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Trade in and Trade up

It’s time to gear up for spring and dust off the bike.

For all your cycling needs visit the Bike Swap this Saturday, April 19 at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds. The Gallatin Valley Bike Club sponsors an annual bike swap which is open to the general public from 11am – 1pm. If you are hoping to sell stuff on consignment, it must be at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds between 8-10am that morning. Swap items usually include kids’ bikes, bike trailers, mountain bikes and competitive racers.

A percentage of the sales supports the Gallatin Valley Bike Club, a non-profit organization which provides recreational and competitive activities for area cyclists. [more]

New West News Brief

The divorce of millionaires Edra and Tim Blixseth has turned nasty, as they find themselves in a court-disputed power struggle over the operations of the Yellowstone Club, reports Scott McMillion of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Edra claims that the Yellowstone Club is on the brink of bankruptcy due to overdue court settlements and drained assets for Tim’s Yellowstone Club World venture, McMillion reported from the Virgina City courtroom. She asks to be reinstated as the chief operating officer and have her estranged husband banned from the offices. Tim claims this is a legal move to circumvent the court process in California.

“There is no competent evidence that Blixseth has raised or can raise sufficient cash to solve the crisis and stabilize the club without effecting ‘firesale’ lot sales. He has also lost the confidence of the club’s creditors and employees,” as reported from Edra’s court papers.

Click here for the full story.

Update: The Chronicle reported after the continued hearing, Judge Loren Tucker stayed all motions from the 12 lawyers until a deposition is received from the Yellowstone Club's loan holder, Credit Suisse. Tim Blixseth will remain in his position overseeing the club at this time. It was also reported that Boston financier Sam Byrne backed out of purchasing the club due to the overdue settlement to Greg LeMond and other minor shareholders, and the bad publicity that followed. [more]

Census Report

Gallatin County has surpassed Flathead County as the third most populous in Montana — and is leading in the state for growth.

The recent U.S. Census reports over 87,359 current residents in Gallatin County, gaining 19,528 new residents since Census 2000, a 28.8 percent population increase in eight years.

Gallatin County is also ranked No. 92 on the “100 fastest growing counties” in the United States, where 22 of the 100 are in the West.

Montana’s overall population increased 6.2 percent since 2000. But this growth was concentrated in 22 of the 56 counties, while 34 counties, mainly in Eastern and North Central Montana, faced declining population. [more]

Resort Market not holding

The application for a large-scale base area development at Bridger Bowl Ski Area, outside of Bozeman, Montana has been withdrawn.

After hundreds of public comments in April and May of 2007, the Bridger Canyon Partners asked the Gallatin County Planning Department to table their Planned Unit Development in order to continue discussion and come to an agreement with the Bridger Canyon Property Owners’ Association (BCPOA).

The Bridger Canyon Neighborhood Zoning, established in the 1970’s by the BCPOA, shaped strict rules and regulations about development in this pristine canyon, particularly when it came to the proposed 452 overnight units, 75 recreational home lots, a commercial village, a recreational lodge and employee housing.

The Bridger Canyon Partners decided the timeline, including reasonable agreement with the BCPOA, water rights and permitting, coupled with housing downturn, makes the project unfeasible at this time and withdrew their application on March 26th. [more]

An Amateur Photo Contest

Try to capture — in one photo — what you care about in the Gallatin Valley.

That is what dozens of amateur photographers strived to do as part of the Gallatin Valley Speaker Series photo contest “Shaping the Future of our Valley: Picturing our Place.”

With the Mayors of Three Forks, Manhattan, and Bozeman and a Gallatin County Commissioner as judges, the unveiling of the winners will be exhibited on Wednesday, March 26th at the Museum of the Rockies from 5:30-8pm.

There will also be a special evening presentation by world-renowned, Bozeman-based adventure photographer Gordon Wiltsie, sharing his stories of adventure and power of place. [more]

Across State Lines as a regional whole

The 25 counties that comprise of the Yellowstone-Teton region of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana may be separated by state lines, but all share common amenities: high-quality natural areas, extensive amount of public lands, large wildlife populations and plentiful outdoor recreation.

But this also subjects the region’s economy to seasonal fluctuation — a shared challenge between both the rural and urban centers. How does this region, which shares similar environment and economic drives, understand and coordinate with each other in order to turn on the off-season?

The Yellowstone Business Partnership recently completed the first phase of a research project to characterize and analyze off-season assets and economic opportunities in the region. Therefore, local businesses and governments can grasp the regional growth trends and build an understanding across jurisdictional boundaries and vast geography. The recently completed report can be found here. [more]

Which is more of value?

Downtowns are fragile areas in our Western landscape as the increase of big box stores sprout up and retailers sprawl outward from our cities’ core. Local commissions and groups seek out economic infusion, and sometimes as the cost of historic preservation.

In a hard decision on Monday night, the Bozeman City Commission decided to give the green light for the destruction and demolition of the 1941 Bozeman Armory, an art-deco style building listed on the National Register of Historic Places located in Downtown Bozeman.

The replacement will be a new 4-story, brick and glass façade building highlighted to have environmental qualities including an earth-covered roof laden with trees, water features and a glass lounge.

“We need to encourage investment downtown,” said Commissioner Jeff Krauss. “We need to look at what downtown needs now and in the future. It’s not just about building east and west, but also north and south.” [more]

TERRA film series

In today's Western landscape, ranchers are often faced with a decision to maintain their agricultural heritage or face rising costs and financial struggle. One rancher, Duke Phillips, discusses in a three part series how his holistic management practices are integrated with the health of the land, how this will extend the life of his ranch and the value of passing on a land-based lifestyle to his children.

See the trailer below, or visit Terra: the nature of our world, to view the full length series.

[more]

Call-in and chat

Senator Jon Tester, D-MT will be taking live call-ins to answer questions and take comments on Yellowstone Public Radio tonight from 7-8pm. He will be joined with Jackie Yamanaka, YPR news director and Jim Gransbery, retired Billings Gazette agricultural and political reporter.

You can submit questions through YPR website or call 800-441-2941. You can also listen online or check the radio calls numbers for your area here. Please read details on how to participate. [more]

a one-stop guide

A new website highlighting Bozeman’s green building resources launched late last week, BozemanHouse.com

At a time when green building resources are disperesed in this town, its the first comprehensive guide to contractors, materials and financial incentives in Bozeman. The site is a non-commercial, community resource with links and listing.

The website was launched by Ron Gompertz, owner of Eco-Auto Dealership in Bozeman, as a way to track his own “extreme green makeover” of their home on 810 S. Willson, across from the Story Mansion, and share their findings with the community.
[more]

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