photo credit: Yellowstone Ranch Preserve
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GVLT conserves southwest Montana's heritage of open landscapes, working farms and ranches, healthy rivers, and wildlife habitat; and creates trails to connect people, communities and the land. |
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| EVENTS | | |
Mark your calendars
Saturday, June 5th - TRAILS DAYGrab your gloves, water bottle, sun screen and hiking boots and join us for the whole day or for any of the following events. 9am - Trail Work Projects, Meet at Bogert ParkJoin a volunteer crew for one of the following projects: *Improving muddy sections of the Triple Tree Trail.*Resurfacing and improving drainage on the trail west of Morningstar School.*Trail resurfacing, improving drainage and relocating a bench at East Gallatin Recreation Area. - all projects are kid-friendly -
12:30pm - Lunch at Bogert Park PavillionEven if you can't volunteer in the morning, please join us for our Trails Day picnic. 2pm - Walking tour of proposed Sourdough Canyon/Bozeman Creek Trailhead Improvement ProjectLeaving from Bogert at 1:45pmGVLT staff will lead a tour of the trailhead and access road, describing the extensive redesign and rebuilding we have planned to improve public safety and enjoyment and to protect Sourdough Creek. All events are free and open to the entire community.
photo by Derik Olsen  | Friday, June 18th - LONGEST DAY OF TRAILSYou are invited to participate in the fourth annual Longest Day of Trails on Friday, June 18th headquartered at Montana Ale Works. The Longest Day of Trails is a dawn-to-dusk celebration of Bozeman's extraordinary trail system and a membership drive for Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT). Members of the Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club and local cycling teams will ride a 25-mile loop through town from sunrise (5am) to sunset (10pm) to showcase the Main Street to the Mountains trail system. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join in a spin around town, be it for a few miles, a single loop, or the entire day. $20 will get you a membership at GVLT. In return, you receive a $20 gift certificate from Montana Ale works and a wrist band to participate in the cycling activities. A donation of $50 or more will get you $20 gift certificate to Ale Works, $20 gift certificate to a local retailer, and a wrist band. Montana Ale Works will host outside dining and music from 4-11pm. Your dream bike awaits! If you are interested in a custom frame (and parts) from Strong Frames, $5 will get you a raffle ticket (or $25 for 6) for this amazing opportunity. The winner will be announced at 11pm on Friday June 18th. Raffle tickets will be sold through members of the biking teams and at registration on the day of the event. Get Involved!! Contact Anne Tyler @ GVLT - 587.8404 to find out how you can sponsor, donate, and/or volunteer at Longest Day of Trails and Trails Day. |
| TRAILS |
$12,500 a Great Start for Sourdough
Thanks to generous grants from REI and DA Davidson & Co., GVLT is moving forward with ambitious plans for improvements to the Sourdough Canyon/Bozeman Creek trailhead. But we still need an additional $50,000 to complete final design and permitting and install a permanent vault toilet. We need to complete these three pieces of the project this summer or lose funding from MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks. We hope to complete the entire project before next winter's ski season, if we can raise the funds to complete design and permitting and secure construction help from Gallatin County and the US Forest Service. Thousands of people use this trailhead each year! If you would like to see a high quality trailhead and a safe road at Sourdough Canyon, we need your financial support, and we need you to tell a hiking or skiing friend. Please help us get the word out that GVLT can meet this goal - but only with everyone's help!
To learn
about REI donating $10,000 check out the Bozeman Daily Chronicle article.
* Please note that there is currently no funding available to service the dog station at the Sourdough Canyon trailhead. Please pick up after your dog, pack the plastic doggie bag out with you and throw it away at home. Please do not leave dog waste bags at the trailhead.
GVLT Welcomes Tenara Blood
We are pleased to welcome Tenara Blood as our 2010 seasonal "Trail Boss" trails program assistant. Over the 19 years Tenara has lived in Bozeman she spent three summers as a backcountry wilderness ranger with Gallatin National Forest - including work on a variety of trail projects. She also worked for ten years in a variety of professional positions at RightNow Technologies. She has a B.A. in Physical Geography/Resource Management from the University of California, Berkeley. Tenara's experience and enthusiasm will be great assets for the many trail projects we have planned this summer.
Tenara writes, " Trails and parks are the heart of our community health and an essential part of our growth. I'm excited to have an opportunity to contribute to this program this summer." |
NEW STAFF
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GVLT's newest
Rebecca (Becca) Belou
Becca hails from Georgia and is a recent graduate from University of Georgia. She moved to Bozeman in September of 2008 and instantly fell in love with the community and surrounding landscapes. She approached GVLT in October of 2008 in search of volunteer opportunities and has been helping out on a weekly basis since then. Becca has been hired as our Development Assistant, which is a part time, temporary position. She is going to be a key player in helping us stay in touch with you during our transition. When she isn't in the office, you will probably see her out running and hiking on the trails. She loves living in Montana and has a great commitment to the Gallatin Valley Land Trust. Please help us welcome her to GVLT! |
| CONSERVATION | |
News from the Land
Stewardship Update
As field season approaches, GVLT is gearing up for annual visits to all our conservation easements. We look forward to this opportunity to connect with the individuals and families who have partnered with GVLT to protect over 56 square miles of agricultural lands and wildlife habitat in the Gallatin Valley and surrounding areas.
"What," you may wonder, "do annual visits actually entail?" Each of our 85 conservation easements is different, so each visit is also unique. The season begins with a letter and landowner survey, and progresses into the scheduling of meetings and visits with over 100 different people. We listen to their questions and concerns about managing their property, and offer professional advice and references when appropriate. On site, we confirm that the original conservation agreement is being upheld, document significant changes on the land, and explore any specific management concerns that have been identified. We manage data, file documents, and answer questions. And when lucky, we are able to glimpse first hand what has been protected. Below are images from recent field seasons:
→ pronghorn fawn, springing to its feet in the midst of a rolling, open grain field;
→ mountain lion, resting beside the forested path;
→ cattle spread across a sun-lit hillside, battle-gray thunderstorm in the distance;
→ sandhill cranes' ancient call, echoing below snow-topped peaks;
→ fingerling trout, moving up a restored stream;
→ rancher's child, running across the farmyard on a sun-soaked afternoon.
Welcome
We are pleased to welcome Brett Pruess as our 2010 Land Stewardship Fellow. An MSU graduate, Brett spent seven seasons constructing trails in the backcountry of Yellowstone, worked for the Peace Corp in Bolivia, and recently completed his J.D. at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Brett brings a breadth of professional experience uniquely suited to the needs of Gallatin Valley Land Trust, and we look forward to his arrival in June. If you have the opportunity to meet Brett, please offer him a warm welcome!
Brett writes, "My wife and I are really excited about returning to Montana. The opportunity to be a part of a trusted and well-respected local land trust that is working to protect this special place is really a dream come true. I look forward to collaborating with landowners, attorneys, and organizations throughout the Gallatin Valley, and trust that this experience will add a depth of understanding and perspective not available in the classroom or the courtroom."
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20 YEARS - GVLT
| Throughout our 20th Anniversary year GVLT's eNews will include highlights from our history.
Connecting People and the Land: Public AccessSince our inception, GVLT has worked to expand opportunities for people to get out on the land. This work extends beyond our Trails Program, and began with GVLT's first conservation easement in 1991. While most landowners prefer to control access to their private land, in special cases, GVLT's Land Conservation Program works with willing landowners to ensure that their support for permanent public access will exist in perpetuity. * When Gertrude Baker placed a conservation easement on her property in 1991, she wanted to ensure that the educational and research opportunities in the forests surrounding her property were not lost. As a result, GVLT and partners were able to work with subsequent landowners of this Trail Creek property to create a permanent trail easement. The result: this summer, the USFS will construct a trail through the Baker Conservation Easement to Chestnut Mountain, and a side-spur off this trail to access local climbing is also in the works. * Frances Senska was well known for her contributions to the art community. Her generosity extended to land conservation, and when she partnered with GVLT to create a conservation easement on her property just off Kagy Blvd, the easement ensured permanent public access to an intimate, forested trail along Bozeman Creek. * The Oyler family of Manhattan partnered with GVLT to create permanent public access to their family's land east of the Gallatin River. By honoring their father's commitment to local access for community members, the Oylers' conservation easement also ensures permanent public access to previously land-locked state land. * Harry Armstrong of Half Circle Ranch worked with GVLT and numerous partners to craft a conservation easement that will improve and make permanent access to the North Cottonwood Creek Trail into to the Bridger Mountains. GVLT History ProjectYou've been a part of GVLT's success story, helping us create community trails and conserve our landscape. Do you have a favorite memory or some photos of a GVLT event that you'd like to share? We're compiling a brief history of GVLT and we need your help! Contact Stephen with your anecdote, photograph or perspective on our work - stephen@gvlt.org |
WAYS TO GIVE
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Do you listen to public radio? I'm struck by the similarities to the work of GVLT. We both make a valuable product available to the entire community without charge. Some contribute financially, many do not. What value to you place on easy access to community trails or an expansive view uncluttered by subdivisions? How does it compare to what you spend on a gym membership each month? Or, a new bicycle? It is easy and relatively painless to set up a monthly contribution to support GVLT. Just visit www.gvlt.org and click on Donate Now. There are several options for making a recurring gift. And, then you can rest assured that the trails and open spaces will continue to be there! Please help us make the next 20 years even more successful than the first! - Stephen Johnson, Executive Director
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MEMORIAL DONATIONS
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Patricia Turner Wiltsie
Patricia Turner Wiltsie passed away peacefully on May 2, 2010.* To learn more about this inspiring woman please click on this link and it will direct you to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle Obituary.Pat has requested that in lieu of flowers, friends remember her with a more lasting gift to the Gallatin Valley Land Trust, an organization devoted to preserving open spaces in what Native Americans long called "The Valley of Flowers."
Benton Randall Lyster IIIBenton (Ben) Randall Lyster III lived every single moment from Oct. 12, 1981, until May 1, 2010. *Link to Ben's obituary.In honor of Ben's love of the Bozeman area, and specifically for the landscapes that enriched his life in Montana, a memorial has been established at the Gallatin Valley Land Trust to help conserve these landscapes for future generations. Gifts to honor Ben's memory can be directed to the Ben Lyster Memorial (www.gvlt.org.) Ben's family will work with the Gallatin Valley Land Trust to direct donated funds toward a specific project that honors Ben's spirit and legacy. Donations can be made on line: www.gvlt.org, click the donate now button, in Donation Information, select In Memory - a window will pop up, enter the name of the person in whose memory you are donating.
Donations can also be mailed to:
Gallatin Valley Land Trust
P.O. Box 7021
Bozeman, MT 59771
*In the memo please write the name of the person in whose memory you are donating.
If you have questions contact GVLT 406.587.8404
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COMMUNITY NEWS
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Lewis and Clark Marathon
Volunteers Needed - Sunday, June 6
The Lewis and Clark Marathon is on Sunday, June 6. They have particular and general volunteer needs. Particular need - to have two volunteers staff the aid station at mile 22.5, at the corner of Tracy and Mason from 8:30 AM to about 1:00 (volunteers should bring chairs). General needs - to provide traffic control at intersections. If you want to learn more about the race check out: www.lewisandclarkmarathon.com! If you are interested in volunteering please contact Don Demetriades at 539.0369 or email him dodemet@aol.com |
| GVLT | |
Contact Informationphone: 406.587.8404 |
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