A Gracious Civic Enterprise

On a cold day in January 1972, twenty people gathered in a room on the University of Montana campus. They had come in response to a postage-stamp sized ad in the Missoulian newspaper and were united by their concern for the polluted Clark Fork River running through their hometown. That night, they formed what would become Five Valley Land Trust. The grassroots legacy is still reflected in the landscape of the Missoula Valley and western Montana through beloved open space landmarks such as Mount Jumbo, Mount Sentinel, the Alberton Gorge, the Rock Creek Confluence, and Mount Dean Stone, and thousands of acres of private lands voluntarily protected by conservation easements across ten counties. It's a story of grit, ingenuity, and a belief that great things happen when people come together for the lands and waters they love. That work and passion continues today.