The Montana land trust community extends congratulations to Michael Whitfield, a longtime conservation champion and former executive director of the Heart of the Rockies Initiative for receiving the distinguished Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award on Oct. 11 at Rally. From the Land Trust Alliance blog: “At a time when many land trusts in the West were really asking the question, ‘Should we be working on community-based conservation or should we be focused on landscape-level conservation,’ Michael was one of the first people answering that question with, ‘Both. We should be doing both things,'” said Wendy Ninteman, the Land Trust Alliance’s Western director. “That passion and that commitment and that integrity are really contagious.” Whitfield will serve in the Kingsbury Browne Fellowship at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy for 2018-2019. For the fellowship, Whitfield will engage in research, writing and mentoring with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a think tank devoted to land policy that’s based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now retired, Whitfield long served as executive director at Teton Regional Land Trust in Idaho before coordinating the Heart of the Rockies Initiative to expedite private land conservation in the West. “The collaborative planning effort, capacity building and capital fundraising for the Heart of the Rockies Initiative brought together land trusts in three states and two Canadian provinces in the Northern Rockies,” said Andrew Bowman, the Land Trust Alliance’s president. “Congratulations, Michael, and thank you for everything you’ve done for our community.”
News
Open Space Measures Debated in Missoula
Amber Sherrill, Five Valleys Land Trust executive director, defined the reasons to support a proposed open land bond measure and stewardship levy during a debate last week in Missoula. “We live in an area that’s growing quickly,“ said Sherrill, in a Missoula Current article. “Outdoor recreation and scenic open space have become a driver for both tourism and businesses locating from more urban centers. It’s particularly important right now that we plan for the future and protect and manage this piece of our growing economy.“ Sherrill debated Missoula City Council member Jesse Ramos, who supported open land but opposed additional property tax hikes. The $15 million bond and $500,000 annual levy are on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Montana Land Reliance Receives National Conservation Award
Congratulations to The Montana Land Reliance for being honored with a 2018 National Land Trust President’s Award this morning at the National Land Trust Conservation Conference in Pittsburgh. MLR is the nation’s largest accredited land trust, a Montana and national private land conservation leader, and a National Land Trust President’s Award is among America’s highest conservation honors. MLR was also instrumental in creating the Montana Association of Land Trusts.
Heart of the Rockies Visits Potomac Valley
The Heart of the Rockies Initiative membership gathered in Missoula at the UM campus on Sept. 27-28 to advance HOTR strategies, and to learn more about Blackfoot Valley conservation during a stop at the Iverson Ranch in Potomac. The HOTR staff and membership advanced a three-pronged strategy of serving its membership through access to science data and information, a capitol campaign for conservation, and strategic communications designed to help each member tell its individual story as part of a collective landscape conservation message. During the visit to the Iverson Ranch, Denny Iverson detailed some of the conservation projects that have made the Blackfoot such a state and national conservation model.
MALT Applauds Daines Efforts on LWCF Today
Statement from MALT on passage of S. 569 in Senate Natural Resources Committee today. “Shoutout to Senator Daines for helping lead committee passage of permanent reauthorization and full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund today. That’s a major positive step. But right now the LWCF has expired and Montana and America need Congress to prioritize the immediate reauthorization of the LWCF, America’s premier conservation and outdoor recreation program.” Glenn Marx, Montana Association of Land Trusts
Montana NRCS Produces Conservation Success Videos
At a time when the LWCF has expired, the 2014 Farm Bill has expired, and words like “syndication of tax benefits“ and “distribution of proceeds“ are causing significant angst within the land trust community, it’s great to see the Natural Resources Conservation Service produce a collected series of short videos detailing how valuable, how productive and how broadly NRCS conservation programs have been deployed here in Montana. The full series of videos is available on the Montana NRCS website and if you spend a few minutes (as you wait for the LWCF to be reauthorized and the Farm Bill to pass) you’ll see some familiar faces: Jim Berkey of The Nature Conservancy in Montana discussing the Hansen Ranch project; and Bart Morris of the Oxbow Cattle Company near Missoula, discussing his work with Five Valleys Land Trust on an ALE Program conservation easement. Nicely done, NRCS.
Land Board Approves TPL’s Whitefish Project
The Trust for Public Land successfully navigated land board approval last month for the final step of a 13,400-acre forest conservation project near Whitefish Lake. The final step in the Whitefish Lake Watershed Project was land board approval of a 3,180-acre addition to the Stillwater State Forest from Weyerhaeuser, funded in part by mitigation funds from the Bonneville Power Administration. BPA will hold a conservation easement on the property. The project will provide sustainable forest management and forest health, water quality protection, wildlife habitat conservation, recreational access, forest jobs and more. The full Whitefish Lake Watershed Project has been in the works for a few years and has involved many project partners, including Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; the Land and Watershed Conservation Fund, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Legacy Program and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
Gallatin Valley Land Trust Connects Bozeman’s Main Street to the Mountains
After 27 years of work and progress, Gallatin Valley Land Trust and Bozeman community members celebrated the construction of the final trail section that connects downtown Bozeman to the top of Triple Tree Trail. This is a significant achievement for GVLT and Bozeman.
Montana Neighbor Awards
Mark Machler of Lewistown and Jim and Laurel Hagenbarth of the Big Hole area were saluted by Governor Bullock and others during a Montana Neighbor Award ceremony in the Governor’s Reception Room on Sept. 17. The Montana Neighbor Award recognizes Montana landowners for their stewardship, community engagement and neighborly access, and both the Montana Association of Land Trusts and The Nature Conservancy in Montana are part of the Montana Neighbor Award committee. Brian Kahn leads the effort. Mark Machler farms near Lewistown and has been instrumental in the restoration and conservation of Big Spring Creek. He is also a recognized community leader through his cooperative work with the NRCS, the local conservation district, and others. Jim and Laurel Hagenbarth are well known and well respected landowners and agriculture industry leaders in southwest Montana who have been active in the Big Hole Watershed Committee’s water management and grayling conservation efforts, and much more. MALT extends sincere congratulations to Mark and to Jim and Laurel.
Yes for Open Space, Rivers and Farmland Holds Sept. 25 Event
Five Valleys Land Trust and the “Yes for Open Space, Rivers and Farmland“ campaign are hosting an event for the Missoula open space bond and levy on Sept. 25, 5:30 PM, at the Ten Spoon Winery in the Rattlesnake.