Earlier this year, public land ownership and use were big topics in the news. The issue divided many Montanans on how best to use and manage these lands. I’m an avid user of public lands and fully support keeping them open to the public, but I also want to shed some light on how they’re funded at the federal level. The federal government is obligated to pay local jurisdictions some form of property tax on the land it owns. There are complex formulas and programs used to calculate those payments, and each year Congress must appropriate the money in the...

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Hennessey Murnin exiting the First Interstate Arena in Billings, Montana, after winning Reserve Grand Champion Heifer in the junior calf division at the Regional Hereford Show. Photo by Kellie Kubacak.

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The general rifle hunting season starts this week, so hundreds of optimistic out of state hunters will pour into Montana and our neighboring states to try to fulfill their dream of shooting a big, bull elk. Few of those hunters’ dreams come true, but the statistics on success rates do not deter avid hunters from booking hunts or trying it on their own. In general, the average hunter does not know what lies in store for him - especially if he has booked a wilderness outfitted hunt. The following is an account of one such hunter, Dr. Hank Newburn, a...

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Sometime after we moved to the Reinhart place on the edge of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, I was introduced to Clay Butte. I think it was either Jack or Chester James, two of my cousins that I went with the first time, but I’m not certain. We were probably eight or nine when I first went there. Clay Butte was perhaps a half mile or so from our eastern fence, and we rode our bikes there, rode our horses, or hiked to it. It was a wondrous place for young fellers to be. Riding our bikes didn’t happen often after...

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As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, many of us who work with our hands and spend our days outside find that this season offers more time with family and, for many of us, time to read. In today’s fast-paced and attention-grabbing world, reading has increasingly become a lost art. Lately, I’ve tried to spend more time reading or, when under a horse or driving the pickup, listening to one of my favorite authors: the beloved Western writer, Louis L’Amour. A few things stand out to me from his writings that hold particular relevance for those of us...

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On October 13, the Foster County 4-H Livestock Judging Team, out of North Dakota, put together a solid performance to win the senior division of the 4-H livestock judging contest at the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) in Billings, Montana. The team – comprised of Molly Hansen, Cyrena Kuss, Cally Hansen, and Kadence Spickler – traveled over seven hours to compete against other top teams from across Reporter Country. At the end of the day, the official team results in the 4-H senior division were as follows: Foster County, North Dakota Sheridan County, Wyoming Carbon County, Montana Rosebud County, Montana...

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On August 28, I wrote a column in response to an op-ed that was published in the Greeley Tribune (Greeley, Colorado) and The Denver Post which was titled, “Wild horses are pitted against grazing cattle in a battle for survival across the West.” I addressed some of the inaccuracies in the op-ed, and even after writing about it here, I couldn’t shake my frustration that the author, Jennifer Best, had just spewed a bunch of emotionally charged misinformation across a state already imbued with anti-ag rhetoric. So, I decided to dial down the tone of my column and make it...

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One of the most highly anticipated events of the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) in Billings, Montana, each year is the Ranch Rodeo Finals, which drew in a large crowd on Saturday, October 18. With stiff competition from nine teams who made it into the finals, Selkirk Ranchers, out of Dillon, Montana, came out as this year’s champions. The nine competing teams made up of four members have the opportunity to gain up to 36 points over the course of the three events: team doctoring, team branding, and team load and tie. First place in a given event will earn...

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CLICK HERE to tell Congress that importing Argentinian beef will not work and will hurt U.S. cattle producers! The Trump Administration announced a plan to import more Argentinian beef as a way to lower beef prices. We believe that the federal government should not be trying to influence beef prices and should let the free market work. Additionally, Argentina has a deeply unbalanced trading relationship with the United States, meaning they sell far more of their beef into the U.S. market than the U.S. can sell into Argentina. Over the last five years, Argentina has sold 1,859,558 worth of beef...

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The Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) expressed disappointment Monday morning with the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision to not hear a crucial corner crossing case. In August, MSGA filed an amicus brief alongside the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association (WSGA) and Wyoming Wool Growers Association (WWGA) to the United States Supreme Court in a crucial corner crossing case. “MSGA has defended private property rights for more than a century and will remain engaged in supporting movements toward affirming those protections,” stated Lesley Robinson, MSGA President. “We believe we provided a compelling argument from a landowners perspective for the court to take...

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