Heart of the Rockies Initiative

10/28/2026

Canada, Connectivity and Critters 🇨🇦🗺️🐻

From grizzly bears to harlequin ducks, wildlife knows no borders, and neither does the work to protect the landscapes they depend on. Our partnerships manager Jim Williams recently spent a busy week in British Columbia connecting with conservation partners, sharing wildlife stories, and championing the importance of connected habitat across the Transboundary Rockies.

Read the full story here: https://heart-of-rockies.org/keep-it-connected-canada-connectivity-and-critters/

Image 1: Jim Williams photographs a loon on the Salish Sea in British Columbia.
Image 2: Jim Williams with Jasper Lament (NatureTrust BC Executive Director) during NTBC's wildlife connectivity speaker event.
Image 3: Over 150 attended the inaugural Quadra Island Science Speaker Series hosted by grizzly bear expert, Dr. Michael Proctor, where Jim was also invited to speak.

10/21/2026

Get Grant Ready and Project Pitch Fest 2026 was a huge success! A huge shoutout goes to Outdoor Community Partners for being an amazing partner and co-lead on this entire programming event, as well as to the funding advisors that spent an afternoon building confidence in rural Montana communities!

The Get Grant Ready webinar had nearly 100 individuals registered from across the Heart of the Rockies service area. Project Pitch Fest had a record number of applications (17) for direct, individualized technical assistance to use the Get Grant Ready template and pitch their project idea to a panel of funding advisors! Five communities were awarded the opportunity this year: Seeley Lake (skatepark), Choteau (Soroptimist Walking Path), Red Lodge (bear-resistant trash cans), Harlowton (Smoking Boomer Rail Trail), and Columbus (Granite Peak Dog Park). Each of these communities received 2.5 hours of direct technical assistance and feedback, plus spent numerous hours learning and taking feedback to craft beautiful project visions, proposals, and pitches over the course of 10 days! ROUND OF APPLAUSE 👏 We can't wait to hear how each builds out their project into future success!

Thank you to our program sponsors: Trust for Public Land, Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research, University of Montana, and First Security Bank Missoula

PC: Kara Maplethorpe

10/07/2026

How can we sustain working lands while making room for grizzlies, wolves, and other large carnivores?

Across the Transboundary Rocky Mountains, carnivores play important ecological roles—but conflicts with livestock can create real challenges for ranchers and agricultural communities.

Land trusts can help. By connecting landowners with conflict reduction experts, practical tools, and financial resources, they can support working lands and the people who steward them. Each land trust’s role will look different, guided by local relationships, community needs, and its own capacity.

Locally- led conflict reduction efforts can help keep agriculture viable while allowing carnivores to fulfill their ecological roles and move through the landscape without conflict. These efforts depend on practical strategies and reliable financial and technical support.

Learn more about how Heart of the Rockies Initiative supports Carnivore Conflict Reduction efforts and our land trust members via our site.

https://heart-of-rockies.org/ccr/

Image 1: Bear Aware Sign in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Montana - PC: Kara Maplethorpe
Image 2: Testing an electric fence to prevent wildlife/livestock conflicts - PC: Upper Yellowstone Watershed Group
Image 3: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks distributing People & Carnivores bear resistant garbage cans in Anaconda, Montana - PC: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks/People & Carnivores

10/05/2026

With support from our Keep It Connected program, The Montana Land Reliance Land Reliance completed a 130-acre conservation easement on a property outside Trego where hay meadows, wetlands, and upland forests provide important habitat for birds, carnivores, and ungulates. More than a patchwork of habitats, this property serves as a vital link to surrounding public lands, helping wildlife move across an increasingly connected landscape.

"The Keep it Connected program represents a key partner in permanently protecting properties with exceptional biodiversity like the Rhonda Williams project"
- Mark Schiltz, Western Manager, Montana Land Reliance

Read the full success story here: https://keepitconnected.org/williams-trego/

09/29/2026

Register now! https://outdoorcommunitypartners.org/get-grant-ready/

The FREE Get Grant Ready Workshop is coming up this Thursday, October 1 at 11:00 a.m.! Are you registered?

Do you have a community project idea, but are not sure how to shape, explain, or prepare it for funding?

Join us for this is a FREE, one-hour virtual workshop that helps you turn a project idea into a clear, actionable plan and prepare it for grant funding using a practical project-development template.

WHEN: October 1, 2026, 11:00a.m. (MST) [Registration Link in the Bio]
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Co-Hosted by Outdoor Community Partners and Heart of the Rockies Initiative

Sponsored by Trust for Public Land , Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research, University of Montana, and First Security Bank Missoula

09/25/2026

“One of the biggest hurdles that rural communities face in implementing their community benefit projects is capacity. Too often, community leaders wear so many hats that they are forced to operate in triage mode, tackling only the most pressing needs, without the capacity to take on long-range planning or new project development. Outside support and technical guidance from partners like the Heart of the Rockies and Outdoor Community Partners can catalyze community improvement projects that would otherwise never break through the constant crisis management that many rural communities find themselves in due to capacity constraints.” –Clancy Jandreau, Blackfoot Challenge (2023 Participant)

Our fifth Get Grant Ready Workshop is coming up next week on October 1! This program has provided a useful tool to over 100 communities across our service area, and it’s waiting to serve you too. Check out the full impact video and register for the workshop via the link in comments.

A huge thank you to our program sponsors: Trust for Public Land, Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research, University of Montana, and First Security Bank Missoula.

09/17/2026

Calling land trust members, partners, and friends attending Land Trust Alliance Rally: Carnivore Conflict Reduction hits the big stage this week!

We are thrilled that Carnivore Conflict Reduction Manager Steve Primm and Policy Director Nate Owens will host a workshop at the 2026 Land Trust Alliance Rally in Denver this week. We hope you'll consider joining the Saturday plenary session from 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Looking forward to seeing so many friends this week!

Photo courtesy Steve Primm.

09/14/2026

Our Keep It Connected program supports land trusts in meeting the growing demand from landowners in the region to retain the agricultural, wildlife, and open space values of their land by providing funders a vetted portfolio of members’ conservation projects that meet their unique funding criteria and values.

In her new "From the Map Files" post, Conservation Director Amy Katz shares insight into the robust prioritization and decision making framework the team has developed to evaluate the wildlife connectivity value of conservation projects across this landscape. Learn more via the link in comments.

Photo by Kara Maplethorpe

09/10/2026

Project Pitch Fest - October 15, 2026 (applications due Monday, September 21)

– This is a FREE virtual coaching opportunity for selected rural Montana communities, offering one-on-one guidance and expert feedback to help individuals refine a project idea, strengthen their story, and prepare for funding.
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This year there is a $3,000 Community Match available to support bringing project visions to life—available to Project Pitch Fest grant recipients! �
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- To be eligible to participate in Project Pitch Fest: Must be a rural, underserved Montana community with a population under 5,000. Project should be focused on nature, outdoor recreation or a community initiative. Must be registered for and attend the Get Grant Ready Workshop.��
- APPLICATIONS DUE: September 21, 2026 (5:00 p.m. MST) - Five qualified communities will be selected and notified by September 24. [Application Link in the Bio]��
- October 1, 2026: Attend Get Grant Ready Workshop �
- October 5: Optional Meet & Greet Brainstorm Session�
- October 7-13: Two One-on-One Coaching Sessions �
- October 15: Project Pitch Fest with the Community Cohort and advising experts from 12:30–3:00p.m. (MST)
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GET GRANT READY - This is a FREE, one-hour virtual workshop that helps you turn a project idea into a clear, actionable plan and prepare it for grant funding using a practical project-development template. This workshop is open to anyone! �

WHEN: October 1, 2026, 11:00a.m. (MST) [Registration Link in the Bio]�

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Co-Hosted by Outdoor Community Partners and Heart of the Rockies Initiative��Sponsored by Trust for Public Land, ITRR, First Security Bank