City of Bozeman to study ‘sensitive lands’ amid growth

By Nora Shelly, Bozeman Daily Chronicle Staff Writer

Link to Bozeman Daily Chronicle Article

As development in and around Bozeman continues at a rapid clip, the city and a host of partner organizations are turning their focus to the Gallatin Valley’s natural resources.

The Gallatin Valley Sensitive Lands Protection plan is intended to identify land in the valley that is considered to be “sensitive” — like wildlife corridors — and develop recommendations on how to protect that land.

While some of the region’s growth has happened in areas already surrounded by development, Bozeman City Manager Jeff Mihelich noted a lot of growth is happening on the edge of the city in greenfield areas.

“What we’re saying is … let’s think about how we can have development to address issues like affordable housing, but at the same time let us be really thoughtful about preserving, protecting and maybe even enhancing sensitive lands, as we grow,” Mihelich said. “If we don’t have those resources identified, how can we go about protecting them?”

Bozeman put out a request for proposals over the weekend looking for a consultant to help put the plan together.

Gallatin County, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service and a slew of nonprofit organizations like the Gallatin Valley Land Trust and the Sierra Club are partnering on the project.

Mihelich said they intend for the consultant to identify lands and create data sets and a map of the resources, linkages between important tracts of land and recommendations on how to protect and enhance the pieces of land.

The request for proposals published by the city includes wildlife habitat and corridors, stands of trees, wetlands and other natural features as sensitive lands, and also specifically calls out agricultural lands.

The final product, which Mihelich expects will take about a year to get together, will be available to all the partner organizations and the public.

Bozeman Deputy Mayor Terry Cunningham said he’d like to see the city use it to form its future land use plans, and for the county to factor it into development decisions.

The purpose, Cunningham said, isn’t to buy any land itself.

“It’s more to identify and protect through land use decisions those portions of our ecosystem that are a no-go in terms of development,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham said he hopes it will also help accelerate wetland protection in the city.

John E. Edwards, the vice president of the Sacajawea Audubon Society, said identifying things like wetlands and riparian buffers is important, since development has consistently chipped away at the areas available wetlands over the years.

“We’re hoping that this study will eventually lead to regulations that will minimize further loss of wetlands,” Edwards said. “We just want it to happen as efficiently as possible … every year that goes by we lose more wetlands.”

The Audubon Society is one of the nonprofit patterns, which also includes the Gallatin Watershed Council, Montana Freshwater Partners, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

Cunningham said he hopes the information collected will be useful to the nonprofits in making decisions about which lands to try to conserve or other areas where they can focus their work.

For Holly Hill, executive director of the watershed council, the sensitive lands work will inform her organization’s work on local water supply and quality.

“I think it’s super critical that we do an inventory of these lands now, and do everything that we can and help influence decision makers to help preserve those places into the future,” Hill said.

Wendy Weaver, with Montana Freshwater Partners, said she hopes the plan is put into use right away.

“My concern is that it’s just another study that sits on the shelf, so I think the devil’s in the details in how the city will use this to actually get some action for protection, and not just let it just sit there,” Weaver said.