent conservation agreements from Forest Capital Partners, ensuring the land will remain forest and provide public access, timber supply and jobs for the local economy.

“We are committed to management practices that sustain both environmental and economic contributions from our forestlands,” said Kevin Boling, western director of land transactions for Forest Capital Partners. “The McArthur Lake project is another example of how a sustainably managed working forest can provide important wildlife habitat and support local communities with jobs and revenues at the same time.”

Forest Capital Partners is a private landowner, financial manager and steward of large-scale working forests across North America. Forest Capital actively manages more than 2.1 million acres of forests under sustainable forest management guidelines.

MacArthur Lake is used by moose, elk, deer and other wildlife to move from the Selkirk to the Cabinet-Yaak mountains.

The funding is provided by the Forest Legacy Program, a competitive federal grant program that promotes both conservation and working forests across the nation. McArthur Lake was selected as the nation’s third best project overall for 2010 funding.

“The McArthur Lake project is our best and last hope to protect this important big game habitat,” said Robyn Miller, conservation manager with The Nature Conservancy in North Idaho. “We thank Forest Capital Partners for their shared vision for this land, and our entire Idaho Congressional delegation for their support of the rural economy and wildlife in North Idaho.”

The Nature Conservancy helped negotiate the agreements with Forest Capital Partners. Miller said the McArthur Lake project typifies The Nature Conservancy’s approach of keeping working lands working and partnering closely with local communities on conservation that benefits both people and nature.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States.

“This is important to our community as the owners of these lands have chosen to keep them as working forests,” said Boundary County Commissioner Dan Dinning. “The effects of these choices maintain local jobs and adds to the stability of products for our natural resource industry.”

The Forest Legacy Program is a competitive federal grant program that promotes both conservation and working forests across the nation.