Conservation Improvisation
Post by Clemson Montana Summer Program student Rachel Parnell
Conservation and wildlife management can be a slippery slope in the Big Sky prairie of Montana. Callous-handed ranchers know their life and the challenges that accompany it, and they don’t like people telling them what they need to change. Many scoff simply at the idea of change. But the more time that I spend in Montana, the more I realize that the ranchers and organizations have more in common than not. Everyone loves the land and the life that it holds, and they want it to be a sustainable environment for their children and their children’s children. The future of conservation is not trying to tell people how to live their life, but rather giving them the knowledge and incentives to make better decisions for their land and lifestyle.
Learning about The Nature Conservancy members and ranchers of Phillips county has really opened my eyes to the forward-thinking mindsets that many of them have. They strive to see years into the future rather than focusing only on their present hardships. They must make sure that they have resources to sustain themselves and their animals in event of fire, flood, or a formidable winter. If someone in the community is struggling they rush to help. I found their sense of community to be very admirable, especially since they take care of their family and animals yet still have an urge to improve the natural environment in which they live. I could only hope that more people in this country had this attitude, but through theses experience I have developed a better understanding of conservation and I have learned ways in which we can create a better strategy for its advancement. Furthermore, I learned that the TNC gives monetary incentives to ranchers who make adjustments to their operations that help conservation efforts, such as making their fences pronghorn-friendly. I think that this is another great stepping stone to better conservation and management.
My classmates and I had the opportunity to be introduced to the ranching lifestyle through experience. Leo Barthelmess, a member of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, personally led us through his ranch showcasing his wetland grassland and sheep herd. He explained how the snow melt from the Little Rockies floods the creek in the spring which prompted them to create man made banks and runoff creeks to reduce damage to the land. It was interesting to learn about invasive grasses and how the types of grasses affect grazing potential, and which provide the best environment for wildlife diversity. The ranchers are very aware of the types of grasses in their fields and strive to promote ideal grass as well as reduce invasive and unwanted species, such as cheatgrass. They not only consider the success of their stock and the wildlife in the area, but also what is best for the land and the soil.
We attended the 2018 Science Symposium at the Matador Ranch in northern Montana which was a conference led by the Nature Conservancy. Scientists working all over the area came to speak about their various research projects which included sage grouse initiatives, drones, swift foxes, bird surveys and soil sampling. The most regarded subjects appeared to be sage grouse and drones, but I found the presentation about the soil carbon storage to be the most intriguing because it was about a process that could take carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil via experimentation with grazing techniques. Each project was significant in its own way, but personally I believe that the most essential work that we should be doing currently is searching for ways to reduce our environmental impact and carbon footprint, which in turn would help countless species and not just a choice few.
One of the most exciting experiences of our trip so far was when we spent a whole night spotlighting for the rarest mammal in North America, the black-footed ferret. I rode in the truck that found the only ferret of the night and we were able to scan her tag to determine that she was a three-year old female. We watched on, awed as she carried four kits into a prairie dog burrow, it’s builder actually being the ferret’s preferred meal. The opinion of the prairie dog has changed dramatically over the years. They were initially despised, and the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance actually formed as a reaction to ranchers’ hatred for them and their hole homes, which could easily break a bull’s leg. Today, the tide has turned and organizations such as the Nature Conservancy and the American Prairie Reserve are pushing for the protection of them as well as for the ferrets. They even manage the prairie dogs by spraying burrows for the plague, the same deadly disease carried by fleas that was a detriment to humans so many years ago.
We learned even more about the work being done at the American Prairie Reserve, where we set up camp for a few days. People at the APR were spraying burrows and readily accept dogs from ranchers who don’t want them on their property, but these small rodents are not the only objective on the APR’s agenda. They intend to form the largest reserve in the country, bring jobs and money to South Phillip’s county, and bring native wildlife (elk, wolves, bison, bears) back to the area in which they used to be plentiful in the days of Lewis and Clark. They plan to create corridors for for wildlife to travel to the area and improve resources for them to make the reserve their home. Although these plans are commendable in my eyes, some ranchers see the reserve as a threat to their way of life and their land.
After spending time with people like Leo Barthelmes and others who work with the TNC, RSA and APR I have developed a better idea of how conservation and management should be approached. These people are all great examples of mindsets that will lead in the right direction, hopefully spreading this ideology not only to other ranchers, but to everyone who cares for land and life. I’ve observed that conservation in the field of ranching can be a treacherous feat because people know their life, land, and the challenges that come along with it and don’t want people telling them to change what they’ve done for so long. But if we can listen to these challenges and couple these with the imperilment of the environment, we can improve the lives of the rancher and the wildlife, as well as help the environment in which they live.
We attended the 2018 Science Symposium at the Matador Ranch in northern Montana which was a conference led by the Nature Conservancy. Scientists working all over the area came to speak about their various research projects which included sage grouse initiatives, drones, swift foxes, bird surveys and soil sampling. The most regarded subjects appeared to be sage grouse and drones, but I found the presentation about the soil carbon storage to be the most intriguing because it was about a process that could take carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil via experimentation with grazing techniques. Each project was significant in its own way, but personally I believe that the most essential work that we should be doing currently is searching for ways to reduce our environmental impact and carbon footprint, which in turn would help countless species and not just a choice few.
One of the most exciting experiences of our trip so far was when we spent a whole night spotlighting for the rarest mammal in North America, the black-footed ferret. I rode in the truck that found the only ferret of the night and we were able to scan her tag to determine that she was a three-year old female. We watched on, awed as she carried four kits into a prairie dog burrow, it’s builder actually being the ferret’s preferred meal. The opinion of the prairie dog has changed dramatically over the years. They were initially despised, and the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance actually formed as a reaction to ranchers’ hatred for them and their hole homes, which could easily break a bull’s leg. Today, the tide has turned and organizations such as the Nature Conservancy and the American Prairie Reserve are pushing for the protection of them as well as for the ferrets. They even manage the prairie dogs by spraying burrows for the plague, the same deadly disease carried by fleas that was a detriment to humans so many years ago.
After spending time with people like Leo Barthelmes and others who work with the TNC, RSA and APR I have developed a better idea of how conservation and management should be approached. These people are all great examples of mindsets that will lead in the right direction, hopefully spreading this ideology not only to other ranchers, but to everyone who cares for land and life. I’ve observed that conservation in the field of ranching can be a treacherous feat because people know their life, land, and the challenges that come along with it and don’t want people telling them to change what they’ve done for so long. But if we can listen to these challenges and couple these with the imperilment of the environment, we can improve the lives of the rancher and the wildlife, as well as help the environment in which they live.
