New Year's Reflections for 2020 and beyond
As we enter the new year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the work we have accomplished together as a community in 2019 and beyond.
Thirty years ago, a small group of local residents came together to form Park County Environmental Council, giving the community a stronger voice for wild places in Yellowstone’s northern gateway.
In 2020, we will continue to honor that legacy in all the work we do for you, and for this place we call home. This work would not be possible without the engagement and generosity of local citizens and donors.
Our recent successes:
Our community worked together to pass the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act in March of 2019, which protected more than 30,000 acres of public land in the Custer Gallatin National Forest from two industrial-scale gold mines.
With the help of volunteers and partners, we launched waste reduction programs with reusable Boomerang Bags in local businesses, and transitioned the Farmers Market and Livingston Hoot to composting and plastic-free events.
We stopped the Bureau of Land Management from leasing 17,300 acres of public lands to oil and gas companies next door to Livingston, and in the foothills of the Absaroka and Beartooth mountain ranges.
We successfully challenged DEQ's mining permit to Lucky Minerals in Montana district court, with our co-plaintiff Greater Yellowstone Coalition and counsel by Earthjustice.
We worked to help Park County pass one of the most robust growth policies in the state, which will guide development on private lands within the county.
We worked with the City of Livingston to submit a successful application for Montana Main Street and used that program to seek funding for a downtown master plan in 2020.
Our vision for 2020 and beyond:
We will continue our work to prevent mining companies from developing leases on private lands that border Yellowstone National Park.
We will encourage the county and city governments to take a more active role in planning for growth fueled by a demand to live and recreate near Yellowstone.
We will spearhead community-driven solutions that protect public access and wildlife habitat in the Crazy Mountains.
We will continue to advocate for full wilderness designations in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, including the Hyalite Porcupine Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area.
We will continue to work with our partners at Save the Yellowstone Grizzly to advocate for the grizzly bear and to support local co-existence solutions.
We will continue our work with local stakeholders in the Upper Yellowstone watershed to monitor water quality and inform and educate our community on water resource and watershed issues.
We will continue to build on our Conservation Leadership program to educate and empower members of the community to lead on the issues important to them.
We will confront the issue of climate change within all of our program areas to work for local solutions and adaptations to the threats our changing climate poses.