Spring 2020 Newsletter

The Confluence Spring 2020

From The Director Dear Friends,

Spring is upon us here in the Swan Valley. It’s a season of change, awakening, and hope. This spring we, and everyone around the globe, need to keep that hope at the center of our hearts as we are all experiencing unprecedented change as a result of COVID-19. We at SVC are hoping that our friends around Montana, across the nation, and around the world are staying healthy. We will do our best to keep you connected to this wild and wonderful place the best we can, despite the changes we’re forced to implement within our organization.

We always say that “we connect people to one another and to this extraordinary landscape” through the work we do on the ground with private landowners and our public agencies to improve forest health, fire adaptive management, wildlife and aquatic habitat, and efforts to better coexist with wildlife, especially our bear neighbors.

And simultaneously, we offer educational opportunities year-round to people of all ages, focusing on getting folks out into the natural “classroom” all around us to experience what they’re learning through all of their senses. With travel limitations and restrictions dictating sheltering-athome, we have had to postpone our college education classes and other educational gatherings until later in the year, and perhaps until 2021. These classes have historically provided up to $150,000 in tuition revenue per year. As our programs are being postponed and cancelled, now more than ever in the face of the pandemic, we need your help.

We are fighting to retain our valuable, invested staff; fighting to retain integrity in our programs; fighting to keep ourselves and our community safe. We know that everyone out there is fighting too, and we hope you will join us in battle and give as generously as you can today at https://swan.z2systems.com/np/clients/swan/donation.jsp or let your passion for wild places live after you have passed on through a bequest or planned giving.

We are committed to keeping our staff fully employed through this crisis. In the absence of our college programs, staff will continue with their conservation work on the ground, as well as create alternative online education and content to keep you connected to the natural world. They will work hard on recruiting students for the best programs in 2021 and strategically plan for our education and conservation programs, to ensure adaptability, highest impact, and sustainability in our organization and on the planet.

When you make a donation, you will be making a unique impact, allowing us to stay focused on servicing Swan Valley residents and the future conservation leaders from across the nation. You will help to create solid plans for sustainability and growth of these services and programs into the future.

In this issue, which includes our 2019 annual report, we focus on our connection to plants – the living examples of change. Plants feed us, shelter us, protect us, provide for us, and connect us to the earth and one another. May we know them, grow them, and love them! We look back at what we did in 2019 and look ahead at a very different 2020.

You’ll see that we accomplished so much last year. Through your generous donations and partnerships, we built a record number of bear fences, distributed a record number of bear-resistant canisters to area residents, and hosted two bear education events that

2

Swan Valley Connections 6887 MT Highway 83 Condon, MT 59826 p: (406) 754-3137 f: (406) 754-2965 info@svconnections.org

Board of Directors Barbara Hill Raible, Chair Helene Michael, Vice Chair Rich Thomason, Treasurer Kathy DeMaster Larry Garlick Pam Hamilton Alex Metcalf Casey Ryan Mary Shaw Scott Tomson Tina Zenzola

Emeritus Russ Abolt Anne Dahl Steve Ellis Neil Meyer

Advisory Council Kvande Anderson Steve Bell Jim Burchfield Mark Schiltz Andrea Stephens Mark Vander Meer

Staff Rebecca Ramsey, Executive Director Jonathan Bowler Laura Cannon Andrea DiNino Leanna Grubaugh Sara Halm Luke Lamar Mike Mayernik Rob Rich Uwe Schaefer The Confluence is published by Swan Valley Connections, a non-profit organization situated in Montana’s scenic Swan Valley.

Our mission is to conserve the intact ecosystems within and surrounding the Swan Valley and to strengthen the connection between people and the natural world through collaboration and experiential learning. Images by Swan Valley Connections’ staff, students, or volunteers unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved to Swan Valley Connections.

Change service requested.

SwanValleyConnections.org Cover Image: Stink Bug on Lupine Leaves by Andrea DiNino; (Left): Bee photo by Kai Wenzel

reached hundreds of people in an effort to better coexist with our bruin neighbors. We had one tragic grizzly fatality that stirred the emotions of local residents to take action and host an amazing fundraiser at the Oro Ranch to further the work of Swan Valley Bear Resources and help facilitate further partnerships to protect people and bears. We worked with landowners to improve wildlife habitat, forest health, and fire prevention on nearly 3,000 acres. We provided opportunities to connect more deeply with the natural world through our educational programs by working with the Swan Valley and Seeley Lake elementary schools, hosting our monthly potlucks, providing animal track and sign classes, and by running our inaugural Master Naturalist class and our two college classes, Wildlife in the West and Landscape & Livelihood. We wrapped up a three-year rare carnivore monitoring project, focusing on Canada lynx and wolverines’ use of fire complexes this winter. We provided services to thousands of visitors at our office at the Condon Work Center. We monitored for water temperature, native fish, and aquatic invasive species with our partners. We made great strides financially, closing our investment deficit budget by 50%. We continued, strengthened, and built new partnerships with landowners, other nonprofits, new friends and stalwart supporters, state and federal agencies, and Tribes.

As we ended 2019, we made great plans for 2020 and began the new year confident that we would be able to have even greater impact. We looked ahead to our programs of work, planned community potluck topics, solidified our new relationship with Arizona State University (ASU) to host a three-week field course, and planned community work days at Elk Creek Conservation Area, at the Work Center, and on our property in the heart of Condon. We anticipated full classes, a full team, and a full program of work on the land and in our community.

John Lennon sang the words, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Life in 2020 today is happening, and it has no regard for our best laid plans. We are changing and adapting.

The Vernal Equinox brought with it balance through change — a changing season, in changing times, times of growth.

Together, may we all change for the better and grow into something as strong and adaptable as our legacy ponderosa pines and western larch trees: tall, solid, resistant to fire and disease, beautifully rooted in the depths of the earth, and always reaching for the sun.

With love, respect, and hope for a better tomorrow,

Rebecca Ramsey, Executive Director

April 30 May 1, 2020 Mark your calendars for a special 26-hour giving event! Missoula Gives is a one-day, online and live celebration of the Missoula community. It connects generous people with the causes they care about. It is a day to celebrate all that Missoula County is and the role nonprofits play in making the community great.

Your donations will support Swan Valley Connections as we experience the impacts of COVID-19 by helping to keeping our staff employed as they develop new educational material to share online, stay connected with college students, strategize for experiential learning opportunities and continue working on conservation and stewardship in the Swan Valley. www.missoulagives.org/organizations/swan-valley-connections 3

How Grizzly Bear Digging Shapes Mountain Meadows

By Tatum McConnell, Wildlife in the West ‘19 alum and Vital Ground Foundation communications intern

We climbed up Napa Point, approaching the tree line as the forest thinned out, a few ambitious Doug firs and white bark pines clinging onto the ridgeline. I was surprised to see a heavy layer of snow in May, and a bit perturbed, having not thought to bring my gaiters. I was participating in Swan Valley Connections‘ Wildlife in the West program, taking nine credits on wildlife conservation and ecology. Today we were out with SVC’s conservation director, Luke Lamar, to learn about the plight of whitebark pine and take advantage of the stunning view to practice with map and compass.

We had already witnessed some incredible wildlife coming up the trail, catching sight of a grouse performing a mating display, feathers spread and humming with deep vibrations I could hardly believe were coming from the bird. But the most surprising find of the day was yet to come.

Turning around a bend was another beautiful field of glacier lilies. But this patch was different, with a large area of meadow completely torn up in front of us. Through the mess of overturned rocks and ravaged dirt we could make out a few tunnels now exposed to daylight.

“This must have been a ground squirrel burrow!” One of my classmates said, “Did a bear come dig it up?”

“Let’s look for tracks!” Someone else responded.

We quickly noticed that the dirt was still damp and that torn up glacier lilies were not yet wilted, meaning the bear could have been there mere minutes ago, or more plausibly, earlier that morning. Not too far from the dig site we made an incredible track observation: a big ol’ grizzly paw, and right next to it, a miniature version. A mother and at least one cub had been there, and maybe secured a tasty ground squirrel meal out of it.

4

On the surface this is an interaction between two species, the bear and the squirrel. Maybe we can throw the dead glacier lilies in there too. However, if we “dig” in a little deeper there’s far more to this interaction, down to the atomic level.

Grizzlies’ Role in the Environment

At Vital Ground, we like to highlight that grizzly bears are an umbrella species—meaning that they’re able to use many different aspects of their environment instead of just filling a small niche, creating wide-ranging impacts on the species around them. This leads them to have a huge variety in food sources including the expected fish, elk, and berries, but also ground squirrels, roots, and, as we examined in our last bear ecology post, insects.

In order to find ground squirrels and roots, bears use their big sturdy paws and flesh-ripping claws for a gentler task, digging through soil to snack on the morsels inside. By turning over rocks and mixing nutrients around, grizzlies aerate the soil, leading to important changes in plant life. This process reveals a somewhat less-than-intuitive ecological interaction between an apex predator and a meadow’s plants.

What the Research Says

Research done in Glacier National Park by Sandra Tardiff and Jack Stanford demonstrates the impact of bear digs down to the molecular level. The study shows how herbivores and grizzly bears have opposing influences on nitrogen and carbon levels in soil, and how that balances an area’s plant diversity.

If, like me, you occasionally wake up in a cold sweat remembering chemistry classes, don’t fear. It’s pretty straightforward: Herbivores prefer to eat plants rich in nitrogen as opposed to

Wildlife in the West 2019 inspecting a grizzly bear dig site at Napa Point. Photo by Eli Estey

Grizzly track. Photo by Tatum McConnell

carbon, so the more they consume tasty nitrogen-heavy plants, the more carbon-heavy plants remain.

According to Tardiff and Stanford, animals burrowing in the soil counteracts this loss of nitrogen-heavy plants. By impacting “soil nutrients…soil moisture and temperature, microbial mineralization rates, and plant nitrogen uptake,” burrowing leads to more nitrogen in the soil, and thus more nitrogen-heavy plants for herbivores to enjoy! Bison and antelope demonstrate this process, preferring to graze in areas with prairie dogs, whose burrowing leads to more nitrogen-rich plants. (By the way, while researching for this article I found out that the scientific name of bison is Bison bison. Creative.)

Tardiff and Stanford used this knowledge to hypothesize that grizzly bear digs may mimic the impacts of burrowing. Their research found that grizzlies did indeed have major, long-term impacts on plant life in dig areas. Immediately after a dig plant life is low, with everything ripped out and overturned, but this provides the perfect patch for new plant growth—glacier lilies in particular, which, according to the study, had higher levels of nitrogen in their tissues and twice as many seeds when growing in former bear digs.

The impact on glacier lilies is particularly interesting since they are an important food source for bears. These lilies often grow in avalanche chutes where grizzlies can be found grazing the meadows and digging for the plants’ bulbs. (We can eat them too! They’re not bad, but they also don’t taste like much.)

Tardiff and Stanford posit that without the impact of bears and burrowers, glacier lilies may fade out altogether since nitrogen-heavy sites seem so important to their growth, although they acknowledge that further research would be needed to confirm this.

Experimental digs were also done to mimic a bear dig, and were shown to produce more nitrogen than those without digs, demonstrating that this wasn’t just a matter of bears picking already nitrogen-heavy sites to dig in.

Ecosystem Engineers and Vital Ground’s Role

These interactions demonstrate that we can look at grizzlies as even more than habitat generalists or an umbrella species. They not only use all parts of an ecosystem, they create parts of it! I think that means we can award them an official invitation into the elite “ecosystem engineer” club, joining the esteemed beaver, mighty earthworm, and our own species.

Vital Ground harnesses humans’ unprecedented position as ecosystem engineers to create a positive impact for grizzlies and all the species surrounding them. Protecting grizzly bear habitat not only protects that space for other wildlife and plant species, it also allows grizzlies to continue in their important ecosystem-shaping behavior.

The natural world around us is incredibly complex.

Each piece of it that we conserve has wide-reaching impacts on countless other species, allowing biodiversity to continue thriving.

Tatum will be returning to the Swan Valley this summer and staying in the Beck Homestead barn while she works on her senior project, which is focused on our rare carnivore monitoring data. She’s looking to answer the questions: Why is a threatened species in certain parts of an ecosystem and not others? What habitat components are consistently associated with the presence of a species?

5

A Northwest Connection:

Learning the Plants, Learning the Place

By Rob Rich

Somewhere north of the Midway Islands, in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, there’s a force that shapes the Swan Valley. The ocean’s edge is over 500 miles from Condon, but every harlequin duck migrating from coastal wintering grounds to breeding sites in the Northern Rockies gets a hint of this mysterious force: wind. For millennia, prevailing winds called westerlies have swept across the Pacific Ocean’s mid-latitudes, gathering more and more moisture throughout their eastward journey. When the windswept, swollen clouds finally reach land, they confront the slopes of Coast Range and Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest, and then rise, reach a peak saturation point, and rupture, nourishing the coastal temperate rainforest.

Having wrung out most of their rain, the clouds dissipate on the eastern side of the mountains in a classic rainshadow effect.

But they roll on, and moisture builds and builds, until they reach the mountains of northern and central Idaho, where they once again rise, reach saturation, and release. And then, the eastbound clouds gather one final time, fomenting through western Montana and across Flathead Lake until they soak the slopes of the Mission Mountains and Swan Range.

While this may be a broad-brush forecast of regional weather, the facts remain: The Swan Valley lies at the eastern fringe of patterns that span the Pacific Northwest. Our watershed is a last east place influenced by a maritime climate, even as it begins to blur with colder, continental climates that dominate on the eastern side of the Swan Range crest.

And because our valley is wide and hemmed in by steep slopes to the east and west, we see astonishing gradients in precipitation, and in turn, plants and the life they support.

This is furthered by what Tom Parker, co-founder of one of our parent organizations, Northwest Connections, likes to call “physiographic complexity,” referring to the infinite and intricate variety of features on our creek-riven, glacier-made landscape. Alpine zones in the Missions and the Swans rack up more than 100” of rain annually, and these amounts lessen down the mirrored slopes until they meet in our valley bottom, where we receive about 30” over the same time.

But even if you don’t have a rain gauge and altimeter to precisely quantify the rainfall up and down the slopes, it’s not hard to know when you’re in a nook of moisture based on the plants around you. With practice, this becomes intuitive, and it’s quite remarkable how plants arrange themselves in communities with associations we can identify, appreciate, and attempt to understand. In the Swan Valley, I find this reality strongest in the presence of a plant community including western red cedars. Here, in the far east of their range, western red cedars concentrate in low, wet pockets of the landscape.

Western red cedars exist in relatively isolated stands, and because they’re difficult to access and often along streams, they tend to support multi-age trees in differing stages of decay. Their feathery branches create a peaceful shade, and a microclimate that supports other plants that might be expected in rainforests farther west, like Pacific yew, Devil’s club, queen’s

6

cup, western foamflower, or oak fern. They are delicate places, driven by details we often overlook in more open country.

“Our watershed is a last east place influenced by a maritime climate, even as it begins to blur with colder, continental climates that dominate on the eastern side of the Swan Range crest.”

All plants, no matter where they’re rooted, exist as a direct response to the varieties of sunlight, moisture, and soil.

They “move” only by the steady creep of roots, or the assistance of the animals, flowing waters, or winds dispersing their seeds.

The members in each community are codependent on each other in relationships that have taken myriad generations to evolve. We come to expect willows, not whitebark pines, along the banks of the Swan River. We look (and smell) for skunk cabbage in seepy thickets of spring muck. For the most part, our native plants know where they belong, and over time, we can learn and grow to love those affinities, too.

But even when we don’t yet know the names or needs of each plant, and even though plants can’t return our attention with endearing, forward-facing eyes, plants go a long way towards growing our sense of place. We can see shapes in the spire of a subalpine fir, or we can sync shades with a seasonal palette, like the deep crimson of huckleberry leaves in fall. We can smell the citrus hints of grand fir needles and learn the sharpness of the sedge by a quick touch in the wrong direction.

We can even listen to plants as the winds blow upon them, hearing distinctions between aspen and pine. We take students from our college field programs and Master Naturalist program to experience a variety of plant communities because we want them to learn where they are, not merely by coordinates on a map. We want them to realize we are rooted in a special place, and that plants are far more than a green blur in the background of our lives.

7

Thank you to all of our 2019 Supporters!

Donors John Addis · Audra & Eric Adelberger · Terry Aiken · David & Maren Amnotte · Doug Anderson · Gordon Ash · James Ash · John Baker · George & Emily Beck · Teresa Beed · Bill & Katharine Beers · Clinton Begley · Stephen Bell · Mark Benedict · Dilip Bhadra · Rick Birdwell · John & Mary Blair · Ann & Mark Bowler · Susan Bracken · Laura Braafladt · Nancy Braun · Peggy Brewer · Jeffrey & Michelle Brodie · Charles Brown · Chris Bryant · Buffalo Dance Design Gallery · Dan & Sheri Burden · Robert & Devannie Burke · Gary Burnett · Thomas Camp · John & Valorie Cannon · Laura Cannon · Andrew & Deborah Carstensen · Mike Childs · Cinnabar Foundation · Reva Clarys · Dave & Petra Coover · Don & Toy Lynn Cross · Sue Cushman · Cygnet Lake POA · Anne Dahl · Duane Day · Joseph Day · Dorsey & Whitney Foundation · Addison Double · Janet Downey · Scott & Jill Doyle · James & Wendy Drasdo · Dale Dufour · Margaret Eddy · Stephen & Betsey Ellis · Diann Ericson · Rachel & Pete Feigley · Ronda Feucht · Rueben Fink · Tom & Mary Fitzsimon · Patricia Forsberg · Nancy Fowler · Raymond Fox · Anne French · Barbara Gallagher · Robert & Barbara Gannon · Lawrence & Pamela Garlick · Shadowhawke Garnett · Paul & Katharine Gereg · Nicholas Gistaro · Henry & Catherine Goetz · Jonathan & Nancy Goodson · Jeff Graham · Debra Grahl · Rip & Leanna Grubaugh · Joanne Guyer · Dan & Pam Hamilton · George & Teresa Hashisaki · Peter Hashisaki · Neva Hassanein · Bev & Roe Hatlen · Dennis & Jolayne Hawver · Leo & Dottie Heath · Kirsten Holland · David & Ginger Holmes · Christopher & Vickie Honzel · Charles & Gloria Horejsi · Ken Hunzicker · Bill & Judi Jessup · Chris & Bud Jewett · Ron & Sharon Johnston · Sarah Kainrath · Jeff & Maureen Kemp · Susan Kemper · Annie & Johnathon Kilgour · Kathy Kinzfogl · Kathy Koors · Julia Kotschevar · Barbara Kruse · Patricia & David Kulzer · Claudia & Marty Kux · Allison Labossiere · Boris Lakusta · Sharon & Steve Lamar · Bill & Jean Langlas · Keith Lanier · Don Lassila · Land Lindbergh · Lindbergh Lake Homeowners Assoc. · Janet Linderman · Bert Lindler · Jean Lix · Samuel Llanes · Donald & Joni Lodmell · Ryan & Jennifer Lutey · Gary MacFadden · Sharon & Dan MacQuarrie · David & Pat Maier · Joseph & Catherine Mangold · Maria Mantas · Gerald & Sharon Marks · Jim Mauro · Mike Mayernik · Erin McDonough · John & Joan McMahon · Carol McQuade · John & Elaine Meeks · Alex Metcalf · Benjamin Metcalf · Neil & Dixie Meyer · Helene & Tom Michael · Lori Micken · Mary Miester · Sharon Milar · John & Debra Miller · Kirk Miller · Wayne & Rhudi Miller · Tom Mitchell · Don Moe · Dennis & Nina Monson · Montana State Employees Charitable Giving Campaign · Jerye Motschman · Mary & Matthew Mulligan · Jenny & Rick Murney · Claudia Narcisco · Thomas Nelson · Alan & Susan Newell · Christian & Julie Nygren · Patrick O’Herren · James Opp · John & Judi O’Steen · David & Kay Owen · Stephen & Judith Page · Gary Palm · Linda Palmer · Grant Parker · Brian Parks · Bill Peabody · Jeffrey & Maryann Pearson · Anne Pelham · Marsha Penner · Leo & Deb Perkins · Anne Peters · Suzanne Philippus Palm · James Philpott · Denise Poole · Leslie Preston Day · James & Terry Quinn · Barbara & Joe Raible · Rebecca Ramsey · Robert Rasmussen · Bruce & Kathleen Richardson · Genna Riggi · Greg & Julie Robitaille · Lary & Patty Rogers · Steve & Sue Rolfing · Bill & Vicenta Rossing · Eric Roth · Jane Roth · John & Maureen Sarina · Debbie Sarris-Fink · Gene & Carla Schade · Arthur & Judie Scherer · Barry Schieber · Mark Schiltz · James & Sandra Schlinger · Sabrina Shattles · Mary Shaw · Kate Sheridan · Steven Sheriff · Ken Siderius · Wayne Simoneau · Pat Sinz · James & Barbara Snyder · Noah Snyder · Susan Stanley · Stephen Speckart · Betsy Spettigue · Walter & Georgina Staggs · Daniel & Susan Stone · Alan Strack · Roberta Stroden · Kirk & Ellen Sullivan · John & Marcia Tapp · Alan & Susan Taylor · Clark & Karen Taylor · Anne-Marie Thomas · William Thomas · Richmond & Sarah Thomason · Jenn Tomsen · Gene Tingle · Val & Mary Ann Tollefson · Scott Tomson · Bill & Ann Tucker · Lawrence & Barbara Tveten · Upper Swan Valley Historical Society · Joost & Apryll Verboven · Sheldon & Suzanne Vernon · Juanita Vero · Joel & Barbara Vignere · Roger Wade · Laughlin & Sue Ellen Waters · Garry & Joyce Wegner · Rebecca White · Kathy Witherspoon · Jon Wittrich · Rita & Gary Wolfe · Jee Wong · Dodie Wood · Duane & Sue Wright · Tina Zenzola

In Memoriam Bob Cushman · Dave Downey · Vernon Guyer · Michael Milochik · Patty Tingle

Volunteers Carilyn Anderson · Leita Anderson · Craig Barfoot · Chuck Bartlebaugh · Emily Beck · George Beck · Bill Beers · Alejandra Bernal · Celeste Bishop · Gail Bishop · Rick Bishop · Dewey Bjork · Kay Bjork · Black Wolf Ranch · Betsy Blair · John Blair · Abbasse Bodian · Sarah Bodian · Tahla Bodian · Daniel Bonilla · Bill Borchers · Jonathan Bowler · Diane Boyd · Mark Boydston · Grace Brewer · Trina Bride · Dalton Brollier · Kelsie Brollier · Bill Brown · Buffalo Dance Gallery · Jim Burchfield · Sheri Burden · Bob Burke · Devannie Burke · Donato Callaghan · Laura Cannon · Andrew Carstensen · Deborah Carstensen · Doug Chadwick · Jessy Coltrane · Claire Compton · Dana Conley · Owen Conley · Bill Cory · County Rail Farm · Anne Dahl · Jacob Dauraskos · Andrew Deaett · Andrea DiNino · Betsey Ellis · Steve Ellis · Gail Emerich · Edward Enciso · Diann Ericson · Heather Evans · Falls Creek Ranch · Pete Feigley · Rachel Feigley · Louis Fermelia · Flathead Lake Cheese · April Ann Fong · Roger Funston · Jazmin Gallegos · Beth Gardner · Larry Garlick · Shadowhawke Garnett · Tony Garret · Kathie Gereg · Paul Gereg · Colin Gibney · Glen Willow Ranch · Steven Gnam · Jeff Graham · Ellie Greenough · Leanna Grubaugh · Rip Grubaugh · Steven Gumpert · Dana Gunderson · Kari Gunderson · DC Haas · Lisa Haas · Nick Haas · Rod Haines · Sara Halm · Pam Hamilton · Barry Hansen · Kate Harrison · Dan Hendricks · Jamison Hermanson · Roxanne Hermanson · Bill Higgins · Pam Higgins · Fiona Hill · Hodgskiss Seed Plant · Kirsten Holland · Ian Hudson · Kim Hudson · Menehiko Ito · Dave Johnson · Penny Johnson · Sriya Kappagantu · Nancy Kellogg · Luke Kempers · Bridget Kennedy · Leigh Kenning · Rob Kenning · Annie Kilgour · John Kilgour · Mathina Kinyon · Kathy ‘Littlebird’ Kinzfogl · Kathleen Koors · Kalvin Kovatch · Mike Krzywicki · Bob Laabs · Brooklyn Laabs · Courtney Laabs · Hayden Laabs · Kelly Laabs · Mary Laabs · Matthew Laabs · Maureen Laabs · Nolan Laabs · Parker Laabs · Pat Laabs · Quinn Laabs · Tanner Laabs · Tom Laabs-Johnson · Tara Lahaise · Luke Lamar · Sharon Lamar · Steve Lamar · Lydia Landau · Beau Larkin · Donn Lassila · Amy Lau · Tyler Lau · Renee Lefebvre · Sarah Levitsky · David Littlefield · Peyton Loss · Shane Ludwick · Tim Manley · Mannix Ranch · Logan Mannix · Kathy Martin · Mike Mayernik · Alex Metcalf · Dixie Meyer · Neil www.swanvalleyconnections.org/giving Meyer · Helene Michael · Rob Millspaugh · Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center · Caitlin Mitchell · Montana Land Reliance · Bruce Montgomery · Tegan Mortimer · MPG Ranch · Paul Mugge · John Nahon · Seth Nakatsukasa · Ray Nickless · Alex Noble · Dave Owen · Kay Owen · Tom Parker · Blaine Platt · Datrina Platt · Del Polish · Tracy Potter-Fins · Pyramid Mountain Lumber · Barb Raible · Joe Raible · Rebecca Ramsey · RBM Lumber · Ron Ream · Andy Reed · Charlie Riccio · Ella Riccio · Emily Riccio · Rob Rich · Nathan Richardson · Andy Roberts · Jil Roberts · Lori Roberts · Rolling Stone Ranch · Loren Rose · Leo Rosenthal · Roundwood West · Mark Ruby · Casey Ryan · Hitomi Sakai · Kai Salmonson · Uwe Schaefer · Mark Schiltz · Allycia Schmitt · Cindy Schmitt · Colby Schmitt · Erin Schneider · Mari Schneider · Martin Sequerah · Mary Sexton · Mary Shaw · Skelton Angus Ranch · Alison Skelton · Steve Skelton · Barbara Smith · Emma Smith · Forrest Smith · Mike Smith · Silas Smith · Heather Sorepena · Spindrift Organics · Andrea Stephens · Jessi Stevenson · Caitlin Stone · Dan Stone · Sue Stone · Brenda Sullivan · Rusty Sydnor · Allison Tenzer · The People’s Center · Rich Thomason · Sarah Thomason · Ben Thompson · Joy Thompson · Timeless Seeds · Don Timm · Scott Tomson · Rick Trembath · Sophie Trull · Jan Tusack · Caitlyn Uhlenbrauch · Carl Unfred · Cody Unfred · Justine Vallieres · Annie Vance · Mark VanderMeer · Eva Vaughn · Apryll Verboven · Joost Verboven · Suzanne Vernon · Vital Ground · Kristen Von Doersten · Joann Wallenburn · Lindsay Wancour · Watershed Consulting LLC · Marion Willmus · Jill Wiseman · Jee Wong · Dodie Wood · Elizabeth Zaarour · Tina Zenzola · Maria Zepeda

8

Collaborative partners American Rivers · Be Bear Aware · Blackfoot Challenge · Big Blackfoot Chapter Trout Unlimited · Bigfork Chamber of Commerce · Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation · Cinnabar Foundation Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation · Clearwater Resource Council · Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes · Conserve Montana · Crown Managers Partnership · Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone Initiative · Defenders of Wildlife · Flathead National Forest · Friends of the Wild Swan · Evelyn H. Fuldner Foundation · Hockaday Museum · Lake County · Lolo National Forest · Charlotte Y. Martin Foundation · Montana Conservation Corps · Missoula County · Montana Department of Environmental Quality · Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks · Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation · Montana Environmental Education Association Montana Forest Collaboration Network · Montana Land Reliance · Montana Livestock Loss Board · Montana Natural History Center · Montana Watershed Coordination Council · Montana Wilderness Association · Montana Wild Wings Recovery Center · The Nature Conservancy · Pyramid Mountain Lumber Inc · Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent · Seeley Lake Chamber of Commerce · Seeley Lake Elementary School · Southwest Crown of the Continent Collaborative · Swan Lake Chamber · Swan Lakers · Swan View Coalition · Swan Valley Community Council · Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee · Swan Valley School · University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation · U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Upper Swan Valley Historical Society · Vital Ground Foundation · Watershed Education Network · The Wilderness Society

Welcome!

We would like to welcome Kathy DeMaster and Tina Zenzola as the newest members of our Board of Directors!

Kathryn DeMaster Kathryn is an Assistant Professor of Agriculture, Society and the Environment in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California-Berkeley. She is a rural sociologist of agriculture whose work focuses on the changing structures in agriculture in the U.S. and internationally.

Kathryn grew up on a small family farm at the north end of the Swan Valley and received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Environment and Resources in 2009. An avid advocate for place-based and community-driven rural and urban development and regenerative farming systems, Kathryn has facilitated numerous community-based participatory agri-food initiatives.

Tina Zenzola

Tina comes to the SVC Board with a 28-year professional background in public health from the private, nonprofit, and governmental sectors. This includes serving as Director of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Disparities with the County of San Diego Public Health Agency, founding and directing Safe & Healthy Communities Consulting. Tina brings experience in organizational management, strategic thinking, policy advocacy and education, and building cross-sector collaborative partnerships. She also brings a life-long passion and involvement in wildness and conservation. As a volunteer in Montana and California, she helped identify wildlife corridors, document species of concern, and conduct plant ecology studies. Tina is a certified Montana Master Naturalist and has lived in the Lower Swan Valley since 2017.

9

Annual Report swan valley connections summary balance sheet

Summary Profit & Loss 2019

as of december 31, 2019

Dec-19 ASSETS Current Assets Cash & Equivalents Accounts Receivable Inventory Prepaid Expenses Total Current Assets Fixed Assets Vehicle Land Accumulated Depreciation Total Fixed Assets Investments TOTAL ASSETS LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS Liabilities Current Liabilities Accounts Payable Payroll Liabilities Total Current Liabilities Long Term Liabilities Citizens Alliance Auto Loan Citizens Alliance Equip Loan Total Long Term Liabilities Total Liabilities Net Assets Unrestricted Net Assets Board Designated Net Assets Temporarily Restricted Net Assets Permanently Restricted Net Assets Total Net Assets TOTAL LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS

380,102 70,108 4,611 5,127 459,948 98,866 282,000 (36,780) 344,086 32,288 836,322

16,308 56,486 72,794 32,907 6,179 39,086 111,880

Revenue: Government Agency Grants & Contracts Tuition & Course Fees Private Foundation & NGO Grants Donations Program Services, Events & Other Investment Income/(Loss) & Interest Total Revenue

2019 218,785 124,305 217,232 198,714 74,239 10,889 844,164

Expenses: Stewardship & Restoration Education Wildlife & Aquatics Recreational Trails Conservation Public Info & Visitor Services Outreach & Communications Elk Creek Conservation Area Total Program Expenses Facilities Administration & Fundraising Depreciation Total Expenses

170,523 203,007 106,095 44,736 12,153 24,060 63,526 4,199 628,299 2,695 174,273 17,820 823,087

Net Surplus/(Deficit)

21,077

Other Income: 458,505 183,394 49,994 32,549 724,442

Total Change In Net Assets

21,077

836,322

Swan Valley Connections Executive Committee oversees the fiscal management of assets, balancing long term financial stability with current operational needs. The executive committee provides oversight for investment (through a professional investment manager) of fiscal assets to provide long term growth as well as current income within a balanced and appropriately conservative investment portfolio. In addition, the executive committee recommends for approval by the entire board of directors an annual operating budget and the strategic allocation of unrestricted and board designated net assets to support the continuing mission of Swan Valley Connections.

Page 1 of 1

10

WETLAND/STREAM RESTORATION 1 project 5.5 acres

FUELS REDUCTION

15 projects

127 acres

BEETLE REPELLENT

119 landowners

6440 packets 46 acres

33

containers

7 fences

BEAR PROGRAM

LAND STEWARDSHIP

53 landowners

2748acres

2019 Expenses Facilities, 1.06% Operating Expenses & Fundraising, 21.64%

Stewardship & Restoration, 21.18%

Conservation, 1.51%

Elk Creek Conservation Area, 0.52%

Wildlife & Aquatics, 13.18%

228 landowners

and projects

2927 acres managed

Education, 25.21% Recreational Trails, 5.56% Community Outreach & Visitor Services, 10.88%

www.swanvalleyconnections.org/giving 11

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID CONDON, MT PERMIT #16

6887 MT Hwy 83 Condon, MT 59826-9005

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

upcoming events

Due to current circumstances, all in-person gatherings are to be determined based upon most current COVID-19 related information. Please check our website or call (406) 754-3137 for the most up-to-date information.

May 6

Community Potluck Dinner Butterflies of the Swan Valley CANCELED; stay tuned for online content announcement

May 13*

Highway, Condon Work Center, and Everchanging Forest Trail Clean-up

June 6

Bear Fair (Ferndale)

June 13*

Elk Creek Conservation Area Workday #1 Invasive Plant Management

July 1

Wildlife in the West - POSTPONED

Community Potluck Dinner Bat Ecology

May 23*

July 11*

May 18-June 27

Section 31 Workday - CANCELED

June 3

Community Potluck Dinner Wildlife Trail Camera Footage

Elk Creek Conservation Area Workday #2 Native Plant Restoration *Volunteer opportunity