At Swan Valley Connections (SVC), we care deeply about conservation, stewardship and education for people of all ages. Swan Valley Connections is the result of the merger between Swan Ecosystem Center and Northwest Connections, two non-profit conservation/education organizations founded in the 1990’s by visionary leaders and dedicated staff who knew the value of creating and building partnerships to get work done. We have a history of helping people come together to partner and find solutions to problems through having productive and respectful conversations about controversial topics. Through our evolution, we have gained credibility with our agency partners, local residents and other organizations as a trustworthy organization with capable staff who implement field work, land stewardship, restoration and education in the Swan Valley.
While our mission does not directly focus on community sustainability, development or responsible growth, our conservation and education programs communicate the value of community vitality while producing substantial by-products that directly impact the economy in the Swan Valley and surrounding communities.
For example, SVC administers a forest stewardship program that helps private landowners conduct fuels reduction work on their properties where the wood product revenue alone will not pay for the job.
In 2015, we completed 17 projects on 178 acres with high and moderate fire risk. By securing competitive grants and administering the money allocation, we distributed $152,354 of grant funds within the Swan Valley for fuels reduction projects. This is a cost-share program, where we administer grants that provide either 50 percent or 75 percent of total project costs with the landowner providing the additional funds. Accounting for total project costs (grant dollars plus landowner share), $268,115 was put to on-the-ground work employing eight different contractors, all of whom work and reside in the Swan Valley.
Since the program began in 2004, $1,027,170 in landowner grants have been awarded, treating 2,014 acres of forested land at risk from wildfire, tree and forest health decline or tree insect and disease outbreaks. In addition, there are other benefits such as increased fire fighter safety and decreased costs to fight wildfires when fires do occur on previously treated properties.
The Swan Valley has a long history of timber management, and while harvest rates are not the same as in the past, our forest stewardship program helps keep local contractors and their employees at work. While the main goal of the grant funding is to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and facilitate good land stewardship, there is an unmistakable benefit to the local economy through providing jobs for local contractors, their employees and the trickle-down cash flow to local businesses such as gas stations, restaurants and lodging establishments. The program also sends thousands of tons of wood products to nearby mills, supporting communities such as Seeley Lake and Columbia Falls.
SVC has a wetland restoration program that seeks to restore ditched and drained wetlands for the benefit of wildlife, native plants and water quality. We also work to restore streams, adjacent riparian habitat and floodplains degraded from overgrazing or any number of unintended human actions that cause erosion and compromise water quality and native fish habitat.
Since the program’s inception in 2010, we have restored 96 acres of wetland, stream and riparian habitat, putting $207,436 towards on-the-ground work and employing nine different local contractors.
We help administer a cost-share weed program that not only helps provide funding to curtail weeds on private property but creates jobs for local weed spraying contractors. Since 2007, we have worked to pass along $86,941 to 97 landowners to treat 2,156 acres infested with noxious weeds.
We have education programs that not only help educate children and adults about conservation and community issues, but bring people to the valley who in turn shop at our gas stations, stores and restaurants. Some of these programs are semester college classes where students gain credit through the University of Montana. We strive to give these students diverse perspectives of all that live and work here, from loggers, wilderness advocates, business owners, hunters, anglers, agency personnel, outfitters, artists, lumber mill representatives and everyone in between. Some of these students fall in love with our valley and later return to visit, recreate and provide business to our economy.
Another unexpected benefit of these education courses is that four current staff members for SVC are prior Northwest Connections students. They found the education and the place we call home special enough to return to, plant roots and carry forward what they learned to help teach the next generation of young people that will one day take their place.
With the recent merger we have become one of the largest businesses in the upper Swan Valley, providing jobs for 12 employees, as well as several interns throughout the year. These people live here and pump dollars into the local economy.
While our mission does not focus on economic development of the valley, we believe conservation, stewardship and education has a tremendous positive impact on our community and economy.
Everyone who works at SVC cares deeply about the valley’s well-being and believes that the health of the land and the people that rely on it are all connected. Please stop by, visit our website at http://www.swanvalleyconnections.org, or contact Swan Valley Connections 406-754-3137 to see how we can help you.
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