Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station

The Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station (MFCES) is a statewide agency and the research unit of the College of Forestry and Conservation. The MFCES was founded in 1937 and is responsible for administering a very active research and outreach program in Montana and internationally. Through the MFCES, CFC faculty are engaged in a wide variety of projects in climate change, protected area management, wildlife biology, water resources, landscape ecology, applied forest management, and wildland fire.

The MFCES owns and manages two properties for research and outreach: Lubrecht Experimental Forest, a 28,000-acre forest approximately 30 miles from Missoula and Bandy Experimental Ranch, a 3,600-acre mountain ranch about 50 miles from Missoula, both within the Blackfoot River drainage. MFCES scientists also have access to a wide variety of other lands in western and central Montana.

Virtually all of the faculty members in the College do research administered by the MFCES and many of them also provide outreach to land owners; forest, grassland, and park managers; wildlife biologists; and many others through demonstrations, short courses, symposia, and other means. Graduate students in the College usually do their thesis and dissertation research under the auspices of the MFCES and many undergraduate students conduct research and are supported on projects of the MFCES.