Land Conservation
Swan Valley Connections owns two properties within the valley. Both pieces of land are under conservation easements and are to be used for stewardship and education purposes in perpetuity.
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Elk Creek Conservation Area (ECCA)
The Elk Creek Conservation Area is a square-mile parcel of land at the confluence of Elk Creek and the Swan River, owned and managed by Swan Valley Connections and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). The land was acquired in 2006 to protect vital fish and wildlife habitat, forest resources and public access. According to Montana Dept. Fish Wildlife and Parks, Elk Creek is one of the most important bull trout streams in Montana.
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Swan Legacy Forest (SLF)
The Swan Legacy Forest (SLF) is the last ¼ section (160 acres) of the Montana Legacy Project, which was donated to SVC by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 2018. An effort led by The Trust for Public Lands and TNC, the Montana Legacy Project conserved 310,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Company lands from development and transferred them into Federal, State, private land ownership, starting in the late 2000s.
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Montana Legacy Project
In 2007, The Nature Conservancy and The Trust For Public Land entered into an agreement with Plum Creek Timber Company to purchase all of the remaining Plum Creek lands in the Swan Valley (67,000 acres). The Swan lands are just a subset of The Montana Legacy Project, which encompassed 310,000 acres across western Montana. Swan Valley Connections played an integral role in catalyzing and implementing this enormous land conservation project.
