Thank You to Outgoing GVLT Board Members: Bill Cochran, Mimi Helvie, and Jeff Ott
Bill Cochran, Mimi Helvie, and Jeff Ott
As 2025 comes to a close, three of our amazing Board Members are preparing to wrap up their terms with GVLT. We want to express our deepest gratitude to Bill Cochran, Mimi Helvie, and Jeff Ott for their dedicated service to our organization. They each have played a critical role in advancing our mission of trails and conservation.
We asked these three members to share a bit about their experience.
Bill Cochran
Board member since 2018
What inspired you to serve on GVLT’s Board?
I was first motivated by the need for connections in our community. The trail system is such an amazing amenity for Bozeman. However, over time, the need to conserve open space has become equally important to me.
What is the most compelling reason to support GVLT?
GVLT has been integral to this community for over 35 years and has planned and executed most of our in-town trail system. We would be a very different community without its diligence in planning and providing opportunities for people to recreate. We have also helped secure nearly 75,000 acres of open lands that will never be developed in the valley, which will prove to be critical in the future.
Tell us about a future project you are excited about.
I am very excited about our future at GVLT! We have great team members, and they’re all motivated by their work. I am super excited for Bikefill and how that will impact our outdoor community, especially for kids!
Mimi Helvie
Board member since 2022
What inspired you to serve on GVLT’s Board?
Prior to joining the Board, I had the opportunity to serve on the GVLT NextGen Advisory Board. In that capacity, I became deeply supportive of the organization’s mission and its people, and that was something I wanted to continue with Board service. GVLT is truly a unique land trust—it is small, but incredibly mighty, and has an innate understanding of where it can make an impact, and how. The mission and its people drive that, and I am so grateful that I could play a small part. I believe I had a unique perspective I could lend to the Board, and I am happy that I could do so during my tenure.
What is the most compelling reason to support GVLT?
So much of what makes the Gallatin Valley a unique and beautiful place to live is thanks to GVLT—our views, our open spaces, and our trails are thanks in large part to this organization. Because of this, GVLT supports our local economy through agriculture, supports our wildlife and natural environment, and also supports our physical and mental wellbeing. If you live in Bozeman, GVLT deserves your support.
Tell us about a future project you are excited about.
Definitely Bikefill! I have one toddler and another baby on the way, and I cannot wait to have a space for them to learn to ride bikes and develop those lifelong skills!
Jeff Ott
Board member since 2020, current Board Chair
What inspired you to serve on GVLT’s Board?
I believe wholeheartedly—even more so after the privilege of serving for six years on the board—in the impact of GVLT’s mission in supporting the wellbeing of our community and natural environment, and in preserving the region’s distinct scenic beauty, farming and ranching heritage and culture.
What is the most compelling reason to support GVLT?
Community engagement, in whatever form an individual has the capacity to engage, has always been critical to community vitality and quality. The more comprehensive the sense of personal ownership and support of GVLT’s mission is across Gallatin, Park, and Madison counties, the stronger and more successful we will be in mission fulfillment. My past, current, and future support of GVLT is rooted in this philosophy.
Tell us about a future project you are excited about.
The Bikefill project is very special in my mind as it represents:
A perpetual, recreational diversity benefit to the community
Creative reclamation and responsible repurposing of previously impacted land that is otherwise unusable land
A win-win opportunity to divert some cycling pressure away from other multi-use trails
Effective, purposeful collaboration with the City and cycling community for the greater community good
Thank you, Bill, Mimi, and Jeff! Your service leaves a legacy that will benefit generations to come!