{"id":27661,"date":"2022-08-31T13:37:11","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T17:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=27661"},"modified":"2022-08-31T13:39:12","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T17:39:12","slug":"montana-free-press-confederated-salish-and-kootenai-tribes-help-celebrate-new-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/08\/31\/montana-free-press-confederated-salish-and-kootenai-tribes-help-celebrate-new-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes help celebrate new refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/08\/31\/montana-free-press-confederated-salish-and-kootenai-tribes-help-celebrate-new-refuge\/debhaaland-49\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-27673\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1366\" data-attachment-id=\"27673\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/08\/31\/montana-free-press-confederated-salish-and-kootenai-tribes-help-celebrate-new-refuge\/debhaaland-49\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/31\/DebHaaland.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1366\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Deb Haaland\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Deb Haaland&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland addresses a crowd gathered to celebrate the newly conserved land in northwestern Montana on August 20, 2022. Photo: &lt;a href=https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecDebHaaland\/status\/1561464414431129600&gt;U.S. Department of the Interior&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/31\/DebHaaland-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/31\/DebHaaland.jpg\" alt=\"Deb Haaland\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27673\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland addresses a crowd gathered to celebrate the newly conserved land in northwestern Montana on August 20, 2022. Photo: <a href=https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecDebHaaland\/status\/1561464414431129600>U.S. Department of the Interior<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Interior Secretary visits Montana to celebrate newest addition to National Wildlife Refuge System<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">The Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge near Marion is the first refuge created during Deb Haaland\u2019s tenure.<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Wednesday, August 31, 2022<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Keely Larson<\/div>\r\n<DIV class=\"source\">Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n<DIV class=\"source-website\"><A \r\nhref=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/\">montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nSecretary of the Interior Deb Haaland traveled to Montana this month to commemorate the newest addition to the National Wildlife Refuge System, and the first land added to the system during Haaland\u2019s time as secretary.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\nStanding on top of a flatbed trailer serving as a stage outside of Marion in northwest Montana, Haaland, joined by U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams, members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and a representative of the Trust for Public Land, celebrated the Lost Trail Conservation Area, 100,000 acres of land surrounding the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge. <a href=\"https:\/\/flatheadbeacon.com\/2021\/03\/23\/fws-approves-sprawling-public-lands-project-at-lost-trail\/\">FWS approved the Lost Trail Conservation Area in 2021<\/a>.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\nThe most recently acquired section is a 38,052-acre conservation easement that FWS, TPL and CSKT purchased from Southern Pines Plantation Montana. SPP will continue to own the land, but the land can\u2019t be developed. <P><\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cToday we\u2019re not just celebrating the expansion of our National Wildlife Refuge System, we\u2019re celebrating new opportunities for children and families to connect with nature, hunt, fish, hike and view the wildlife now, and for generations to come,\u201d Haaland said.<P><\/P>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This weekend in Montana, we celebrated the Lost Trail Conservation Area \u2014 the newest <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USFWSRefuges?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USFWSRefuges<\/a> unit and the 1st in the Biden-Harris administration \u2014 that will provide opportunities for families to connect with nature, hunt, fish, hike and see wildlife now and in the future. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eaMBtsgmZM\">pic.twitter.com\/eaMBtsgmZM<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Secretary Deb Haaland (@SecDebHaaland) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecDebHaaland\/status\/1561464414431129600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 21, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Lost Trail Conservation Area is near Glacier National Park, the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, the Selkirk Mountains and part of the Coeur d\u2019Alene Mountains. It provides habitat and migration corridors for elk, mule deer, grizzly bears, wolverines and Canada lynx.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Lost Trail will provide these species a real chance for sustained and connected populations into the future,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAnd like other lands in this area, the Lost Trail Conservation Area has been made possible because of mutual interest, solid relationships and an unyielding commitment to Montana\u2019s natural resources.\u201d <P><\/P>\r\n\r\nA conservation area is a wildlife refuge that consists mostly or entirely of conservation easements on private land. Chris Deming, Northern Rockies land protection director with TPL, said the permanent Lost Trail Conservation Easement maintains private land ownership, but ensures public access. <P><\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cIt peels off the development right so we know that what you see is what you\u2019re going to see forever,\u201d Deming said.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\nA collaborative study considered wildlife migration corridors in the area and found that many of those corridors are north of the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge on land that is now part of the conservation easement, Deming said. <P><\/P>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It is the culmination of a 20-year, locally-led effort with federal, state, Tribal and nonprofit partners to conserve big game corridors and recreational areas. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WIBnZ8b3jL\">pic.twitter.com\/WIBnZ8b3jL<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Secretary Deb Haaland (@SecDebHaaland) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecDebHaaland\/status\/1561464515069296640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 21, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nScientists with the CSKT Wildlife Management Program collared elk on the Flathead Reservation and found that they travel through the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge, then further north, and eventually migrate back to the reservation, said Whisper Camel-Means, a wildlife biologist with the program. <P><\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cThat was something that wasn\u2019t previously understood as occurring, and so that was a really big deal to see that connection and understand more fully that historical connection that our people had with this vicinity,\u201d Camel-Means said.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\nMalcolm Carson, TPL\u2019s senior vice president, described the Lost Trail Conservation Area as a puzzle piece in a public and private landscape. More permanent easements may be added within the area\u2019s 100,000-acre boundary.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cToday\u2019s project will ultimately help in stitching together over 250,000 acres of protected land with other nearby Rocky Mountain conservation projects ranging from Glacier National Park to the panhandle of Idaho,\u201d Carson said.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\nHaaland touted the Lost Trail Conservation Area\u2019s ability to support local economies. Funding for the conservation area was provided by the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Great American Outdoors Act.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cBringing the outdoors and the wonders of the natural world closer to people is at the heart of the Department of the Interior\u2019s mission,\u201d Haaland said.<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><p><\/p>\r\nSteve Arca, S\u00e9li\u0161-Ql\u0313isp\u00e9 language instructor with CSKT\u2019s culture committee, ended the celebration with a prayer, expressing gratitude for the land the event was hosted on. <P><\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cToday we share. We share something in common and that\u2019s our love for the land, and as we keep it and preserve it for future generations, and to keep it pristine and clean and take care of the wildlife, and just be able to enjoy it,\u201d Arca said.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\nAs Arca spoke, 18-month-old Hadley Farron cooed, sitting on the ground in the shade created by her mother. Hadley was about to go on her first backpacking trip with her parents, and her mom, Laura, is optimistic about Hadley\u2019s outdoor opportunities. The family traveled from Missoula for the celebration.<P><\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cAny time we\u2019re out on public lands, definitely something that comes to mind is just trying to instill that love of nature in her and thinking about what it\u2019s going to be like for her, and if she ever has children, what it\u2019s going to be like for them,\u201d Farron said.<P><\/P>\r\n<HR><EM><a href=https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/keely-larson\/>Keely Larson<\/a> worked for two community newspapers in southwest Montana before starting the University of Montana&#8217;s environmental and natural resources journalism graduate program. During her first year of grad school, she freelanced for Outside Business Journal and the Montana Standard and received the Crown Reporting Fellowship. Keely is MTFP&#8217;s fire reporting intern for summer 2022.<\/em><HR>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<strong>Note: This story originally <a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2022\/08\/22\/secretary-interior-comes-to-state-celebrates-conserved-land\/\">appeared on Montana Free Press<\/a>. It is published under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/3.0\/us\/\">Creative Commons license<\/a>.<\/strong>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge is the first created under the tenure of Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native person to lead the Department of the Interior.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[430,88,630,175,2131,249,194,3322],"class_list":["post-27661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-national","tag-cskt","tag-deb-haaland","tag-fws","tag-languages","tag-martha-williams","tag-montana","tag-montana-free-press","tag-steve-arca","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/31\/DebHaaland.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-7c9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}