The Nature Conservancy in Montana recently released a new 30-second video PSA that highlights the organization’s four decades of conservation work in Montana (1.3 million acres) and ongoing efforts that lead to results “where nature and people thrive.” The video is available through a TNC Facebook post.
Vital Ground Helps Tell Story of Forest Legacy Program
Vital Ground has completed a new website — in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service — that contains an interactive Story Map website featuring species in the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern and Intermountain Regions. The separate website, which complements VitalGround.org, helps convey to the public the benefits of the Forest Legacy Program while using stories, images, maps and pop-ups to feature the grizzly, Canada lynx, bull trout, whitebark pine and other sensitive species. Feature articles show the importance of wildlife-habitat conservation while sidebars depict economic benefits of conservation to communities like Whitefish and Seeley Lake.
Montana Land Reliance Book Launch Set for Nov. 5-6
“A Million Acres” is the title of the book anthology saluting the voluntary private land conservation success of The Montana Land Reliance, and “A Million Acres” will officially debut with two book launch gatherings and readings on Nov. 5 in Missoula and Nov. 6 in Helena. The event in Missoula takes place at Fact and Fiction Books at 7:00 PM and in Helena the event is at Gulch Distillers starting at 6:00 PM. 
Senators Tester, Daines Help Rally LWCF FY20 Funding
Montana Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester are leaders within a Senate coalition to obtain full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund in FY20.
Eight Senators are leading the bipartisan effort, which seeks an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Interior, Environment, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill to fully fund the LWCF for FY20. This same group of Senators has also introduced legislation to permanently fund the LWCF.
The MALT membership applauds Senators Tester and Daines for their steadfast commitment the LWCF program, funding levels, and projects.
Partnerships Generate 27,800 Acres of Forest Access and Conservation
The Trust for Public Land, Stimson Lumber Company, the US Forest Service and Montana FWP have teamed up on two separate projects to ensure recreational access and conservation are protected on over 27,000 acres of western Montana forestlands.
The Beavertail to Bearmouth (B2B) project consists of 5,472 acres located east of Missoula near Beavertail State Park and within Lolo National Forest. In that project The Trust for Public Land and Stimson Lumber Company worked with the Lolo National Forest to acquire Stimson forestland. The Land and Water Conservation Fund was instrumental in the project.
In the second project, FWP purchased a conservation easement on 22,295 acres near Libby, Montana, from Stimson Lumber. The Kootenai Forestlands project was made possible by a grant from the Forest Legacy Program, which is also funded through LWCF, and The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Acres for America Program.
Montana Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines both voiced support for the two projects.
Gallatin Valley Land Trust Helps Connect Bozeman to the Bridgers
An Oct. 26 ribbon cutting ceremony officially opened up a 2.1 mile trail segment that connects Story Mill Community Park to the M Trail and Drinking Horse Trail in Bozeman, which means people can now walk from Bozeman to the Bridger Mountains.
Penelope Pierce, executive director of Gallatin Valley Land Trust, spoke to the crowd at the ribbon cutting ceremony. She said the Bozeman nonprofit has had a clear vision of what the trail system could look like.
“Today, that dream is a reality,” Pierce said.
NRCS Sage Grouse Conservation Story Map Shows Partnerships and Success
The NRCS has produced comprehensive maps and information illustrating the abundant sage grouse conservation easement projects throughout the Montana. The information is presented in visually creative ways and shows how the NRCS and its partners – which include land trusts, the Montana sage grouse program and others – are working to conserve sage grouse populations and habitat.
Landowner, NRCS, Land Trust Partner in Stillwater County
The Key O Ranch, operated by the Keogh family, has been working with NRCS for decades to improve their rangeland health through grazing management to produce healthy cattle, clean water, and wildlife habitat. The Keoghs, Montana NRCS, and The Montana Land Reliance also teamed up in 2019 to place a conservation easement on the property, using the 2018 Farm Bill’s Agricultural Land Easement program.
Great Outdoors is Great for Montana’s Economy
Montana and Montanans are defined in part by the tremendous outdoor recreation opportunities that surround us. But those recreation opportunities bring with them significant economic benefits. Montana ranks second in the country (only Hawaii is higher) for how much outdoor recreation contributes to its gross domestic product — 5.1% in 2017. It is not some left-leaning think tank that reports those figures. The data is
from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that”Outdoor recreation continues to get bigger. The Bureau of Economic Analysis report found that between 2012 and 2017, Montana’s GDP grew by 6%. During the same period, the contribution from outdoor recreation to the state’s GDP grew by 24%.”
Amy Croover New Leader for Montana TNC
Amy Croover is the new State Director for the Nature Conservancy in Montana, and the Montana Association of Land Trusts welcomes Amy to the Montana land trust community.
Croover previously worked at Business Oregon, the state’s economic development department. She also worked for U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, for seven years, handling Native American affairs, resource conservation and the nexus of Montana’s native people and the state’s lands and waters.
She grew up on Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula and attended Salish Kootenai College, majoring in Environmental Science and Restoration Ecology.