Conflicts Amid Conservation

 Guest post by student Emaleigh Walters - 

To kick off our trip to Montana, we started with Dr. Jachowski’s section focused mainly on wildlife restoration. We had one on one discussions with multiple PhD students involving their roles with studying and restoring populations of bison, birds, and swift foxes, as well as discussions with the American Prairie Reserve superintendent Damien Austin, and a local rancher named Leo through the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance. All of these talks were important in cultivating an opinion of what is happening out west, but they also helped me to be able to appreciate the space and the people just a little bit more. 

Throughout the state of Montana, there seems to be a disconnect along with conflict between the ranchers and the people of the American Prairie Reserve about how the land should be used and the future of conservation and ranching together. To be completely transparent, I have really only ever looked at a rancher's perspective. I work on a farm back in Clemson, and have grown up with horses, so the current struggles of the agricultural industry across America have never been new to me. Many ranchers struggle today with the rising costs of the industry, as well as competition for land when it comes to the rising number of people who are moving to Montana, along with the threat of modernization. In my opinion, I think this causes many people with ranching ties or backgrounds to “shut down” in a way, and they have this need to preserve what has been their lifestyle for so long. Because of this, many do not like to converse about the need for conservation out in Montana. Many ranchers have a dislike for bison grazing, prairie dogs, and the introduction of swift foxes back on the land because it will ultimately be a change in an ecosystem that they have been accustomed to for so long, as well as the feeling that reintroduction of species will lead to competition for the cattle that they are raising. While I do not think this issue is a fast or easy one to solve, I do think communication between ranchers and conservationists can help at least a little bit. We talked to a local rancher named Leo Barthelmess, who is the president of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, which is a group of people that seek to maintain successful ranching communities through the use of conservation, ranching, and community. Leo’s talk was important to me because he discusses a lot of issues that many ranchers face currently, while also being somewhat open minded to the conservation movement that is taking place. While he is not extremely open to restoring the ecosystem, he does seem to be coming to terms with it and I believe it is a step in the right direction. He even has a prairie dog town on his land, even though he dislikes them like most ranchers in the area do. 

With that being said, I never took into account the threat on natural wildlife that these same issues would pose, as well as how the ranchers and the conservationists seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. After talking to the American Prairie Reserve superintendent Damien Austin, it  became clear that the APR’s goal is to just buy and obtain land to be able to restore the ecosystem to more of its natural state and are not looking to infringe on local ranchers or endanger their lifestyles any further. Restoring the ecosystem to its natural state includes adding bison grazing, prairie dog protection, and the reintroduction of swift foxes across the Montana rangeland. Along with those species, there are also multiple bird species that are teetering on the edge of being endangered, and we shadowed PhD student Andrew Dreelin to learn more about the horned lark bird and his research, as well as Nancy Raginski to learn more about the pipits and other various bird migrations. These two talks were important to me because, in the interest of full transparency, I am afraid of birds so it was very crucial to me to be able to work hands on with these species of birds who are largely misunderstood and not studied enough out in these areas, and it switched my perspective about how important birds are to a functioning ecosystem. We also discussed bison and bison grazing with PhD student Claire Bresnan, and I got to learn that while bison are similar to cattle in the fact that they are ruminants, however, bison are a lot less harsh on the native grasslands than cattle are which was very interesting for me to learn considering I have only really ever studied cattle. I think there is a lot of miscommunication surrounding the reintroduction of species to the Montana prairie land, but I do think it is important to work to find a happy and natural balance between a normal ecosystem and the happiness of the ranchers. 

All in all, this trip with Dr. Jachowski was very informative. I was able to get multiple different perspectives on issues that surround the American Prairie Reserve and also the ranchers out in Montana, and I was also able to gain valuable hands-on experience as well as lots of information on species that I have never looked into or worked with before. As far as the conservation issues that plague the west, I do not think this has a simple or quick fix, but I do believe that both sides are working their hardest and a resolution will be found eventually.