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Tribal Conservation Districts

Three tribal conservation districts recently joined the conservation partnership with NRCS in Montana, functioning alongside the 58 conservation districts that are organized under state law. In addition to the tribal conservation districts, the Tribal Conservation Issues Committee in Montana functions as a tribal conservation advisory council to the NRCS State Conservationist. The committee is comprised of tribal representatives from each reservation, as well as tribal conservation district representatives.

  • Crow Conservation District, established 1996
  • Blackfeet Conservation District, established 1997
  • Fort Belknap Indian Community Conservation District, established 1998

Map showing location of tribal conservation districts in Montana.

The primary objective of the newly formed tribal conservation districts is to support tribal efforts to provide for the utilization, protection, conservation and restoration of reservation lands for the benefit of the community in a partnership effort with USDA and NRCS. Tribal conservation districts provide a local voice in leadership efforts to address natural resources needs and concerns by providing assistance to land owners/users and managers in the conservation and wise use of land and natural resources. They also provide leadership for intra-tribal coordination between tribal governments, tribal natural resource managers and coordinate assistance from NRCS and other federal, state, local and private sources.

Although tribal conservation districts are relatively new to Montana’s landscape, tribal conservation districts have been around for 50 years. The Duck Valley Conservation District, organized under Nevada state law, was the first tribal conservation district formed on the Nevada-Idaho border in 1954. A number of Tribes in Arizona also organized conservation districts under tribal and state laws in the 1980’s.

Nearly 3000 conservation districts are now in operation. To learn more about conservation districts and the conservation partnership with NRCS visit the following websites

Last Modified: 01/23/2008