Annual meeting set for June 12
EXPLORE BIG SKY STAFF WRITER
The Gallatin Community Collaborative is making headway: At a meeting in early April, the group approved its bylaws by consensus.
The group formed to find a solution for the long-standing land-use conflict in the 155,000-acre Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area, which straddles the crest of the Gallatin Range. Together with the Forest Service, which manages the land, GCC aims to create a “broad, adaptive and durable” resolution that it will present to the Forest and federal elected officials.
In addition to approving its bylaws, the GCC at its early April meeting heard a presentation from a U.S. Forest Service attorney on the Federal Advisory Committee Act; discussed issues regarding the laws and management related to the landscapes in and around the HPBH WSA; and participated in consensus-building and listening exercises.
“The April 3-5 workshop was the best, most productive, and informational to date,” announced an April 28 press release.
In recent months, the group has been working with Portland, Ore.-based facilitator Jeff Goebel, who specializes in consensus-building facilitation in challenging situations.
“Professional facilitation has been the key to learning to work together,” the release stated.
The GCC has posted a request for proposals on gallatincollaborative.org to fund future facilitation, meeting space rental and communications. Contributions are made through the nonprofit Park County Community Foundation, so donations are tax deductible. Prior to this, grants and private donations covered all GCC costs.
The June 12 annual meeting is open to the public. During the session, the group will consider amendments to the bylaws, discuss a timeline for future work, provide subcommittee reports, and enlist volunteers. The meeting will be from 6 – 9 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on Baxter Lane in Bozeman.
