Land Trust News

Kelly Kountz Photo / Courtesy of Gallatin Valley Land Trust

PPLT’s Happy Snails Are Happy Bunch

Like the USPS, they are undaunted by snow or sleet or bad weather. They are the Prickly Pear Land Trust Happy Snails for Happy Trails, and for the past three winters they have gathered on Tuesdays at noon to run on the PPLT and Helena expansive community trails system. They meet at the Old Shooting Range Trailhead, and everyone is invited to join them. Here’s more info from PPLT: For those interested in the group, you can learn more on the facebook group page: Happy Snails for Happy Trails, OR attend the Snails’ winter celebration. The group is gathering at Bert & Ernie’s on Tuesday, February 25 from 5-7 PM for pizza, beer and wine to celebrate the past year of the Snails hitting their stride. This will be a great time to meet other runners, buy the new Happy Snails T-shirts, as well as talk about the Don’t Fence Me In Trail Run courses available. PPLT Photo

Falls Creek Project Featured in Bugle Magazine

Here’s how the article opens: Five people sat around a tray of cinnamon rolls in a small real estate office in the ranching and big game hunting town of Augusta, Montana. Mike Mueller, RMEF’s senior lands program manager for Montana, wrote $2,460,000 on a napkin, folded it over so nobody else could see and slid it across to lifelong rancher Dan Barrett.

When he opened it, Barrett cracked a small smile and said, “That’s what I thought you’d offer. Where’s all this money going to come from?”

Mueller said, “Well hell, Dan, I don’t know. But trust us. We’ll get it.”

“You know, against my better judgment, I do trust you,” Barrett replied. “But let me think on it.” They shook hands all around and parted ways.

This was the culmination of years of effort and there was a lot riding on the deal. The price on the napkin represented 442 acres of land so special, no amount of money could truly quantify the value to the public—especially those who love to hunt elk.

Bugle Feature_Falls Creek_MA20

Blackfoot Conservation Strategies Meeting Set Feb. 27 in Helmville

The Blackfoot Challenge Conservation Strategies group will be meeting on Feb. 27 at the Helmville Community Center. The meeting will run from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM and is open to the public. In addition to hearing updates from landowners and conservation partners in the area, the group will discuss other conservation initiatives in the Blackfoot Valley. Contact Sara Schmidt for additional information.

Montana Land Trusts Seeking to Build, Expand Trails

Three Montana land trusts are seeking 2020 Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funding to build or expand trails in what is a very competitive process. A total of 70 entities are collectively requesting over $3.6 million in funding through a program that has roughly $1.5 million to allocate.

MALT members applying for funds to improve community trails include Bitter Root Land Trust, Five Valleys Land Trust, and Gallatin Valley Land Trust, and some land trust-connected applicants are also seeking funds.

A complete list of applicants and additional information about the projects are available at the RTP website. The website accepts public comments on the proposals until 5:00 PM on March 9.

GVLT is seeking grant funds to build a bridge on Bozeman’s Front Street Pathway. Five Valleys Land Trust is seeking funds to build a new trail on Mount Dean Stone and improve a trailhead parking lot. Bitter Root Land Trust is seeking to acquire land for a new Fishing Access Site and trail.

 

Montana Land Trusts Attend Great Plains Conservation Gathering

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies hosted a Northern Great Plains Grantee Convening in Billings on Feb. 12-13 and among the participants were Montana land trust representatives (left to right) Brad Hansen (The Montana Land Reliance), Amy Croover (The Nature Conservancy in Montana) and Gary Sullivan (The Conservation Fund).

The convening offered an opportunity for NFWF and MACP to share information with entities that have received NFWF or MACP funding, for grantees to share information with each other, and for grantees to share information with NFWF and MACP.

In addition to main topics such as beef markets, initiatives on tribal lands and carbon sequestration, participants were selected to offer “lightning round” presentations. Brian Martin (Montana TNC) and Leo Barthelmess (Ranchers Stewardship Alliance) offered presentations. NFWF is a major funder of the MALT ALE Program Coordinator position. MALT Photo

Land Donated to RMEF Protects 3,450 Acres of Montana Wildlife Habitat

A generous gift: Conservation-minded landowner John Greytak has donated 3,450 acres of critical elk, mule deer and whitetail deer winter range near the Bearmouth area in western Montana to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Watch a video and read more about the donation here.

“We are grateful to John Greytak for this extremely generous and substantial donation,” said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. “We commend John for recognizing the crucial wildlife values of this land while making the decision to permanently protect them. He’s been a RMEF member since 1999 and recently elevated his commitment to conservation by becoming a RMEF life member and joining RMEF’s Legacy Lands Program.”

Located just north of Interstate 90 in the Bearmouth area of Granite County, the property is about 45 miles east of RMEF headquarters in Missoula. It lies within a vast landscape of various public and protected land ownership and provides important connectivity of wildlife habitat.

“I know what the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation does is like-minded to my passion. In fact, I’d say their passion kind of spawned my passion,” said Greytak. “It’s a win for me. It’s a win for RMEF. And in the long run it will be a win for the general public and the wildlife so I’m happy to have done it.”

GVLT’s Penelope Pierce Goodbye Party is Set for Feb. 13

Feb. 13 will informally end one chapter of Penelope Pierce’s life – as executive director of Gallatin Valley Land Trust – and open up untold new chapters as she turns the reins of GVLT over into new hands.

Penelope, who after ten years at GVLT announced her intentions to “retire” from GVLT, will be feted on Feb. 13 at the GVLT Annual Trail Mix gathering. The event starts at 6:00 PM in the Baxter Hotel Ballroom. The invitation reads: “You’re invited to the 26th Annual GVLT Trail Mix and Penelope’s going away party.” RSVP are requested by Feb. 10 to hannah@gvlt.org or by calling 406-587-8404 ext. 113.

Penelope will work during a brief transitional period at GVLT to assist the new executive director.

Montana Land Reliance, Raths Family, NRCS and State Sage Grouse Program Team Up in Central Montana

The State of Montana and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service have both made sage grouse habitat conservation top priorities, and so have The Montana Land Reliance and the Raths Ranch near Roundup.

Landowners Jeff and Bea Raths partnered with MLR, NRCS and the Montana Sage Grouse Habitat Conservation Program to place a conservation easement on 11,230 acres of their ranch to help maintain healthy sage grouse habitat and populations.

The NRCS featured the Raths and the conservation easement on the Montana NRCS website, and the Raths also received a 2019 conservation award from MLR. Montana is working hard to retain state authority of sage grouse, and projects like this will help the state achieve that goal.

Montana Land Reliance Agriculture Forum Draws a Crowd

The 2020 GreaterYellowstone Agriculture Forum attracted a broad audience of area ranchers and others who learned about cloud seeding and drought and water management, along with other topics associated with drier and warmer weather. The theme of the forum was “Stormy Weather – The Road Ahead in a Changing Landscape.”

The Montana Land Reliance has produced the forum the past five years, with an eye toward providing current and helpful information to the agriculture community. Speakers at the Feb. 6 forum (held in Three Forks at the Gathering Pace in the Lewis & Clark Motel) included MSU Professor Bruce Maxwell, rancher Jim Hagenbarth of Dillon, and Krista Lee Evans, a noted water rights expert. Photo of Montana Land Reliance staff participants at the Greater Yellowstone Agriculture Forum included (left to right) Jordan Vana, Kim Cook, Kathryn Kelly, Becky Stearns, Andrea Darling and Brad Hansen (Tom Mallon photo)