Land Trust · Kalispell, MT
Flathead Land Trust
Named for Flathead
5 staff + 25 volunteers$3.4M revenue in 2023Founded 1985
Stand · Find your defenders
Who’s defending Flathead?
21 groups have it in their care
National forest in Montana, 2.4M acres, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, designated in 1897.
The defenders
The groups doing the most work here
3 groups are on the record for Flathead, in the order they carry the weight. The range says how strongly our editors, the court dockets and their own filings tie each one here. Give directly; nothing routes through us.
71–76% match
Coalition · Polson, MT
Flathead Lakers
Named for Flathead
5 staff + 60 volunteers69¢ of every dollar to the workFounded 1958
Recreation · Whitefish, MT
Whitefish Legacy Partners
Flathead is written into their mission
6 staff + 197 volunteers91¢ of every dollar to the workFounded 2006
18 more groups also work this ground
On the ground in Montana
Montana Land RelianceThey work only in MontanaLand TrustFive Valleys Land TrustThey work only in MontanaLand TrustGallatin Valley Land TrustThey work only in MontanaLand TrustMontana Conservation CorpsThey work only in MontanaStewardshipUpper Missouri Breaks AudubonThey work only in MontanaFriends GroupBob Marshall Wilderness FoundationThey work only in MontanaFriends Group
More ways in
Custer Gallatin Working GroupThey work only in MontanaFriends GroupWild MontanaThey work only in MontanaGrassrootsGlacier InstituteThey work only in MontanaFriends GroupVital Ground FoundationMontana is one of the 4 states they work inLand TrustCottonwood Environmental Law CenterMontana is one of the 3 states they work inLegalPacific Northwest Trail AssociationMontana is one of the 3 states they work inTrailsSonoran InstituteMontana is one of the 4 states they work inCoalitionWestern Values ProjectBased in Helena, close to the groundWatchdogRocky Mountain Elk FoundationBased in Missoula, close to the groundAdvocacyAdvocates for the WestTheir work includes forestsLegalContinental Divide Trail CoalitionTheir work includes forestsTrailsHonor the EarthTheir work includes forestsTribal
The situation
What’s happening to Flathead
The connective tissue between Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, where grizzlies still roam in numbers sufficient to sustain a population. The Flathead’s forests are the spine of the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem, but only if logging and drilling don’t sever the links.
- 1897Established as forest reserve
- 2025Timber sales proposed in critical wildlife corridors
Timber sales in wildlife corridors
Source: USFS · January 15, 2025
Oil and gas leasing on forest lands
Source: BLM / USFS · January 1, 2025
No public comment window is open on Flathead right now. A call script is ready on the Public Lands Action Network, and the groups above are how the fight gets funded and argued in the meantime.
In the courts
The cases over this place
The dockets we track that name Flathead directly. Active first.
ClosedAlliance for the Wild Rockies v. SavageMTD · filed 2018 · Docket ↗
ClosedCottonwood Environmental Law Center v. United States Forest ServiceNinth Circuit · filed 2015 · Docket ↗
ClosedSwan View Coalition v. WeberMTD · filed 2014 · Docket ↗
ClosedFriends of the Wild Swan v. Chip WeberNinth Circuit · filed 2014 · Docket ↗
Your move
How to stand for Flathead
GiveGive to Flathead Land Trust
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Their donation page ↗SpeakCall your representativesA ready call script on Flathead, plus any comment window as it opens.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapFlathead has defenders. It needs more.
3 groups on the record, Flathead Land Trust with 5 staff + 25 volunteers. That is who is holding it. Find your way in.