Great things are going on in the Montana land trust community. For example, take a look at Flathead Land Trust: FLT’s major summer fundraising event is coming up live and in-person on August 19, FLT is a participant in the popular Great Fish Community Challenge, a major FLT partnership effort—Bad Rock Canyon Conservation Project—recently received a $15,000 donation from the Whitefish Community Foundation, FLT just led a successful tour of its Stillwater Conservation Easement project and its Somers Beach project is progressing. 

     Wow. 

     “We are so excited and grateful to the Whitefish Community Foundation for this grant,” Flathead Land Trust executive director Paul Travis said in a Flathead Beacon article. “The proposed Bad Rock Canyon Wildlife Management Area will protect a critical piece of wildlife habitat along the Flathead River and secure  public access to a wild place right on the doorstep of Columbia Falls.”

     A total of 61 Flathead area nonprofits were selected by the Whitefish Community Foundation for the Great Fish Community Challenge. The event features an August 5 launch party. Since 2015, the Great Fish Community Challenge has raised more than $13 million for more than 70 local nonprofit organizations. In addition to awarding a percentage match on the first $20,000 raised by each organization, the Whitefish Community Foundation awards thousands of dollars in incentive grants throughout the campaign.

     FLT is also hosting The Land Affair, the land trust’s annual summer fundraising event, at 6:00 PM on August 19. The event will be held at the Snowline Acres Ashley Creek Venue and features reggae music, locally-sourced appetizers, local beer and wine, all culminated with a live paddle raise.  

     A Kalispell Daily Inter Lake reporter joined FLT for a tour of its 1,100-acre Stillwater Conservation Easement, a collaborative project involving The Trust for Public Land, Stoltze Land & Lumber, and a previous conservation-minded  landowner on forested land about 18 miles north of Whitefish. 

     “It’s one of the last pieces of private land in that area,” FLT’s Paul Travis said at the time the deal was closed. “The conservation easement protects open space, public access and wildlife habitat while also allowing for sustainable timber management.”

Photo: Stillwater tour.