The Elk Creek Conservation Area is a square-mile parcel of land at the confluence of Elk Creek and the Swan River, owned by Swan Ecosystem Center (SEC) and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). The land was acquired in 2006 from Plum Creek Timber Company to protect vital fish and wildlife habitat, forest resources and public access. Elk Creek is one of the most important bull trout streams in Montana. SEC has been working to ensure the entire stream is protected.
Protecting Elk Creek
Elk Creek begins high in the Mission Mountains Wilderness. In the early 1990s, 2.5 sections in the upper reaches of Elk Creek, outside of the Wilderness, were protected through a land exchange between the Flathead National Forest and Plum Creek.
Section 35
In 2006, Swan Ecosystem Center and CSKT acquired Section 35 on Elk Creek with funding provided by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit land trust organization, facilitated the acquisition. BPA holds a conservation easement on the land.
A joint management plan was completed in September 2007. A five person committee, made up of two Swan Valley residents, two Tribal representatives, and one representative of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, oversees management of the Elk Creek Conservation Area.
Section 9
In 2010, the Flathead National Forest acquired Section 9 on Elk Creek as part of the Montana Legacy Project. This prevented subdivision development of the land's vital fish and wildlife habitat.
Section 3
Swan Ecosystem Center is working with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and The Trust for Public Land (TPL) to protect the last remaining Elk Creek section,
Section 3.
The map below represents land ownership prior to 2006. Today Section 35 belongs to Swan Ecosystem Center and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and is known as the Elk Creek Conservation Area. Section 9 is now part of the Flathead National Forest. Section 3 is temporarily owned by TNC and TPL. The pink Plum Creek Timber Co. lands are now part of the Flathead National Forest.
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