At a time when Montana is battling wildfires, a pandemic, and economic uncertainty, Gallatin Valley Land Trust and the Random Acts of Silliness children’s theater partnered to bring fun to the outdoors and smiles to the faces of Bozeman area kids and adults.

     “It’s something we really need in our community,” said Hannah Overton, a Gallatin Valley Land Trust coordinator. The land trust partnered with Random Acts of Silliness to organize two outdoor improv shows and a self-guided fairy village experience. “We’re going to keep doing this,” Overton said. The GVLT website has details about the events, including a fairy village experience that runs Sept. 22 to Oct. 5.

     Governor Bullock announced last week additional COVID relief funding is available through  the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (scroll down a bit on the website) Social Services Nonprofit Grants. The application window for nonprofits is open now and eligible entities can apply for grants equal to 10% of their operating budgets, with a maximum of $150,000 requested. Details are available on the website. Entities that received a grant in Round 1 of the grants awards should have directly  received information about the new funding. Nonprofits that did not apply in Round 1 are eligible to apply in Round 2.

From The Vital Ground Foundation:

Tonight’s the night! Join us at 5 p.m. MDT (7 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. CDT, 4 p.m. PDT) as we celebrate 30 years of conservation with a special online event. If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to sign up!

We can’t wait for you to join us this evening. Together with Vital Ground co-founders Doug and Lynne Seus and other supporters like you, we’ll honor three decades of protecting habitat for grizzly bears and other wildlife and look ahead at the vision that will guide our work for decades to come. The event will include:

• Live video call with Vital Ground staff, Doug and Lynne Seus, and conservation supporters from around the country and globe!
• Special appearance by Bart the Bear II
• Exciting news on our latest habitat protection projects
• One Landscape short film premiere
• Updates from our online auction and Fund the Cause matching challenge

Speaking of our 30th Anniversary Online Auction, have you had a chance to check it out? From once-in-a-lifetime travel and recreation opportunities to wildlife art to handmade goods, there’s something for everyone and it’s all in support of habitat conservation!

If bidding wars aren’t your thing, one of our auction’s most important features is Fund the Cause, which allows you to directly protect crucial wildlife habitat. PLUS, if our Fund the Cause total reaches $35,000, the Johnson Family Foundation will match it! We still need to raise an additional $24,000, however, so we need your help to meet this goal. Your support of Fund the Cause will carry double impact for grizzlies and all things wild!

Auction bidding will close after the event (at 7 p.m. MDT tonight) but Fund the Cause will stay open through the weekend. So after you sign up for tonight’s celebration via our registration page, be sure to place your bids and help Fund the Cause!

Thank you for 30 years of working for wildlife. We can’t wait to celebrate with you soon!

–The Vital Ground Team

     The Nature Conservancy has completed a conservation project on Montana’s Northern Great Plains that was a few years in the making…but worth the wait.

     The 4,340-acre project on the prairie south of Malta includes a unique partnership with landowners. After purchasing the property, TNC sold it to neighboring landowners, with a conservation easement on the property. As part of the partnership, landowners who purchased the property worked to place conservation easements on some of the land they own.

     Because the easement on the 4,340 acres prevents cropland conversion, the project makes the land eligible for carbon offset payments, which provides an income stream for the new landowners.

     “TNC’s original purchase of this land was a leap of faith for us, since we didn’t wish to be permanent owners. It was based on the trust that we have forged with this ranching community. We are glad to have it in the hands of ranch families with a demonstrated commitment to conservation,” says Brian Martin, Grassland Conservation Director for TNC.

     The project area is just north of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, and harbors several important and/or declining bird species.

     The NRCS ALE Program and The Conservation Fund were key funding partners for the project.

Photo: Jolynn Messerly/TNC

      Bitter Root Land Trust has launched a series of Homegrown Events, and virtually everyone is invited to participate. Running August 20 to Sept. 24, BRLT’s Homegrown Events offer something for everyone, whether you live in the Bitterroot or not. The series includes “Homegrown Picnic Baskets” filled with Bitterroot Valley products that are available for a $100 donation. There are also “Adventure Baskets” that include options like local fishing, horseback riding, and other Bitterroot adventures. There’s an outdoor challenge in which miles – running, walking, hiking and riding – are added up toward a goal of matching a $2,000 pledge from OnX. And it all ends with a live stream concert by “front-porch-pickin’ Pinegrass” with interludes about BRLT conservation easements.

     From BRLT: Welcome to a new way of doing things. This series of events are designed to make you feel right at home, in the Bitterroot Valley. Virtual events include an outdoor miles challenge, Bitterroot inspired picnic baskets, uniquely Bitterroot experiences for small groups, and a virtual music concert on a conservation easement.

A letter to the editor in the Kalispell Daily Inter Lake expresses support for the Flathead Valley’s legacy of — and the importance of — local food production in the face of population growth and increasing losses of agricultural land.

From Matt Gebhardt’s letter: “Sound policies must consider items like the long-standing agricultural heritage, the communities ag feeds, and ag’s economic contributions to the Valley and world.”

     Gallatin Valley Land Trust’s executive director, Chet Work, wrote an op-ed in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in which he and GVLT discuss exporting the success of “Main Street to the Mountains” to an informal “Main Street  to our neighborhoods, schools and businesses.”

     Chet, who recently arrived at GVLT with more than 20 years of land trust experience, wrote that Main Street to the Mountains is a great community success, and that GVLT and the community are justifiably proud of that achievement.

     GVLT, Bozeman Parks and Recreation, and Gallatin County would like to duplicate that success with a strong connector trail network throughout the county, including business and residential areas.

     From the op-ed: We envision a 12-mile “East to West” greenway that stretches past the new Gallatin High School and affordable housing developments like Larkspur Commons, through new neighborhoods like Flanders Mill Subdivision and around public parks like Story Mill Community Park and the Gallatin County Regional Park, along with growing centers of commerce like Midtown and the Cannery District.

     Read more about the effort in the GVLT website.

by Glenn Marx, MALT Executive Director

     John Ormiston, at the tender age of 82, has put his heart and soul – and his legs – into support for Bitter Root Land Trust.

     For about a dozen years now John has hopped on his bike for BRLT, raising money for his local land trust for every mile he rides…and he rides a lot of miles. I can personally attest that once you get on John’s list you are on his list forever, and you will know when John hops on his bike. You will be expected to donate, and you will donate. It’s pretty simple, actually.

     A recent Ravalli Republic article about John and his commitment to BRLT and area conservation, is headlined Riding the ‘Root: Ormiston to pedal for 12th year to help Bitter Root Land Trust. The article is full of classic John Ormiston quotes:

     “When I was 75, I decided I would try to get $100 for every year of my life. I raised $7,500. Last year, the goal was 10 grand. I raised about 11. I knew I had to exceed that this year — and since it was the 12th year — I set my goal at 12 grand. So far, I’m at $10,500.”

     “I think so far (in 2020) I’ve had about 129 people pledge to get to that $10,500. Last year, it was about 220. This year I haven’t been able to go to the Audubon meetings or places where crowds gather where I can pass around my clipboard. People know me by my clipboard.”

     I know John by his clipboard.

     Go John Go. The donation has been sent.

The Conservation Fund 2019 Annual Report contains top-line stats that are pretty impressive. TCF completed 156 projects in 35 states conserving about 207,000 acres valued at over $323 million (35 more projects than in 2018). The TCF Working Forest Fund acquired more than 79,000 acres of high conservation value forestlands. The TCF Natural Capital Investment Fund provided $13.7 million in 61 loans and technical assistance to 194 small businesses and farm enterprises.

The Montana Association of Land Trusts congratulates Becky and Denny Anderson, who live in the upper Miller Creek area of Missoula County, for receiving the 2020 Missoula County Land Stewardship Award.

Becky and Denny recently received the award during a celebration at an outdoor ceremony in the Miller Creek area. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation nominated the Andersons, and RMEF holds a conservation easement on the property. The Missoula County Community & Planning Services Newsletter also reports that:

The Anderson’s significant land steward practices include:

• Protecting their legacy through a 207-acre conservation easement on their land that conserves open space for fish and wildlife habitat, protecting water quality and conserving a working ranch, farmland, or forest.

• Working with partners (Clark Fork Coalition and others) to re-establish the stream channel and streambanks to a natural winding path and to restore wetlands.

• Planting of thousands of trees and shrubs in riparian area to stabilize stream banks and fencing the area to protect it from grazing.

• Maintaining highly productive farmland in a working ranch for hay production and pasture.

• Maintaining forest health in their timberlands.

Congratulations to Becky and Denny for the recognition of their conservation efforts and accomplishments.