open space

A 16-acre parcel on the Clark Fork River could become the city's newest open space purchase if the City Council approves the acquisition in the coming weeks.

Parks and trails around Missoula that serve as defacto open space may officially be designated as open space, enabling the city to direct funding from the Open Space Bond toward maintenance and capital improvements.

Missoula County this week gave its official “concurrence' to the City Council's decision to spend $1.7 million from the 2018 Open Space Bond on several projects within city limits.

Residents in a growing Northside neighborhood will gain a new park under an agreement approved Monday night to allocate funding from the Open Space Bond to acquire the property.

The property, which includes a collection of century-old cabins and a stretch of Union Creek, is valued for its wildlife habitat and agricultural history.

Barring any last-second surprises, the closing documents will seal the mountain's acquisition as the region's newest public asset.

A new department formed within Missoula County will also have a new director to oversee everything from trails to the newly acquired public park at Marshall Mountain.

The City of Missoula hopes to apply a forestry grant from the state to clean up what one official described as “messy” forest conditions atop Mount Dean Stone – a condition that wasn't known to the city when it acquired the property.

An effort to purchase 480 acres on Marshall Mountain took another step forward on Tuesday when Missoula County approved an option agreement with Five Valleys Land Trust.

The 21-acre conservation easement would preserve some of the habitat and agricultural soils on the valley bottoms that are quickly being lost in Missoula as growth spreads ever-further from the city center.