Stories for Action

Pedro Marques, who has an ecology and landscape-scale restoration background, is Executive Director of the Big Hole Watershed Committee (BHWC). This organization brings together a variety of stakeholders; ranchers, anglers, agencies, scientists, community leaders, and more to collectively address challenges and benefit the health of the communities and ecosystems of the Big Hole Watershed in South...

Laura Nowlin grew up on her family’s ranch in Winnett, MT, in the prairies and coulees of Central Montana. After a decade away, Laura returned home and continues her family's tradition as a cattle rancher. Her passion and heart is clearly tied to not only the land and waters here, but the community of Winnett. Laura speaks to her involvements with locally led organization Winnett ACES, whose holis...

Jim Magee is a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program in the Big Hole Valley of Southwest Montana. The Partner Program provides free technical and financial assistance to landowners, managers, tribes, corporations, schools and nonprofits interested in improving wildlife habitat on their land.  For the past 28 years, Jim has been an active part of th...

Chet Robertson is a Range Rider in the Big Hole Valley on behalf of the Big Hole Watershed Committee. A Range Rider typically rides amongst the cattle, to keep an eye on the livestock, watch for medical issues, monitor when they need to move to new ground to prevent overgrazing, and to prevent conflict with predators. Whereas most Range Riders ride the cattle, Chet is unique in that he rides the p...

The communities of the Big Hole Valley depend on the economies of ranching and fly fishing. In this episode, we hear from two members of the Big Hole Watershed Committee from each of those industries. Eric Thorson owns Sunrise Fly Shop in Melrose, MT and speaks to the significance of fly fishing in the Big Hole as an economic driver and a catalyst for conservation. He also speaks to the impacts on...

Piikani Lodge Health Institute (PLHI) is a community-driven organization that integrates traditional lifeways to create resiliency for the people and biosystems of the Blackfeet Nation, in Northwest Montana. They use holistic approaches and the guidance of traditional lifeways to meet community led and community focused needs. They lead programs on the ground and conduct research, integrating both...

Kristen Kipp is a member of the Blackfeet Nation, Amskapi Piikani. Kristen is a cattle rancher, a mother, a hunter, an advocate, and so much more. She runs her own cattle operation within her family’s ranch outside of Browning, MT in the heart of Blackfeet Country in Northwest Montana. She works in Producer Outreach for the Piikani Lodge Health Institute and the Blackfeet Nation Stockgrowers Assoc...

Jesse DesRosier, Amskapi Piikani, Blackfeet Tribal Member, is a teacher of the Blackfeet Language. He teaches at The Piegan Institute's Cuts Wood School and Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana. Jesse is also an artist, a community and cultural advocate, a Veteran, a husband, and father. Jesse shares with us about the intricate connection of the Blackfeet Language to the land and how B...

In this episode we are in the community of Seeley Lake, in Western Montana. We hear from Caryn Miske, the Executive Director of the Clearwater Resource Council, a locally-led entity that works to engage the community and facilitate efforts that enhance, conserve, and sustain the natural resources and rural lifestyle of the Clearwater Watershed for present and future generations. Caryn shares with...

We are in Seeley Lake, a community in the Clearwater Watershed, and an hour north of Missoula, hearing from Gordy Sanders (Resource Manager) and Wendy Dalrymple (Controller) of Pyramid Mountain Lumber. Pyramid is is the largest employer in Seeley Lake, and the oldest surviving family owned lumber mill in Montana. Gordy and Wendy speak with us about what it can look like when a natural resource ind...

In this episode, we are on the Flathead Reservation in Western Montana, speaking with Tony Incashola, Jr., Director of the Tribal Forestry Department for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), and Ron Swaney and Darrell Clairmont of CSKT’s Division of Fire. These interviews are featured in the Life in the Land film on the Seeley-Swan, as that region was not only significant for the Kali...

In this episode we are speaking with Timothy Ryan, Salish tribal member, cultural educator, and Department Head for the Salish Kootenai College’s Culture and Language Studies Department. We are on the banks of the Flathead River, on the ancestral homelands of the Salish, Kootenai, and Kalispell Peoples in what is now known as Western Montana. Tim speaks about connections to this land, here, in the...

We are in the Swan Valley of Northwest Montana, hearing from Rebecca Ramsey, Executive Director of Swan Valley Connections. SVC is a locally-led organization with a mission to inspire conservation and expand stewardship in the Swan Valley. SVC really dials into the holistic values of stewardship; of connecting people to their environment, in ways that directly benefit the health of the local commu...

In today’s episode, we hear from Lauren Monroe Jr., Amskapi Piikani, of the Blackfeet Nation. Lauren serves as Vice Chairman of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council. He is also an artist, a film director, and worked for Blackfeet Nation Fish and Wildlife Department.  Lauren speaks with us about his own connection to the land, the critical nature of having Blackfeet leadership in regional land man...

Jim Hagenbarth is a cattle rancher near Glen, Montana, in the Big Hole Valley. Jim tells us what he wants the public to know about a rancher's role as a steward of the land, the success and challenges of collaborative work, and the impacts of droughts, not only to ranchers, but on the sustainability of open space and connected ecosystems. The Life in the Land project is a series of films and podca...

Patrick Yawakie is on a path to address as many angles that move forward Indigenous self-determination and empowerment as possible. He lives on the Flathead Reservation in Western Montana. Originally from Minnesota, Patrick is of Zuni-Pueblo, Turtle Mountain Anishinabe, Fort Peck Assiniboine Sioux, and White Bear Nakoda Cree descent.  Patrick and his wife, Regina MadPlume founded the People’s Food...

Today’s episode looks at changes and pressures being felt in Montana communities, and the importance of community involvement in navigating how this change can occur in a sustainable way. Changes are nothing new for Montana communities, but as you listen to residents from around the state, they know that the changes currently taking place, are a bit more ramped up than before. Trends of folks with...

In the 1960’s, Peabody Energy began operating coal mines, and then later coal power generating stations on both the Navajo and Hopi Reservation land. While the coal operations generated jobs and tax revenue for the Navajo and Hopi people, the environmental impact has been astounding. In this episode we speak with Nicole Horseherder, a Diné woman who lives on the Black Mesa Plateau in Navajo Nation...

Tianna Arredondo has been active in organizing for environmental justice since they were a child. Their organizing has ranged from the local community level to international, with groups such as Power Shift Network and SustainUS, where Tianna was a delegate for the UN Climate Negotiations in 2018. Tianna is currently a National Organizer for Environmental Justice at 350, an organization dedicated...

Jamiah Hargins is the founder of Crop Swap LA, a social enterprise that will convert lawns and unused spaces into hubs of nutrient-rich food for Los Angeles communities that are the most affected by nutritional food discrimination. What started as a method of connecting neighborhood gardeners to share their extra produce, has grown into a full venture that includes Jamiah and his team literally pl...

"Every action that we take to decrease emissions and decrease air pollution is going to improve human health...There will be roughly 1.4 million lives saved over improved air quality over the next 20 years. This also results in about $700 billion per year to the US from improved health, which is dramatically more than the cost of implementing the changes necessary to mitigate and prepare for clima...

We are hearing about a "just transition" a lot lately, though calls for it have been coming for decades. As the world is inevitably shifting away from fossil fuels to a more sustainable energy source, a just transition calls to make sure this shift is done as fair, or just, as possible, keeping in mind the impacts and benefits to people. There are many layers of impact we must look at within this...

St. James Parish, an area an hour west of New Orleans, was once a landscape of wetlands, fertile soil, and healthy waterways.  In the early 80’s, an influx of industrial plants moved in. This area, which now contains 150 industrial plants in an 85 mile stretch, is now termed “Cancer Alley”, or “Death Alley” by residents as the known health effects extend well beyond cancers, putting this area at t...

What if there was something that could feed humans, provide good paying jobs, benefit the health of the oceans, mitigate climate change, feed livestock, fertilize soil, restore food sovereignty for coastal Indigenous communities, and create a biodegradable plastic? Enter: Seaweed. Bren Smith is a commercial fisherman turned ocean farmer. As a driver of this modern method of regenerative ocean farm...

Maia Wikler is an anthropologist, climate justice organizer, and writer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue and VICE. Maia is a true positive change maker; using her skills of writing, film, and community organizing to advocate for those on the frontlines of climate change. A great deal of her work focuses on uplifting youth leadership, Indigenous communities, and human rights. She was a youth d...