Protecting Park County's Wild Heart and Building a Resilient Future
At the Park County Environmental Council (PCEC), we've been the local voice for the wild since 1990. Our mission: protect the land, water, wildlife, and communities of Yellowstone’s Northern Gateway.
This incredible landscape—from Yellowstone National Park and its surrounding forests to the Paradise and Shields valleys, wild grasslands, working ranchlands, Montana's highest alpine peaks, and the headwaters of the longest free-flowing river in the Lower 48—makes up one of the last intact ecosystems in the country. Here, the health of the land is inseparable from the future of our region.
However, Park County’s wild landscapes and communities are under increasing pressure. Accelerating development is fragmenting habitat, harming wildlife, and impacting the Yellowstone River. The high price of housing is making it harder for residents to afford a home. A warming climate increases risk to natural disasters like the 2022 flood. And now—just when those who care for and steward our landscapes need more support, not less—there's an unprecedented dismantling of our federal agencies, funding, and personnel.
Preserving this wild landscape requires both a strong defense and proactive planning. It means bringing diverse voices together to find local solutions to our biggest environmental and social challenges. We believe lasting conservation happens when we plan ahead, together.
PCEC is your local community conservation organization. Our 100% local board and team live right here in Park County. These deep roots allow us to work in community with you to conserve both public and private lands—and to stay engaged for the long haul.
"The legwork PCEC did with neighbors was invaluable to save Suce Creek."
– Maggie McGuane, Park County Resident
Do you Give a Hoot about conservation of wild landscapes in Park County? Keep reading for more on our local approach to conservation.
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Emigrant Peak and the proposed site of Lucky Minerals' gold mine in 2015. Our community permanently protected this area with the passage of the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act. Photo courtesy of EcoFlight
Our Approach: Defending & Building Together
Do you care about the future of Park County's wild landscapes? You can help!
Defending Our Wild Backyard
Nearly half of Park County—over 850,000 acres—is made up of public land. From the rugged Gallatins to the culturally significant Crazy Mountains, the wild Absaroka-Beartooth range to the Yellowstone River, our communities are deeply connected to these wild lands and waters.
Public lands face new and unprecedented threats. PCEC and our members are the first line of defense against local threats. Over the years, PCEC has played a key role in defending our wild backyard from industrial-scale gold mining, oil and gas development, and other short-sighted proposals. But as federal protections weaken, we expect more pressure from resource extraction and less protection for endangered species and habitat. With you, we'll continue to stand guard and protect the public lands and waters of Yellowstone's Northern Gateway.
Simultaneously, pressure also comes from development on private land and a changing climate. Park County is changing fast. Without local rules, outside developers are moving in quickly. Large-scale commercial resorts are becoming more common. Around every bend in the river, there seems to be another new home, glamping destination, or luxury resort. Park County lacks guardrails for industrial, commercial, or residential development on private land. Without clear community guidelines, we see more proposals like Flex Capital’s major resort in Suce Creek—a threat to local safety, habitat, and rural character.
In my decade at PCEC, it's clear the biggest dangers to wildlife, habitat, clean water, and our way of life are the expanding human footprint and climate change. PCEC will continue to "walk the fence at night," vigilantly monitoring threats, alerting our community, and organizing with concerned citizens to respond. But simply defending wild landscapes like "whack-a-mole" isn't enough.
Walking Community Conversation as part of the Livingston's Downtown Master Planning Process
Planning for the Future, Together
That’s why we also focus on proactive community and land-use planning. We advocate for sound growth: protecting habitat and working lands in rural areas, while encouraging new development in existing towns—walkable, tree-lined neighborhoods with parks, housing options, and vibrant main streets.
Our goal is to bring even more voices into community planning—especially those not always heard. When we come together around what we all care about—clean water, safe neighborhoods, access to nature—we can shape growth that supports both people and wild places. Imagine a Park County that grows by design, not by default—with strong protections for wetlands, wildlife habitat, and thriving rural communities.
PCEC has also played a key role in community planning with the City of Livingston. We've deeply engaged in the city's Growth Policy, Trails and Active Transportation Plan, and Downtown Master Plan, contributing local insight alongside community members. This includes serving on steering committees such as the recent zoning code and subdivision regulation updates, where residents and leaders work together to create a more active, safe, connected community that also maintains its historic character.
We also recognize that housing affordability is a critical challenge. That’s why we’ve actively engaged in the Park County Housing Action Plan and support our partners at the Park County Housing Coalition. Our community must work to provide access to attainable housing for all residents.
And to address increasing climate risks, we helped organize a disaster preparedness gap analysis and are now actively engaging in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. These efforts are crucial for building resilience and protecting our communities from growing threats like wildfire and floods.
We're not just watchdogs; we're community weavers.
Our long-time, committed staff live, work, and serve right here. We'll continue to work towards smart growth, urban infill, walkable streets in town, and healthy habitat and open landscapes in our rural areas. This often means quietly supporting community leaders, sitting at kitchen tables, listening, learning, and providing expertise and grassroots organizing support. We can participate in and engage the community in policymaking and implementing these policies so we can have a livable future for wildlife and people in this one-of-a-kind place.
Because lasting change starts from the ground up.
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A Model for Success: The Suce Creek Story
For too long, Park County has lacked local tools to manage growth. Without a local process, there's often no way of knowing what type of development is going to occur in your neighborhood until it's too late. Last October, we got lucky.
PCEC caught wind of a major development in Suce Creek. We filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Park County Planning Department and learned that Flex Capital Group, a Miami-based firm, proposed a sprawling 100-cabin commercial resort on 90 acres of agricultural land. Residents faced the possibility of this major resort without local oversight, as commercial developments like this only require state permits, not local subdivision review.
PCEC broke the news to the community, and Suce Creek neighbors rallied in response. We've supported their efforts since then, with Maggie McGuane noting that "the legwork PCEC did with neighbors was invaluable to save Suce Creek." This community-led effort, built on a ground-up approach where neighbors with diverse perspectives shaped their community's future, offers a powerful model for the entire county.
Suce Creek's success came from neighbors coming together, sharing their concerns about the challenges the Suce Creek neighborhood would face with a major commercial resort, and finding common ground about what they wanted to preserve about their neighborhood. They considered a variety of tools like conservation easements and deed restrictions, and ultimately landed on a citizen-initiated zoning district (CIZD) which asserted their property rights to protect their neighborhood as a residential and agricultural zone, restricting commercial development.
On July 15, the Park County Commission gave preliminary unanimous approval to the Suce Creek zoning district, setting a path to restrict high-impact commercial development. The CIZD proposal will now go to the Park County Planning and Zoning Commission on August 12 for review before a final vote by the County Commission.
An overwhelming majority (85%) of Suce Creek residents supported this local zoning district, a key factor in its preliminary unanimous approval. While a CIZD may not be the best tool for all applications, it highlights how proactive, citizen-led approaches can protect shared community values in Park County. What's truly important is that decisions about the future are made by the community, for the community. We're encouraged by similar efforts, like the Wilsall Community Foundation's visioning work and Gardiner residents' inclusive neighborhood plan. These incremental wins are building powerful momentum towards a future where Park County grows by design, not by default.
Join the Movement for Park County's Future
From the Yellowstone River to our vibrant local towns, the landscapes and communities of Park County face complex challenges. But as the success in Suce Creek shows, when we come together, listen to one another, and plan proactively, we can protect what makes this place special. PCEC is dedicated to fostering these local, collaborative solutions for a resilient future.