R anchlands Quest - Madison Valley Ranchlands Group

Rancher Lynn Owens speaks at the
Water Summit
Newsletter of the
Madison Valley Ranchlands Group
Volume 6 - Issue 2 - Fall 2007
WATER ISSUES
Much of Montana has been impacted by
nine years of drought which has caused
significant changes in ground water
levels. The exponential growth rate has
increased the number of domestic wells
during this same period of time. The
last legislative session considered many
bills related to water management.
Working collaboratively to enhance production agriculture, open space, resource
stewardship, wildlife, and habitat management.
Ranchlands Quest
Drought, New Water Laws & Growth
On July 17th a Madison Valley Water
Summit was held to gather experts on
water issues together for a discussion.
The meeting was open to the public
and over one hundred people attended.
Water law was looked at from a historical perspective. The Montana Water
Use Act of 1973 established regulatory
authority of water rights and use under
the Department of Natural Resources
and Conservation. A readjudication
of water rights has been going on ever
since then. Throughout the west, water
rights are becoming of greater value
than land. They are being traded on the
open market. As unmanaged growth
continues, we will probably see the
same situation in Montana.
Also, the relationship between ground
water and surface water was presented
at the Water Summit. A recent Montana
Supreme Court ruling established the
connectedness of surface water and
ground water. In a closed basin such
as the Madison Valley, no new surface
water rights can be filed. There is huge
concern for the cumulative impact of
new domestic wells and septic systems
on water quality and quantity. Starting next year the state will conduct a
two-year ground water assessment in
Madison County.
Local residents gave accounts of well
production and location. Wells being
drilled within a quarter mile radius will
often vary in depth and production
dramatically. Most new development is
occurring in areas of fractured bedrock
which are the most unstable areas for
water supply. Those are also the areas
more susceptible to groundwater contamination.
A tour was taken to view and discuss
a project to restore significant wetlands
on the Longhorn and Granger ranches at the headwaters of O’Dell Creek.
Geological, biological and hydrogeological experts shared accounts of the
interconnectedness of plants, birds, fish
and wildlife which this project accomplished. The dramatic changes were impressive to view but also surprised the
biologists involved with the project.
A follow-up meeting on the
Water Summit will be held
on September 27, 2007
from 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
There will be a follow up of the Summit
on September 27th at the Ennis High
School foyer. This community meeting
will provide a review of some of the
more significant information and
also look at some of the more critical challenges that are facing the valley
and its residents regarding water issues.
The meeting is open to the public and
will go from 6:30 to 9:30 pm.
Fire on the Horizon private land fires this year than last year.”
This has been a huge wildfire season in
Montana. Two factors that keep growing
in significance are the increasing fuel
base and the proximity of homes to wildland areas. There are a couple of radical
environmentalist groups that sue anyone
and everyone who suggests reducing forest fuel base. The only way to reduce that
fuel base is through logging.
Mark Rey, US Department of Agriculture
Undersecretary recently said, “We spent
$1.4 million on fire expenses in 2006
and have spent $3.5 million so far in
2007 because there have been much bigger
There have been 8.4 million new homes
built over the last 20 years in the wildland
interface, one reason firefighting and
recovery have become so expensive, Rey
said. “The continued growth of houses in
rural areas drives the increased fire costs,
along with increased inflation on the cost of
materials and equipment used to fight fires.
We are working to educate landowners
to make them fire-wise, working on fuels
treatment on federal lands and amassing information necessary on non-critical acres.”
“There are presently 80 million acres of
forestland deemed priority acres for thin-
Living With WildlifeWorkshops
by Barb Cestero, MVRG Wildlife Committee and Greater Yellowstone Coalition
Last summer’s Living with Wildlife workshop was so successful, this year the MVRG
Wildlife Committee held two! As new people move to the Madison, ongoing education about living well with the valley’s remarkable wildlife continues to be important.
Residents’ daily practices -- from garbage storage to feeding pets and fencing their
properties—have a big impact on sustaining the abundant wildlife that make the
Madison such a special place to live.
Sponsored by MVRG’s Wildlife Committee, with support from Keystone Conservation, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the US
Forest Service, and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, these workshops share information and facilitate discussion about how wildlife in the valley and techniques residents can use to improve the safety of their properties for both people and wildlife.
In the middle of July, about 60 landowners in the southern part of the Madison
Valley gathered at SunWest Ranch to learn about the valley’s abundant wildlife.
This was the second annual workshop held at SunWest. After an overview of the
...continued on back cover
2
Todd Graham speaks at a Wildlife Workshop
ning because of their close proximity to
urban and ecological areas, he said. The
West is changing and growing fast, which
is coming from the wildland urban interface-subdivisions converging farms and
ranches into ranchettes - the single largest
environmental problem in the west.” So,
whose problem is it really? Well, we better
understand that how growth occurs in
Madison County is part of the largest
environmental problem in the west. All
citizens of the county should be concerned and involved in how that future
growth occurs. We cannot afford, financially and esthetically, to see one or more
huge wildfires impact our communities.
In the Madison Valley we are seeing the
same trend of people wanting to build as
close to the trees as possible. The moisture
content of trees in the forest during
August was lower than kiln dried lumber.
We have been enormously fortunate that
there have been no significant forest
fires in the Gravelleys, Tobacco Roots or
Madison Range this summer. Many subdivisions adjacent to the Forest make no
effort to address the grass which grows
and is not mowed or grazed. This is not
good stewardship nor does it show a concern
for the safety of our community.
Madison County Hires
New Planning Director
The Madison County Commissioners
were successful in hiring a new planning
director. Charity Fechter will begin work
around the first of October. She grew
up in the Helena area, attended college
at MSU receiving a BS degree in Earth
Science with an emphasis on planning.
She also has an MS in Geography with
an emphasis on regional land use planning and an MS in Aeronautical Science.
She is a private pilot. She has worked in
planning in Craig and Fairbanks, Alaska,
North Las Vegas, Nevada, Bakersfield,
California, Albuquerque, New Mexico
and is presently the Planning Manager
for the city of Farmington, New Mexico. Charity is excited to be returning to
Montana again. We look forward to having
her on board.
Madison Valley Wolf Encounters
As wolf numbers continue to escalate in
Montana, Wyoming and Idaho there is
an increase in interaction and conflict
between wolves and livestock. There are
also sportsman groups who are raising
concerns over the impact of wolves on
wildlife populations. We are approaching
delisting which will place the management of the species in the hands of state
agencies. In Montana that will be Fish,
Wildlife and Parks. There are a few conservation groups who are trying to block
delisting through litigation because
they feel the process is not progressing
according to their understanding of the
law. Even though the number of wolves
has far exceeded what was perceived
as reasonable, these groups are trying
to impose their perception of how the
process of delisting should occur above
what the mandated managing agencies
have decided.
This year has had its share of wolf
conflict in the Madison. Several wolves
were killed as a result of calves being
killed on Cedar Creek Ranch. The Sun
Ranch had recurring livestock depredations and the Wedge Pack, which has
caused depredations over the past several
years, was eliminated. There have been
ongoing livestock depredations on the
Bar Seven Ranch and wolves have been
eliminated as a result. In late August
wolves killed cattle in the Centennial
Valley and actions are being taken to
remove wolves from the population.
A new pack of wolves with pups were
discovered near Antelope Basin by the
Range Riders. FWP radio collared at
least one of the adults and the pack is
being closely monitored to hopefully
prevent livestock losses.
John Crumley, Lynn Owens and
Lane Adamson visited with a couple
of Yellowstone Institute classes in the
Lamar Valley of Yellowstone Park during
August. The Institute provides multi-day
classes for folks to attend and learn about
the ecology of Yellowstone Park. After
the participants have had a morning of
viewing and discussing wolves, the representatives from MVRG talked to them
about the challenges of wolves moving
into active livestock communities. The
rapidly escalating human populations
of the West are encouraging ranches to be
converted into subdivisions and ranchettes.
This is a huge challenge in the beautiful
mountain valleys surrounding Yellowstone Park. There is a need to foster a
keener community conscience regarding
the cumulative impact of escalating
unmanaged growth on historical wildlife
and economic trends.
Ecotourism Project
in the works
MVRG recently received a grant from
the National Forest Foundation to put
together an ecotourism project in the
valley. The abundance of bird and animal populations we enjoy are amazing
to all who come to the Madison. We are
fortunate to have many ranches which
provide critical wildlife habitat for all
these species. At times the wildlife are
a liability to some ranchers because of
their impact on forage and fencing.
Wildlife numbers are increasing and
have been for the past several years.
Animal and bird watching are the most
popular outdoor activities not only in
the United States but also throughout
the world.
The project is called Madison Valley
Expeditions. We are in the front end of
meeting with landowners and local businesses to get input on how it could work
for the benefit of all the valley residents.
The ranches need additional income to
keep them in a sustainable economic
status. Other landowners are often very
tolerant of wildlife numbers and appreciate their presence. We are currently
fine-tuning a business plan. If there are
folks who have an interest or expertise
that would lend itself to making this a
successful endeavor we encourage your
participation.
We have incredible resources from
which to benefit. With some foresight
and collaboration, valley residents and
visitors could broaden an appreciation
for the many resource appreciation
opportunities which are here. This can
be done in a way to benefit all of us
without impairing the sense of community we enjoy.
3
The Madison Valley Ranchlands Group’s Weed Committee would like to
thank the following sponsors, donors & volunteers
for making the 9th Annual Noxious Weed Fundraiser a huge success!
1st American Title Company
2 B’s Designs
Adventure Cycle and Sled
Alan & Pat Schutts
Antler Designs
Arrow Real Estate
Aurora Ranch
Baker Street
Bar 7 Ranch,
Bear Claw
Bear Creek Angus Ranch
Bearfeather Studio
Bennie and Gary Clark
Bethany Boutell
Big Sky Carvers
Big Sky Motors
Bill & Ladena Ramsay
Bill and Quinn Mercer
Blacktail Station
Blake McKitrick
Blue Ribbon Flies
Bob and Ann Evans
Bob & Annie Graham
Bottle Barn
Bozeman Hot Springs
Bozeman Symphony
Bradley Creek Ranch
Brian and Linda Dyk
Brian Lovette Construction
Brooke Sanchez
Carla Hoopes
Carroll Brothers Ranch
Cedar Creek Ranch, Kroenke
Ranches
Colten Clark
Complements, Inc.
Conlin’s
Corral Creek Ranch
Cousin’s Candy Shops
Crumley Ranches
Dairy Queen
Danhof Chevrolet
Daniel Smith
4
Devan Leo
Dillon Tractor Implement Co., Inc.
Don Wyler
Dow AgroSciences
Dwellings Gifts and Decor
El Western Motel
Elk Meadows Ranch
Ennis Trading Post
Fan Mountain Inn
Farm Bureau Financial Services
First Madison Valley Bank
Fischer Realty
Flawless Skin Care
Fred and Pam Rentschler
Fred King, MT Dept of FWP
Fred Zweifel and Niki Kline
Garnet Plank Floors
Gina Lopez
Glass Horse Studio
Global Travel
Gloria D’ Studios
Gordon Patton
Great Harvest Bread Company
Headwaters RC&D Area
Helena Chemical
Heli-Works
High Valley Ranch
Bill & Ingrid Poole
Hole in the Wall Gallery
JC Excavation
JDL Construction
Jerry Wing
JeVo Salon and Day Spa
Jim Dolan
J-L Ranch
Joe & Stephanie Vujovich
John & Donna Crumley
Jonsi Corns
Jordan Doud
Josh Vujovich
JR Tires
Judi Gress
Jumping Horse Ranch
Just an Experience
Kay Willett
Larry Zabel
Leigh Fosnot
Les Schwab
Linda Page
Little Bear Interiors
Lone Elk Business Resources
Maddison Meats
Madison Foods
Madison Lumber Co.
Madison Meadows Golf Course
Madison River Fishing Company
Madison River Outfitters
Madison Saddlery
Madison Square Athletic Club
Madison Valley Properties
Madison Valley Veterinary Clinic
Madison Valley Volunteer Fire Dept.
Madisonian
Magic Mirror
Maki Weed Control
Mariah Fredrickson
Marina Smith
Mary Oliver
Matson Excavation and Irrigation
MDM Construction
Meadow Creek Veterinary Clinic
Mel’s Barber Chop
Meredith Brokaw
Mill Creek Inn
Montana Audubon Society
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Montana Furniture Traders
Montana Gift Corral
Montana Hot Tub
Montana Mad Hatters
Montana Mike’s
Montana Trails Gallery
Montana Weed Control Association
Montana Woolen Shops
Moonlight on the Madison
Mountain Arts Pottery
Thank you to our sponsors, donors & volunteers continued....
Mountain View Coffee
MR Ponds
MT Sheep Institute
MT Wellness Center
Nancy Burns
NAPA Auto
North 40 Development
North Star Yamaha
Off the Beaded Path
Old Kirby Place
Owens Ranch
Papa’s Candy
Pat Schutts
Patagonia Outlet
Patsy Eckert
Plant and Flower Shop
Power Play
Pronghorn Meadows Homeowners’
Association
Quality Supply
R Weed Spraying
Radio Shack
Ranchy Girls
Rank’s Mercantile
Ray and Juni Clark
Reel DeCoy
Right Angles
Rijline Metal Art
Rising Sun Mountain Estates
Rocky Hawkins
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Rocky Mountain Supply
Ron & Linda Schott
Rubystone Resources
Rusty Cowboy
Ruth Haak
Sam Dyk
Seven H Land Company
Shedhorn Sports
Shirley Storey
Silverbow Hearth & Home
Sitz Angus
Spence Hegstad
Stein & Francoise Eriksen
Stephen’s Floral
Steve & Sandy Flanagan
Steve Grube
Steve Sanchez
Sun Ranch
Sun West Ranch
Sunrise Bagel
Sweet Pea Nursery
T-L Irrigation Company
Taylre Sitz
Terry & Karin Braxton
The Illustrious Virginia City Players
The Jeffers Inn
The Montana Man, Bob Fosnot
Tim Bozorth
TKO Invasive Weed Management
Tom & Kelly Leo
Tom’s Custom Woodworking
Travis Suzuki
Trenz
Trudi Gilliam
True Value
Uncle Bob’s Outdoors, Inc.
Valley Bank of Ennis
Vickie Noack
Vigilante Chapter RMEF
Wagner Nursery
Wayne Lower
Wendy McKitrick
West of the Madison
Wilderness Edge
Wiley Leo
William Legg
Wolfpack Outfitters
9th Annual Noxious Weeds Fundraiser
a Huge Success!
On August 4th, 2007 the MVRG
Weed Committee hosted its 9th Annual Noxious Weed Fundraiser at Wall
Creek Game Range. A late afternoon
weather system threatened to put a
damper on the festivities, with high
wind and some rain. However, just
before the party was to get started the
storm blew over and the sun came out,
making for a beautiful afternoon and
evening! The dinner and auction was a
great success and the Weed Committee
looks forward to putting those dollars
to work fighting weeds in the Madison
Valley.
Local artist Larry Zabel generously
donated another original painting
for this year’s auction. The painting,
“Wall Creek Salt” was specially painted to highlight the grazing history at
Wall Creek. It features former Wall
Creek permittee Pete Durham and the
current range rider for the Wall Creek
Stock Association, Gary Shelton.
Wall Creek Game Range is a great
example of how wildlife and livestock
can be managed to the benefit of both.
Artist reproductions, or gicleés, are
available in two different sizes through
the MVRG office. If you’d like to order a
gicleé please contact the MVRG Weed
Committee at 682-3731 or email
Melissa at mgriffi[email protected].
Special thanks to all of our generous
donors and volunteers. Without your
donations and hard work this evening
would not be possible. We believe the
auction was the best ever due to the
wide range of truly unique auction
items.
Also special thanks to Fred King and
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for
allowing us to host the event at Wall
Creek. We can’t thank Fred and his staff
enough for all of their hard work the
week before and the night of the party.
They made us feel right at home!
We will look forward to next year’s
10th Annual Fundraiser and provide
you with details as they are finalized.
5
Turn Your Cows Into Weed Managers!
Farmers and ranchers in the U.S. spend
about $2 billion annually combating
pasture weeds. They mow, spray, and
burn and still weed infestations continue
to grow. So maybe it’s time to look at
weeds in a new way –
“If you can’t beat ‘em, EAT ‘EM! “
Turning your cows into weed managers is
really as easy as 1-2-3 according to Kathy
Voth of Livestock for Landscapes. During
the summer of 2004, she successfully
trained cows to eat Canada thistle, leafy
spurge and spotted knapweed in a pilot
project sponsored by Utah State University
and the National Park Service’s GrantKohrs Ranch National Historic Site in
Deer Lodge, Montana. The steps she
developed were based on twenty years of
research done by Dr. Fred Provenza and
his team at Utah State University. Over
the past few years, Voth has continued to
hone the steps so that now she can show
you how to teach a cow to eat a weed in
as little as 5 days.
An introductory
workshop will be held
for interested
individuals on
September 28, 2007
The first step is to know what’s in your
weed. “Many weeds are equal to or better
than alfalfa in nutritional value,” says
Voth. That’s important because researchers
have discovered that animals choose what
to eat based on feedback from nutrients
and toxins in the foods. The more nutritious a weed is, the more likely the animal
is to eat it. Voth also checks out the toxins the plant contains. All plants contain
some toxins, but researchers have found
that they simply reduce the amount an
animal eats of that plant, and only rarely
are there plants with toxins that will kill
an animal outright. “Once I know what’s
in a plant, I know whether I can safely
feed it to animals,” says Voth.
served in black tubs. She feeds a different
unfamiliar food each morning and afternoon for four days. On day five, when
the heifers expect something good in the
tubs every time they see them, Voth picks
and feeds the target weeds in the tubs.
Step two is to choose the right animals
to train. Voth prefers working with
yearling heifers because younger animals
are more likely to try new things. Once
trained the heifers will train their calves
and other members of the herd, reducing
the time a rancher has to spend in the
training process.
Voth has used this process to teach cows
to eat Canada thistle, leafy spurge, and
spotted knapweed in Montana; Italian,
distaff and milk thistles in California,
and most recently, late season diffuse
knapweed in Colorado. Now, thanks to
a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Voth will be
assisting ranchers in the Madison Valley.
This project, facilitated by the MVRG
Weed Committee, is currently seeking
volunteers to participate in next summer’s
project. Interested ranchers, landowners
or managers are invited to attend an introductory workshop on September 28 in
Ennis. For more information contact
MVRG Weed Coordinator Melissa
Griffiths at 682-3731.
Step three builds on how animals choose
what to eat by creating positive experiences
with new foods. Research has shown that
an animal that has had lots of good experiences with trying new foods is less afraid
to try other new things. Voth gives cows
these good experiences by giving them
unfamiliar, nutritious foods like ground
alfalfa, beet pulp pellets and rolled grains
Once cows are eating weeds from the
tubs, Voth puts them in a small pasture
with plenty of the target weed and a
variety of other forages. “No creature
changes unless it has to. A little pressure, like these small pastures, is part of a
good learning environment, making sure
that the cows try a little of everything and
don’t just eat the best and leave the rest,”
says Voth.
“Wall Creek Salt Run”
by Larry Zabel
“A painting created for the
2007 MVRG
Weed Fundraiser”
Gicleés are available
through the MVRG office
at 682-3259.
6
Madison County Bio-Control Project
BUGS GALORE!!!
the fact that most of the knapweed was
dead or dying; it will be interesting to go
back next year and see what it looks like.
The other cool thing about Cypho is that
it only eats knapweed roots- it’s been
thoroughly checked out by researchers in
quarantined tests.
Much thanks goes to David Jamison at
Victor High School’s Insectary for his
help, his students who assisted us and
many others who are trying to spread
Cypho throughout the state. We felt that
we picked a lot of bugs, but we were told
that groups ahead of us had picked twice
as many in the same amount of time. It
was one of those “you should have been
here last week” moments. Ron Schott
was the lead bug collector for our crew
with 1,000 Cyphos collected in about 4
hours. Way to go, Ron!! We’re working
on a trophy for you.
Remember when you were a kid and
one of the joys of summer was catching
grasshoppers, butterflies and all manner
of crawly critters? Well, a bunch of us
from the MVRG Weed Committee, the
MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks Wall Creek
Game Range and Mellissa Newman’s Insectary program spent a day in August
on our hands and knees collecting bugs
near Victor in the Bitterroot Valley. One
of the joys of summer or pure looniness??
We were sure the people driving by the
field we were in must have been wondering
what strange people had stumbled into
their town!
But, actually, our team of bug collectors
was on a mission of starting a new type of
weed eradication in the Madison Valley,
called biological control. The target of
our insect collecting was Cyphocleonus
achates, a root weevil, which feeds on the
roots of spotted knapweed. The insect,
let’s call it Cypho, is a large, slow-moving, clumsy-looking creature with a long
snout, which was imported from Europe.
We found them clinging to spotted knapweed plants or burrowed under the litter
next to the root collar and, interestingly,
climbing on fence posts (warming up we
suppose). Apparently, they like the Bitterroot sites where they’ve been released
starting in 1988, as they’ve reproduced
rapidly and are eating a lot of knapweed.
At one 100-acre parcel, the knapweed infestation declined by 80 percent. In the
field where we collected, we can attest to
Mellissa wants to return to Victor
again next year for another collecting
adventure. Eventually, if our Cypho
populations do well, we hope to be
able to collect from our own release
sites and have Cypho well distributed
throughout the Madison Valley doing
its thing of eating knapweed roots.
The Madison Valley has significant
infestations of knapweed. Although not
as heavy as found in western Montana,
these infestations are reducing forage
available for wildlife and livestock, as
well as habitat for birds and other critters. The MVRG Weed Committee is
partnering with Madison County, the
Forest Service, BLM, Sheep Institute,
ranchers, MTFWP, and other conservation groups to develop integrated weed
management strategies. Cypho is a new
tool for us to use to gain control over
weeds. The result of our trip to Victor
was that we came home with over 6,500
new residents for Madison County. According to Mellissa Newman, we need
about 100 Cyphos for a release site. So,
we collected enough weevils to introduce
them on over 60 sites.
If you are interested in learning more
about the Madison County biocontrol
program or to sign up to receive insects
next year please contact MVRG Weed
Coordinator, Melissa Griffiths, at 6823731 or mgriffi[email protected].
7
A MESSAGE FROM MVRG
PRESIDENT, JOHN CRUMLEY
The winds of change are blowing in the Madison
Valley. Here it is September and we are coming out
of the hottest summer of record; water flows are at
all time lows in our rivers; areas of our valley and
watershed are very parched and grasses have had
very little (if any) growth this year. Other areas had
great May and early June rains and then nothing,
leaving grasses tinder dry. I am sure the fire departments of our valley have had more fires than ever, and
yet the Madison Watershed has more wildlife than it
has ever had. Meanwhile, land managers have had
to deal with conditions that at best were poor, and
water managers have had to face situations they have
never seen. All the while, there are more people than
ever looking to our valley to recreate in and make a
living from these limited resources.
Depending on what the winter will bring we are
setting up for a chance of large numbers of wildlife
to die off like we have never seen. Is this a Doomsday
message? No, I don’t think so, but as we live and
manage the lands and resources we need to know
that this happens every time that conditions are out
of balance. Just because we don’t like to see this type
of thing happen doesn’t mean that we can do anything about it. In fact, it is our own intervention
that probably has set up part of the problem. Fingers
will be pointed at all and judgments will be made on
who is the cause. Our society has gotten so far from
the realities of nature that when nature makes a correction of its own we in our human condition have
to place blame. The Madison is a great place and will
continue to exist after all this corrects itself. Patience
and calm understanding will be needed to help the
humans coexist with each other.
ECHO – An Update
As you read this newsletter there is a program underway that is making available exclusive homesites on
living and working ranches to allow the owners to
preserve the lifestyle, open space and wildlife habitat.
But, this is expensive, so if you know of anyone who
would like to join ranchers and have the opportunity
to help preserve this valley for future generations, give
us a call. We will help get you together with ranchers
who would join in this program.
Living with Wildlife, continued from pg 2
diverse species and habitats in the valley, people broke up into small groups
to attend smaller work stations focused on living with bears, wolves and
ungulates. The speakers shared tools for safe backcountry recreation in bear
country, wildlife friendly fencing to facilitate elk and antelope migration,
practices for residential areas that prevent conflicts with bears, and ways to
prevent conflicts with wolves.
In late August, Linda Page hosted about 40 residents in the northern end of
the valley for the first Living with Wildlife workshop in that neighborhood.
This workshop covered the same techniques as the SunWest workshop and
added a station addressing ways to reduce the wildfire hazard around residential properties – an appropriate topic given the dry summer we’ve just
experienced.
Many thanks to Dave Germann who provided the tasty grass fed burgers to
both workshop finales: A BBQ hosted by the wildlife committee.
Will you join us in our efforts?
The Madison Valley Ranchlands Group works to protect the ranching way of life
and the biologically healthy open spaces on which ranching depends.
Yes! I want to help the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group.
Please accept my tax deductible contribution of :
____ $25 - $100
____ $125 - $250
_____ $275 - $500
____ $1,000
____ $5,000 _____ $10,000 _____ $25,000 _____ other
*annual membership dues are $25
NAME _____________________________________________
ADDRESS __________________________________________
CITY ___________________STATE ______ ZIP ___________
PHONE_________________EMAIL _____________________
PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO:
MADISON VALLEY RANCHLANDS GROUP
P.O. BOX 330 - ENNIS, MT 59729
(406) 682 - 3259
[email protected]
The Madison Valley Ranchlands Group is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization
and deeply appreciates your financial support!