Vital Ground’s newest staff member is coming home to the landscape she loves. Brittani Rosas began work as Vital Ground’s land steward earlier this year but her connection to western Montana is lifelong.
Brittani grew up in the Bitterroot Valley just south of Missoula. She learned a respect and passion for wildlife and conservation from her grandfather, an avid traditional bowhunter. Brittani grew up hunting and fishing around western Montana and decided she wanted to turn her passion for wildlife into her career. She earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana and a master’s degree in rangeland management from Montana State University, including an electric fencing study that Vital Ground supported with a partner grant in 2017. After gaining professional conservation experience in multiple states, Brittani and her husband decided to move back to the Bitterroot to be with family after their daughter was born in 2020. They enjoy everything grizzly country has to offer and look forward to raising their daughter in Montana.
“Vital Ground has been on my radar since they partnered on my graduate project in 2017,” Brittani says. “After finding out about the work that Vital Ground does, it was always a goal in the back of my mind to try and work for them if I ever made it back to Montana. I am so fortunate and feel ecstatic about being given that opportunity now that I have moved back, and I look forward to doing my best as the land steward and playing a small part in conserving these lands for grizzly bears and all other things wild. It truly is a dream come true.”
As Land Steward, Brittani will oversee monitoring and stewardship of Vital Ground’s conservation easements and fee-title properties. Her arrival comes after we bid a fond farewell to Kali Becher, who will continue her conservation leadership in western Montana as Open Lands Project Manager for Missoula County. We are grateful for Kali’s outstanding work in growing Vital Ground’s stewardship program and thrilled to have Brittani taking the reins into her capable hands. Welcome, Brittani!