Well, yet another legislative session will end without a plan to fix and upgrade the state’s aging water and sewer systems, school buildings and university facilities -- all projects that would create jobs and benefit the people of Montana. And...
Here is a quick riddle: What can Republicans and Democrats, environmentalists and conservationists, hunters and vegans all agree on? Give up? Weeds! That’s right, us Montanans don’t really like weeds. We can’t stand all those invasive, noxious plants that are...
If you have some extra cash lying around that’s burning a hole in your pocket—the state legislature has got some good news for you! You see--this session, a handful of Republicans and Democrats drafted a bill that would increase the...
Senate move cultivates distrust in our legislature. Agriculture is still the backbone of communities big and small across our state. But times change. Making a living as a farmer or rancher isn’t getting a lot easier, and many of our...
Senator Hinkle says, not on my watch! Here in Montana, we put a lot of value in our public lands. They give us access to our outdoor way of life, and drive our economy. You would think that State Senator...
This May, as Ryan Zinke heads off to the Department of the Interior, Montana will be holding yet another election. That’s two elections in six months -- which is a real burden on our county pocketbooks. Elections are expensive and...
Montana’s waters are some of our most precious natural resources. They flow from rain and mountain snowmelt to irrigate our farms and ranches, to quench our thirst, and to feed our rivers so we can float and fish with our...
Firefighters: They can haul up a mountain with 80 pounds on their backs. They run into burning buildings while the rest of us run out in terror. They protect our homes, our forests, our communities and our families. They embody...
The solar energy economy is booming – and Montana should be leading the way. We work hard. We’re innovative. And we have sunshine in spades. We should be using this God-given resource to create good paying jobs. What are we...
Lawmaker questions whether violence against nurses is really a problem after hearing directly from nurses The recent violent arrest of a nurse in a Salt Lake City hospital, caught on police video, reminded the world what a dangerous job it...
Ruby Valley Produced Upset Winner; Bets Taken Now on Bolt D’Oro Before tractors, hydraulic combines, dirt bikes, and trucks, we Montanans relied on horses for every aspect of life: combining wheat in the fall, tilling the land in the...
The Value of Agriculture: Welcome to the Ruby Valley Story and Photos by August Schield In Montana, people are bound together by a common landscape. It is the single most underlying substance that all life shares. Air and animals. People...
These days, you can easily drive from Billings to Glendive without stopping. At 80 miles per hour, the plains are a blur. But should you choose to slow down, you may be struck by the nuance of the country before...
The stories of a strong ranching community in Eastern Montana after the Lodgepole Fires Photographs and Writing by August Schield Just above the 47th parallel, directly east of the Musselshell River, the wide open prairie landscape of Garfield County has...
Hard Work, Ambition, and Community I’ve lived in Montana my entire life, and the first thing from Montana I ever heard mentioned on TV was Butte. It was mispronounced (as “Butt, Montana”), but it still was on television. I was...
RANCHERS : THE LOCAL CONSERVATIONISTS Story and Photos by August Schield Ranchers are the local conservationists in the Ruby Valley. Here, conservation isn’t only a part of the culture, but also a part of the community. Meet Rick Sandru and...
Photographs and writing by August Schield On September 4, a strong easterly wind event helped the Rice Ridge Fire, just east of Montana’s Seeley-Swan Valley, consume 48,000 acres of timber in a single run. Nearly doubling in size, the fire...
