HELENA — Montana is nearly doubling its forest management partnership with the federal government. On Thursday, the U.S. Forest Service and the Gianforte Administration announced a third Shared Stewardship location, this time in the Lolo National Forest.
(WATCH: Major expansion announced for Montana's Shared Stewardship agreement with USFS)
“Another 345,000 acres, where the Forest Service will delegate forest management responsibility to the state of Montana on the Lolo National Forest,” explained Gov. Greg Gianforte. “This means we'll have healthier forests, will reduce fuel loads, we'll have more for wildfire resiliency. It's a win for all of Montana.”
A year ago, the state and USFS formalized a Shared Stewardship Agreement for 20 years. The goal is to improve forest health and restoration, increase timber production and reduce wildfire risk. Leaders say the partnership allows land managers to collaboratively identify needs, set priorities, and coordinate work across jurisdictional boundaries.
In May 2026, two priority landscapes were announced covering over 400,000 acres across the Flathead, Kootenai, and Bitterroot National Forests. With the latest addition, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the USFS are now jointly managing over 745,000 acres through the program.
Since Gianforte took office, his administration has consistently pushed for more active forest management as a way to reduce wildfire risk and support the state’s timber industry. Under the Shared Stewardship agreement, the state is able to take a more active role in management on federal lands, such as designing timber sales for specific projects with DNRC staff managing the sales. The sales can often significantly offset the cost of forest management
“I'm really proud that Montana is leading the nation in this landscape-scale work,” noted DNRC Director Amanda Kaster. “The reality is, if we're really going to get at our forest health crisis, we have to be doing work on that landscape level. And this partnership with the Lolo National Forest has been one that's been really meaningful.”
The State of Montana and the federal government have long partnered on forest management and wildfire risk projects. Leaders say using tools like the Good Neighbor Authority helps accelerate those projects.
“The partnership with the state of Montana under a Good Neighbor Agreement is probably the best it's ever been in that we have so much work happening on the ground, really close partnerships that exist from the governor in his support for our programs, all the way to our employees on the ground that are working closely together to deliver on our missions,” noted Dan McKeague, acting deputy regional forester for USFS Region 1.
The first project under the Shared Stewardship Agreement is the Blacktail Powerline Project, slated to begin work this year. It’s intended to thin the forest and reduce fuel loads to address fire risk along a powerline corridor on Blacktail Mountain, near Lakeside. One aspect of the project leaders want to note, is that the timber sale associated with the project will help significantly offset costs that would usually be covered by taxpayer dollars.
