2007 Montana GLCI Report

Jon Siddoway, NRCS rangeland management specialist, presents Range Monitoring 101 at Judith Basin County Range School.

The Montana GLCI Funds Four Demonstration Projects for 2007

Four demonstration projects and workshops were funded in 2007 for a total of $11,470.69. Of the four projects, two were educational workshops and two were group research projects. The funded projects included the following:

• Judith Basin Conservation District: The range school held on May 30th in Raynesford was titled “Make Your Pasture Pay” and featured Rod Heitschmidt, retired Director of Fort Keogh Experiment Station; Jim Gerrish, American Grazing Lands Services; Mitch Faulkner, Jon Siddoway and Matt Ricketts, NRCS rangeland management specialists.
• Ruby Valley Conservation District: The Behavior Education for Human, Animal, Vegetation and Ecosystem Management (BEHAVE) workshop was held on March 30th in Twin Bridges. The workshop featuring Fred Provenza, Utah State University leading researcher and professor, was well attended.
• Rosebud Conservation District: The Rosebud Conservation District is sponsoring a demonstration project which seeks to provide private landowners with a detailed analysis of the benefits of alternative irrigated warm season grass pastures. Rocky Schwagler, NRCS District Conservationist, is leading this effort.
• Teton Conservation District: The Teton Conservation District is sponsoring a demonstration project that tests and evaluates the effectiveness of a variety of treatments for controllong the invasion and spread of creeping juniper on the front range of the Rocky Mountains in Northern Montana (east of the Continental Divide). Paula Gunderson, NRCS soil conservationist, is leading this effort.

The Montana GLCI continues to support landowners across Montana using a proactive approach to address areas of concern on their ranches. This includes funding three projects that deal with animal waste issues. These projects assist ranchers in implementing management techniques that will help avoid state regulation if their operations are designed as a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) under the Animal Feeding Operations (AFO) section of the Clean Water Act. One of these projects entitled, “Changing Corrals, Corralling Change, Managing the Difference” was an idea fostered by the Beartooth Stock Association in Stillwater and Carbon counties. Two on-the-ground “Extreme Makeovers for Corrals” were sponsored in 2006 and another in 2007 with follow-up on the initial sites.

The committee is working on a user-friendly version of a recordkeeping book for those ranchers who prefer a hard copy (binder form) for keeping records. This project is in the initial stages of development and will continue through 2008.

Text description of GLCI project distribution shown on map. Includes larger map.

Grazing Lands Education

In December of 2004, the Montana GLCI rolled out a very ambitious education and awareness campaign, “Cowboy up with Conservation-it can save your grass.” Since the unveiling of the campaign at the Montana Stockgrowers annual convention in Billings over 850 conservation fulfillment packets have been mailed out. Those interested can go to Request A Grazing Lands Conservation Packet or write to Montana Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, PO Box 425, Bozeman, MT 59771-0425

In addition to the conservation packets, the education campaign has been presented at the National GLCI and area NRCS meetings, and the campaign has been on display at trade shows for the Montana Association of Conservation Districts, Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana Farm Bureau, and the Montana Woolgrowers meetings. In 2007, the committee purchased air time with the Northern Ag Network in the form of radio spots that send a hard message to listeners about issues such as brucellosis, wildfire, drought, toxic algae, and noxious weeds. Also, six months of television ads were purchased featuring, “They Care, Thanks, and Tranquility”, three television ads which were developed for the “Cowboy up with Conservation - can save your grass” education campaign.

In 2007, the Amazing Grazing Book and companion lesson plan was distributed to 5th and 6th grade libraries across the state. The lesson plan is available at Pastures, Prairies, and Amazing Grazers on the Montana State University (MSU) web site.

The committee sponsored the Montana Youth Range Camp by purchasing one of the two Montana Silversmith belt buckles ($100) awarded to the Top Hand and the Green Hand during the week-long camp. This is an annual camp which welcomes campers age 12 to 18, and rotates across the state.

The committee sponsored the “Path to Eden” project ($5000), which was produced and directed by Shelley Chauvet Von Stein, Rural Landscape Institute. The video is narrated by Tom Brokaw and serves as a welcoming tool to new landowners coming into Montana. The video was viewed by the National GLCI Steering Committee at their meeting in Casper, Wyoming in early September. In March, the committee met with Bruce Vincent, founder of Provider Pals, a unique student exchange program that celebrates cultural diversity, and promotes education, understanding and respect. The MT GLCI wanted to support this nationwide program and continue to do so in a number of ways: 1) exchanging links on our websites; 2) writing a thank-you letter to Ford Motor Co. and CAT INC, the two largest sponsors to Provider Pals; 3) adding their pamphlet to our conservation packets; 4) being adopted as a Provider Pal; 5) providing technical input to education materials regarding rangelands; 6) providing scientific materials: Amazing Grazing book and companion lesson plan, and 7) funding the Provider Pals program for $1000 to sponsor a classroom of students to access the on-line virtual village for one school year. The committee chose the Jefferson Middle School in Glendale, California.

GLCI Background

The Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) is a voluntary effort to enhance Montana’s 40 million acres of privately owned grazing land by increasing awareness and assisting with technical assistance at the grassroots level. Montana GLCI promotes partnership, voluntary action, respect for private property rights, diversification and technical development and is dedicated to healthy, productive and sustainable grazing lands.

This effort is led by a steering committee comprised of representatives from organizations with a vested interest in grazing lands. Steering Committee members include Terry Haughian, chairman of the committee, Northern Great Plains Section of the Society for Range Management; Russell Nemetz, vice-chairman, Montana Media-Northern Ag Network; Robert E. Lee, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and member of the National GLCI Steering Committee; Robert Hanson, Montana Farm Bureau, John Anderson, Montana Association of Conservation Districts; John Hollenback, Governor’s Rangeland Resources Committee; Aggie Helle, sheep industry representative and member of the National GLCI Steering Committee; Lonnie Reukauf, Montana Association of Grazing Districts; Josh Donald, Montana Stockgrowers; and Chase Hibbard, International Mountain Section of the Society for Range Management. The steering committee is also comprised of ex-official members, who provide technical guidance and includes representation from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Montana State University (MSU) Extension Service, MSU College of AG, Montana Association of Grazing Districts, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), Montana Department of Agriculture, the Ag Research Station in Miles City and The Sheep Institute.

Funding for Montana GLCI is through NRCS to support demonstration projects and educational programs throughout the state, in addition to providing range management technical assistance to ranchers in every county in Montana. MSU Extension is a partner in the Montana GLCI activities and provides major contributions through grazing land education programs and research.

Since its inception in 1996, Montana GLCI funding has approximately 85 projects in 50 counties. Projects are focused on enhancing the economic, social and environmental sustainability of private grazing lands.

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2007 Montana GLCI Annual Report (PDF; 557 KB)

Last Modified: 10/28/2008