2021 Range Tour held in Phillips County

The 2021 Montana Range Tour was recently held in Phillips County. The event was hosted by Phillips Conservation District, with over 100 guests in attendance. The annual Montana Range Tour rotates around the state, highlighting excellence and innovation in natural resource stewardship.

The tour was held September 8-9, starting with registration at the Tin Cup. From there, the group loaded buses and headed south to Craig and Conni French’s ranch. Craig and Conni were recently awarded the prestigious Leopold Conservation award. The day was spent learning from the Frenches about their holistic management practices including solar panel livestock tanks, cell grazing as well as soil heath. Patti Armbrister, soil health guru was on hand to talk about dung beetles and the way they improve soil health. Retired NRCS Range Specialist Rick Caquelin talked to the crowd about the importance of allowing grass to rest after grazing. Lunch was served by the Phillips County Cattlewomen. The afternoon session included a presentation by Jason Hanlon of The Nature Conservancy on drone usage for conservation and land management practices. Martin Townsend of Rancher’s Stewardship Alliance was on hand to discuss different conservation projects RSA has to offer.

A prime rib dinner banquet was held Wednesday evening where guests enjoyed a presentation on large animal ecology by University of Montana’s Dr. Brady Allred. The evening concluded with the announcement of the 2021 Phillips Conservation District Conservationist of the Year Award, Bill and Corky French, as well as the 2021 Leopold Conservationist Award, presented to the Flynn family, of the Hidden Hollow Hideaway Ranch in Townsend, MT.

Thursday began at the new Malta Readiness Center with a pancake breakfast served by the Malta FFA Chapter along with a presentation on rural socioeconomics by Dr. Julia Haggerty of Montana State University and ended at noon at the Barthelmess ranch, where Leo Barthelmess showcased his innovative virtual grazing project that utilizes e-collars to track and move cattle. Josh Zimmerman of Vence fencing and Marisa Sather, USFWS Partnership Program were on hand to talk about their contributions to the project. The day ended at noon with a sack lunch departure.

Jenifer Anderson, District Administrator for the Phillips Conservation District said she is happy to see so many landowners, land managers, locals and agency people come together to share stories and discuss land management issues. She would like to thank everyone that made the event a big success!