Swan Ecosystem Center - Swan Lands & Elk Creek Forest

Map of Swan Valley Ownership and Conservation Status

Phase I of this project was completed in September 2006 when Swan Ecosystem Center and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes acquired Section 35 (see Elk Creek Forest). A fundraising effort for Phases II and III is under way to protect Sections 3 & 9.

Elk Creek begins high in the Mission Mountains Wilderness. In the early 1990s, two sections in the upper reaches of Elk Creek, outside of wilderness, were protected through a land exchange between the Flathead National Forest and Plum Creek. When the Elk Creek Conservation Area project is completed nearly all of Elk Creek will be protected from residential development.

Photo by Karen Nichols

Click here to enlarge map view (PDF format).

The Elk Creek Management Plan Links to the Chapters (PDF format)
Cover
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
Chapter 1	Introduction
Chapter 2	Biological and Physical Characteristics
Chapter 3	Cultural History
Chapter 4	Guiding Principles
Chapter 5	Stewarship Process
Chapter 6	Current Management Issues
References
Appendix 1	Memorandum of Agreement between SEC, CSKT, MFWP and BPA
Appendix 2	Deed of Conservation Easement
Appendix 3	Public meetings, management group meetings and field days
Appendix 4	Soils map from Missoula County Soil Survey
Appendix 5	Riparian vegetation plot data
Appendix 6	Federal and State species ranking codes
Appendix 7	Fire regime condition classes: history and evolution
Appendix 8	Record of logging, by year, on the Elk Creek Conservation Area
Appendix 9	Plot data for vegetative unit A
Appendix 10	History of the Elk Creek School, nearby roads and trails and recreational use
Appendix 11	List of patented and relinquished homesteads in the vicinity of Section 35

OR to download the entire Elk Creek Management Plan as one document, CLICK HERE. Note, file size of this document is approximately 5MBs in size, in PDF format. If you prefer to receive this plan as a hard copy or CD-ROM, please contact our office.

Swan Lands Elk Creek
Conservation Area

Specialists from agencies such as the Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the University of Montana will be called on for technical advice. To learn more about volunteering contact the SEC office.

Swan Ecosystem Center (SEC) and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes purchased a section of land in September 2006 from Plum Creek Timber Company. The square-mile parcel is at the confluence of the Swan River and Elk Creek in the Swan Valley. SEC owns the west half and the Tribes own the east half.

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provided the funding for the land. Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit land trust organization, facilitated the transaction between Plum Creek and BPA.

Bonneville Power Administration transferred the land to SEC and the Tribes, but the agency holds a conservation easement on the land.

Swan Valley Conservation Strategy
For a comprehensive look at the Swan Lands conservation strategies, visit the Swan Valley Conservation partnership website at www.swanvalleyconservation.org or to view a current Swan Valley map of ownership and conservation status, click here.

Elk Creek Conservation Area
The proposed Elk Creek Conservation Area includes three square-mile sections (1920 acres) of current and former Plum Creek timberlands in the Swan Valley: Sections 35, 3 and 9. Swan Ecosystem Center is working to protect the vital fish and wildlife habitat, forest resources and public access on these sections of Elk Creek.

The Elk Creek Management Plan, a collaboration between Swan Ecosystem Center and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was recently completed. To view this plan, click here; you will be directed to the bottom of this page.

The joint management plan was completed in September 2007. Swan Ecosystem Center and the Natural Resources Department of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes will each select two members by January 1, 2008 to serve on a management committee charged with implementing the management plan. These four members will select one additional independent member.

Swan Ecosystem Center
6887 Hwy 83, USFS Condon Work Center, Condon, MT 59826

Office:	406.754.3137 or 406.754.3138
Fax:	406.754.2965
Email:	swanec@blackfoot.net

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