Organization Brochure

A Confluence of Conservation & Education

Our mission is to conserve the intact ecosystems within and surrounding the Swan Valley and to stregthen the connection between people and the natural world through collaboration and experiential learning.

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photo by leah swartz

Swan Valley Connections is a collaborative conservation and education nonprofit. We collect and share scientific information, coordinate technical and financial assistance to get conservation projects done on the ground, assist landowners with living better on the land through consulting and cost share assistance for forest health, fire resiliency, water quality improvement, and weed management, as well as living better with wildlife with additional cost share assistance for electric fencing and bear-resistant trash containers. We also provide educational opportunities to people of all ages through our K-12 and community programs, but what makes us unique among all the other amazing, collaborative conservation organizations around the state are our experiential college courses accredited through the University of Montana. Our goal is to connect people to one another and to this extraordinary landscape.

photo by faith bernstein

www.swanvalleyconnections.org

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maps by laura cannon photo by wiw alum ryan deloge

The Place

The Swan Valley flanks the western portion of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, which is known as one of the last remaining wild and intact landscapes in North America. Situated between the Bob Marshall and Mission Mountains Wilderness areas, it is one of the few remaining places on earth that still harbors its full complement of native fish and wildlife species in their natural habitats.

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Our Watershed

The Swan Valley is a 470,000 acre watershed comprised of approximately 90% federal and state owned public lands, with a large amount of private land protected by conservation easements, allowing a relatively undisturbed corridor for wildlife and recreationalists alike. The landscape features more than 4,000 wetlands and 16% clean, cold surface water - perfect habitat for native fish species such as westslope cutthroat trout and the endangered bull trout.

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photo by wiw alum cassidy williams

Area History

The Swan Valley was used by indigenous people for more than 10,000 years, including the Bitterroot Salish (Flathead), Pend d’Oreille (Kalispel), and Kootenai tribes who traveled through this fertile valley hunting game before and during the homestead period. Settlers didn’t arrive here until around 1910, making it one of the last places in Montana to be homesteaded. From a forest shaped by fires, to cleared and planted land, to a place that through time continues to deeply connect land, wildlife, and people, the Swan Valley has a rich cultural and natural history.

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Carnivore Research and Monitoring Our primary objective is to establish a baseline understanding of the relative abundance and distribution of forest carnivores throughout the Southwestern Crown, so that changes can be tracked over time.

Our conservation programs are inspired by our precious natural resources and the people who depend on them. We engage in projects that support economic activity and natural resource stewardship, utilizing strategies in restoration, research and monitoring, collaborative management, and landscape and community-based conservation. Our conservation work forms the basis of experience from which we develop our education programs.

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Photo by steven gnam

Conservation

Wetland Restoration, Aquatic Invasive Species, Water Quality and Native Fish

The abundant wetlands in the Swan River watershed make this valley unique among all watersheds in western Montana.

These wetlands, and the connected riparian linkages that run between them, function as high quality habitat for many of our most sensitive species, both plant and animal.

During the homestead era, many of these wetlands were ditched and drained in an effort to provide grazing or farming opportunities. We work to repair these problems because we care about maintaining and improving water quality, wildlife habitat and native fisheries, and we know how much people depend on these healthy, functional systems.

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Stewardship

Forest Stewardship

We provide technical and financial assistance to landowners to reduce forest fuels and associated wildfire risk on their properties. This work not only results in reduced wildfire risk but promotes forest health,employs local contractors, and sends wood products to local mills.

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Euchre Mountain Logging INC.

Swan Valley Bear Resources Our mission is to promote coexistence between people and bears, and one way we do this is by helping landowners secure attractants.

Our various stewardship programs encourage responsible, sustainable use of the land for the benefit of people, wildlife, habitat, water quality, and overall ecological integrity. We provide support to community landowners and residents by providing professional technical advice, education, and funding for stewardship projects.

Thanks to these efforts, local contractors are able to maintain a reliable source of stewardship work and funding. www.swanvalleyconnections.org

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Landscape & Livelihood Snorkeling the Swan River

Our education programs aim to strengthen the relationship between people and the landscape through placebased experiences. We teach ecological literacy to people of all ages and backgrounds. We cultivate compassion and enthusiasm for the natural world in children, challenge young adults to understand the complexities of land and resource management, and provide adults with opportunities to engage with the place where they live, work, and play.

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Our field programs, Wildlife in the West and Landscape & Livelihood, are offered in partnership with the University of Montana for academic credit. They are interdisciplinary in nature with a balance of learning through field work, academic readings, presentations by staff and guest speakers, problem solving activities, and personal reflection.

Education

Wildlife in the West

Locating a Bear Radio Collar 13

Community Learning Opportunities

The wild and rural Swan Valley is an inspiring place. We offer a variety of ways for residents to fortify their connection to landscape including: • Monthly community potlucks with educational opportunities on topics such as wildfire behavior, biogeography in the Swan, cultural and natural history, and more...

• Master Naturalist classes • Wildlife tracking classes • Spring Bear Wake-Up Social and Bear Fair 14

K-12 Education Our younger community members are future stewards and conservationists. We offer tailored outdoor programs for students of all ages in hopes of passing on our mission to future generations. Our classes focus on subjects such as wetland ecology, snow science, and animal tracking and we present these topics in a way that encourages curiosity.

Potomac Elementary Winter Tracking Class 15

Community Connection

A 2018 Landscape & Livelihood student researched what it meant to be a community member in the Swan, finding that the most common description of a Swan Valley resident was “helpful.” We are united in our deep love and pride of place and despite any differences we may have, we’re always happy to come together to share and protect what we love.

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Some of our community initiatives include: • Visitor services in partnership with the USFS- selling maps and permits and being the point of contact between the Lolo and Flathead National Forests and Glacier National Park for all resource and recreational information.

• Annual MT Highway 83 Volunteer Trash Pick-up Day • Community Firewood Day • Monthly Community Potlucks

Community Firewood Day With L&L Students

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Collaborations

We collaborate in all that we do. we could never do it alone, and we sure aren’t alone in our love of the Swan Valley.

From broad representation on our governing and advisory boards, to each educational offering and project on the ground, we rely on collaboration. We are active partners in a number of regional efforts and together with landowners, residents, Tribal members, state and federal land managers, educators, and other nonprofits we recognize and celebrate our shared values, natural resources, and the human resources needed to protect and enhance this amazing place. Additionally, we are proud to be stewards of two parcels in the Swan Valley to perpetually protect critical wildlife and fish habitat and provide experiential learning opportunities.

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Photo by Randy Smith

Some of our partners include: Blackfoot Challenge Cinnabar Foundation Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation Clearwater Resource Council Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes Earthwatch Institute Evelyn H. Fuldner Foundation

Lake and Missoula Counties Southwestern Crown of the Continent Collaborative Charlotte Y. Martin Foundation Seeley-Swan Schools Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks University of Montana Montana Land Reliance U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Montana Watershed Coordination Council U.S. Forest Service Montana Natural History Center U.S. Geological Survey The Nature Conservancy Vital Ground

All photos by andrea dinino unless otherwise credited

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“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.� - Aldo Leopold

www.swanvalleyconnections.org

photo by wiw alum ryan deloge