Throughout its history, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has seen successive waves of immigrants settling its river valleys, mountain foothills, and rolling grasslands. Native Americans met the early mountain men and trappers who were by followed prospectors searching for gold and ranchers driving their cattle across open range. Today’s new migrants are “footloose entrepreneurs” who connect via fax and modem to markets far from the region, and young families attracted to the friendly small towns and outdoor recreation the ecosystem offers.
The vast beauty, abundant natural resources, and quality of life of Greater Yellowstone have always been the magnets drawing and keeping those of us lucky enough to live here. Our sense of place and identity are tied to the lands, waters, and wildlife that make this place so unique.
Today, our communities are growing by leaps and bounds, with more visitors and residents alike putting pressure on the lands, wildlife and water so essential to a healthy ecosystem. The new challenges brought by this change are creating new opportunities for the people of the region to work together to care for this special place. People like Madison Valley ranch manager and GYC board member Todd Graham, who is managing the Sun Ranch to improve wildlife habitat and demonstrate that ranching can coexist with wolves. And like Anne Banks, a Bozeman resident and volunteer with Friends of the Gallatin Forest, who is working with other local citizens, businesses and conservationists to shape a travel management plan that protects the Gallatin’s clean water, wilderness, wildlife and quiet backcountry trails.
Greater Yellowstone is a special place to call home. Those of us who live and work among the wild landscapes of Greater Yellowstone play an important role in the conservation of this region. We depend on the clean air, clear water, free-roaming wildlife, and vast open spaces for so much. We want to ensure these treasures remain now and for future generations.
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When Todd Graham took over as manager of the Sun Ranch he didn’t realize that camping with cattle was part of the job description.
But that’s exactly where Graham found himself less than a month after starting work – sleeping in a tent in a pasture amidst a herd of yearling cattle. And he was there for a good reason. He had a den of gray wolves as neighbors. He decided to place himself between the den and the cattle. If the wolves came for the livestock, they would encounter him first. “Since the den was only half a mile away, the chances of action were high,” recalled Graham. “I crawled into my sleeping bag and inventoried my gear: bear spray, 12-gauge shotgun loaded with rubber bullets, two monster flashlights capable of lighting up the mountain, hunting knife, and running shoes for sprinting.” For three years Graham had been consultant to the owners of the Sun Ranch, which is located in Montana’s wildlife-rich Madison Valley, northwest of Yellowstone National Park, so he knew that wolves were a potential part of the equation. Graham also knew that the owners of the Sun Ranch didn’t view wolves as the enemy, but as an important part of the ecosystem. In fact, they had tasked him with the challenge of running livestock in the presence of wolves. But so soon? [More]
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