In the early 1970s, the founders of what would become Five Valleys Land Trust became concerned about rapid residential and commercial development in western Montana. They worried about the potential loss of open lands and the degradation of rivers and streams. In response, they formed the Five Valleys River Park Association in 1972 and began working to establish designated undeveloped and accessible outdoor spaces along the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers. By 1980, they had successfully promoted Montana’s first public open space bond, and by the end of that decade, the organization evolved into Five Valleys Land Trust.
Today, the trust works with private landowners, governments, and other partners to protect western Montana’s natural heritage for future generations. The trust does this by safeguarding river corridors, wildlife habitat, agricultural lands, and community open spaces. The organization focuses on five scenic areas: the Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Upper Clark Fork, Lower Clark Fork, and Mission-Jocko valleys. To help in this effort, Esri partner GCS created an ArcGIS Online app to assist in assessing, comparing, and prioritizing conservation efforts.
Showing Population Density and Growth in Data Layers
In 2022, Five Valleys Land Trust hired GCS to help update the trust’s conservation initiative, which addresses growing pressure on western Montana’s open spaces. This GIS-based project quantified population growth, density, and accessibility to open spaces across the counties served by the trust.
GCS created multiple detailed data layers in ArcGIS Online that showed population growth and density trends from the 2020 Census. This helped GCS create a geospatial layer that displayed walk times to designated open spaces, along with the areas with the most significant population growth and the corresponding strain on accessible open spaces. This provided insight into which communities had the best access to conservation and recreation areas and where improvements were needed. With this comprehensive geospatial analysis, the trust was able to focus its conservation priorities on the areas with the highest need.

Synthesizing Input Layers to Create Spatial Scoring
GCS worked closely with Five Valleys Land Trust to develop a robust set of rules for evaluating and scoring properties based on their conservation potential. Leveraging ArcGIS technology, GCS designed and implemented a custom Python toolbox to automate the application of this set of rules across all parcels in the trust’s service area. The process resulted in a comprehensive parcel layer, enriched with key scoring criteria and a numeric score that quantifies the conservation potential of each parcel. This data-driven approach provides the trust with actionable information to prioritize and strategize its conservation efforts.
This advanced workflow enables Five Valleys Land Trust staff to evaluate potential conservation projects with unprecedented speed and accuracy. The custom-built spatial scoring geoprocessing tool empowers users to make informed decisions in real time, prioritizing properties based on a holistic view of critical spatial factors.
Transforming Data into Actionable Insights with a Web App
With ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript, GCS created a custom web app that empowers Five Valleys Land Trust staff to formulate dynamic what-if scenarios in real time, allowing them to compare, analyze, and share critical geospatial insights across the organization with ease. This capability not only fosters a deeper understanding of the conservation landscape but also enhances the organization’s agility in responding to emerging opportunities or challenges.

The app enables Five Valleys Land Trust staff to quickly visualize high-opportunity areas and compare specific properties. Leveraging ArcGIS technology, the app centralizes geospatial data management and collaboration, providing consistent, up-to-date information for informed, data-driven decision-making.
Through these combined efforts, Five Valleys Land Trust has significantly enhanced its conservation initiatives, yielding clearer insight into opportunities across the landscape. The implemented web app solution serves as a transformative tool, empowering the trust to fully operationalize geospatial intelligence by seamlessly integrating spatial data into its daily operations.