Connecting the Dots

Post by 2022 student Sydney-Grace Lewis

To embark on our adventure here in Montana we began our first day meeting with Jeff Brown from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. It was neat to discuss Jeff’s job duties in comparison to the DNR back home. Jeff’s job was based a lot around fire in Montana. Being from Myrtle Beach, SC, fire is not on our list to necessarily worry about or plan for especially in comparison with our hurricanes. As time has gone on, it seems their wildfires here are like our hurricanes back home on the coast. The SCDNR work a lot with the wetlands, rivers, the coastal areas, boat regulations, fishing and hunting just to name a few, to indicate the differences between MT DNRC and SCDNR. Jeff and his colleague Dustin took us on a tour through the ranch to give us an idea of what the Bobcat fire did on different parts of the ranch. The views were impeccable, the wide open spaces and the huge rocks and mountains made me feel so small. My favorite part of that day was going to the top of a mountain and walking out on a big rock to see a panorama view of the ranch from above, the different fire effects across the ranch and we could also see Signal Peak Mine that we will be touring in our next section. 

The tour around the ranch with MT DNRC helped us determine what kind of plots we wanted to set up, how many, where and also what kind of treatment each section of the ranch had, for example, thinned and burned, thinned and unburned, etc. This led us into setting up our plots. Being an animal and veterinary science major, the plot setting up and surveying was new to me. My first thoughts were, this is not what I signed up for but it didn’t take long for me to get the hang of it and start enjoying it. Even though it was not directly related to animal science, I gained a lot of new skills through the time of setting up our plots. Some of those skills being how to use a caliper, a clinometer, identifying vegetation and surveying fire fuels. I was so shocked at the diversity in plants and wildflowers that we identified in our vegetation plots but was also surprised that some of the species we found we have in the east as well. 

Everything began coming together, we started knocking out plots and I started connecting the dots on exactly the purpose behind what we were doing and observing. 

We got to meet and have a conversation with the Segars, the ranch owners at High Meadow Ranch. They told us the story of how they got here in Montana and how they connected and partnered with the Frosts, the ranch owners at Frosty Creek Angus Ranch which is the neighboring ranch. They expressed how helpful the information we are collecting and will be collecting for years to come will be useful to them as the ranchers. They also expressed emotions about the fire raging through their ranch and how it affected them, their houses and their production. I never really thought of just how much it can affect them. I’ve always seen news of wildfires out in the West but until you talk to a ranch owner who has unfortunately experienced what they had to experience in the fire, you have no clue how it affects them and what it means for their land and their cattle. I can somewhat relate to the emergency and the unexpectancy of a natural disaster living on the coast with hurricanes coming through. It is a terrible feeling when you have to evacuate your home not knowing when you will come back and what you will come back to which is exactly what they described they experienced when the Bobcat fire happened at their ranch. It is pleasing to know that our work out here can hopefully help the ranchers have a better understanding of what is expected in future fires and how they might prepare and prevent. When they began discussing the land around the ranch, the way the land is divided up out here is so different compared to the east. There is private land, state land and Bureau of Land Management land which gets really confusing to me but they talk about it with no problem. We got to talk about animal and veterinary science with the Segars when they talked about cattle and horses on the ranch here and on their farm back in SC, which was very exciting to me. 

The comparisons of livestock regulations and expectations in MT compared to SC were informative to me because of the differences. The differences I was not aware of were things such as a brand inspector for horses and cattle. The Segars informed us that each ranch has their own brand for their animals, and if those animals travel outside of the county they have to have a brand inspection. As an animal and veterinary science major as well as a horse owner in SC, this was interesting information to me! 

To conclude, our first section has already taught me a lot about fire and forestry and about the locals here on the ranch and how our work may impact them. I have thoroughly enjoyed talking to the ranch owners and learning all the new skills. I am looking forward to the next!