2021 Impact Report

Hi friends,

We’re so grateful that you’ve been a part of this Ranchers Stewardship Alliance Community over the past year. Together, we’ve made progress in our aim to help multi-generational and beginning ranchers build the collaborative, trusting relationships and community-based solutions we need to create healthy working landscapes and vibrant rural communities.

Here are a few highlights that you helped make happen in 2021:

Last year, the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance’s Conservation Committee worked with 18 ranch families in Phillips, Blaine, and Valley Counties to help implement grazing land improvements aimed to increase the resiliency of their ranch business, our grasslands, and wildlife habitat.

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance committed more than $377,000 to these projects. Conservation Committee partners and the ranchers & landowners themselves contributed another $1.8 million to the projects. That means that together, we invested more than $2.1 million in grassland & grazing improvements that impacted our local communities’ economies this year.

That included:

• 60 miles of wildlife friendly fence built
• 4,500 acres of grazing habitat restored to perennial habitat and native grasses
• 192,595 feet of water pipeline laid for enhanced water systems
• 60 livestock tanks installed with 25 bird escape ramps
• 5 new water wells for stock tanks for enhanced water systems

Our Education Committee cranked its efforts up a notch last year, too!

In July 2021, RSA partnered with Winnett ACES and area Conservation Districts to host a five-stop Nicole Masters Soil Health tour, gathering 221 ranchers across our region for hands-on soil health training and analysis.

The inaugural Graziers’ Gathering in October 2021 focused on elevating local ranching knowledge and experience in peer-to-peering ranching TED-styled talks. The event sold out in the first two weeks of ticket sales!

We hosted our first two Ranch Stewards Book Club sessions, featuring Nicole Master’s For the Love of Soil and Dr. Fred Provenza’s Nourishment. These virtual discussion groups created a community that spans the Northern Great Plains for inspiration to read, learn, grow, and create stimulating discussion around ideas that matter to healthier landscapes, people, and animals.

The first five sessions in the Rural Resilience webinar series shared world-class speakers and innovative ranching and conservation ideas with 944 registered guests, representing up to 26 different states, right in the comfort of our ranch homes!

We share these numbers and celebrations as a constant reminder that even in tough years — the years where drought tests our faith and economic challenges try our spirits — we can still grow and learn and build more resilient ranches, landscapes, and communities to not just weather the next storm, but to thrive in doing what we love.

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and participation in 2021.

You can help continue these efforts in 2022.

Our 2021 Impact Report is in the mail! Check out the digital copy here. We’re looking forward to growing stronger in 2022.

Join the Winning Team: Executive Assistant position now open!

This position has been filled!

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance

Executive Assistant

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance is a fast-growing, rancher-led organization based in Malta, Montana. We exist to help multi-generational and beginning ranchers build the collaborative, trusting relationships and community-based solutions we need to create healthy working landscapes and vibrant rural communities.

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance is an organization nationally recognized for its leadership in building partnerships that provide education and implement stewardship practices and principles supporting vibrant communities, multi-generation family ranches and healthy ecosystems. Our mission statement is Ranching, Conservation, Communities – a Winning Team!

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance is seeking an Executive Assistant to contribute to our mission and to be a member of this winning team.

Our ideal candidate is:

• Self-starting; a logical worker who can see needs and work independently.
• Tech-savvy; a problem-solver who can help make webinars function seamlessly, who thinks tracking data and spreadsheets is fun, and who can integrate new software that helps the whole team be more successful.
• Detail-oriented; a focused task-master who makes sure every mission is checked off the list,
• Team-focused; a helper who ensures other team members, customers and partners have the information and resources they need to be successful.

We offer:

• A flexible workplace; this position be based Malta, Montana, office the majority of the time. We offer flexible remote work when on occasion, when needed.
• A winning team; we’re a small team, but we’re growing quickly and opportunities continue to abound. If you care about ranching, these prairie landscapes and our rural communities, you’ll be a part of meaningful work that makes a positive impact on all three.
• Room to grow; we value learning, wise growth and getting better every day. We bring in educational speakers and workshops for our ranching community and work to invest in our own professional skills so we can continue to serve.

The details:

• Ideally, we envision this position is 20 hours a week with a starting wage of $18/hr.
• Each employee serves a 3–6-month probationary period to determine if we fit together
• Because we work largely with volunteers and in events, some evenings, early mornings, and weekends are required. We’re flexible with your work hours because we’re flexible to our work needs!

DETAILED JOB DUTIES FOR OPERATIONS MANAGER:

Support Staff

• The main go-to person and support staff for the Conservation Coordinator, Finance & Grant Administrator, and the Communications & Outreach Leader
• Your duties as support staff may vary widely with an opportunity to learn many new skills and functions of our organization

Day-to-day operations  

• Mail, mailings, preparing bank deposits,
• Answer phone, relay messages, and maintain local office communication.
• Email inbox management and exodus
• Filing, scanning, & organizing systems; updating filing systems and scanning with naming protocol
• Contribute to the organization and coordination of community events and functions (PC Proud, educational workshops, tours, etc.) by leading logistics, including entertainment, location, equipment, educational materials, programs, door prizes, food, etc.

Committee management  

• Creating agendas, notes, and reports, setting up zooms, keeping schedules, moving work forward for committee
• Notify RSA board, committees, members, partners and the community of monthly meetings and committee meetings
• Organize and edit all incoming information for all RSA meetings. Assist the Project Leader in organizing meetings and developing agendas for monthly RSA meetings.
• Set up Zoom meeting links & reserve conference room for meetings, compile and print meeting packets for meetings; record, distribute and file RSA monthly meeting minutes.

Charity Proud software and database management  

• Self-teaching opportunity! Learn the Charity Proud Customer Relationship Management software to handle customer/partner database management.
• Manage RSA calendar, grant deadlines, physical mailing and electronic mailing list
• Maintain record of director’s terms of office and election dates, and track attendance at meetings.
• Prepare donor acknowledgement letters

Technology management  

• Scan documents, establish and maintain an organized filing system.
• Transition electronic files to new online filing system, lead planning on naming system
• Manage office software systems, passwords, electronic inventory, etc.,

Please submit a resume, cover letter, and at least three professional references to:
Conni French at [email protected] and Angel DeVries at [email protected].

Applications will be collected until a suitable candidate is found.

Join the Winning Team: Communication & Outreach Leader position now open!

APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS NOW CLOSED, June 8, 2022

This position has been filled

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance: Communications & Outreach Leader

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance is a fast-growing, rancher-led organization based in Malta, Montana. We exist to help multi-generational and beginning ranchers build the collaborative, trusting relationships and community-based solutions we need to create healthy working landscapes and vibrant rural communities.

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance is an organization nationally recognized for its leadership in building partnerships that provide education and implement stewardship practices and principles supporting vibrant communities, multi-generation family ranches and healthy ecosystems. Our mission statement is Ranching, Conservation, Communities – a Winning Team!

We are seeking a Communications & Outreach Leader to join our winning team and contribute to this mission.

Our ideal candidate is:

• Self-starting; you are an entrepreneurial leader who can see needs, seek creative solutions, and work independently.
• Relationship-centered; you are the ‘hub’ of the organization’s social life. You share stories, ideas, and connect people and partners. You bring energy and emotional intelligence to work with board, staff, volunteers, funders, partners, and our community.
• Mission-driven; you embody the mission of the organization, lead us in strategic planning, have a mission-driven vision for the future of ranching, conservation, and communities, and you are comfortable representing this mission publicly.
• Deeply connected; you are networked in and understand the ranching, conservation, and rural community scene. You bring connectivity to other similar organizations, current and potential partners, and funders, and are rooted in the rural and ranching way of life.

We offer:

• A flexible workplace; this position will be based in Blaine, Phillips, or Valley County, with an option for a flexible combination of remote work and time in the Malta office.
• A winning team; we are a small team, but we are growing quickly, and opportunities continue to abound. If you care about ranching, conserving prairie landscapes, and our rural communities, you’ll be a part of meaningful work that makes a positive impact on all three.
• Room to grow; we value learning, wise growth and getting better every day. We bring in educational speakers and workshops for our ranching community and work to invest in our own professional skills so we can continue to serve. 

The details:

• This is ideally a full-time position, but we are willing to start on a project-by-project basis.
• Each employee serves a 3–6-month probationary period to determine if we fit together.
• Because we work with volunteers and at events, some evenings, early mornings, and weekends are required. We’re flexible with your work hours because we’re flexible to our work needs! Some travel will be required.
• Full funding for this position is secured for at least one year, with opportunities and a desire to continue. Salary range is $40,000-$60,000 depending on experience and ability.

DETAILED JOB DUTIES FOR OUTREACH & COMMUNICATION LEADER:

Community Connections:

• Clearly communicate (written and verbally) Ranchers Stewardship Alliance’s mission and goals in compelling ways.
• Serve as primary point of contact and liaison for Ranchers Stewardship Alliance for outward facing communication and community leadership.
• Attend meetings with stakeholders, partners, and resource groups to inform, update and/or coordinate on Ranchers Stewardship Alliance activities such as tours and educational events.
• Lead the development of on-ranch volunteer opportunities and volunteer coordination.
• Work with your team to develop fundraising efforts; lead donor communication and relationship development and create opportunities for new funding sources.

Communication & Outreach:

• Create strategic annual communication plan, including annual report, appeals, and media outreach. Lead coordination of design, printing, and distribution of communication materials.
• Maintain a social media presence (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, webpage, etc.) and regular connection to our Ranch Stewards community through MailChimp newsletters.
• Work with outside contractors or self-produce video, audio, and print stories that illustrate our mission, vision, values, and achievements in meaningful ways.

Education & Workshop:

• Create a central ‘hub’ through the Education & Outreach Committee for the ranching community beyond Ranchers Stewardship Alliance’s traditional audience.
• Strategize, plan, and execute education and workshop calendar, including in person and virtual events, that reach community needs and ranching objectives.
• Provide leadership for Education & Outreach Committee for functions such as Annual Banquet, educational workshops, virtual webinars, tours, etc.; provide for project vision, core values and purpose, and then execute through agendas, speaker coordination, entertainment, materials, and advertisement.
• Provide public information through media outlets on Ranchers Stewardship Alliance activities, upcoming meetings, and opportunities for stakeholder participation and input.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

The ideal candidate will have proven experience in communication and leadership/project management. You demonstrate a working knowledge of grassland conservation and the ranching communities of the Northern Great Plains. A record of leadership and team building will help you seamlessly work with fellow staff, volunteer board of directors, and partners. Formal education or documented experience in communication, journalism, leadership, education, or other relevant topics is valuable.

Please submit a resume, cover letter, and at least three professional references to: Conni French at [email protected] and Angel DeVries at [email protected].

Volunteer fence maintenance a win-win for landowners, big game

By Martin Townsend, RSA Lands Coordinator  

This summer, an effort between conservation organizations and Blaine County ranchers at the Louie Petrie Ranch north of Turner, Montana offered two days of hands-on learning, practical ranch work, and collaboration to benefit ranching and pronghorn migration in the region.

The Obrecht family hosted more than 40 volunteers June 17 and 18 at their ranch to share how fencing and simple changes of wire heights can make huge impacts for migrating pronghorn. The Woody Island Coulee area is a key migration linkage for pronghorn. Hundreds of animals migrate through the area each year as they follow_­ the narrow strip of grassland from summer to winter ranges at each end.

Along the way, these animals can encounter fences that make travel difficult. This added stress can have negative impacts to their health and survivability, especially in harsh weather. Raising bottom wires on fences to 16-18 inches can greatly reduce these hindrances. This field day accomplished just that task for the benefit of migrating pronghorn as well as completed some needed fencing maintenance on the ranch.

The workshop started with presentations related to pronghorn migration and programs from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and Pheasants Forever biologists. Tyrel Obrecht shared an overview of the ranch and gave a great explanation as to why they prioritize wildlife habit alongside their cattle grazing. The family has found that by managing their grazing in a way that benefits wildlife, their business benefits, too.

The group toured the ranch to see cropland that has been seeded to grassland and their use of temporary fence to help with plant recovery and carbon sequestration. By grazing small areas for short periods of time, and therefore allowing greater rest and recovery time after grazing, Obrecht said he has noted increased plant vigor and resiliency without sacrificing grazing capacity. This increase in plant response also helps provide high value food sources for wildlife. These are food sources pronghorn need while migrating through the area.

Next, volunteers either removed a bottom wire, clipped the next wire up in places, or re-hung at a height easier for pronghorn to get under. Most of the volunteers were conservation agency or organization employees with Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), Ducks Unlimited, World Wildlife Fund, Pheasants Forever, Ameri-corps and more. Surrounding ranchers also came and learned about pronghorn migration and provided support to the fencing crews.

While the volunteers worked on wires, ranching neighbors in UTV’s helped supply tools, moved crews and provided water as the afternoon got warm. The event brought together a diverse network of experiences and expertise: college-aged interns worked alongside state and regional agency directors; ranchers worked alongside employees of wildlife non-profits. Everyone got to meet someone new and directly contribute to improving habitat for wildlife and the ranch’s grazing infrastructure. Many of the participants camped on the ranch to get an early start on the fencing the second day. This provided an opportunity to get to know each other, see more of the ranch and recreate in a place some had never experienced. Some of the intern participants were from as far away as Massachusetts and some had never seen pronghorn before. The event was a great introduction to ranching and wildlife co-existing in this prairie landscape.

The Obrecht family and workshop organizers set a goal to modify nine miles of fence for the event. By lunch on the second day, the group had modified more than 11 miles of fence. It was a great opportunity for relationship building, community engagement, wildlife habitat improvements, and ranching exposure for people that might not otherwise see the intersection of ranching and conservation on the ground.

Thank you to all who put this event on, including Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Blaine County Conservation District, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and First Bank of Montana.

Thank you to the Obrecht family and the Louie Petrie Ranch for hosting this great event.

NextGen Fencing: The Future of Pasture Management

Montana rancher shares lessons learned with virtual cow collar technology in free May 18 webinar.

By Laura Nelson,
Ranchers Stewardship Alliance

He never thought he’d see it in his lifetime.

“This started with a conversation with a friend in the wildlife community,” Montana rancher Leo Barthelmess said. They discussed the challenges old, barbed—wire fencing posed to wildlife migration, and the cost and labor involved for a rancher to maintain and build new fencing. The expenses for both continued to mount.

“She said, ‘wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to have fences?’ I said, ‘Yes, but we won’t see it in you or I’s lifetime,’” Barthelmess recalled.

Just a couple years later, a conversation with a fellow Ranching For Profit graduate piqued his interest and connected him to company working to implement virtual fencing collars for livestock. He’s now in his second full year testing the technology on his family’s south Phillips County ranch.

Barthelmess and Vence, Inc., engineer Todd Parker will present “Ranching for a Resilient Future: Virtual Fencing for Land, Livestock and Landscape Health” in a free webinar at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 18. Registration for the webinar is at www.ranchstewards.org. This is the final session in the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance’s Rural Resilience webinar series.

The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, with support from the Montana Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) also released a short film called “NextGen Fencing” on the topic this week.

The virtual fencing collars use satellite positioning technology to contain livestock without the need for a physical barrier. The distribution of the collared livestock can be carefully and precisely controlled through Vence’s software interface, where grazing cells can be quickly moved or modified according to conditions and vegetation growth.

“We are more prepared to weather adverse situations because we have the tools and the opportunities and the options to change course rather quickly,” Barthelmess said in the video.

The Barthelmess family piloted the use of the virtual cow collars on 400 mature cows in October 2019. After a full year utilizing the technology in 2020, they continue to adjust their grazing strategy and learn alongside their cattle.

“A lot of what good ranching and stockmanship is, is taking good care of the land, and we’re bringing another tool to the table to help ranchers do that,” Parker said.

Barthelmess said he noted a very distinct change in animal behavior over the course of the past two grazing seasons with the collars in place.

“They have historic memory of where they graze and how they graze,” Barthelmess said. “We’ve made them graze places they’ve never grazed before.”

The ability to adaptably rest favored areas and force cattle to graze historically under-utilized pasture with the collars helps stockpile forages to move the ranch closer to its ultimate goal of year-round grazing. While Barthelmess says he recognizes a yard full of hay is a necessary insurance policy for a North-Central Montana winter, “Our long-term goal is to graze cattle out on improved forage 11-12 months a year. The cost of equipment is just too high to keep haying – we have to change our business model if we want to sustain the ranch.”

Barthelmess can adjust his grazing barriers on his home computer or iPad. The barriers upload to Vence servers in California and the new fence lines are live within 12 hours.

“Virtual fencing is going to be a game-changer in terms of cost and labor,” Parker said. “You’re able to do more fencing, and more flexible fencing. Stock density can go up, ranching efficiency can go up and all of this is going to improve the bottom line.”

While the virtual collars mean less time spent building or moving temporary electric fence, or repairing and building perimeter fence, Barthelmess says it doesn’t mean less time in the field – just different time. He now spends more time observing the cattle, noting the conditions of the grass and soil, strategizing how to improve the next pasture design and enjoying the land and lifestyle that he loves.

“We want quality of life for ourselves and our livestock, we want a wonderful community to live in, we want these soils and water systems to work properly,” Barthelmess said. “We’re just one piece of this big, complex web of life, and we’re just trying to manage the pieces we can manage.”

# # #

About Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, Inc.: In 2003, 30 ranching families in northern Montana came together to resolve common problems they faced. Now known as the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, this rancher-led non-profit organization continues to work to strengthen our rural communities, economy and ranching culture. RSA exists to help multi-generational and beginning ranchers build the collaborative, trusting relationships and community-based solutions we need to create healthy, working landscapes and vibrant rural communities. Ranching, Conservation, Communities – a Winning Team!

The NextGen Fencing film, produced by AgriStudios, is available at https://youtu.be/0NSWoWCROus. Please contact Laura Nelson at [email protected] for to inquire about sharing an original version of the film with your audience.

Bring landowner voices to Dec. 1 Private Lands/Public Wildlife meeting

In 2018, Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued Secretarial Order 3362 to improve habitat quality and big game winter range and migration corridors for antelope, elk and mule deer. The order provides funding for research and restoration projects to improve habitat within important migration corridors across the West. In response, Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks more recently identified five priority areas in our state with the most relevance to big game winter range and migration.

From my family ranch’s view in the heart of ‘Priority Area D: from the Canadian border to the Musselshell Plains’ in south Phillips County, this is no surprise. We’ve long been aware of these big game movements, although we may not have been able to articulate our working knowledge with the precision of the research that has more recently tracked and measured the extent of this land’s importance to big game movements. Still, we watch wildlife move through our pastures and fields with the same seasonal ebbs and flows that dictate our ranch’s calendar and daily work. We see when and where antelope pace alongside a fence line they fail to navigate, we recognize the impact a wildlife herd can have on our livestock grazing plans, and we mend the fences where their movements burst through.

On Dec. 1, the Governor-appointed Private Lands Public Wildlife Council will host a panel discussion to hear from landowners across Montana concerning how the state may better support working lands that support wildlife movements and migrations. The Council ultimately offers recommendations to the Governor and to the state legislature on issues concerning private lands and public wildlife. As the stewards of our working lands, ranchers can and must offer valuable working knowledge to this conversation. It’s important that we offer our insights and ideas early in the process and remain engaged in the conversation.

The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance hosted a local discussion in October with our Fish, Wildlife and Parks representatives to learn more about their research and understanding of big game migrations and to share our working knowledge of the land and wildlife they’re studying. The local ranching leaders who serve on our Ranchers Stewardship Alliance Board of Directors appreciate that FWP has made concerted and conscientious efforts to seek out local landowner perspectives in these wildlife migration issues.

The Private Lands Public Wildlife Council’s Dec. 1 virtual meeting will continue that conversation by asking: How does the state of Montana better support the working lands that support wildlife movement and migration? What is working? What do landowners need more help with, and what recommendations would landowners give? Information on the meeting, including call-in information, can be found at http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/hunterAccess/plpw/.

The technical knowledge and research provided by FWP, other agencies and wildlife experts helps me make decisions that can benefit my ranch, the public’s wildlife and my rural community. In turn, our ranching experiences and observational wisdom can help agencies make plans that are realistic, agile and meaningful. This kind of collaboration doesn’t happen by accident. It takes resources and relationships and constant communication. The door is open on Dec. 1, and I’m urging fellow ranchers and private landowners to tune in to the live stream, offer their input and be a part of the conversation.

– Leo Barthelmess, President, Ranchers Stewardship Alliance
Barthelmess Ranch, Malta, MT. 

Ranchers Stewardship Alliance is a rancher-led, conservation-focused non-profit in north-central Montana. We help multigenerational and beginning ranchers build the collaborative, trusting relationships and community-based solutions they need to create healthy working landscapes and vibrant rural communities. We believe that ranching, conservation, and communities build the ultimate winning team.

One Montana’s Master Hunter Program accepting applications

One Montana’s Master Hunter Program is accepting applications October 1, 2020 – November 30, 2020 for the 2021 classes.

The program includes classroom and online instruction, and field work. The course covers wildlife management, history of conservation, hunting culture and ethics, private land stewardship, shooting accuracy and precision, lead-free ammunition, and hunting skills to name a few.  Master Hunter instructors have a wide diversity of knowledge and perspectives and in include ranchers, farmers, university faculty, professional shooting instructors, wildlife managers, and wildlife biologists, and MT Fish Wildlife and Parks personnel, among others.

This year, Ranchers Stewardship Alliance board vice president Conni French and her husband, Craig, hosted three Master Hunter students on their C Lazy J Ranch. Learn about their experience with the hunters and the program here.

“Our biggest take-away from the day was how important it is to keep communication open between hunters and landowners as they share the same resource. As we visited throughout the day we came to understand that these hunters were curious, ethical, hard-working, and enthusiastic. We were lucky to have them come out and work with us for a day and we look forward to another work day with the Master Hunter program down the road.” — Conni French

One of the primary goals of the program is to build trust and working relationships between landowners and sportsmen and women. The program provides hunters the opportunity to learn from landowners about the challenges they face on a daily bases and specifically how wildlife impacts them. Secondly, the program seeks to help landowners and the state with their wildlife management goals. By working with landowners Master Hunters also help to change false perceptions about both hunting and agriculture, and ultimately work to increase access opportunities for future generations.

Locations for classes in 2021 will be offered in Bozeman (February), Great Falls (March), Kalispell (April), and Miles City (May).  Each class will consist of three 2-day weekends, except Miles City will have a two 3-Day weekend format. A weekend rendezvous in June is also required for qualifications, field exercises, and the final exam.

The program cost is $375.  A limited number of scholarships are available through a separate application process. The program is led by One Montana (1MT), a nonprofit located in Bozeman, MT that works to sustain a vibrant Montana by connecting our urban and rural communities.  1MT implements creative programs that maintain agriculture and working lands, support private land stewardship, and preserve our cultural heritage.

Landowners interested in partnering with the program to manage wildlife, build relationships with ethical, educated, and effective hunters, and tell their stewardship story to an audience of sportsmen can fully customize their hunting program with Master Hunter to meet their specific needs.

To learn more about taking the class, email Everett Headley, Lead Instructor, at [email protected]. To inquiry about becoming a land partner of the program, contact Kelly Beevers, at [email protected].

Learn more about the Master Hunter Program at https://www.mtmasterhunter.com/ and  1MT at https://onemontana.org/.

Building a herd and hope

Beginning rancher revitalizes retired CRP to grow her herd and wildlife habitat

By Laura C. Nelson, Ranchers Stewardship Alliance

The old homestead still stands sentinel on the hill.

Weathered, worn and abandoned long ago, Heather Martin has often looked at the relic and wondered just how the brother-sister duo who claimed this parcel more than a century ago thought they could make a living off such a small sliver of sandy soil.

“There’s no well, no running water, and when this reservoir dries up, there’s nothing,” the Phillips County rancher says, nodding to the still pool nestled in the natural basin. “Maybe they got more rain back then, maybe it held more snow – I just don’t know. It had to have been a tough living.”

As decades wore on, making a living on that land didn’t get any easier. It was plowed, then entered into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in the 1990s, indicating it was considered marginal cropland, at best. Planted to crested wheatgrass, a non-native but prolific species, it was left to weather the elements like the homestead decades before. The crested wheatgrass took root and covered the bare ground as intended, but wildlife search for tender, native grasses to graze. Dead growth became a barrier to new life.

Still, like many before her, Heather Martin saw opportunity.

“I was trying to grow; we were running out of ground. I was just trying to make it work, this ranching deal,” she says. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’ve known that since I was eight years old.”

Cattle, like the wildlife before, would likely turn their noses up at the brittle, nutrient-poor overgrown and dead vegetation, and Martin feared it was a tinder box of bad luck waiting for a lightning strike and an uncontrollable blaze.

She knocked down what she could with a swather and baled the worst stands the year she bought it. With a land payment pressing, there was no time for further renovations. The dilapidated fence line was ragged at best – “That first year, I was getting heifers in every day. Every day! But what could I do? I had to use it.”

A previous owner had interspersed some alfalfa seed, and native vegetation began inching its way back in. With the first stand knocked back, she bought 600-pound heifers to develop and sold them at 1,000 pounds.

“It’s a producing little pasture,” she says, sure of its potential to grow the nourishment needed to expand her Red Angus breeding program. It’s the perfect spot for developing heifers or for her A.I. and embryo transfer cattle.

“I love yearlings; I love calving heifers, too. I know a lot of people don’t like to bother with it – it’s hard!—but I like the challenge,” Martin says. “I like that you get to be the one who see her ‘get it’ for the first time. You get to teach them, in a way.”

But the land was ready to teach her the same lesson it doled out to generations of westerners before: dreams, ambition, hard work and know-how doesn’t mean much without water.

“In 2017, I hauled water every day to this pasture. The reservoir dried all the way up. If you’ve ever had to haul water, you know – I’m haying, trying to get everything else done, and it’s up at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning to haul water, then off to work or to help someone else on their place and back at 11 o’clock at night to fill the trough,” she recalls. “My heart is here – these cows, they’re my heart – but I don’t know. Sometimes you wonder if it makes sense, if it’s really worth it, you know?”

Hope in a hard time

“In 2017, the panic was on – everyone in Phillips County was out of water,” Sage Grouse Initiative Rangeland Conservationist Martin Townsend says. “That summer was a record-setting drought, so it really highlighted where people were low on water. At that point, available water became the most limiting resource for agricultural production.”

When Heather Martin approached the local Farm Service Agency office for potential water development funding, she learned that due to high demand, it would be at least a year before cost-share funding would be available. Instead, she was directed to the Natural Resources Conservation Service to inquire about new conservation funding available through the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA). There, she was introduced to Martin Townsend, who is hired by the Soil and Water Conservation District of Montana to work in the Malta Natural Resource Conservation Service office doing conservation planning and contracting.  Townsend also serves as RSA’s volunteer Conservation Committee Coordinator.

The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance was formed in 2003 as a rancher-led conservation organization based in Malta, Montana. The organization’s mission is to help multi-generational and beginning ranchers build the collaborative, trusting relationships and community-based solutions they need to create healthy working landscapes and vibrant rural communities.

In 2017, RSA was awarded a $300,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Northern Great Plains Program for local rangeland improvements to benefit grassland birds, rangeland health and working landscape through livestock grazing.

The grant money would be administered through the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance’s newly formed Conservation Committee, a collaboration of ranchers, state and federal agencies and conservation organizations. Matching funds from Conservation Committee partners brought the total available funds to $410,000.

“The first phase of that grant money was specifically focused on expiring CRP land that could be put into a grazing system,” Townsend says. “The goal is to reduce the risk of cultivation and keep grasslands for grassland birds, while supporting working lands, ranching and the rural community.”

Heather Martin’s project was the perfect fit, smack in the middle of priority habitat for grassland birds like the chestnut-collared and McCown’s longspur. The pasture also falls just outside the core area near a sage grouse migratory corridor and has several active leks (breeding grounds) within a five-mile radius.

It marked all the boxes in promoting biodiversity and healthy wildlife habitat, but most rewarding, Townsend says, is that it offered resilience to a  rancher working to grow her herd.

“We want her operation to be functional, because when it is, it’s functional for wildlife, too,” Townsend says.

To do that, the RSA Conservation Committee proposed to drill a new well, install 6,000 feet of livestock pipeline, install two fiberglass water tanks with bird ramps and construct 1.2 miles of perimeter and internal fencing. With a nearly one-to-one match, Martin purchased the tanks and labor to construct the fencing and in turn, the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance would pay to install the well, pipeline and purchase fencing supplies.

“It’s a godsend,” Martin says. “In less than eight months, I had water on this place. I couldn’t believe it.”

Resilience for a first-time rancher

The pickup bounces across what may have once been farming tracks in the hip-high, new growth.

“I’m still getting to know this little pasture,” Martin says. “It takes time to really get to know a piece of land; to know what grows, what does well, the lay of the land.”

The new water system has allowed her to look at this land differently. When she relied on the reservoir for water, it could only be grazed in early spring when water ran. In the first year after the well was drilled and pipeline installed, she was able to experiment with winter grazing with cattle foraging into December. Now, she can rest the pasture through the spring and summer to allow fresh regrowth.

She’s not the only one reaping the benefits of the reinvigorated landscape.

She’s mid-sentence when she stops the pickup abruptly and points: “Grouse.”

There, nestled in the swaying sweet clover, the female sage grouse finds cover. Earlier in the spring, the shorter, new grass would be ideal for songbirds, and throughout the year, antelope move through the landscape. In recent years, Martin has seen more elk making their way through her pastures, and one year, she spotted a rogue moose.

“That’s the beauty of a grazing system,” rancher and RSA Conservation Committee chair Sheila Walsh says. “It creates diversity on the landscape that a variety of wildlife needs to thrive. But what’s just as important to us is that it can allow a young rancher to thrive, too.”

Martin still has more fencing work to complete her end of the RSA conservation match. The cross-fencing will help her create an even more detailed grazing plan and add more options to her breeding program. As she develops her herd, she’s working toward more purebred breeding stock to sell. She’s in her second year offering registered Red Angus bulls in collaboration with the Rough Country Breeders sale and sees opportunity to offer more.

“I just love what I do,” she says. Sticking with it involves a lot of stubbornness, she laughs, but it also requires a bigger team. “Starting out on my own and building my own program has been hard,” she says. “But I’ve had a lot of people pulling for me in places I needed them. And for that, I’m thankful.”

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About Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, Inc.: In 2003, about 30 ranching families in northern Montana came together to resolve common problems they faced. Now known as RSA, this rancher-led conservation organization works to strengthen our rural community, economy and culture. Our mission is to help multi-generational and beginning ranchers build the collaborative, trusting relationships and community-based solutions they need to create healthy, working landscapes and vibrant rural communities.

About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Chartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Working with federal, corporate, and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 5,000 organizations and generated a total conservation impact of $6.1 billion. Learn more at www.nfwf.org.