Flathead Land Trust is one of the participants in the August 8 Farmer Field Day. From the FLT website: Learn about the founding of Earthstar from Chad and Susan Waite and their small-scale agricultural business, get a farm tour, learn from both Flathead Land Trust and Farm Hands about their work in the community and participation in the Great Fish Community Challenge. Earthstar Farm is protected in perpetuity with a conservation easement in partnership with the landowners and Flathead Land Trust. The farm is located at: 314 Little Creek Lane, Whitefish.
News
MALT Posts UPOM PowerPoint Presentation
MALT executive director Glenn Marx participated in the United Property Owners of Montana annual meeting held in Billings on August 1-2. His presentation focused on the value of private land conservation to Montana landowners and to the state’s efforts to conserve sage grouse habitat. The PowerPoint slides from his presentation are available here.
Trust for Public Land: Story Mill Park is All About Community
Maddy Pope, The Trust for Public Land project manager for the Story Mill Community Park in Bozeman, writes in a guest column that the project “has been a great learning experience – about the mechanics of park design and construction, but more importantly, about our remarkable Bozeman community.”
Sage Grouse Funding Approved for Montana TNC Project
The Montana Sage Grouse Oversight Team (MSGOT) approved state funding to purchase a 15,353 acre conservation easement on ranchlands in Beaverhead County. The Nature Conservancy in Montana has been working with the Hansen Livestock Company and MSGOT on the project since 2016, and this is the second conservation easement to receive final MSGOT approval. MSGOT voted 6-2 to use $952,500 of Montana Sage Grouse Conservation Program funds to purchase the easement, with additional funds coming from the NRCS ALE Program and the Hansen family. The state sage grouse program was created by Governor Bullock and the Montana Legislature in 2015 to conserve sage grouse habitat and populations, and to retain state management authority over the species.
Kaniksu Land Trust Offers A Walk in Pine Street Woods
Kaniksu Land Trust is offering guided walks through Pine Street Woods on July 28, August 11, and August 25.
TPL Reaches Full $16.1 Million to Complete Story Mill Community Park
The Trust for Public Land announced it has surpassed the $16.1 million fundraising goal to complete the Story Mill Community Park in Bozeman. The Bozeman Chronicle reported TPL raised $11.76 million from more than 450 individual donors, local businesses and foundations. These funds, in addition to the city of Bozeman’s $4.5 million investment from the parks and trails bond ensure that construction on the park can continue unimpeded. TPL has been working in partnership with the city to create and design the park since 2012. “From neighbors, to local businesses, to our philanthropic leaders, the vision for creating a ‘Central Park’ for Bozeman has inspired incredible generosity,“ said Molly Pickall, director of philanthropy for TPL’s local Northern Rockies office. “This park is truly being built by and for the Bozeman community.“ The park will total 60 acres, 40 of which are designated as a nature sanctuary. In addition to the pavilions and a lawn space that one would expect, the park will include river access, a climbing boulder, an amphitheater built into the hillside, and a playground designed in collaboration with Bozeman children.
Where Conservation, History and Ranch Legacy Meet
SThe Gehring Ranch northwest of Helena, established in 1866 and protected by the Prickly Pear Land Trust conservation easement, has been named to the National Register of Historic Places. A July 16 Tom Kuglin feature in the Helena Independent Record includes several past and current Gehring Ranch photos along with a lengthy article detailing the historical aspects of the property. From the article: The Gehring family gathered in celebration over the weekend with friends and historians who spent nearly two years working towards the listing. More than 20 structures needed cataloging and researching, but fortunately the family had kept detailed records of several shifts in agricultural practices on the ranch… Bill (Gehring) also credited Prickly Pear Land Trust Executive Director Mary Hollow, who helped place a conservation easement on the property in 2016 which ensures it will stay open space and largely undeveloped.
Montana TNC Releases Montana Forest News Publication
The Nature Conservancy in Montana’s summer 2018 edition of Montana Forests News contains a wealth of information about TNC’s ongoing forestland management activities, including a current draft of a disposition scenario for TNC-held forestlands in the Clearwater-Blackfoot Project area. The publication also contains information about forest restoration and recreation efforts.
Prickly Pear Land Trust Continues Restoration of Sevenmile Creek
A July 12 photo series by Helena Independent Record photographer Thom Bridge records Prickly Pear Land Trust’s restoration project to relocate fish and return water flows to Sevenmile Creek’s original channel.
Gallatin Valley Land Trust Writes About Trails and the Montana Way
Gallatin Valley Land Trust community trails program manager Matt Marcinek contributed a guest column to the Bozeman Chronicle last week about trails etiquette and the “Montana Way.“ Matt’s article opened with “Some of the surest signs of the Gallatin Valley’s growth are the crowded trailhead parking lots on a summer day. Our unparalleled access to the outdoors is what makes our valley such a desirable place to live. But, with our trails busier than ever, it’s time for a friendly reminder about the “Montana way,“ the unwritten rules of the trail that keep our shared spaces clean, safe and enjoyable for all.”