Mission
Prickly Pear Land Trust inspires connections to the landscapes, water, wildlife, recreation, and working ranches of west-central Montana through conservation, now and for future generations.
Our Vision
At Prickly Pear Land Trust, we’re creating a healthy future for all Montanans by protecting the places where we work, play, and learn.
Connecting Land & People
We create parks and trails for everyone in our community, because what’s good for wildlife is good for people, too.
Unlike most land trusts, PPLT is rooted in trails. In 1995, neighbors gathered in a Helena living room to talk about protecting the forest and trails behind the state’s Capitol from subdivision. Bit by bit, they protected Mt. Ascension and Mt. Helena and built the South Hills trail system. This 80-mile trail system gives residents and visitors alike unparalleled singletrack access to public lands.
In 2018, PPLT opened Tenmile Creek Park in the Helena Valley. The 180-acre park features accessible trails, an off-leash dog area, and creek access. It’s popular with local residents as well as soldiers and veterans from neighboring Fort Harrison.
PPLT also has two parks in East Helena – The Grove and Prickly Pear Park – and is working on opening a greenway from Montana City to East Helena.
We knew that we wanted to be relevant in the hearts and minds of everyone in our region, but we weren't necessarily going to touch everyone with singletrack trails in the South Hills. In order to broaden our conservation tent, we started to build parks and trails for places and communities in our region that PPLT hadn't served yet.
We honor our heritage and strengthen our future by protecting land and water, forever.
Nationwide, we lose three acres of agricultural land every minute, and forests and wildlife habitat on private land are shrinking as well. Landowners can buck that trend and pass on the gift of working lands, open space, and wild landscapes to future Montanans with a land protection agreement.
Land protection agreements help landowners protect what they treasure about their property. From family farms and ranches to forests and grasslands, land protection is our most effective tool for conserving the clean water, wildlife habitat, and agricultural heritage of our region.
Our role at the land trust is to encourage land conservation that will benefit our communities by protecting the incredible outdoor heritage, recreation, wildlife, and agricultural legacy that defines Montana. Through PPLT’s private lands program, our partners are ensuring that wildlife, farming, and ranching have a place in Montana’s future.
Land protection agreements permanently protect the conservation values of the land by limiting the development potential of a property. Landowners continue to own the land and are free to carry on traditional land uses, sell the land, and pass it on to their heirs.
Each agreement is unique, tailored to meet the needs of the landowner and the special qualities of the land. PPLT mo. This agreement transfers to all future landowners, meaning the land will remain open for generations to come.
Since 1998, we’ve protected more than 17,000 acres of private lands through conservation easements. PPLT’s stewardship staff meets with every landowner annually. We’re there to ensure the conservation values are protected and to act as a resource for landowners.
As an individual ranch owner, it's really tough to navigate this system and figure out how to protect your family land forever. We couldn’t do it without Prickly Pear Land Trust doing the work, making the connections, and helping us through the process.
We inspire joy and connection through environmental education and the Happy Trails community.
Education and outreach create a better life for everyone in our community by connecting land to people and people to land.
Our staff and volunteers have built a robust year-round education program. Field experiences are at the core of this program. Students of all ages visit our outdoor classrooms at Sevenmile Creek, The Grove, and Prickly Pear Park to learn about ecology, biology, and natural history.
Environmental education is core to achieving our vision of a healthy future for all Montanans. That’s why we’re dedicated to making land, water, and wildlife accessible to everyone in our community. It’s the right thing to do.
We are dedicated to growing the Happy Trails community through events like block parties, Fireside Chats, trail work, and the annual Don’t Fence Me In Trail Run. Happy Trails are fun and inclusive. They are about connection, health, and sustainability. We greet everyone with a smile and we find joy in service and celebration.
I really appreciate that PPLT pulls everybody in and makes everybody care a little bit. Because if we don't care about where we live, then why are we living here?
Good News From PPLT
Guarding the Future On a warm spring evening, Colonel Kelly Traynham with the Montana Army National Guard visited Birdseye Ranch …
Chances are you know a healthy creek when you see one. It meanders through a floodplain, curving back and forth …
Prickly Pear Land Trust recently completed a fifth conservation project in Broadwater County that protects ranching, wildlife, and national security. …
