Here are five of my favorites:

1. Livingston, MT – Oozing western charm, this historic town is home to fly fishing enthusiasts, writers, artists and mountain lovers. As the scenic backdrop for many Hollywood movies, Livingston is a popular stop over for families heading into Yellowstone Park just 60 miles to the south. One of the country’s most important professional rodeos takes place here over the Fourth of July holiday. Contact: www.LivingstonMontana.com.

2. Taos, NM – Nestled against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, this artsy town is steeped in Native American history. Enjoy galleries, great Southwestern food as well as hiking, kayaking, down hill and cross country skiing. The adobe architecture and stunning light also make it a photographer’s paradise. Contact: www.TaosChamber.com.

3. McCall, ID – The 5,500 acre glacial Payette Lake is the summer centerpiece in this mountain enclave of fewer than 3,000 full time residents. Surrounded by miles of pristine wilderness the whole gang will enjoy hiking, biking, fishing, rafting and paddling. Once the more than 300 inches of annual snow begins to fall, head to Brundage Mountain Resort or Tamarack Resort for some family friendly skiing. Contact: www.McCallChamber.org.

4. Girdwood, AK – Strap on crampons and hike the glacier or enjoy the mid-summer blueberry festival. This funky and fun town just 40 miles south of Anchorage offers year-round outdoor excitement. Plan now for winter heli-skiing, snow cat and dog-sledding trips led by Iditarod veterans. Contact: GirdwoodAlaska.com

5. Peterborough, NH – Here mountain climbers, hikers, paddlers and skiers are proud of their high energy crossroads and their well-known home town peak Mount Monadnock. At 3165 feet, the pinnacle provides stunning views that compete only with the picturesque town’s winding roads, churches and taverns that are right out of a Currier & Ives print. Trails of nearly every length lead out of town. Contact: www.TownofPeterborough.com

Source: Familytravel.com

www.tracyraich.com

Here’s a recap of the magazine listing for Raich Montana Properties LLC:

Who: Raich deals in ranches and recreational properties in Livingston Montana’s Paradise Valley.

Philosophy: As a one-person firm, her focus is on personal attention for each client instead of handling a large volume of transactions.

Raich’s Market Insight: Raich enjoyed a steady business during the year. She predicts there will be continued investment in this market which may result in a depletion of inventory leaving a scarcity of  truly amazing ranch and recreational properties in Livingston’s Paradise Valley.

 2011 Sales: <$50 Million Category, with transactions totalling $17.1 Million in 2011 (The Land Report’s computation method).

To view the entire publication go to: www.landreport.com land-report-spring-2012

 To learn more about Tracy Raich Broker/Owner Raich Montana Properties LLC visit: (www.tracyraich.com) or http://www.luxuryrealestate.com/professionals/30353-raich-montana-properties-llc

SEATTLE – (March 15, 2012) – Luxury Real Estate is pleased to announce the inclusion of Raich Montana Properties LLC in its prestigious network of fine high-end estate brokers and firms. Raich Montana Properties LLC was selected to represent Livingston, Montana at the invitation of Chairman/Publisher John Brian Losh. Mr. Losh extends membership invitations to brokers and firms throughout the world who consistently sell and list in the top 10% of their markets and demonstrate expertise in the marketing of luxury properties.

Currently, Luxury Real Estate includes more than 1,400 members with properties in 69 countries and nearly every state in the U.S.

This exclusive group’s properties can be viewed on the network’s award-winning website
http://www.luxuryrealestate.com/, the most-viewed real estate website expressly dedicated to luxury properties. The site features more than 60,000 of the world’s finest for-sale listings with an average price of more than $2 million. According to the Web information service Google Analytics, LuxuryRealEstate.com receives more than 2.6 million unique page views per month coming in from 197 countries around the world. 

Tracy Raich - Broker/Owner may be contacted by at 406-223-8418, by email tracyraich@wispwest.net or at  http://www.tracyraich.com/. For additional information about Luxury Real Estate.com contact Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, 2110 Western Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98121, or call 1-800-488-4066.

Twenty-five planes are based at Mission Field, and the runway services approximately 9000 take-offs and landings per year. Livingston HealthCare uses the airport for approximately 6-10 emergency flights each year and the National Park Service, National Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers also use the airport.

http://www.tracyraich.com 

 http://www.fltplan.com/AirportInformation/LVM.htm

More than 11 million people who visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain and Glacier national parks also supported 15,412 jobs, according to the study released Tuesday by the National Park Service.

The biggest beneficiaries were gateway towns in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho within 100 kilometres of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Those parks drew 6.3 million visitors who spent $758 million in 2010.

“We’re not always in a position to really point to some solid figures of that economic impact,” Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. “(But) when you look at these kinds of figures and realize that every visitor means over $90 to the area economy, it reinforces the significant role that visitors to the park play.”

The study was conducted by a Michigan State University researcher for the park service and analyzed 2010 economic data from 394 parks across the country. It found that across the U.S. 281 million visitors spent $12 billion in so-called “local gateway regions” within about 100 kilometres of the parks.

A little more than half of that spending went toward lodging and meals and 19 per cent toward gas and local transportation. The rest went to retail spending, amusements and groceries.

Those numbers were not broken down by park, but Chuck Curtis, who owns four businesses near Yellowstone’s northern entrance at Gardiner, Mont., said they sound about right for Yellowstone.

He estimates that park visitors make up about 70 per cent of his business.

“Everybody’s very busy in the summertime,” Curtis said. “That’s when you make your living.”

The study found that visitors to all national park units — which includes the parks and historic and national landmarks — spent a total of $610.6 million in Wyoming; $292.7 million in Colorado; and $291.4 million in Montana.

Source: Yahoo News – The Associated Press|3 Hours Ago

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Or to further describe a Paradise Valley controversy: One man’s proposed site for a tire dump is some people’s beloved, pristine ranchland.

Michael and Magdalene Adkins have proposed turning 11 acres of land about two miles north of Pray into a landfill, where as many as 5,000 tires could be dumped each day. Their neighbors, many of whom live on small ranches and came to the area for its beauty, aren’t happy.

They’ll have a chance to voice their concerns tonight at a public meeting held by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. The meeting is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Emigrant Community Hall.

The DEQ released an environmental assessment of the proposed landfill last month. In the document, the agency seemed to support approving the landfill because there is a need for the service and because the facility, according to the DEQ, likely would not pose a risk to human health.

It is “unlikely” that the DEQ will deny the application, according to the document.

But neighbors are hoping otherwise.

“I don’t like the idea of a tire dump in Paradise Valley, or right across the street from me,” said Tony Eaton, a television producer who lives adjacent to the proposed landfill. “Surely there are more industrial areas in the state and in the local area where they could put the tire dump.”

The proposed landfill would operate for about 20 years and could hold 280,000 tons of tires.

Those numbers don’t sit well with Eaton.

“Obviously there’s a huge impact, not to mention the odor, the pollution, and the possibility of a tire fire,” he said.

He hopes the DEQ will reconsider the permit, but said he doesn’t see a way “to stop this train.”

Tracy Raich, a real estate broker (www.tracyraich.com) who also lives near the proposed landfill, described where she lives as a “ranching and recreational community.”

“It’s one of the most beautiful valleys in Montana. This is what draws people to this community,” she said. “An operation like (the landfill) will hinder property values in the area.”

Another neighbor said she was also upset about the proposal but didn’t want to be named.

The proposed site is near the intersection of East River and Chicory roads. Part of the land was formerly a gravel pit that operated between approximately 1948 and 1965.

Currently there are only four other tire-only disposal facilities in Montana.

“The population, land use, and development of land surrounding the proposed monofill facility are sparse, minimizing the potential risk of adverse effects on human health due to the unlikely release of pollutants to the environment from the operation for the proposed facility,” the DEQ document said.

The document also said the landfill will likely have “only minor, if any, impact on aesthetics.”

A call to Michael Adkins was not returned.

Comments on the environmental assessment will be accepted until March 1 and may be submitted via email to wutbcomments@mt.gov. They may also be mailed to Waste and Underground Tank Management Bureau, Solid Waste Program, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901.

Carly Flandro may be reached at 582-2638 or cflandro@dailychronicle.com.

Painting John Nominated for Coveted Big Sky Award at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Painting John

Running Time: 10:28

MONTANA—January 26, 2012—Photographer Audrey Hall’s elegant film making debut, Painting John, screens at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana on February 21, 2012 at 9PM in the Wilma Theater and is nominated for a coveted Big Sky Award.

The documentary follows nomadic portrait painter Hugh Wilson, formerly of Wall Street, as he travels through the depths of winter to the solitary Montana ranch of senior bachelor John Hoiland. The men feed Hoiland’s Hereford cows in the snow-laden landscape, then Hoiland sits for his portrait. As the two unlikely friends interact we glimpse the painter’s creative process and his subject’s life.

Shot by Hall, a 20-year veteran of still photography, with the assistance of one camera intern, on a “budget of gas and tuna fish sandwiches,” Painting John illustrates Hall’s ability to exploit the possibilities and limitations of her equipment. Using two digital single-lens reflex cameras (the Canon 5DMarkII and Nikon D7000), minimal tracking shots, a short depth of field, natural light, little dialogue, and one shotgun microphone, the effect is like stepping into a Winslow Homer painting—vivid, crisp, serene.

Hall’s light and deft touch reflects her decades spent behind the lens, and also her worldliness. Born in Brazil, she split her childhood between Bozeman, Montana, and her family’s “fazenda” in Latin America. Imprinted with agricultural landscapes and people, she portrays their character and texture through her work.

With a sound track by Moby and local Montana musician Stuart Weber, Painting John is a homegrown masterpiece, an unsentimental, yet beautiful portrait of two lives and the landscape that binds them.

While in Missoula, Hall will be participating in the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival’s Filmmakers in Schools program.

-Seonaid B. Campbell

http://www.seonaidbcampbell.com/

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/

BSDFF 2012 Film Selections:

http://bigskydocff.blogspot.com/

Still “the home is central to American life” writes the National Association of Homebuilders in its report titled: Homeownership Works, released earlier this year.

Of course the report aims to show how housing is vital not just to homeowners but to the nation’s growth. The publication looks at the contributions that homeownership make to the economy specifically through residential construction, remodeling, rental housing, and various other related aspects of the industry.

The publication shows how homeownership is a vital thread that weaves together a nation. It points to research released earlier this year by Pew Research Center Study, showing that 81% of of adults agree “that buying a home is the best long-term investment a person can make”. The sentiment was mirrored by renters (also 81%) who reported they would like to buy a house.

According to the publication, homeownership contributes to household wealth even though many homes have lost significant value in recent years. NAHB reports that “the nation’s homeowners have more than $6 trillion in home equity and they still believe in homeownership.”

The equity that accumulated in their homes flows into the economy through education, health expenses, home improvements that increase value of the home, and funding retirement.

Some other findings reported in the publication include polling data based on a survey of 2,000 people likely to vote in 2010. The poll was conducted by for NAHB in May by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Va., and Lake Research Partners of Washington, D.C.

It showed that the majority of voters (71%) oppose proposals to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction. Findings also revealed that 95% of homeowners were glad they purchased a home; and 73% who didn’t own a home were hopeful to one day.

Despite the housing crisis, those in this survey viewed retirement savings programs and homeownership as the best investments. And, 80% of those surveyed said they would advise a family member or close friend to buy real estate.

But for a healthy economy to exist, NAHB points out that “rental housing is essential to a well-housed population.” The NAHB writes that there are many benefits from the rental housing market, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University in “America’s Rental Housing: Meeting Challenges, Building On Opportunities”.

First, moving to rental housing often is less expensive than homeownership. Second, the primary upkeep of the property is the responsibility of the landlord. Third, while landlords often collect first and last months rent, it is still less than a downpayment. However, the majority of people will rent and own at some point in their lives.

Whether you’re looking to rent or buy now, most find that their attraction to homeownership creates a sense of belonging and is a an integral part of their lifestyle.

“Americans still see homeownership as a core value and a key building block of being in the middle class and creating strong jobs in their communities. Owning a home isn’t just a policy to people. It isn’t just a commodity. It is a core value,” Celinda Lake, President Lake Research Partners, writes NAHB in its report.

Published: December 9, 2011
Written By: Phoebe Chongchua
Source: Realty Times

Located in Paradise Valley, a spot known for its world-class fly fishing, Quaid’s ranch includes horse facilities, an arena, an observatory and two miles of a fishing creek.

The owners’ residence, approximately 5315 square feet, designed by Frank Cikan and published in Architectural Digest, October, 2003, has 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, and boasts stunning vistas which overlook Six Mile Creek and the Absaroka Mountain Range.

In addition to the main residence, which includes wide-plank hardwood floors salvaged from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that Quaid added in 2000, there are 4 guests houses, a ranch manager’s home, and horse facilities.

“The backyard is basically Yellowstone Park,” the Wall Street Journal quoted Mr. Quaid as saying.

Quaid, who spends the majority of his time at his Austin, Texas, home says his primary reason for selling the Montana ranch is so that he can purchase a home in Hawaii where he can enjoy the new love of his life – surfing.

Information about this property can be obtained by contacting Tracy Raich – Broker/Owner Raich Montana Properties LLC.. tracy@rmpmontana.com
406.223.8418

Source: The Inquisitor – 10-15-11

Yellowstone National Park
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2011 11-106
Al Nash or Dan Hottle (307) 344-2015

——————————————————————————–
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE
——————————————————————————–

Yellowstone Tops Three Million Visitors For Third Straight Summer

Rebounding from a lingering winter that included snow and ice well into May, and rockslides and avalanches that forced a few temporary road closures, Yellowstone National Park still managed to host more than three million visitors for its third consecutive summer season.

For the second year in a row, more than half a million visitors spent their vacations in the park during the month of September alone, just shy of three percent below 2010’s record-breaking fall month.

Recreational Visitors 2011 2010 Change From Last Year 2009
May 207,842 250,445 – 17.0 % 261,763
June 634,316 694,841 – 8.7 % 643,844
July 906,935 957,785 – 5.3 % 900,515
August 805,173 854,837 – 5.8 % 752,983
September 536,349 550,504 – 2.6 % 489,438
Total Summer Season 3,090,615 3,308,412 – 6.6 % 3,048,543

Recreational Visitors September Year to Year Change
2011 536,349 – 2.6 %
2010 550,504 + 12.5 %
2009 489,438 + 11.9 %
2008 437,552 – 5.7 %
2007 463,994 + 8.3 %
2006 428,369 + 8.9 %
2005 393,362

May typically marks the beginning of the summer season. When weather cooperates, it is the first month when most major park roads open to wheeled visitor traffic, and when visitor services begin to reopen for the year. July is traditionally the park’s peak visitation month, followed by August, June, September and May, though visitation numbers can fluctuate between months for a number of different and unpredictable reasons.

With much colder temperatures and the ever-present chance for rapidly changing weather conditions, the less-traveled winter and spring seasons represent a small but still very important portion of the park’s annual visitation. In 2010, the park recorded more than 223,000 visitors during the months of October, November and December.

The West Entrance remains the park’s busiest, with nearly 210,000 visitors in September, and nearly 1.3 million for the summer, followed by the South, North, East and Northeast Entrances.

Yellowstone experienced back-to-back record visitation years in 2009 and 2010, with nearly 3.3 million visitors and over 3.6 million visitors, respectively.

For more detailed visitation statistics, visit www.nature.nps.gov/stats

- www.nps.gov/yell -

Twitter: @YellowstoneNPS
RSS Feed: http://www.nps.gov/feeds/getNewsRSS.htm?id=yell