The Missoula County Open Lands Working Group will hold regional outreach meetings in late March and early April, 2006 in order to get feedback from landowners on the techniques that are being considered for open-lands conservation in the county. All meeting begin at 7:00 pm.

The monthly Working Group meetings will all be held at the C’Mon Inn, Bighorn Room at 6:00 pm, on April 20th, May 18th, and June 15th.

All Missoula County landowners are invited to all of the meetings.

Working Group Members:

Clinton/Turah:  Roy Handley and Dan Ekstrom
Evaro:  Jeanne Worthy and Meggen Ryan
Frenchtown/Huson:  Ed Alexander and Jim Cusker
Lolo:  Bob Schroeder and Marge Zaveta
Missoula:  John Rimel and Paul Hanson
Ninemile:  Betty Thisted and Rick Amon
Potomac: Hugh Sheehy and Denny Iverson
Swan: Anne Dahl and Dan Stone
Seeley: Jon Haufler and Jack Rich

Missoula County Open Lands Working Group

Motivation and Need:

The fate of Missoula County ’s landscape legacy – its agricultural lands, river corridors, wildlife habitats, and scenic open spaces—relies on the choices rural landowners make about the future of their lands.  Those decisions depend, at least partly, on the range of options available for these landowners as they plan the future of their properties. 

In early 2005, Five Valleys Land Trust (FVLT) started a dialogue with the Missoula County Commissioners about how the County and FVLT could work together to give rural residents access to a wider variety of tools and funding mechanisms to support land conservation objectives.  The County, also very interested in this topic, awarded a 15-month contract to FVLT to convene, facilitate, and staff a citizen-driven countywide working group on open lands protection. 

The working group will be composed of landowners and other key citizens from the nine county planning regions—Lolo, Evaro, Swan, Clinton/Turah, Seeley, Frenchtown/Huson, Ninemile, Missoula , and Potomac/Greenough.  Two members from each region will comprise an 18-member Missoula County Open Lands Working Group. 

Charge:

The charge of the working group is to explore a wide range of tools Missoula County might employ to help those private landowners interested in voluntarily conserving their land.  From researching what has been achieved elsewhere and, more importantly, listening to the voices of Missoula County , the working group will develop a toolkit of conservation mechanisms that will be tailored to the county’s conditions and needs.  The outcome of the work, to be completed in June 2006, will be a report detailing a slate of recommended actions for Missoula County to take to increase land protection tools for rural residents. 
‘Tools’ are defined in this work as techniques that the citizens of Missoula County can use to protect agricultural lands, timberland, open space, wildlife habitat, wetland and riparian resources, or public access.  Tools will consist of a combination of incentives, market mechanisms, and support for directing development in Missoula County in a way that preserves the unique character of the county. 

Process:

The Missoula County Commissioners will invite and appoint Working Group members.  The group will meet twice in summer 2005, and more intensively from September 2005 through June 2006 (perhaps twice per month).  The members will be liaisons to the citizens of their respective regions and will help facilitate the involvement of a wide range of local stakeholders. 
FVLT has contracted with a consultant to coordinate the overall process.  In addition, a Resource Advisory Committee is being formed which will provide advice, as needed, to the working group.  For instance, this committee will provide legal, agricultural, business, financial, governmental, and environmental expertise.  Like the working group, this committee will be composed of Missoula County residents interested in the future of county landscapes. 

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 22,2005

Contact: Donna Erickson, Project Coordinator - 406-370-0454 dle@umich.edu

Open Lands Working Group Formed by Five Valleys Land Trust and Missoula County
Group Will Recommend Tools Missoula County Can Use to Give Rural Landowners More Options For Their Lands

Missoula, Montana—A working group of Missoula County rural landowners is studying ways to give rural residents access to more options that support land conservation. Missoula County has awarded a 15-month contract to Five Valleys Land Trust to facilitate the working group, charged with recommending tools and funding mechanisms suited to accomplishing this goal.

Made up of two representatives from each of the county’s nine planning regions — Lolo, Evaro, Swan, Clinton/Turah, Seeley, Frenchtown/Huson, Ninemile, Missoula, and Potomac/Greenough, the Missoula County Open Lands Working Group will develop a toolkit to help private landowners interested in voluntarily conserving their land or implementing low-impact development. According to Jim Cusker, Working Group member from the Grass Valley/Frenchtown/Huson region, “it is important that the Working Group comprises landowners from all over the county in order to study and provide recommendations which will uniformly benefit the many diverse rural areas.”

The group will present its recommendations to the County Commissioners in June 2006.  According to Missoula County Commissioner Bill Carey, “the working group’s task is critical in a rapidly growing area such as Missoula County.  The fate of Missoula County’s landscape legacy — its agricultural lands, timberlands, river corridors, wildlife habitats, and scenic open spaces — relies on the choices rural landowners make,” Carey noted.  “Those decisions depend, at least partly, on the range of options available for these landowners as they plan the future of their properties. Five Valleys Land Trust was selected to oversee the working group because of its experience, expertise, and reputation.”  Donna Erickson, Project Coordinator, explained that “this initiative fits perfectly with the FVLT mission to protect western Montana ’s natural legacy.”

The group’s recommendations will be selected to provide funding mechanisms and other assistance that would preserve the unique character of each county region and allow landowners to maintain their rural way of life.  Throughout the process, city and county technical advisors will be available to provide expertise as needed. 

The citizens of Missoula County are encouraged to participate in this initiative.  Meetings of the Working Group are held on the third Thursday of each month and are open to the public.  In addition, meetings in each Missoula County planning region will be held during the fall and winter.  For more information on meeting locations and times, and to find out which Working Group member to contact from your region, call Donna Erickson at 370-0454.

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Additional Contacts:      Wendy Ninteman, Executive Director, Five Valleys LandTrust, 549-0755
                                    Bill Carey, Missoula County Commissioner,  258-4877
                                    Jim Cusker, Working Group member,  549-4440