Land & Water
Yellowstone Bison
Madison Valley Landowners Get Tough with Montana DOL
Rob and Janae’ Galanis recently bought 711 acres on the Horse Butte Peninsula of Hebgen Lake just west of Yellowstone National Park. The land is a historical migration corridor for bison, and the new property owners would like to keep it that way by managing the property as a wildlife preserve.
The Galanises, who own a part-time home on the opposite side of Hebgen Lake, are making a stand on Horse Butte Peninsula. They are adamantly opposed to the current bison management policy, and they openly state they will consider any incursion by state or federal agencies to manage bison on their property as trespassing.
On August 16, 2007 the Galanises sent a letter to the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) in which they stated, “The current policy of hazing is inhumane, senseless, a waste of taxpayer dollars, and an embarrassment to the state of Montana. We trust you will respect our private property rights.” The DOL recently responded with a letter maintaining their right to manage bison on private property.
Rob Galanis says he is not looking to pick a fight, but with winter on its way and neither side budging, such a confrontation could be inevitable.
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real estate & development in the northern rockies
Imagining a Mindful New West
Imagine asking local businesses to give one percent of their profits to help their community.
Imagine working for nearly 90 years to help reconnect urban youth with the natural world by convincing cities to set aside urban nature preserves.
Imagine turning to the overcrowded forest behind your home for the wood to make the flooring in your wife’s dance studio and discovering a niche market for a once-worthless timber product.
Imagine using local taxes to put local youths to work on community restoration projects.
These ideas and more -- some already happening, some still faint -- were all laid out in the final panel discussion at NewWest.Net’s second annual Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference Friday evening.
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Discover trail closures with no names on map
Sparsely Labeled Gallatin Forest Recreation Map Released
The long-awaited motor vehicle travel plan for the Gallatin National Forest became available to the public today— but with maps that are not clearly marked.
The Gallatin National Forest is stressing that particular areas and trails are now closed to motorized travel unless designated open, with up to a $5,000 penalty. The new maps are the only place to locate these closures since updating trail route markers and destination signs are only now getting underway.
But with trails marked only by a number, and without topographic lines and names of lakes, streams, roads, highways, mountain ranges or some towns like Livingston and Cook City, deciphering these maps is a challenge.
Some organizations are already calling for a redo.
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the PERC conference
Water Markets and Western Ideologies
The Bozeman-based Property and Environmental Research Center (PERC), a non-profit think tank at the forefront of "free-market environmentalism," held their annual conference for journalists this past weekend in Big Sky. Sixteen of us -- folks from Maine to Seattle -- convened to consider worldwide water scarcity and contamination problems and how markets can inject incentives to help solve them.
There were a dozen or so presenters, their topics ranging from big-picture issues such as global water supply, climate change, and domestic water quality to the very specific: payments-for-environmental-services schemes in Bolivia, removing dilapidated dams to turn a profit, a market to reduce agricultural nutrient pollution. It's intriguing stuff for any conservationist, no matter your stance on the reach or limits of markets.
What piqued my interest most, and perhaps most relevant to conservation in Montana, was the discussion of water markets in the West -- selling, leasing or donating water rights for instream use. It's not a new idea, but it's one gaining momentum.
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The inside scope on Montana Water Laws and HB831
Water in the West: The State of Montana’s Hydro-FutureEditor's Note: As we all know in Montana, water is a precious resource, particularly in areas of rapid development and growth. The following column is written by one of the authors of House Bill 831, which assisted in closing water basins in areas that water availability closely matches water demand. She describes the history of water laws in Montana and how HB831 revised these laws in order to construct a viable future.
Montana epitomizes the West. It is a land of vast and open spaces, dramatic mountain ranges, blue-ribbon trout streams, wildlife habitat, ranches and Western towns, herds of livestock, mighty rolling rivers; it's Big Sky Country. And it's easy to forget the basis upon which Montana has built its success--its lifeblood, water.
In Montana, the crucial role of water has been tested by energy development, urban development, agriculture, wildlife and wildlife habitat, and recreation. Every feature of Montana is affected by water.
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Non-profits of the Gallatin Valley
Greater Yellowstone Coalition: Striving to Keep an Ecosystem Whole
The Gallatin Valley is home to over 200 non-profits. These organizations do not hinge on metropolitan amenities, and are often created to preserve the intact rural and wild places of the West. As part of our New West economy, NewWest/Bozeman is highlighting an organization as a weekly series.
Encompassing two national parks and six national forests, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the largest, relatively intact temperate zone ecosystems in North America. This unique patchwork of public and private lands spans three states and continues to house nearly all of its original native species.
Created under the notion that an ecosystem will only remain healthy and wild if it is kept whole, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition has been a leading voice in ecosystem management and strives to fulfill their mission statement: “People protecting the lands, waters and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem now and for future generations”
Today, this non-profit has 20 board members, 25 staff members and more than 10,000 members from all 50 states, with approximately one-third of those members residing in the three states that comprise the ecosystem, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Rivers Conservation Coordinator, Scott Bosse, expands on GYC and their efforts.
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The Endless Water War
H2O Deficit Strikes AgainEditor's Note: Denver's southern suburbs must spend $1 billion between now and 2020 to meet their water needs, according to a plan presented at Tuesday's water summit by the South Metro Water Supply Authority. Earlier this summer Diary of Mad Voter contributor Joan McCarter reconsidered the long history of water disputes in the West and the latest developers' scheme in Idaho.
Water again.
That signature two word phrase uttered by private detective Jake Gittes in Polanski's masterpiece Chinatown initiated one of the the complicated and intertwined mysteries of the film, a plotline loosely based on the early 20th century scandal of the Owens Valley land grab. Not just land of course, but water.
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helping the land rich, cash poor
Baucus Bill Would Boost Conservation Easement Incentives
A bill passed last week by Senator Max Baucus and the Finance Committee he chairs could significantly lower the tax bill for farmers and ranchers with conservation easements.
The Habitat and Land Conservation Act, which passed by a voice vote last Friday in the Senate Finance Committee, includes several tax incentive components that supporters say will enable land-rich but cash-poor residents to place voluntary easements on their property without the financial hits they currently incur.
The legislation still must pass in the full Senate, where floor time has yet to be scheduled.
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Thriving Farms of the Gallatin Valley
Gallatin Valley Botanicals: A Flourishing Small-Scale Family Farm
This is the first of a three-week series highlighting the working farms and hands of the Gallatin Valley.
There is a fresh layer of snow on the Bridger Range, the is valley erupting in reds and golds and for Matt and Jacy Rothschiller, it’s reaching the tail end of a busy harvest season at their family farm, Gallatin Valley Botanical.
When I met the family at their home, a little yellow house west of Belgrade, Matt was playing with his son Zachary in the front lawn and I was enthusiastically greeted by the couple’s two labs. A sunny day, the crisp breeze swept through the clothes hanging from the line and sent leaves floating lazily through the air, a brilliant Montana fall day.
The couple was a stark contrast from what I had expected, considering the graying face of agriculture and a new generation that is increasingly abandoning the farm in search of other professions.
With many farm towns dwindling from a population migration to bigger cities and the industrial powers moving in, the state’s longstanding agricultural tradition seems to be increasingly threatened.
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missoula's open space bond
Beyond Open Space, Public Money Preserving Working Lands
Editor's note: This is the second story in a series on how Missoula's $10 million open space bond is being put to work. Click here for the first installment.
Missoula County's open space bond, passed by voters last November, rounded up $10 million dollars to ensure the protection of area lands for perpetuity. But it's not just for treasured viewsheds like the hills around Missoula. Traditional agricultural and timber lands -- working lands -- protect Montana's heritage, too.
An example, and one of Missoula County's first open space pay outs, is the Hayes family Circle Bar One Ranch in Potomac, east of Missoula in the Blackfoot Valley. The county bought the property's development rights in the form of a conservation easement -- a tool that's allowing the city and county to stretch their open space dollars, says Jackie Corday, Missoula open space program manager. Plus, she says, "it keeps farmers on the land."
As Jim Berkey of the Five Valleys Land Trust says, “We’re not going to have petroleum forever. It’s important to keep some land open for growing food nearby.”
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