Jun. 7--The 2,210-acre Canyon Creek Wildlife Management Area 20 miles northwest of Helena could grow by 151 acres under a proposal to be considered Thursday at the monthly Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission meeting in Miles City.

The 151-acre parcel is privately owned and was recently put up for sale, according to Jenny Sika, a biologist with the state FWP. She said the department was approached by the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust, created in 1999 to enhance wildlife habitat and access to it, about purchasing the property using trust funds.

"We thought it would be a good addition, because it includes a strategic access point to the Helena National Forest," Sika said. "Right now, the only way you can access it is from up above and hiking down, which isn't exactly what you want to do if you're an elk hunter."

She said the parcel is in the Tar Head and Trout Creek drainages. The fair market value of the land hasn't been established, but the trust set aside about $635,000 for the sale if it goes through. The title would be held by the state.

Along with strategic access, the purchase also would increase the amount of contiguous protected wildlife habitat, further protecting a stream corridor holding a population of native westslope cutthroat trout. The property lies within an identified high-priority wildlife movement corridor along the Continental Divide, and public acquisition would strengthen habitat connectivity for wildlife across Highway 279 between the WMA and nearby public lands.

Sika said the acquisition also would secure another point of public access to the existing WMA and would increase angler access, providing additional fishing opportunity for brook trout and rainbow trout on Canyon Creek. Hunter use is expected to exceed 500 hunter-days annually

The department is seeking the commission's endorsement to pursue the possible acquisition; if that's given, formal public involvement under the Montana Environmental Policy Act will follow initial.

Negotiations with the landowner are ongoing, Sika said.

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