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Gallatin Valley Land Trust 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.

 monthly news                                                                                                           JUNE / 2011 

EVENTS


June Events 

National Trails Day - Saturday, June 4th

*GVLT events are free and open to the entire community 

 trail workers     

9:00 a.m. Meet at Bogert Pavilion for Registration

Meet at Bogert Pavilion for snacks and to sign up for work projects. Volunteers of all ages will be helping to spread gravel on trails in Burke Park (Peets Hill) to improve the trail surfaces, refresh them after a long winter, and make them more sustainable for the long-term. Volunteers should bring work gloves, water bottles, sunscreen, hats, and layers for all kinds of weather. If possible, bring your own shovels, rakes, and wheelbarrows, but we will have tools available. Work will wrap up by 12:00.

  

Other local groups meeting at Bogert at 9am:

*The Dirt Concern and Wilderness Recreations Partnership will meet and carpool to Leverich Canyon for a morning of trail maintenance.  

 

*Montana Mountain Bike Alliance will meet and carpool to Chestnut Mountain Trailhead. Bring either a wheelbarrow, shovel, or rake to help surface the trails.  

 

 

 

12:30 p.m. Meet at Langohr Park Natural Playground for Grand Opening & Dedication

Designed by Greenspace Landscaping, and installed by the Gallatin Valley Land Trust with the help of the City of Bozeman and local partners, this is the first public natural playground in the Gallatin Valley. Join us to celebrate this new feature on our trail system. The Natural Playground is located across the creek from the climbing boulder on the Gallagator Trail, and can be accessed off South Tracy Avenue from South Black Avenue. Lunch will be provided by Baja Fresh.   

 

 

Platinum Sponsors

Insty Prints, Massive Studios, The Moose 

 

Gold Sponsors

360 Pet Medical, Baja Fresh, Crowley/ Fleck Attorneys, Family Practice Associates, Junkermier, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, PC, REI, Schnee's Boots and Shoes, Stockman Bank, Thomas, Dean, & Haskins, Inc.  

 

Silver Sponsors

American Land Title Company, Bagel Works, Bear Squares Bakery, Bridger Ski Foundation, Cardinal Distributing, Colombo's Pizza, Creama Roasting, CTA Architects Engineers, Edward Jones, Great Harvest, Guza, Newberg & Hubley, PLLP, LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc., McKenna Financial, On the Rise Bakery, Safeway, Security Title Company, Spire Climbing Center, Hal Stanley, The Leaf and Bean, Town & Country Foods, Yellowstone Traditions

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Longest Day of Trails - Friday, June 24th   

Longest Day of TrailsEveryone is invited to participate in the fifth annual Longest Day of Trails on Friday, June 24th headquartered at Montana Ale Works. The Longest Day of Trails is a dawn-to-dusk a membership drive for Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT). Come to Montana Ale Works (see ride schedule below) and enjoy a leisurely paced ride lead by members of the GAS/ Intrinsik Architecture. They will continually ride a 25-mile loop on town trails from sunrise (5am) to sunset (10pm) to showcase the Main Street to the Mountains trail system. Everyone is welcome to join in a spin around town, be it for a few miles, a single loop, or the entire day. There will be lead 'on the hour' bike loops if you would like to participate, but only have an hour, come down between 11am and 7pm to join in the fun!

 

$35 will get you a GVLT membership, a $20 gift certificate from Montana Ale Works and a wrist band to participate in the cycling activities. For a donation of $50 or more you will receive a second $20 gift certificate to a local retailer.

 

Longest Day of Trails Activities:

5 - 7am - Early Bird Bike Loop  

 

7 - 11am - Pancake feed hosted by Rosauers (if you are wearing a wrist band you are welcome to dine!)

 

7:30 - 9:30am - Morning Bike Loop

 

On the hour between 11am - 7pm - 1 hour bike loops lead by GAS/ Intrinsik Architecture Team

 

3:30 - 4:30pm - Kids Loop *Parents please ride with Children

 

4pm - Outside Dining at Montana Ale Works (MAW) is OPEN 

 

5:30 - 7pm - Dinner Bike Loop

 

6 - 10pm - Live music by Jawbone Railroad on the MAW patio 

 

8pm - Sunset Bike Loop

 

10:30pm - Raffle Winner Announced

 

*CLICK HERE to see the map of the ride.

 

Longest Day of Trails Event Partners:

Montana Ale Works, Massive Studios, Strong Frames, Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club, Alpine Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, The Moose, Insty Prints 

 

Raffle: 

Your dream bike awaits! If you are interested in a $1650 custom STRONG FRAMES road bike frame and $1500 in components (THANKS TO COCHRAN FAMILY and MONTANA RECLAIMED LUMBER), $5 will get you a raffle ticket (or $25 for 6) for this wonderful opportunity. The winner will be announced at 10:30pm at the event. Beginning May 16th raffle tickets will be sold at Summit Bike and Ski, Bangtail Bikes, GVLT office, and at registration on the day of the event.

 

Raffle Sponsors:

STRONG FRAMES, Cochran Family and Montana Reclaimed Lumber 

 

Get Involved!! Contact Anne Tyler at GVLT - 587.8404 to find out how you can sponsor, donate, and/or volunteer at Longest Day of Trails.

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Chestnut Mountain Trail Dedication - Thursday, June 30th

Join GVLT, the Trust for Public Land (TPL), and other partners to celebrate the new Chestnut Mountain Trail. Meet at 3:30 at the Trailhead on Trail Creek Road for a ribbon cutting and dedication of this fantastic new trail. A public hike and children's activities by the Montana Outdoor Science School will follow. From 6:00 - 8:00 pm join us on the patio at Starky's Authentic Americana to continue the celebration with ½ priced pints, snacks and cheer, with proceeds to benefit GVLT and TPL!  

FUNDRAISER 


GVLT is excited to introduce a NEW field guide
  Flora Book

Please join us on Saturday, June 4th, 2011 at 4pm at the Country Bookshelf, located at 28 W. Main St., to celebrate the launch of a new field guide to local flowers, Flora of Montana's Gallatin Region: Greater Yellowstone's Northwest Corner

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Join author Whitney Tilt for a brief presentation and book signing. There are more than 250 wildflowers, grasses, shrubs and trees readily found in the Gallatin Region, including Yellowstone National Park. Designed for easy use, this guide presents a clear overview of each species, complete with photos and illustrations, botanical description, preferred habitats, and interesting tidbits on the plant's ecology and cultural use. Whether you are hiking, camping, enjoying a walk, or just driving through, the Flora of Montana's Gallatin Region is the one field guide to take along. All proceeds of book sales benefit the Gallatin Valley Land Trust. Refreshments will be served.

Currently books can be purchased for $25 at Gallatin Valley Land Trust office located at 25 North Willson Street, Suite E and at the Country Book Shelf. 

LANDS

Monitoring season has begun again in the Gallatin Valley. Once a year GVLT stewardship staff visits each of our conservation easement properties to monitor and record changes that may have occurred in the previous year. These site visits allow us to record current conditions and interview the landowners about stewardship and management changes that they have made that enhance and maintain the conservation values of their property. 

 

Land stewardship is broadly defined in today's world; here in the Gallatin Valley we strive to support land stewardship practices that improve the scenic, wildlife and agricultural values that make this, our home, a unique place to live. We believe that if we can keep the Gallatin Valley protected from fragmentation and our people connected to the land we will be able to maintain a healthy ecosystem that supports us through food, family, connected communities and fun. 

 

The 2011 monitoring season has already included several amazing wildlife sightings and critical conversations with landowners about how to connect local food with local people. We look forward to sharing these stories and other successes with you in the coming months. At one of our upcoming events, grab one of our staff members and engage them in conversation about our efforts in the field.

TRAILS           

Flood Hazards

Flooding has affected many of our community trails this spring. Please watch for hazards, obey all posted closures, and be careful on trails adjacent to streams during the flooding season. If you notice any issues on our trail system, please contact GVLT by emailing our Trail Boss, Josh Olsen at josh@gvlt.org.


Interested in Volunteering?

As our trails emerge from the icy grip of winter, we need everyone's help in assessing any hazards, safety issues, or maintenance needs that may be revealed with the spring thaw. Look out for missing or broken boards on bridges, erosion channels in the trail, down trees or low branches, missing or damaged signs, graffiti, broken benches, weed infestations, mud holes, and trash. GVLT will work with the City Parks Department, volunteer groups, and our Adopt-A-Trail program to get the trails back in shape for a summer of fun recreational activities. If you observe any maintenance issues or are interested in volunteering to help get the trails in shape, email our Trail Boss, Josh at josh@gvlt.org.

WAYS TO GIVE 


Donate a Truck

GVLT is looking for a good, used truck or 4-wheel drive SUV for our field work. If you have a gently used truck or SUV please consider donating it to GVLT. For more information on how to donate a vehicle, please contact Penelope Pierce at 587-8404 x5.

   

COMMUNITY NEWS 


Summer Kick-Off

 

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Collin's Coalition - Bike Ride

On Sunday, May 15th, the Hyalite Canyon Community Bike Ride was a great success with approximately 40 participants. The road was clear of snow for the entire distance to the reservoir thanks to the Gallatin National Forest plowing the week before. Conditions were sunny and warm with a slight breeze in the canyon and a bit more breezy, but still sunny and warm on top.

 

There was no fee associated with participation in this event. However, the Community Bike Ride did raise $1,800 in donations. Those funds were earmarked by Collin's Coalition to help create safe trail connections between existing trails west of Highland Boulevard and at the softball complex with new and future trails across from the Hospital on the east side of Highland Boulevard. All donations made were matched 1:1 by available funding from Collin's Coalition and a they are very generously giving Gallatin Valley Land Trust a check for $3,600 for this important project.  

 

To learn more about Collin's Coalition please visit www.collinscoalition.org 

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Members of Gallatin Valley Land Trust Receive a $25 Discount for the

 HIKE. BIKE. ART. CAMP.

Be Active...Explore Nature....Create Art!

 

Sign up Early, click here. 

 

GVLT


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Want to Volunteer?
Fill out the volunteer application, email annetyler@gvlt.org, or call the office.


Gallatin Valley Land Trust
 25 North Willson Ave, Ste E - Bozeman, MT 59715
 406.587.8404 p.
 406.582.1136 f.