This summer, Wildlands will host the sixth annual conservation event supporting wild and scenic places in Southwest Montana and beyond. Wildlands, in conjunction with PERC, The Property and Environment Research Center, will celebrate the importance of these wild and scenic places that the organization directly supports. Wildlands beneficiaries benefit from 6+ different fundraising activities and awareness of their important mission for conservation through ticket and sponsor sales, volunteer donations, merchandise sales, silent auction items, and the Wildlands Music charity dinner.
We can’t do it alone. We’re proud to partner with like-minded conservation nonprofits to protect public lands in our region and across the country. This year we are excited to work with PERC as our Wildlands Music Lead Conservation Partner.
Each winter in Montana’s Paradise Valley, as deep snow settles over Yellowstone National Park, thousands of elk move down from the high country in search of forage and shelter. In this iconic landscape just outside the park, generations of cattle ranchers have cared for the wide-open valley that wildlife depends on, and their working ranchlands become critical winter refuge.
That shared landscape also brings real costs. The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC)—a national conservation leader headquartered in Bozeman—works side by side with local ranch families to make conservation a win for both wildlife and working lands. PERC believes conservation works best when we reward the people who make it possible. Incentives matter for conservation.
By aligning economics and ecology, PERC is implementing real conservation solutions across Montana and throughout the West.
PERC’s Elk Rent program compensates ranchers when migrating herds forage on their property. The Brucellosis Compensation Fund helps offset the risk of disease transmission between wildlife and livestock. And the Virtual Fence Conservation Fund replaces miles of barbed wire with wildlife-friendly technology that improves migration and reduces conflict.
By rewarding stewardship and respecting private landowners, PERC helps keep Paradise Valley’s ranchlands and other working lands in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem healthy, productive, and open for future generations of people and wildlife alike. PERC also partners with Yellowstone National Park to identify creative new funding solutions and works to accelerate forest restoration to improve habitat and reduce wildfire risk, showing what’s possible when conservation brings people together.
Explore more at perc.org/wildlands.
The Center for Large Landscape Conservation’s vision is a world where nature and people thrive in connected, resilient landscapes. As the hub of a growing conservation movement, the Center is working to reverse the fragmentation of our planet’s large landscapes through cutting-edge science, policy, and on-the-ground action. In Montana, the Center is creating safe passage for wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem by establishing wildlife crossings on US 191 and US 89, two of the most heavily traveled highways on Yellowstone’s periphery that are notorious for wildlife-vehicle collisions. In the Sixmile and Ninemile region west of Missoula, the Center is also improving safety for grizzlies and other species crossing Interstate 90
In 2025, Wildlands hosted the fifth annual conservation event supporting wild and scenic places in Southwest Montana and beyond. Headlining Wildlands 2025 was Dave Matthews, with Lukas Nelson and Molly Tuttle opening both nights.
The Wildlands Auction set the stage with over $600,000 revenue, raising the total to $700,000 with donations. On the final night, Dave Matthews announced that his family would match donation, putting the total at a record breaking $1.3 million.
Wildlands and Outlaw Partners wants to thank all of the musicians, sponsors, event staff, auction sponsors & participants, and donors for this historic achievement.
Wildlands charities benefit from 6+ different fundraising activities and awareness of their important mission for conservation through ticket and sponsor sales, volunteer donations, merchandise sales, silent auction items, and the Wildlands Music charity dinner. In 2024 Wildlands total amount raised reached $303,000.