It is hard to believe that 2011 is already coming to a close. It has flown by and I think that is because it was so rich, busy, and full. As you can see reading this eNews, we had another great year, completing many important projects that add to the enjoyment and quality of life for us all here in the Gallatin Valley and beyond. We are thankful for everyone who helped to make our work possible. We are a community land trust and our partnerships are the bedrock of who we are. Working together we do great things. While there are too many names to thank individually, we want to extend a special thanks to the partners who were pivotal to our accomplishments: City of Bozeman, Collin's Coalition, Gallatin County, the friends and family of Ben Lyster, the State of Montana, Gallatin Nation Forest - USFS, Heart of the Rockies Initiative, Montana Ale Works, Montana Association of Land Trusts, Montana Import Group, National Forest Foundation, REI, the Turner Foundation, Trust for Public Land, the Kendeda Fund, and the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation. Thank you. 

All of us at the Gallatin Valley Land Trust wish you and yours the happiest of holidays and hope that the New Year brings all good things to each of you, to this place we get to call home, to our nation and to the world. Peace and joy.

Tis the season, and we have some great suggestions for your holiday gift giving.

Put GVLT on your year-end giving list and show your support for the trails and open space you enjoy year round, and help ensure we can continue to add to and enrich this legacy. Visit our website  www.gvlt.org or call the office to make a donation today.   

A membership to GVLT (starting at just $35) is the perfect gift that truly keeps on giving all year long.When you buy someone a gift membership for over $100, your lucky recipient will also get a GVLT canvas tote bag or baseball hat. Please visit our website www.gvlt.org or call the office for more details.

 Another great gift idea is Whitney Tilt's Flora of Montana's Gallatin Region flower guide book. For just $25 (the proceeds of which all go directly to GVLT), this is the go-to-guidebook for wildflowers in the Gallatin Region. It is a perfect companion to take along as you hike on GVLT's 60 miles of trails. Visit our website www.gvlt.org or call the office to order your copies now!

Thanks to countless partners, volunteers, and the support of members like you, GVLT had another hugely successful year in its community trails programs. Here's a wrap-up of the accomplishments of which we are most proud in 2011, and which we could not have achieved without your continued help!

New Trailhead at Sourdough Canyon Completed. Working with diverse partners, funders and neighbors, GVLT completed a series of improvements at one of Bozeman's most popular year-round trailheads. Expanded parking, a safer access road, and restored creek corridor now ensure sustainable access at this anchor of the Main Street to the Mountains trail system.

Chestnut Mountain Trail Dedicated. Two decades ago, the Baker Conservation Easement was GVLT's very first easement project. In 2011 with a host of partners, GVLT dedicated a trail segment through this private land parcel that links up with a section of trail on new US Forest Service land, formerly owned by the Schmidt family, that became public land as part of a broader conservation project. The new public trail winds for over five miles on the flanks of Chestnut Mountain, and wouldn't have been possible without the vision and generosity of private land owners.

Read more about our accomplishments in our 2011 Annual Report (covering our 2011 Fiscal Year, July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011).

...and a Happy New Year

Stay tuned into 2012 to see what GVLT has in store for next year! We are working to ensure long-term sustainability on the Triple Tree Trail and connect critical gaps in the Main Street to the Mountains trail network. We will also be publishing a brand-new trail map and installing new signage on our trail system. 

We need your support to keep up the good work so please donate now!

2011 was another busy year of land conservation work, and we expect to complete new conservation projects on over 1,000 acres in Gallatin and Madison Counties by year-end. In 2011, a number of projects demonstrated the intersection of our trails and lands programs. While not every conservation easement allows public access to private lands, we certainly appreciate the generosity of private landowners that memorialize this public benefit on their conservation easement property. But the relationship does not stop there; successive easement owners that are willing to carry on the legacy of the original donor, have an amazing opportunity to further support and promote local land protection and public benefit.    

The Baker Conservation Easement was GVLT's very first easement project way back in 1991, twenty years ago. In 2011, GVLT with a host of partners dedicated a trail segment through this private land parcel that links up with a US Forest Service public trail on the flanks of Chestnut Mountain. GVLT could not have completed this project without the help of our various partners and a host of new public and private interests that are necessary for completing projects of this scale. This is a full circle example of the legacy of conservation that can start with a simple conversation between two people that share common values for land tenure and stewardship.

13 Mile Farm is located in the prime agricultural soils of Reece Creek near Springhill community. The Tyler-Weed family has been experimenting with a diversified farming operation for many years now; the last couple of years has brought about the development of 3+ acres of commercial organic vegetable production to add to their list of grass finished lamb, eggs, pasture fattened pork, apples, and a variety of value added wool products from an off-the-grid and solar hot water woolen mill. You can find some of these products marketed locally as well as being served at several local restaurants here in the Gallatin Valley. While this is not public access per-se it is a benefit to the public to have assured food security and a local source of healthful and chemical free food for local consumption, not to mention maintaining the rural feel of the Gallatin Valley. All of this on just a quarter section of prime farmland, which is ironically the same acreage allotted to settlers that moved west on the hope that the Homestead Act of 1862 (160 acres) provided.  

What do we have in store for the next year? We are working on exciting new conservation projects in Gallatin and Park counties for 2012. But over our 21 -year history, we couldn't do any conservation projects had it not been for willing landowners that envisioned protecting, preserving, and perpetuating local sustainability through proactive land protection strategies such as conservation easements. What is possible for our future? You tell us, we are here to support the community and work on the issues that will forever connect us to this place-Land. We are proud to be a part of this community and encourage you to strike up a conversation with any of GVLT's staff or partners at one of our many events or out on the Mainstreet to Mountains trails system.    

Hikers on Drinking Horse Mtn Trail enjoying views of the Bridger Canyon area including several GVLT Conservation Easement Properties.

This month we will say a fond farewell to Gro Aase Lunde, our Finance Director. Gro has been with GVLT for the past four years. We greatly appreciate all the valuable contributions Gro made to Gallatin Valley Land Trust. We wish her well and thank her for all of her help! We look forward to seeing Gro out on the trails Nordic skiing.