THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF IN 2022 AND MORE TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE YEAR AHEAD
The Northern Rockies
We are also doubling down on our commitment to equity by expanding our community trails efforts and leveraging investments in park creation to bolster economic, environmental, and community-building opportunities.
Sincerely,
Dick Dolan , Northern Rockies Director
Thank you again for joining us in building healthier, more equitable and resilient communities in the Northern Rockies.
At a time when our region’s wildness is under increasing pressure from our growing population, development, and climate change, TPL is well-positioned to meet the challenges of the moment. With your support, we are preserving our remaining wild spaces and western traditions, ensuring everyone can benefit from nature’s healing and unifying powers for generations to come.
2 | TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES
Heading into our second half-century, we are nearing the finish line of phase 1 of the Montana Great Outdoors project. In total, this initiative will permanently protect 114,000 acres in Northwest Montana.
Since 1972, with the help of supporters like you, Trust for Public Land has worked with communities throughout the Northern Rockies to improve access to outdoor recreation, protect drinking water and wildlife habitat, and safeguard thriving forests and ranches for families who have worked them for generations.
© REBECCA STUMPF
Thank you for being a TPL champion!Bigfork,MT
The Crown of the Continent
FOREVER MONTANA
© CHRISTOPHER BOYER/KESTREL AERIAL
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Public lands provide a range of critical benefits, from clean air and water to outdoor escapes and good jobs to improved quality of life. TPL is working to secure the future of the Crown of the Continent , 10 million acres of wildlands in western Montana and one of the largest intact ecosystem in the United Sates. This extraordinary opportunity will provide tremendous recreational, ecological, and economic benefits for our communities.
Currently, TPL has efforts underway to protect 800,000 acres in Montana and safeguard this unique habitat from fragmentation. We are using innovative mapping tools from our Land and People Lab to help strategically identify, prioritize, and deliver our conservation plan for the Crown of the Continent. By consolidating a patchwork of public and private ownership into a network of conserved land, we will permanently protect lush forests, open meadows, and mountain peaks across western Montana for everyone to explore and enjoy.
TPL has a huge impact but too few people know us in Montana which is why we have launched the Forever Montana campaign—Let’s keep Montana, Montana. The goal is to educate future supporters about TPL’s legacy in the region and how our work is critical to shaping the future.
ALL PHOTOS © BRANDON MCMAHON
4 | TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES
LOST CONSERVATIONTRAIL AREA
MAKE THIS BOLD VISION
We are pursuing the conservation of an additional 18,000 acres around The Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge, which will further enhance recreation access, improve connectivity, and ensure sustainable forest management for generations to come.
Nestled in the Pleasant Valley of northwestern Montana, The Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge is a stunning area with wetlands, lush riparian corridors, prairies, and forests. In July 2022, we worked with SPP to secure 38,000 acres of extraordinary lands for permanent public access .
© CHRISTOPHER BOYER/KESTREL AERIAL
Flathead County, Montana
Montana Great Outdoors
This project allows SPP to continue sustainable timber harvesting and builds upon TPL’s long history in the region by complementing an existing network of public lands. The area also has some of the best elk hunting in the state and provides critical habitat for migratory birds as well as a wide variety of other wildlife and plant species.
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This milestone project is a pivotal step towards achieving our ambitious goal and would not have been possible without you—our supporters!
TPL has secured a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect 114,000 acres of wildlands in Montana with Southern Pine Plantation (SPP) and Green Diamond Resource Company through conservation easements. In addition to improving recreation access, these “working forest” easements will prevent development, ensure sustainable timber management, maintain woodproduct jobs, and protect incredible wildlife habitat and landscape connectivity.
by 2025 to complete the Crown of the Continent vision. We are $3 million away from achieving this goal!
Story Mill Community Park is Bozeman’s largest and most eclectic open space. Since TPL completed the park in 2019, neighbors have flocked to its hiking trails, learning garden, playground, and hillside amphitheater. With opportunities for outdoor recreation and gatherings, and connecting with wild and rural roots, Story Mill is everything Montanans love, packed into one magnificent park.
© ADRIAN SANCHEZ-GONZALEZ
We are thrilled to announce that the next exciting amenity slated for the park will be Bozeman’s first splashpad!
6 | TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND IN NORTHERN ROCKIES
• Give a gift to help make the vision for our Thriving Communities Program a reality, from trails in Bigfork to Story Mill Community Park in Bozeman.
The splashpad will include wading pools with stumps and trees that drip water for cooling down on hot days. Designed to evoke a beaver’s natural habitat, the splashpad offers an imaginative way for children to learn about the habitat loss that nearly drove beavers in the area to extinction and foster a lifelong love for the great outdoors.
Communities throughout the Northern Rockies continue to see increased residential development, and as more people have moved to the area, Montana’s beloved trails have grown crowded. Since 2020, recreation areas near the Town of Bigfork have seen a 30 percent increase in use, highlighting the need to expand access and protect more land so that residents and visitors alike can experience the area’s natural treasures.
• Make a gift to the Northern Rockies Catalyst Fund: for every $1 raised, we leverage $50 in public dollars to further our conservation efforts.
In addition to habitat protection and connectivity for wildlife species such as white-tailed deer, turkey, and black bear, the Harrell Forest Community Trails will also allow for continued forest health management to reduce the risk of wildfire and improve climate resilience.
Bigfork,COMMUNITYFORESTTRAILSMontana
• The City of Bozeman is providing $360,000 matching funds for the Story Mill Community Park splashpad. Make a gift today to the Story Mill Community Park FUND and help us complete this one-of-a-kind amenity!
With the community of Bigfork, we are developing the Harrell Forest Community Trails, and ensuring public access in perpetuity. This 236-acre property was once slated for development, but now, residents will soon enjoy more than six new miles of quiet trails and relish unobstructed views of Flathead Lake and the Swan Mountain Range.
Thriving Communities: Parks and Trails
HARRELL
STORY MILL COMMUNITY PARK Bozeman, Montana
SUPPORT OUR WORK IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES:
Join us Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you. tpl.org/donate Dick Dolan Northern Rockies Director dick.dolan406.581.6417@tpl.org Melissa Dulin Director of Bozeman,Suite1007melissa.dulin406.580.6698Philanthropy@tpl.orgE.MainStreet300MT59715 THANK YOU TO OUR ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS IDAHO Sue Orb, co-chair Paul Hill MONTANA Dick Harding, co-chair David EdRobertBarclayStephensWetherbee WYOMING Chris AnneBeedeeLeaLaddLadd COVER, TOP: © TOM ROBERTSON; © REBECCA STUMPF; © ADRIAN SANCHEZ-GONZALEZ; LARGE: © CHRISTOPHER BOYER/KESTREL AERIAL; THIS PAGE: © REBECCA STUMPF GROW YOUR LEGACY Protect the places you love by making a gift to TPL in your estate plans. Ensure healthy land and livable communities for all by naming TPL as a beneficiary of your will, living trust, or retirement account. Make your legacy one of hope, humanity, and a love of nature—for generations to come. THANK YOU for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in the Northern Rockies and beyond. We could not do this without you.
