Feature Photo by Lisa Schmidt. The grassy knolls and creek bottom of Schmidt's newly purchased land won't change. The land has always offered spectacular habitat for wildlife and cattle alike. The only change will be who maintains the fence and...

First cutting proves challenging, in typical Montana fashion By Laura Nowlin The sweet smell of fresh air and fresh cut hay remain a rancher’s favorite smells. Windrows of hay down and bales churning out of baler are a rancher’s favorite...

Feature photo: Kasydi Lucas, a rangeland intern with the Montana Department of Natural Resource Conservation leads approximately 400 head of goats to a new property to graze near Red Lodge. Photo courtesy of Kasydi Lucas. Summer internship expands to more...

Feature photo of Savannah Sparrow and cow is World Wildlife Fund-US/Clay Bolt. Beef and Birds: Grazing Cattle Benefits Grassland Birds By Laura Nowlin Some of the highest densities of grassland birds make the Northern Great Plains (NGP) their home.   “You...

Yet plants like prickly pear can be a friend By Lisa Schmidt The ewe had that look: Head sagging, ears lowered, a shuffling step. Her twin lambs hugged her side, leaving their jumping and cavorting for another day. One of...

Spring calving ripe with good days, tough days Story and photos by Laura Nowlin. Calving season.  That wonderfully anxious time of year – when will the first calf come? What will the weather do?   My husband and I run...

UNUSUALLY BITTER TEMPS, SNOW TRIGGER TOUGH, NEARLY FATAL CONDITIONS Well, we made it through the brunt of this year’s unusually harsh winter and onto the sweet, sweet springtime.   Enduring nearly a month of a strong, arctic polar vortex sitting...

Bottom of Maverick Mountain's only lift. Photo by Chris Goodhue Maverick Mountain, Recreational and Future Attract Money and Challenges Candice Kerr, who now manages Elkhorn Hot Springs, was 23 when she moved to Polaris, 40 miles west of Dillon and...

Written by Laura Nowlin. Feature photo by Reba Ahlgren I have read several stories recently that make life in rural America seem pretty dismal – the population is aging and decreasing, everyone is poorly educated and addicted to drugs, and the land is either not...

People may be more spread out on the eastern half of the state, but they’re coming closer together. Group after group are working on community-level solutions to some of rural Montana’s most complicated problems. Check back this winter to find inspiration for...