FWP AT WORK Cory Loecker, Wildlife Biologist

EASEMENT ENABLER

CORY LOECKER

Behind me in this photo is one of five conservation easements I’ve helped FWP purchase for sportsmen and sportswomen. Four of the five easements, totaling 4,250 acres and 15 river miles, are here along the Missouri River between Cascade and Great Falls. I grew up along the Missouri on the Nebraska-South Dakota border, and places where my dad and I used to hunt are now full of houses. When I moved to Montana to work for FWP, I didn’t want to see that happen here. Conservation easements maintain farmland and ranchland in private ownership and operation while providing public recreation and preserving important habitats for game and nongame species. The key for me in finishing any conservation easement has been partnerships. Groups like Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club International, Wild Turkey Federation, Mule Deer Foundation, and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, along with PPL Montana, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the federal Pittman-Robertson Program, have been hugely important partners with FWP’s Habitat Montana and Upland Game Bird Programs. Public support is also vital, especially when you propose spending the public’s hunting license dollars. Without our partners and public support for conservation easements, many wildlife-rich places in Montana like this stretch of the Missouri could end up looking a lot different than they do today.