The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation worked with a north Idaho landowner who appreciates the wildlife values of their land to permanently protect nearly 1,000 acres of prime habitat.
“We are grateful that the Barbieri family believes in the importance of conservation and has an appreciation of wildlife and our mission,” said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. “Their land lies within an area that is both extremely popular for recreation and experiencing pressure to develop which highlights why this transaction is so vital.”
“The Barbieri family is proud to permanently protect this undeveloped land at beautiful Priest Lake,” said Tom Barbieri, president of Huckleberry Bay Company. “It is likely the most enduring and satisfying real estate transaction I’ve ever done, which is somewhat ironic being a developer.” added Barbieri, who is also president of real estate company Goodale & Barbieri in Spokane, Washington.
RMEF originally worked with the Barbieri family in 2007 to create a 587-acre conservation easement near Priest Lake in the Idaho panhandle. This latest transaction adds two more parcels of their property amounting to 357 acres which brings the overall total to 944 acres.
The property overlooks Priest Lake to the west and borders the Priest Lake State Forest to the east, which then adjoins the Kaniksu National Forest. Featuring a mixture of open grasslands, forestland and riparian habitat, the land provides valuable winter range for elk. Additionally, it offers important habitat for moose, deer, grizzly and black bears, and is an important travel corridor for those species as well as wolverine and lynx.
RMEF works with willing landowners to establish conservation easements to protect crucial elk winter and summer ranges, migration corridors, calving grounds and other areas vital to elk and other wildlife.