A project to permanently protect 53,000 acres of private timberland in Flathead and Lincoln counties cleared a final hurdle on Oct. 20 when the Montana Land Board delivered a 4-1 vote in favor of a conservation easement that has earned plaudits from a wide-ranging alliance of stakeholders, including the wood products industry, the conservation community, and prominent hunting and fishing groups. Called the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement, the project is now in its second phase. In total, the project encompasses 85,752 acres of private timberland owned by Green Diamond Resource Company. …“It’s going to be parceled out, subdivided into 20- to 60-acre little parcels full of McMansions and ranchettes,” Kyle Schmauch, chief of staff and communications director for the Senate Republicans of the Montana Legislature said. “This is where the locals go to recreate, people who’ve grown up here. This is where they go to escape the crowds…”