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15 September 2009 Board of County Commissioners Missoula City Council Missoula County Courthouse 435 Ryman 200 West Broadway Missoula, MT 59802 Missoula, MT 59802 RE: Spooner Creek Conservation Easement Dear Members of the Board of County Commissioners and City Council: The Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC) enthusiastically recommends that the City of Missoula contribute $25,000 from the 2006 Missoula County Open Space Bond to help purchase a conservation easement on the 207-acre Spooner Creek Ranch, located in the upper Miller Creek Valley within the Missoula Planning Region. Although the project lies outside the Cornerstone priority areas identified in the city’s 2006 Open Space Plan, OSAC supports the easement because of its extraordinary conservation value. Specifically, these 207 acres: • provide vital habitat for a year-round population of elk, as well as many of western Montana’s iconic wildlife species, including black bear, mountain lion, moose, gray wolf, mule and white-tailed deer, turkey, beaver, blue and spruce grouse, as well as many small mammals and birds; • form part of a biologically important wildlife migration corridor, connecting the Sapphire Mountains with the Bitterroot Valley; and • contain healthy, high-functioning riparian habitat along Spooner and Miller creeks, both of which support native westslope cutthroat trout. In addition, the Spooner Creek Ranch contains “prime” agricultural soils. As a result, a conservation easement here would protect the area’s ranching history and tie into the land management scheme of adjacent lands, owned mainly by the U.S. Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, and the State of Montana. OSAC members view the project as an excellent investment of public funds. With its 120 acres of forestlands, its scenic landscapes, and its wildlife on display in the middle of Missoula’s intensive southwestern ---PAGE BREAK--- growth trajectory, a protected Spooner Creek Ranch would be an enormously valuable community asset. It also represents a critical piece of the City’s bigger-picture goal for protecting remaining tracts of land with high open-space value in high-growth areas of the city’s planning region. OSAC is excited about the opportunity for delivering what would be a significant conservation result for an ecologically, historically, and visually critical part of a growing Missoula. Thank you for considering OSAC’s recommendation. Sincerely, Karen Knudsen Open Space Advisory Committee