A Nov. 3 virtual meeting led by NRCS State Conservationist Tom Watson and NRCS Assistant State Conservationist (Easements) Allen Persinger with about 15 Montana land trust participants cleared up uncertainty about the FY22 and FY23 Montana ALE Program application deadlines. The ALE Program was created in the 2014 Farm Bill to maintain farm and ranch operations and maintain food production.

     The FY22 ALE project deadline is Jan. 28, 2022.

     Montana land trusts should expect the FY23 project deadline to be Jan. 2, 2023. Watson explained his goal, and his expectation, is that the FY23 deadline, or “batching date”, since the NRCS accepts ALE Program project applications throughout the year, will be Jan. 2, 2023. That date, however, cannot be firmly fixed until after Oct. 1, 2022, when the NRCS national headquarters will provide guidance on FY23 program provisions. It should be pointed out that while the NRCS accepts ALE Program project applications throughout the year, a project application submitted on or before Jan. 28, 2022, for example, would be eligible for federal FY22 consideration and funding. A project submitted Jan. 29, 2022, however, would technically not be actively considered until the federal FY23 year begins on Oct. 1, 2022. 

     Watson explained Montana is the top ALE Program in the nation, both in acres conserved and funding allocated. The added workload within the NRCS to achieve those conserved acres and allocate those funds requires a rigorous internal process and increased ALE Program staff responsibilities. The NRCS internal procedures and timelines are increasingly complex, he added, and Montana land trust participation in RCPP (Regional Conservation Partnership Program) is also growing (which is a good thing). MALT expresses appreciation to Watson, Persinger, and Montana ALE Program Coordinator Brian Ohs for organizing and leading the call.  

       A thoughtful guest column in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle shines a light on an emerging problem associated with community trails: Extensive use, and user conflicts.

     Gallatin Valley Land Trust Executive Director Chet Work and One Montana Executive Director Sarah Tilt co-authored an op-ed that stresses a single word for the diverse groups and individuals who use local trails: Kindness.

     From the op-ed: Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT) and One Montana (have) partnered up with other outdoor recreation groups and land managers to create the Outside Kind Alliance, a collaborative effort to create consistent messaging and education around outdoor ethics and etiquette. The partners represent diverse perspectives from skiers, bikers, dog owners, hunters, hikers, trail runners, and more.

     After months of conversations and exploration into the challenges of trails and public land stewardship, the alliance coalesced around a simple message…Kindness: Hike Kind, Ski Kind, Ride Kind, Wag Kind, Hunt Kind. Be kind to the trail and the land that you’re using. Be kind to each other in the outdoors. And be kind to the landowners, neighbors and critters who call the area home.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has long communicated a theme that “Hunting is Conservation,” and a short new video on the RMEF website does a great job of documenting that theme. The roughly three minute video illustrates how hunters have played a leading role in “our nation’s land and wildlife conservation ethic.” The video tracks wildlife conservation measures from 1646 in Rhode Island to the creation of the RMEF in Montana in 1984. In between are historical statutes and management decisions, creation of agencies and organizations, facts and statistics (the Pittman-Robertson Act has raised more than $14.1 billion for conservation), and more. RMEF has protected or enhanced more than 8.1 million acres of habitat and opened or improved access to more than 1.3 million acres of habitat.

      Prickly Pear Land Trust recently posted this photo showing students pretending to be two species of birds competing for food to help explain how natural selection and evolution happens. The class worked together to model changes in bird population trends based on available food sources.

     This was just one of forty classes the PPLT outdoor education program has facilitated. PPLT has engaged over 600 students in outdoor education on PPLT properties and public land around Helena in 2021.

    The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approved two major Flathead area conservation projects—Bad Rock Canyon and Kootenai Forestlands—with unanimous votes at the commission’s Oct. 28 meeting in  Helena. The commission approval represents final approval for the Kooentai Forestlands project, while the Bad Rock Canyon project will go to the Montana Land Board on Nov. 15.

     “It’s amazing, the amount of community support we’ve seen (for the Bad Rock Canyon Project),” Flathead Land Trust executive director Paul Travis said in testimony at the commission hearing.

     The Bad Rock Canyon Project seeks to allow FWP to purchase 772 acres of forestlands along the Flathead River near Columbia Falls and manage the property as a wildlife management area with year-around public access. The project enjoys broad and strong local support. Funding for the project comes from the USFS Forest Legacy Program; the Habitat Montana Program; several local businesses, individuals, organizations, and foundations. The landowner, Glencore, also donated a portion of the value of the land.

     The Kootenai Forestlands Phase II Conservation Easement authorizes Montana FWP to utilize Forest  Legacy Program funding to purchase a conservation easement on 27,289 acres of Stimson Lumber Company. TPL has been a partner in this and other forest conservation projects in northwest Montana.

     “The local support for this kind of work has been unwavering,” Dick Dolan, Rocky Mountain director for the Trust for Public Land told the commission. He saluted Stimson Lumber Company, who he said, “are willing—even enthusiastic—partners…who want to keep the land in forest protection, keep it open to the public, and conserve it for the long run.”

     In addition to the Forest Legacy Program, funding was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust. The project would not have been possible without a major donation of land value by Stimson Lumber.    

Bad Rock Canyon (left); Kootenai  Forestlands (right)

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     Bitter Root Land Trust is off to the races, sort of. BRLT started a Fall Miles Challenge on Oct. 11, literally running through Nov. 11, with a goal of 2,500 total miles. Participants can reside anywhere and still participate, and can participate on foot, high in the saddle, on the seat of a bike, and even swimming.

       From the BRLT website: Upload your active miles for conservation and help us meet our 2,500 mile goal! Miles can be uploaded on a daily or weekly basis. Prizes will be awarded weekly for participants at random as well as to our top performers! If you have questions, please call our office at 406-375-0956 or stop by our office at 170 S. 2nd Street in Hamilton.

     And there are prizes! A BRLT Facebook post from Oct. 18 reports the prize for the week ending Oct. 24 was a box of swag and running accessories from The Runner’s Edge.   

Congratulations to Prickly Pear Land Trust! A front page feature story in the Helena Independent Record highlights the land trust’s achievements and value to the greater Helena area through PPLT’s extensive community trails network and conservation projects.

      More work needs to be done, but the work that has been done is impressive.

    That essentially sums up an article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle about Gallatin Valley Land Trust’s campaign to ultimately raise in excess of $1.23 million from private land public sources to purchase 12 acres of land at Peets Hill that is privately owned and currently for sale.  

     GVLT announced it has raised an initial $800,000 from a campaign dedicated to Peets Hill, with approximately 650 donors—perhaps GVLT’s largest number of donors for a single project—contributing to  the cause. 

     GVLT acted quickly to secure an option to purchase the property and has until mid-January to raise the additional funds. Peets Hill is a Bozeman recreational tradition and was one of the first projects in the Bozeman area to obtain Land and Water Conservation Funds.

     GVLT executive director Chet Work said in the article that the land trust will now look at public funds to obtain the remaining funds.

     From the Chronicle article:

     Work said GVLT plans to request some  of the city’s cash-in-lieu of park land funding to help buy the property…

     Work noted that the city and GVLT have worked together in the past to conserve land along Peets Hill — starting in the 1990s, when the organization’s founder, Chris Boyd, helped the city purchase much of what now makes up the popular park.

     “Peets Hill looks the way it does because of our partnership,” Work said. “(The city was) our first phone call when we were able to secure the property.”

     GVLT’s request to the City of Bozeman will follow a public process and GVLT will soon submit a request with an exact dollar amount attached to it. Photo: Peets Hill / Bozeman Daily Chronicle   

Prickly Pear Land Trust, with the support of the Dowling family,  have re-opened a popular South Hills trail that had been temporarily closed due to access issues

Read the full “good news” story here in the Helena Independent Record.

From the article:

     A recent photo essay in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle titled “Seasonal Shift: Moving cows on the edge of Bozeman” includes a photo of a cow grazing at the Highland Glen Preserve, near a Gallatin Valley Land Trust trail. The photo essay documents some of the challenges of raising cattle within a partially urbanized area. The photos and article are by Samuel Wilson.