Shared stewardship advances across western Montana

The Lolo National Forest and The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) are expanding their collaborative efforts to improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk and enhance landscape resilience through strengthened shared stewardship across western Montana. 

Under the leadership of Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz, shared stewardship efforts nationwide are being renewed and expanded to focus on results rather than process.  

In Montana, the landmark Shared Stewardship Agreement (2025) signed by Governor Greg Gianforte and Chief Schultz has led to the identification of two priority landscapes: the Kootenai–Flathead landscape and the Bitterroot landscape. Over the last few months, DNRC and Lolo National Forest have been working in close partnership to identify a third Shared Stewardship landscape across approximately 345,000 acres. This approach helps federal, state, Tribal and local partners work together at meaningful scales, ensuring the right actions happen in the right places. 

“The addition of this third landscape places our total acreage under this historic agreement at 750,000 acres,” Governor Greg Gianforte said. “This new Shared Stewardship landscape on the Lolo National Forest builds on our commitment to active forest management and ensures we are taking responsibility today for the forests that future generations will inherit.” 

Shared stewardship allows land managers to collaboratively identify needs, set priorities and coordinate work across boundaries. By combining expertise, projects can move more efficiently from planning to implementation. The Forest Service and the state of Montana continue to leverage approaches like the Good Neighbor Authority to accelerate forest management and wildfire risk reduction. 

“This new landscape gives DNRC, the Lolo National Forest, and local partners a shared foundation for coordinated, long-term work in western Montana,” said DNRC Director Amanda Kaster. “I’m proud of the progress we have made to streamline planning and deliver on this landmark agreement.” 

“Working together across boundaries is essential to creating healthier, more resilient forests,” said Ben Johnson, Lolo National Forest Supervisor. “By working in partnership the Lolo National Forest and the State of Montana can reduce wildfire risks, protect communities, support local economies and restore landscapes at the scale needed to address the issues facing our national forests.” 

Since its inception in 2018, Montana’s Good Neighbor Authority program has demonstrated what is possible when the State and the Forest Service work as a team. The LNF and DNRC are committed to expanding opportunities for collaboration, using shared stewardship as a foundation for landscape scale restoration and effective wildfire risk reduction across Montana. 

The Shared Stewardship Agreement is additive to both agencies’ robust portfolio of active forest management projects. In 2025, DNRC’s supported the Forest Service in timber sales and forest restoration projects covering more than 40,000 acres through the Good Neighbor Authority. 

To view the Shared Stewardship Agreement between the State of Montana and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, visit: 2025-Shared-Stewardship-Agreement-USFS-Montana.

For more information about the Good Neighbor Authority, visit dnrc.mt.gov/goodneighborauthority.