Trust for Public Land in the Northern Rockies - 2021 by Trust for Public Land

The Trust for Public Land in the Northern Rockies T HERE IS SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF

in 2021

A ND MORE TO LOOK FORWA RD TO IN T HE Y E A R A HE A D

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES! From the meadows of the Swan Valley to the waters of the Kootenai River, your support has enabled The Trust for Public Land to protect beloved Northern Rockies’ landscapes for communities to enjoy. We achieve this by partnering with local communities to preserve the working forests that have served their communities for generations. Our mission is as important now as ever. People from across the country are moving to the Northern Rockies in record numbers. As a result, the vast forests and watersheds that provide us with sanctuary, good jobs, and clean air and water are under increasing pressure. Today we are at a crossroads. We have a tremendous opportunity to save these vast spaces

now—allowing permanent public access, improving connectivity, and protecting them forever. The Trust for Public Land is the only organization ready to meet this moment. We helped lead the protection of the Swan Valley, the largest conservation deal in U.S. history, and passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, the most significant conservation bill in generations. Our new goal is even more ambitious than Swan Valley. By the end of 2025, we plan to raise $10 million and protect an additional 500,000 acres in Montana and Idaho. We are so grateful to you—our supporters—for joining us to provide access to the spaces our communities need the most. Sincerely,

Dick Dolan Northern Rockies Director

STEVEN GNAM

Haskill Basin Whitefish, MT

CROWN OF THE CONTINENT CHRISTOPHER BOYER / KESTREL AERIAL

Montana Great Outdoors

Flathead County, MT

The Trust for Public Land has a bold vision for building on our history of conservation in the Crown of the Continent, one of the last places on earth where not a single plant or animal has gone extinct in the last two centuries. The protection of 500,000 acres across Montana and Idaho in the Crown of the Continent by 2025 will deliver immense recreational, environmental, and economic benefits for our communities. The Trust for Public Land has a long history of conservation in the Crown of the Continent. Highlights include protecting 310,000 acres in the Swan Valley of Montana, thousands of acres in and around Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park, and over 24,558 acres in Montana’s Whitefish watershed.

MONTANA GREAT OUTDOORS PROJECT We recently secured a deal with Southern Pine Plantations to conserve 130,000 acres of Montana wilderness. By protecting thousands of acres of national forest and state land, we can ensure public access to nature and secure sustainable timber jobs. It will also guarantee the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes access to hunting, fishing, and traditional practices on their ancestral lands.

THE CROWN OF THE CONTINENT Bigfork Community Trail

In December 2020, The Trust for Public Land acquired a 236-acre property with views of Flathead Lake and peaks of the Swan Range near the quaint downtown of Bigfork, a small community in Flathead County, Montana.

The growing community of Bigfork has a vision for a natural park and trail system, and we are working to make that vision a reality. In partnership with the community, The Trust for Public Land is developing an extensive community trail system and conveying the land to a long-term steward, ensuring public access in perpetuity.

Lolo Trails In June 2021, The Trust for Public Land completed the Lolo Trails Landmark Project, permanently protecting 14,800 acres of mountainous timbered land located within a 15-minute drive of Missoula, Montana. The property is now part of the Lolo National Forest. The Lolo Trails Landmark Project permanently protects portions of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the Nez Perce National Historic Trail, preserves critical water sources, and provides easy access for hiking, biking, hunting, and other outdoor pursuits within Missoula County.

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES We are also working to protect: • 50,000 acres of wetlands and forests around the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge, which has some of the best elk hunting in Montana • 28,000 acres in the Kootenai Valley with flourishing fish and wildlife communities • 45,000 acres in Idaho’s Panhandle, from the McArthur Lake Wildlife Corridor to the foothills of Mount Spokane State Park. When completed, future generations will explore and enjoy a protected landscape stretching from the Idaho Panhandle to Glacier National Park.

You can help!

Make this bold vision a reality! Help us raise $10 million by 2025 to complete the Crown of the Continent vision.

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Crown of the Continent CURRENT AND COMPLETED PROJECTS July 2, 2021. Copyright © The Trust for Public Land. The Trust for Public Land and The Trust for Public Land logo are federally registered marks of The Trust for Public Land. Information on this map is provided for purposes of discussion and visualization only. www.tpl.org

Miles

THE STORY MILL COMMUNITY PARK FUND Since opening in 2019, Story Mill Community Park has quickly become a favorite community resource and source of civic pride. The park has been a place to seek solace in these trying times and where visitors receive the many benefits of being in nature. We know it will continue to serve as a place of community healing, learning, and recreating far into the future. The Story Mill Community Park FUND will enable us to enhance the park, add more amenities and learning opportunities, and support partnerships throughout the park. For example, in 2020, we worked with Sacajawea Audubon Society to add wildlife-friendly native plants and educational signage to the Wells Fargo Learning Garden. We also worked with the Human Resource Development Council to create a Food Forest, a diverse planting of edible plants that mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature.

The next new and exciting amenity to come to the park will be Bozeman’s first splashpad! Featuring the park’s original residents—beavers— the splashpad design will include a beaver dam, a slide, wading pools with stumps, and trees that drip with water. Fully accessible and designed for year-round play, this state-of-the-art original design will be on par with the existing playground and park sculptures.

You can help!

Help us continue to improve the park by donating to the Story Mill Community Park FUND. We aim to raise $450,000 to continue to enhance the park experience. Donate today!

FIELD STUDIO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

SPLASHPAD RENDERING

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POLICY, ADVOCACY, AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE BRIAN MOHR & EMILY JOHNSON/EMBER PHOTOGRAPHY

CONSERVATION FINANCE The Trust for Public Land works with cities, states, counties, and communities to pass ballot measures and create and unlock public funding for parks and open space. To date, we’ve generated $75 billion for park creation and land protection, leveraging donations to achieve a return of $2,000 in public funds for every $1 donated. In the November 2020 election, we helped pass the Montana Marijuana Tax, generating $360 million over 20 years for land conservation in Montana. We are also currently working with United Payette, a coalition of local and regional stakeholders. Together we are exploring public funding opportunities to preserve Idaho’s endowment lands in the North Fork Payette watershed.

THE NEXT GENERATION OF CONSERVATION LEADERS The Trust for Public Land is raising $2 million to increase our capacity across the nation with a new, diverse cohort of ten land conservation professionals who represent the diversity of the communities we serve. In the Northern Rockies, by raising $235,000, we will ensure that one member of this new land protection cohort will be located here, immediately increasing delivery of our land-forpeople mission within local communities and enabling us to protect the last large landscape of private timberlands in our region and conserve 500,000 acres in five years.

TPL STAFF

Join us today with an investment in the next generation of land protection rising stars, as diverse and varied as the communities in which we work, and renew the power of public land to serve a greater public good well into the future.

You can help!

Make a gift today to support our future conservation efforts in the Northern Rockies.

BACK COVER: STEVEN GNAM • FRONT COVER: CHRISTOPHER BOYER / KESTREL AERIAL; 406 PHOTO / BRUCE MUHLBRADT; TONY BYNUM/IMAGES ON THE WILDSIDE; TOM TURIANO; KEVIN BRUSIE.

Thank you for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in the Northern Rockies and beyond. We couldn’t do this without you.

Join us Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you.

tpl.org/donate

Dick Dolan Northern Rockies Director 406-581-6417 | dick.dolan@tpl.org Melissa Dulin Director of Philanthropy 406.580.6698 | melissa.dulin@tpl.org 1007 E. Main St. Suite 300 Bozeman, MT 59715