An update from the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance

Healthy grasslands are a product of conservation and ranching. Today’s ranch families have a wealth of knowledge about these local resources due to their tenure with the land. As a rancher led conservation organization, The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance nonprofit that capitalizes on those facts. Our goals include preserving our prairie neighborhood and nurturing the next generation while we strive to feed the world. We believe the culture of ranching communities and rural towns are worth protecting and preserving. We support managed livestock grazing because it is the economic foundation that supports our heritage as well as sustains bountiful wildlife and native plants.

RSA has accomplished many great things this past year. We received a grant in the amount of $300,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). This grant provides funding for projects that would benefit local ranching operations and enhance or restore wildlife habitat in Phillips, Valley, and Blaine County. Specifically, projects allow for grassland restoration, developing grazing systems on expiring CRP acres, and restoration of crested wheatgrass pastures. Additional funding of $110,000 from the Montana Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and $10,000 from World Wildlife Fund were received to enhance these grant activities. When these projects are finished in 2018 we will have surpassed our restoration goals.

In 2017 we also hosted several educational opportunities that included range tours, rangeland monitoring, and ranch profitability. We also partnered with the Malta Chamber of Commerce and PhillCo Economic Development to host a board training opportunity as well as a general meeting for all area non-profits to discuss common area of training needs, avoidance of duplicative efforts and generally improve communications among the groups.

We also had the opportunity to share our message with students from Clemson University, University of Montana and Great Falls High School.

Our goals for 2018 include continued educational efforts for the community, sponsoring our third annual Phillips County Proud, continuing our partnership with NFWF, and the hiring of a full time Executive Director.

At our recent annual meeting we elected officers for the coming years. They are Perri Jacobs as President, Anna Merriman as Secretary, and Conni French and Aaron Oxarart as co-Treasurers. Newly elected to the Board of Directors is Kelli French. We also recognize the contributions of former board members Jesse Blunt and Clyde Robinson. We also welcome Jolynn Messerly as our new administrative assistant.

We welcome anyone who would like to learn more about our activities to join us at our next meeting, Tuesday, March 13, at 5 p.m. at the Malta Business Center. You can also find out more about RSA at http://www.ranchstewards.org.