Montana: Chapter 1
Post by Clemson Montana Summer Program student Sarah Stewart
There is not a landscape more misunderstood than the prairie. Even I underestimated it, despite studying its inner-workings and inhabitants for a semester before this trip. As we drove out to the American Prairie Reserve (APR) on our first full day in Montana, the trees and rocky outcroppings quickly began to slip away in exchange for vast grasslands. Since I’ve lived on the east coast my entire life, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disoriented by the landscape; I had never spent an extended period of time away from dense woodlands before this week. The fact that I had been in South Carolina a mere 24 hours beforehand was distant in my mind, as I was now surrounded by a completely new and immeasurable environment.
Any person who has never experienced the prairie would most likely describe it as a wasteland, a place you just drive through to get to your final destination. However, it is anything but that. The prairie is in fact a destination in itself. While the diversity on the great plains pales in comparison to the east coast’s, it is truly set apart from anywhere else on the planet. While there may not be a very high number of species compared to other environments, the sheer volume of each of these species the prairie hosts outshines even its eastern counterparts. Massive herds of bison roam, water birds blanket the shores of natural saline lakes, and grasses cover nearly every inch of the rolling plains. Over the 5 days we were at APR, we spent many hours simply exploring and experiencing this amazing place – almost exclusively from the back from Nic’s truck. Not even swarms of mosquitos or the oppressive dry heat could dampen our desire to spot species we had never seen before. We heard young pronghorn twins calling for their mother. We saw bison herd dynamics first hand. We chased killdeer babies off the Enrico Center driveway (3 times!) so as not to hurt them. We stared at stars 5 times brighter than the ones we see in our hometowns. We stopped countless times on the side of dirt roads, peering through binoculars at anything and everything – sage grouse, badgers, and meadowlark just to name a few. I would have never been able to witness such amazing and varied organisms if I wasn’t on the prairie. It may not look as diverse and lush as the east coast, but it is certainly diverse and lush in it’s own unique way. You just have to look harder for it.
For example, we visited Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge on our last full day. Bowdoin holds a huge saline lake, tucked away among the prairie hills around Malta, Montana. To sum up our experience: Dr. Patrick McMillan, our lecturer for the week, is a genius when it comes to plants and birds, and he said he had never seen so many birds in one place before! There were teals, avocets, black-necked stilts, white-faced ibises, grebes, and a flock of shovelers so large it amazed us all. You would never expect to find a place so teaming with life in the middle of the plains, but there it was. Another misconception about the prairie is that it is all one homogenous landscape: the same ground cover, the same plants, the same bird species everywhere. However, while exploring APR one day, Dr. McMillan pointed out the difference between tall sagebrush steppe and dwarf sagebrush steppe. While you had to look closely to recognize the difference, since they were directly adjacent to each other, there were certain key differences that made them separate from the other. Grasshopper sparrows lived in the tall sagebrush and lark sparrows lived in the dwarf sagebrush, but neither one of these species would stray from those areas. Why? Because each bird has specific habitat requirements that were fulfilled by one sagebrush environment but not the other i.e tall grasses as opposed to short, stubby ones. If the plains were, in fact, the same throughout, many species would not have the habitat they need to survive and diversity would be much lower. Thankfully, the prairie has a way of surprising you with its richness and distinctiveness. If I learned anything over the past week, it is that.
Similarly, the group of students and grad students that went on this trip to Montana are also diverse. We all have our own personalities, quirks, and senses of humor, but we all get along and work together as a cohesive group. Despite the long days in the dust and sun, we could come back to the Enrico Center, enjoy each other’s company over dinner, and laugh our heads off at stuff that happened during the day or just general nonsense. There were many times where I was literally doubled over laughing – whether because something was actually funny or I was over-exhausted, I didn’t care. It was clear from the beginning that we were going to get to know each other very well; it’s hard not to when you’re around each other all day, every day. This close proximity resulted in (almost all of us) getting group nicknames within the first couple days, creating many inside jokes, and even having some refer to us as “family”. You don’t get many opportunities in your life to connect with a group of people like this, especially since we had spent a very limited amount of time together before travelling to Montana. It will definitely be a bittersweet day when we go our separate ways for the summer, but I’m happy that we still have 2 weeks ahead of us to make many more memories.
You cannot truly judge a place based on photos or word of mouth – you must experience it for yourself to realize it’s importance. That is what I have realized this past week on the Montana prairie. I am so grateful I’m getting the chance to take this class, and I am looking forward to the next two weeks of fascinating experiences!
Any person who has never experienced the prairie would most likely describe it as a wasteland, a place you just drive through to get to your final destination. However, it is anything but that. The prairie is in fact a destination in itself. While the diversity on the great plains pales in comparison to the east coast’s, it is truly set apart from anywhere else on the planet. While there may not be a very high number of species compared to other environments, the sheer volume of each of these species the prairie hosts outshines even its eastern counterparts. Massive herds of bison roam, water birds blanket the shores of natural saline lakes, and grasses cover nearly every inch of the rolling plains. Over the 5 days we were at APR, we spent many hours simply exploring and experiencing this amazing place – almost exclusively from the back from Nic’s truck. Not even swarms of mosquitos or the oppressive dry heat could dampen our desire to spot species we had never seen before. We heard young pronghorn twins calling for their mother. We saw bison herd dynamics first hand. We chased killdeer babies off the Enrico Center driveway (3 times!) so as not to hurt them. We stared at stars 5 times brighter than the ones we see in our hometowns. We stopped countless times on the side of dirt roads, peering through binoculars at anything and everything – sage grouse, badgers, and meadowlark just to name a few. I would have never been able to witness such amazing and varied organisms if I wasn’t on the prairie. It may not look as diverse and lush as the east coast, but it is certainly diverse and lush in it’s own unique way. You just have to look harder for it. 
For example, we visited Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge on our last full day. Bowdoin holds a huge saline lake, tucked away among the prairie hills around Malta, Montana. To sum up our experience: Dr. Patrick McMillan, our lecturer for the week, is a genius when it comes to plants and birds, and he said he had never seen so many birds in one place before! There were teals, avocets, black-necked stilts, white-faced ibises, grebes, and a flock of shovelers so large it amazed us all. You would never expect to find a place so teaming with life in the middle of the plains, but there it was. Another misconception about the prairie is that it is all one homogenous landscape: the same ground cover, the same plants, the same bird species everywhere. However, while exploring APR one day, Dr. McMillan pointed out the difference between tall sagebrush steppe and dwarf sagebrush steppe. While you had to look closely to recognize the difference, since they were directly adjacent to each other, there were certain key differences that made them separate from the other. Grasshopper sparrows lived in the tall sagebrush and lark sparrows lived in the dwarf sagebrush, but neither one of these species would stray from those areas. Why? Because each bird has specific habitat requirements that were fulfilled by one sagebrush environment but not the other i.e tall grasses as opposed to short, stubby ones. If the plains were, in fact, the same throughout, many species would not have the habitat they need to survive and diversity would be much lower. Thankfully, the prairie has a way of surprising you with its richness and distinctiveness. If I learned anything over the past week, it is that. 
Similarly, the group of students and grad students that went on this trip to Montana are also diverse. We all have our own personalities, quirks, and senses of humor, but we all get along and work together as a cohesive group. Despite the long days in the dust and sun, we could come back to the Enrico Center, enjoy each other’s company over dinner, and laugh our heads off at stuff that happened during the day or just general nonsense. There were many times where I was literally doubled over laughing – whether because something was actually funny or I was over-exhausted, I didn’t care. It was clear from the beginning that we were going to get to know each other very well; it’s hard not to when you’re around each other all day, every day. This close proximity resulted in (almost all of us) getting group nicknames within the first couple days, creating many inside jokes, and even having some refer to us as “family”. You don’t get many opportunities in your life to connect with a group of people like this, especially since we had spent a very limited amount of time together before travelling to Montana. It will definitely be a bittersweet day when we go our separate ways for the summer, but I’m happy that we still have 2 weeks ahead of us to make many more memories. You cannot truly judge a place based on photos or word of mouth – you must experience it for yourself to realize it’s importance. That is what I have realized this past week on the Montana prairie. I am so grateful I’m getting the chance to take this class, and I am looking forward to the next two weeks of fascinating experiences!
