Bozeman entrepreneur takes on ranch restoration
August 4, 2015 / Billings Gazette by Brett French
In July, GVLT led a tour of the Oyler Conservation Easement (2006) for a group of journalists from across the country that were in Bozeman to attend the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Western Media Summit. The journalists heard about private land conservation partnerships from GVLT staff and local conservationist/entrepreneur Mike Ellig who saw a “diamond in the rough” when he decided to purchase the property from the Oyler Family in 2014. The property supports populations of white tail deer, elk, moose, black bear, waterfowl, and nearly 20 different species of neo-tropical migrant songbirds; as well as protects wetlands, floodplains and several streams from the impacts associated with residential development and land use changes.