Habitat Project:

Warm Springs Creek

Protecting the headwaters of a critical grizzly corridor in Montana’s Garnet Mountains.

Warm Springs Creek

Panoramic mountain view from a ridgeline, showing layered forested peaks and a grassy valley below, with distant blue mountains on the horizon and lichen-covered granite boulders in the foreground
Trail camera photo of a grizzly bear walking through tall green grass at the edge of a conifer forest, with shrubs in the foreground.
View through a stand of conifer trees toward a green mountain valley with rolling forested hills and open meadows under a partly cloudy sky.
Panoramic mountain view from a ridgeline, showing layered forested peaks and a grassy valley below, with distant blue mountains on the horizon and lichen-covered granite boulders in the foreground Trail camera photo of a grizzly bear walking through tall green grass at the edge of a conifer forest, with shrubs in the foreground. View through a stand of conifer trees toward a green mountain valley with rolling forested hills and open meadows under a partly cloudy sky.

Warm Springs Creek PROJECT BRIEF

Grizzly bears spilling out of the Blackfoot Valley face a gauntlet of mountains, roads, and private land as they push south and east toward new habitat. For bears working to reoccupy their historic range, every mile of secure, connected ground matters — and few places matter more than the high country where Warm Springs Creek begins.

This 800-acre property sits at a critical pinch point linking the Northern Continental Divide, Selway-Bitterroot, and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems. Its elevation, remoteness, and limited seasonal access have kept the land wild: mixed conifer forest and lush wetlands support elk that gather here through the summer, an occasional wolverine passing through, and a rare, genetically pure strain of westslope cutthroat trout in the property’s riparian corridor. Trail cameras on the ground confirm what the terrain suggests — grizzlies are already using this country to move.

Protecting Warm Springs Creek through a permanent conservation easement keeps its headwaters healthy, keeps wildlife moving freely across the mountains, and keeps this remarkable, rural landscape intact for the generations of bears and people who depend on it. Read more…


Warm Springs at a Glance

  • 800 acres protected via permanent conservation easement
  • Key linkage between the Northern Continental Divide, Selway-Bitterroot, and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems
  • Home to a rare, genetically pure strain of westslope cutthroat trout
  • Mixed conifer forests and lush wetlands provide high-quality habitat for bears, elk, wolverine, and countless other species