The Montana Board of Land Commissioners unanimously approved three Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks land acquisition and recreation access projects on July 20, with each project having a land trust partner and each project enjoying broad and local public support.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was a partner – and at the land board meeting RMEF’s Mike Mueller testified in support of the project – on FWP’s proposed 600-acre Stumptown addition to the Garrity Mountain Wildlife Management Area, which expanded access and improved wildlife habitat conservation at the WMA. RMEF contributed $100,000 to the project.

The Conservation Fund’s Gates Watson testified in support of the proposed Confluentus Corner Fishing Access Site on the Thompson River near Thompson Falls. The new 40-acre FAS creates a walk-in fishing access opportunity four miles from Thompson Falls. At the request of Montana FWP, and with support from Avista, Northwestern Energy and Trout Unlimited, The Conservation Fund acquired the property last year. TCF held and managed the property with the objective of transferring it to FWP for long term stewardship and ownership.

Bitter Root Land Trust helped lead the 97-acre C. Ben White Memorial Fishing Access Site project on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. The expanded FAS will permanently create access to the river for fishing and boating, and also allows camping, protects wildlife habitat, and will help expand additional access into the Bitterroot National Forest. Bitter Root Land Trust’s Gavin Ricklefs testified in support of the project, and BRLT has essentially served as project manager on the $1.1 million project.

All three projects were approved by the land board members on 5-0 votes, and MALT thanks Governor Bullock, Attorney General Fox, Auditor Rosendale, Superintendent Arntzen and Secretary Stapleton for their support of these projects.

Photo: C. Ben White Fishing Access Site

     Thanks to Prickly Pear Land Trust and many partners, the community trails system in Helena keeps getting bigger and better.

     Last week PPLT and the City of Helena announced an effort for PPLT to purchase and then donate about 54 acres of private land to the city for trails expansion.  PPLT would obtain a portion of the funding to purchase the land from the US Defense Department’s ACUB (Army Compatible Use Buffer) program. PPLT utilized that funding source for previous projects near Fort Harrison.

     A Helena Independent Record article quoted a city official as saying the potential acquisition would provide better continuity within the trail system, improve emergency personnel access and provide further opportunities to conduct wildfire fuel reduction work.

     “Any chance we have an opportunity to add strategic public land and recreation value pieces to our public land, especially those that are adjacent to residential communities, we should jump on the opportunity,” PPLT executive director Mary Hollow said, citing heavy use of existing trails.

     Hollow also said, “I’d like to applaud this commission and the leadership of the city that together over the course of the last 22 years, we have now added upwards of 20 parcels to the South Hills that comprise today some of the best trails and public lands that we have in the state.”

       The Universal Trails and Outdoors for Everyone Panel Discussion and Workshop, held July 8-9-10 at the Five Valleys Land Trust Confluence Property at Rock Creek, offered abundant information for participants to ponder, to act upon, to motivate, and to bring home to serve and improve communities.

      Five Valleys planned and implemented the workshop, with funding help from the Land Trust Alliance and the Montana Association of Land Trusts.  The July 8  virtual panel, titled “Voices From the Community: Why Access, Equity, and Inclusion Matter,” provided insights into the significance of, challenges of – and value of – universal trails for people of all abilities in any community. The panel discussion was recorded and is available on the Five Valleys website.

      The two-day trails workshop, with instruction provided by Larry Knutson of Penn Trails, carefully and thoroughly walked the workshop attendees through the process of designing, building, and maintaining universal all-access trails. Knutson is a national universal trails leader, and his book “Universal Access Trails and Shared Use Paths” is (to use one of his phrases) the gold standard of universal trails literature. Larry provided a wealth of information about trail design principles, trail sustainability, the function and integrity of trail tread and much, much, much more. The goal was for workshop participants to obtain information to take back home and put that information to work, and that goal was accomplished. MALT thanks Jenny Tollefson and the entire Five Valleys crew, and Land Trust Alliance Western Program for making the panel presentation and workshop possible. Everything about it was impressive.

MALT Photos

      What a week for Bitter Root Land Trust.

      In addition to advancing the C. Ben White Memorial Fishing Access Site project, the City of Hamilton and BRLT opened Skalkaho Bend Park in Hamilton, a project years in the making and a project that creates 1.5 miles of river corridor access on a new 70-acre city park in Hamilton.

     The park is a new asset for the City of Hamilton residents and visitors, and would not have been possible without Steve Powell’s (a BRLT founder) work and legacy, vital bridge financing from The Conservation Fund, BRLT’s full organizational commitment to see the project to completion, and supporters and funders in Hamilton and elsewhere who made the project not only possible, but reality.

     “The entire community used their time, treasures and talents to make this park possible,” Hamilton Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf said. “The park will be enjoyed by the current population and for generations to come.”

     “Skalkaho Bend is such a huge win for the residents of Hamilton and for the valley,” BRLT executive director Gavin Ricklefs said. “There aren’t many communities of this size that have that kind of resource that’s open to anyone for free.”

      Bill Northey, USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, is in Montana this week and on Sunday evening, July 12, Montana State Conservationist Tom Watson arranged an opportunity for MALT and Bitter Root Land Trust to visit with the under secretary. Gavin Ricklefs, executive director of Bitter Root Land Trust and MALT board president, and MALT executive director Glenn Marx joined Watson, Northey and USDA staffer Josh Storey for dinner in Missoula.

     The under secretary asked about the history behind Montana’s land trust community and the state’s  conservation easement statute, and about the focus and mission of individual Montana land trusts as well the collective focus of the state land trust association. Northey and Watson were headed to the Blackfoot Valley on July 13, where they will have a chance to learn more about Montana land conservation.

    The dinner conversation touched on a multitude of topics: The flexibility and landowner incentives within the 2018 Farm Bill, the work of Gallatin Valley Land Trust and now Bitter Root Land Trust within the NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program, the value of the Montana ALE Program Coordinator position, the importance of funding by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for not only the ALE Coordinator position but for Northern Great Plains grassland conservation efforts, the success of the Montana ALE Program, and the strength of the partnership between the Montana NRCS and the Montana land trust community. The group also discussed food security and food distribution, and the challenges associated with farm and ranch succession planning and invigorating US agriculture with a new generation of producers.

     MALT thanks Northey and Watson for taking time from busy schedules to meet with land trusts.

Photo: (left to right) Glenn Marx, MALT; USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey; Gavin Ricklefs, Bitter Root Land Trust; Tom Watson, Montana NRCS State Conservationist. Photo by Josh Storey

The US Fish and Wildlife Service, Southern Pine Plantations and The Trust for Public Land are involved in a 100,000-acre forest management and conservation project in NW Montana. The Kalispell Daily Inter Lake news article indicates the USFWS has started a scoping process to obtain public comment on the project. The proposed project is in both Flathead and Lincoln counties.

The article reports that “The Service is seeking public comment on a proposal to create the Lost Trail Conservation Area. If created, it would authorize the Service to work with willing sellers to acquire conservation easements on up to 100,000 acres within the 116,000 acre Conservation Area boundary” adjacent to the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge. Comments on the proposal should be submitted by August 6.

If approved, the conservation easements would secure public access, prevent residential development and allow for sustainable commercial timber harvests.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a vital funding source for the project.

Chris Boyer photo

The Ravalli County Commission voted 3-0 on July 7 to conditionally approve $250,000 of Ravalli County Open Land Program funding to help create a new permanent fishing access site on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. The proposed project requires Montana Board of Land Commissioners approval for Montana FWP to acquire the property, and a final vote by the Ravalli County Commission is expected shortly after July 20.

Bitter Root Land Trust is a project leader and has worked with the landowner, Marty Stomberg, since 2007 on the project as a way to honor Bitterroot native and Stomberg’s son, C. Ben White. The proposed project greatly expands the FAS to nearly 100 acres (from 1.5 acres),  ensures the permanency of the fishing access site, allows camping and hunting, improves river health, protects wildlife habitat, creates access to USFS lands and generally greatly enhances local outdoor recreation opportunities.

Please join Five Valleys Land Trust and others on Wednesday, July 8 for a free virtual panel discussion, Voices from the Community: Why Access, Equity, and Inclusion Matter.

When: Wednesday, July 8th; 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM

Where: Online via Zoom (registration link below)

This panel will bring together diverse voices around a common theme: access to the outdoors. During this panel discussion, we will hear from community members who have experienced some of these barriers in their personal and professional lives. Panelists will share their stories and their ideas for ways to make the outdoors more accessible, welcoming, and inclusive to more people. A short Q & A session will follow the program.

Donna Gaukler, Director of Missoula Parks and Recreation, will moderate the panel. Panelists include:

• Chris Clasby, Peer Advocacy Coordinator, Summit Independent Living

• Ashely Ostheimer Hilliard, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, Missoula Food Bank and Community Center

• Alex Kim, Racial Justice Engagement Specialist, EmpowerMT and YWCA Missoula

• Tom McDonald, Division Manager for Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation programs, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

The panel will be hosted on Zoom and is free and open to the public.

Click here to register.

     Montana Senator Jon Tester and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have coauthored a guest column in US Today headlined “Threat of Meat Shortages is Growing. Senate Needs to Act Now.”

     The June 29 op-ed highlights the Senators’ concerns about meat supply during a pandemic that appears to worsening…in Montana, in the US, and throughout the world. The Senators voice concerns about meat packing consolidation and monopoly.

     “…it requires only a brief look under the hood of the beef supply chain to diagnose the grave crisis currently facing American farmers and ranchers, and the growing threat of shortages for every American family who buys meat at the grocery store,” the Senators write. “…in recent decades, the packing industry has become dangerously consolidated. Currently, only four large corporations control 80 percent of America’s meat processing capacity, running massive processing plants and industrial feed lots.”

     Then came COVID. “…the pandemic, which has exposed the dangers of this consolidated industry by infecting thousands of plant employees, shutting down a quarter of our nation’s meat processing capacity, making it more difficult for families to find meat at the grocery store, and jeopardizing our nation’s food supply chain,” they write.

     The two Senators have introduced legislation to stem manipulation of cattle prices by meat packers to help livestock producers obtain more opportunity to get a fair price for their products. The two Senators point out it is not just ranchers impacted by packer monopolies but consumers as well.