Land Trust News

    The Vital Ground Foundation and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative have partnered to acquire 80 acres of key wildlife habitat near the confluence of the Bull and Clark Fork rivers in northwestern Montana. 

     Vital Ground reports the Bull River-Clark Fork linkage area provides a habitat connection of regional importance for grizzly bears and other wildlife species. In Montana’s northwestern corner, grizzlies exist in much smaller numbers than they do in and around Glacier and Yellowstone national parks. The project conserves a southward pathway from the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem, home to a recovering population of around 60 grizzlies. Biologists have documented only a handful of movements over the years between that population and neighboring ones but consider connectivity between ecosystems crucial for the species’ long-term survival.

     The key 80-acre parcel was purchased from a conservation-supportive landowner, and the property “will be stewarded to maintain fish and wildlife habitat while preserving the rural character of the state’s northwestern corner.” 

                                                                       PHOTO: The Clark Fork and surrounding mountains near the Bull River-Clark Fork project area. (Randy Beacham)

      Gallatin Valley Land Trust and Bozeman Parks and Recreation are bringing Bumblewood Thicket, a Fairy Village, for a limited magical existence in the Glen Lake Rotary Park August 28 – Sept. 12. In addition to the fairy village, GVLT and partners are producing a “walking-play” titled “A Fairy Adventure in Bumblewood,” with limited performances starting August 28 at Glen Lake Rotary Park. 

     From the GVLT website:

     The fairy village will only be visible to human eyes from August 28th to September 12th. Located amid the winding, wooded paths of the Glen Lake Rotary Park, it will contain twenty different fairy homes and establishments created by local artists.

     The map to the magic will be available for download here starting on August 27th!

     The Fairy Village is a self-guided experience offered for free in partnership with Gallatin Valley Land Trust and Bozeman Parks and Recreation. We are in need of volunteer docents. If you are interested in learning more, email us at [email protected]. 

     Organizations like Prickly Pear Land Trust and Gallatin Valley Land Trust have joined “Outside Kind”, a national campaign to instill respectful and thoughtful best practices for outdoor events and activities. Communities like Bozeman and Helena have wonderful trail systems (thanks in large part to GVLT and PPLT) but the increasing popularity (and conflicts) of those trails is an emerging issue, and Outside Kind is designed to help ensure positive experiences outdoors.    

     From the Outside Kind website: The Outside Kind Alliance, which consists of several local organizations and is facilitated by One Montana, joined forces to protect the people and places we love, and to explore ethical use issues that all recreational users need to know about. We want everyone to have a great experience, understand how to enjoy the outdoors while sharing it with others and treading lightly on the resource.

The Montana Land Reliance Success Stories website page  showcases conservation accomplishments, organizational success and landowner stewardship. The farm and ranch stewardship is exemplified by the Gilman family in the Ruby Valley, and a quote from Les Gilman on the MLR website:

“Because our predecessors toiled and labored not only for their present needs but also for what we currently have. They have left us a legacy and we stand in their presence with the responsibility to honor them by being good stewards today and planning for tomorrow.”

Left to Right – Charlie Gilman and wife Kaycee; and Les’s wife Donna, and Les. Alexis Bonogofsky photo

Prickly Pear Land Trust’s Sevenmile Creek restoration project continues to deliver impressive results. From a PPLT social media post: PPLT’s restoration of 45 acres of floodplain and wetland ecosystem on Sevenmile Creek increased the storage capacity of the stream by almost 22 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Because of the restoration of wetlands and the floodplain on Sevenmile Creek, all of this water will be soaked into the ground and not sent flowing towards hundreds of homes and businesses in the Helena Valley during a large spring rain event.                                  

Photo Credit @elizaphoto406

      The Heart of the Rockies Initiative is alerting land trusts and others about a possible funding opportunity through the 2022 Montana Tourism Grant Program.

     The tourism grant funds are designed to improve tourism and recreation sites and experiences for non-resident visitors. The program is fairly flexible, and Erin Ferris-Olsen, HOTR Rural Development Director, and Emma Gjullin, HOTR Development & Communications Assistant, can provide additional information about the program.     

     The grant application window opened on August 1 and closes on Sept. 15.  

A recent Bozeman Daily Chronicle editorial salutes the value of open land conservation to Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley.

From. the editorial:

Western states still have an opportunity to preserve some of what’s best about their landscapes. But Montana isn’t likely to enact much in the way of statewide planning in the near term.

That’s why private-sector efforts like those of the GVLT (Gallatin Valley Land Trust) are so important. With the cooperation of willing landowners, the organization has been successful using the free market to preserve significant amounts of open space. But as population growth accelerates, much more needs to be done.

      Five Valleys Land Trust and Paraic & Becky Neibergs have teamed up to expand a previous conservation easement on Blackfoot Valley Neibergs property to a total of 436 acres through an effort named the Patterson Prairie Project.

     The Neibergs recently donated an additional 120-acre easement to an existing 315-acre easement, and also donated the project transaction costs. Additional community support enabled Five Valleys to complete project due diligence and facilitation. Five Valleys extended its gratitude to the Neibergs and organization supporters for helping them protect more of “this wild, interconnected, and scenic place.”

     A Five Valleys website report details the history of the property and the conservation values of the additional acres. From the website: The property lies between Ovando and Lincoln, just north of both the Blackfoot River and Highway 200. This location makes it both more vulnerable to potential development, as well as important for wildlife as they cross the highway coming to and from the river. And wildlife there is: everything from elk, moose, and turkeys to black and grizzly bears, lynx, wolves, and numerous smaller birds and mammals.                                                                  Five Valleys photo

Partnerships are key to the Vital Ground Foundation, and those partnerships are now prominent on the Vital Ground website. The website page salutes conservation partners, business partners, creative partners and landowner partners.

      The 2023 Farm Bill may seem like it’s far into the future, but the Land Trust Alliance is leading an effort right now to identify and galvanize land trust consensus on a range of potential issues associated with 2023 Farm Bill provisions.

     Even as the Alliance, the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts, and others are currently working behind the scenes to possibly secure additional ACEP/ALE funding within a much-discussed congressional infrastructure package, work continues between the Alliance and land trust leaders, congressional staff, key Members of Congress and others on important provisions within the 2023 Farm Bill.

     The Alliance’s policy director, Lori Faeth, led a national land trust call on July 22 that highlighted some of the major goals and ongoing issues associated with Farm Bill reauthorization. 

      Among the goals: 

      * Ensure ACEP/ALE is properly funded

      * Create a new program to conserve forestlands

      * Ensure program flexibility for land trusts and landowners

      * Maintain strong and flexible RCPP

      * Greater access to ACEP in underserved communities and disadvantaged landowners 

      * Possible elimination of AGI requirements  

      * Refine buy-protect-sell language 

      * Ensure ALE Plan is not reestablished 

      * Clarify language about certified entities 

      The 2023 Farm Bill is a work in progress, but progress is being made and most of the Alliance Farm Bill goals align themselves closely with MALT Farm Bill goals. MALT’s top 2023 Farm Bill priority is additional ACEP / ALE funding. Right now, for FY21, Montana’s ALE funding allocation is about $20 million short of full funding for qualified projects. The NRCS has thankfully worked—and continues to work—to address that shortfall. But the national need for additional ACEP / ALE funding is chronic, and the 2023 Farm Bill is an ideal place to address that issue.