Sitting down with Dr. Marlow

I have an interesting video (I do apologize for the quality) for our producers out there today. This is a four-part clip of a talk given by Dr. Clayton Marlow of Montana State (MSU). Dr. Marlow was kind enough to pay several visits to MGCC meetings in the past year, and this particular take comes from his presentation at the Prairie County annual meeting. His discussion focused on generating a more positive public image of livestock grazing. His idea is to create an atmosphere in which producers can lease their cattle's' grazing to people buying ranches explicitly for hunting as well as government agencies. Their grazing would be used to promote indigenous fauna and floral species and to reduce wildfire intensity as well as occurrence.

I will not attempt to recount his word-for-word assessment, as he is a wonderful and energetic orator, but in short: he points to studies from universities and government in which science proves that pastures left "as is" are in less than ideal not only for indigenous protected species (e.g. sage grouse) and new plant growth, but also for fire control. While these ideas are not new per se, his approach to addressing those pressing issues is something that is progressive and seems to be rapidly gaining ground in the nation (even ESPN has written on the subject). As you may notice his standard for the success is inspired by a former student of his who has had great success in California, but this does not mean it isn't applicable to Montana. More and more ranches in MT are being bought explicitly for recreational purposes in Montana and this could prove to be a market primed for success if not now, then in the very near future.



If the video above does not work, the link to all four segments of the video can be found by click on the following link: The Montana Grass Conservation Commission's official YouTube page.

If you have questions for Dr. Marlow about his talk he can be reached at: cmarlow@montana.edu.

Spring Update

Dear Grazing District Directors, Permittees, Secretaries,

Greetings and well wishes from Terry, MT. I know some of you have had great moisture this winter and we are hoping for the moisture trend to continue into Spring. Jay Bodner (MASGD/PLC), Stephenie Burr (VISTA), Brian Blackmon (VISTA), and yours truly Sandra Brown (MGCC) have put together this newsletter to update you on current and future projects to come. The VISTA members have been working on the historical records and technical support for the Districts. Jay Bodner and myself traveled to Alzada in March to meet with Forest Service permittees. We were asked to come down and provide them with information on forming a Grazing District. There is quite a bit of interest, so we are really excited to help them in their endeavors. A new Grazing District directory is being done. We are changing things up from the previous years and trying to include photos of the Districts new and old. Thanks to all of you that have contributed, and we hope more Districts will have more old or new pictures to contribute. If you don't have pictures, old brands or new brands will do nicely. I hope to see you in Miles City for the mid-year meeting and in September in Glasgow for the Annual State Grazing District Meeting. We are planning some exciting things, so stay tuned for updates on the activities.