Explore Big Sky - June 2 to 15, 2022

June 2 - 15, 2022 Volume 13 // Issue #11

CELEBRATING 300 EDITIONS OF EBS

OPENING SHOT

A duckie paddler triumphs as they make their way through the Gallatin’s rapids on May 15. PHOTO BY BELLA BUTLER

June 2 - 15, 2022 Volume 13, Issue No. 11

Owned and published in Big Sky, Montana

PUBLISHER Eric Ladd | eric@theoutlawpartners.com

EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VP MEDIA Joseph T. O’Connor | joe@theoutlawpartners.com MANAGING EDITOR Bella Butler | bella@theoutlawpartners.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Gabrielle Gasser | gabrielle@theoutlawpartners.com DIGITAL PRODUCER Tucker Harris | tucker@theoutlawpartners.com

CREATIVE GRAPHIC DESIGNER ME Brown | maryelizabeth@theoutlawpartners.com

SALES AND OPERATIONS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Megan Paulson | megan@theoutlawpartners.com CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Treston Wold | treston@theoutlawpartners.com VP OF SALES EJ Daws | ej@theoutlawpartners.com MEDIA AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Ersin Ozer | ersin@theoutlawpartners.com MARKETING MANAGER Sophia Breyfogle | sophia@theoutlawpartners.com CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIST Mira Brody | mira@theoutlawpartners.com

4 6 21 32 25 30 35

OBITUARY LOCAL BUSINESS OP NEWS ENVIRONMENT A&E OPINION

7

BIG SKY RESORT BREAKS GROUND ON NEW TRAM

8

GRADUATION DAY!

12

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Sara Sipe | sara@theoutlawpartners.com

19

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LEAD Patrick Mahoney | patrick@theoutlawpartners.com

CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Kaley Burns, Paul Bussi, Seth Dahl, Mark Gocke, Marne Hayes, Mike Koshmrl, Julia Lizeth Larsen, Ben Long, Scott Mechura, Pete Sales, Patrick Straub, Cy Whitling, Todd Wilkinson

ON THE COVER: Outlaw Partners, publisher of Explore Big Sky, printed its first edition of what was then the Big Sky Weekly on Oct. 29, 2010.

Today, 300 issues later, we’re grateful for our readers, advertisers and everyone who’s made this community newspaper a key resource for Big Sky and greater southwest Montana. PHOTO BY BELLA BUTLER

26

On June 1, Big Sky Resort and its partners broke ground on the next iteration of the Lone Peak Tram. Replacing the 1995 staple that’s whisked skiers to the top of Lone Mountain for 27 years, the new tram promises to be bigger, faster and more efficient.

Students at Lone Peak High School and Discovery Academy are taking their respective walks through the threshold of graduation.

See pages 8 and 11 for coverage.

A BIRDHOUSE VIEW Ophir Middle School students teamed up with local homeowner Roger Ladd to construct birdhouses as a means to increase livability of our local birds and decrease competition between species.

LMLC PURCHASES TOWN CENTER After more than 50 years of owning and developing Big Sky Town Center, the Bozeman-based Simkins family last month sold the remaining developable land to Lone Mountain Land Company, the local developing subsidiary of CrossHarbor Capital Partners.

PLUS: GRIZZLY 399 PART 2 Famous Jackson Hole Grizzly 399 and her four cubs will soon reach a life-or-death crossroads, writes Wyofile contributor Mike Koshmrl. In this second installment, experts, locals and visitors contemplate the future of some of the West’s most iconic wildlife.

EDITORIAL POLICIES EDITORIAL POLICY Outlaw Partners, LLC is the sole owner of Explore Big Sky. EBS reserves the right to edit all submitted material. Printed material reflects the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of Outlaw Partners or its editors.

EBS will not publish anything discriminatory or in bad taste.

EBS welcomes obituaries written by family members or from funeral homes. To place an obituary, please submit 500 words or less to media@theoutlawpartners.com.

SCAN FOR TOWN CRIER NEWSLETTER. DAILY NEWS, STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor allow EBS readers to express views and share how they would like to effect change. These are not Thank You notes.

Letters should be 250 words or less, respectful, ethical, accurate, and proofread for grammar and content. We reserve the right to edit letters and will not publish individual grievances about specific businesses or letters that are abusive, malicious or potentially libelous. Include: full name, address, phone number and title. Submit to media@outlaw.partners.

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ADVERTISING DEADLINE For the June 16, 2022 issue: June 8, 2022 CORRECTIONS Please report errors to media@outlaw.partners.

OUTLAW PARTNERS & EXPLORE BIG SKY P.O. Box 160250, Big Sky, MT 59716 (406) 995-2055 • media@outlaw.partners © 2022 Explore Big Sky unauthorized reproduction prohibited

@explorebigsky

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Also, offered as part of the package is a 1.02 acre ski in/ski out lot at Spanish Peaks Mountain Club which provides either a golf or ski social membership. Enjoy a world class Signature Weiskopf 18 hole golf course, tennis & pickle ball courts, miles of hiking and mountain biking trails that double as groomed Nordic/snow shoe trails in the winter, 2 1/2 miles of a tributary of the Gallatin River and a clubhouse with fine dining, a lively bar, men’s and women’s locker rooms, workout facility, private pool, hot tubs & ski access. Enjoy benefits at the Montage hotel as well.

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ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED IS DEEMED RELIABLE BUT IS NOT GUARANTEED AND SHOULD BE INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED. INFORMATION AND DEPICTIONS ARE SUBJECT TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, PRIOR SALES, PRICE CHANGES OR WITHDRAWAL WITHOUT NOTICE. NO GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY HAS JUDGED THE MERITS OR VALUE, IF ANY, OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS ADVERTISEMENT OR ANY REAL ESTATE DESCRIBED OR DEPICTED HEREIN. THIS MATERIAL SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL IN ANY STATE OR OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE PRIOR REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED OR WHERE SUCH AN OFFER WOULD BE PROHIBITED, AND THIS SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH ANOTHER REAL ESTATE AGENT. NOTHING HEREIN SHALL BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL, TAX, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.

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Explore Big Sky

OBITUARY JEANNE MARIE JOHNSON Help preserve Montana’s open spaces.

Jeanne Marie Johnson, 75, of Big Sky, passed away May 19, 2022. Jeanne was born to Frederick and Mae (Lemoine) DeBoe on October 17, 1946, in Hammond, Indiana. She attended Hammond High School and Purdue University. After raising a family in the Midwest, Jeanne and her husband Steven retired to Big Sky, where they have lived since.

Jeanne was always up for adventure, but also found beauty in simple things: a walk in nature, playing her piano, the laughter of a child, the stroke of a paintbrush. Through her example, those around her learned that art, beauty and kindness can be found all around us, even in flawed and troubled places. She enjoyed horseback riding, hiking with Big Sky Hikers and volunteering with the Big Sky Community Organization. Jeanne found the most happiness in life when surrounded by family and friends, making memories on visits and adventures with those she loved. She will be remembered most for her warm and welcoming smile.

Contact Jessie Wiese at jessie@mtlandreliance.org for more information Ad donated by supporters for open land | mtlandreliance.org | 406.594.1570

Jeanne is survived by her husband Steven, daughter Gwendolyn “Gwen” (husband Reno) Shepperson of Shoshoni, Wyoming, Timothy “Tim” (wife Valerie) Johnson of Bozeman, Montana, Peter (wife Cheryl) Johnson of Littleton, Colorado, and Christopher “Chris” (wife Lauren) Johnson of Ft. Collins, Colorado; seven grandchildren; and her siblings Fred (wife Rosanna) DeBoe of Glendale, Wisconsin, Delores “DeeDee” (husband Tim) Jacobson of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Barbara Schmal of Anthem, Arizona.

Condolences & Memories may be shared with the family at www.dahlcares.com.

Li fe Wel l Li ved

NEW LOFT RESIDENCES, COMING SOON. WILDLANDSBOZEMAN.COM

BETTER TOGETHER A biweekly District bulletin We invite you to participate in this year’s application process by reviewing the requests and reading project applications at ResortTax.org/funding. The District’s locally elected Board uses your feedback to help guide funding decisions. This year’s proposals total 66 projects sponsored by 21 organizations.

The total FY23 request is $8,765,234.

The effects and expenses of projects are evaluated using Impact Areas and Investment Types.

The community is encouraged to participate by providing public comment on projects and how they are addressing needs.

Do these requests address the needs of Big Sky?

Share public comment by attending meetings or by emailing Info@ResortTax.org

IMPACT AREAS

Health & Safety*

Addresses emergency, medical, and social services essential to the welfare of Big Sky, in many cases, resulting in property tax or fee reduction.

31% 20%

Public Works*

Addresses core utilities and services used broadly by the community, in many cases, resulting in property tax or fee reduction.

Recreation & Conservation

Addresses sustainable efforts for current and future generations to live and play in Big Sky through thoughtful mitigation of human impact on the natural environment.

24%

13% 8%

4%

*Includes Interlocal commitments and FY23 requests.

Economic Development

Addresses balancing Big Sky’s tourism-driven economy by sustainability growing prosperity and ensuring a high quality of life for Big Sky workers.

Arts & Education

Addresses multi-disciplinary, inclusive education, stewarding awareness and understanding of cross-cultural ideas and values.

Housing

Addresses long-term (30+ days) rental and ownership opportunities for Big Sky workers.

INVESTMENT TYPE

Administration Overhead supporting day-to-day operations not solely contributing to direct delivery of a service.

• Life span: 0-1 year

8%

Programming* Direct costs supporting a measurable service in which mission delivery occurs toward a specific goal.

• Life span: 0-1 year or ongoing

44%

48%

Capital Acquisition, improvement, or maintenance of physical assets or real property including large-scale infrastructure.

• Life span: 1+ year

APPLICATION REVIEW MEETINGS

6

JUNE

Monday, June 6th @ 5:30 pm

Thursday, June 9th @ 5:30 pm

Info@ResortTax.org | ResortTax.org | 406.995.3234 |

9

JUNE

*Includes Interlocal commitments and FY23 requests.

Meetings will be held at BASE Community Center (285 Simkins Dr.) and through Zoom.

Appetizers & refreshments provided.

Visit ResortTax.org for more info.

6 June 2 - 15 , 2022

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LOCAL

NEWS IN BRIEF

FOREST SERVICE PAUSES PRESCRIBED BURNS ON NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS

HOUSING TRUST SEEKS FEEDBACK THROUGH SURVEY

EBS STAFF

EBS STAFF

WASHINGTON – U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore released a statement on May 20 initiating a pause on all prescribed fire operations on National Forest System lands due to extreme wildfire risk conditions.

BIG SKY – The Big Sky Community Housing Trust is currently soliciting feedback from local employers and employees through its 2022 community-wide housing survey. The nonprofit intends to use responses to inform decisions on current and future housing projects in Big Sky.

The Forest Service will be conducting a 90-day review of protocols, decision support tools and practices ahead of planned operations this fall.

“Our primary goal in engaging prescribed fires and wildfires is to ensure the safety of the communities involved,” Moore wrote.

Prescribed fires go as planned in 99.84 percent of cases, according to the statement, with very few cases turning into wildfires.

In Custer Gallatin National Forest, prescribed pile burnings were in the preparation process for the Bozeman and Hebgen lake ranger districts, according to a May 15 press release from Gallatin Custer National Forest.

“The pause I am announcing today will have minimal impact on these objectives in the short- and long-term since the agency conducts more than 90 percent of its prescribed burn operations between September and May,” Moore said.

CURBSIDE RECYCLING NOW AVAILABLE IN BIG SKY EBS STAFF BIG SKY – The Big Sky Owners Association announced that it has launched mixed curbside recycling in Big Sky through a partnership with Republic Services on May 20.

Participants can now opt for a bundled trash and recycling curbside service with Republic Services. Spearheaded by BSOA’s Sustainability Committee, the recycling program accepts dry and clean paper, metal as well as No. 1 and No. 2 plastic bottles.

The service is available to all Big Sky residents and all Republic Services receptacles are bear-resistant.

Republic Services is offering a discount code to participants for bundled curbside mixed recycling and trash which can be accessed using the promotion code “BIGSKY50.”

“We’re just all really excited and just feel a we just feel you know, we feel an obligation to protect our wildlife first and foremost,” said Emma Lawler, sustainability, events and administration BSOA staff member.

To sign up, call Republic Services at (406) 586-0606 and use promo code BIGSKY50 at checkout for the discounted rate.

“This is our best tool to guage demand and need from within the community of where the housing trust can best direct its efforts moving forward and also how we can best utilize the tools we have coming online,” said David O’Connor, executive director of the housing trust.

O’Connor said the last survey of this kind conducted by the housing trust was in 2017. Much has changed in the last five years, he said, and this updated survey will provide a more current and accurate picture of demand and need.

The housing trust is offering participants an opportunity to win a grocery gift card or pass to The Wilson Hotel Pool. The deadline to complete the survey is June 15.

Find more information about the survey at bigskyhousingtrust.com

RUNOFF RECREATION SAFETY EBS STAFF BIG SKY – As the snowpack melts and the Gallatin River starts to resemble a shaken carton of chocolate milk, EBS is passing along a few tips on how to stay safe during runoff season.

When paddling and whitewater rafting: • A personal floatation device, helmet and throw bag are bareminimum necessities for most scenarios.

• A wetsuit or dry gear and proper outwear are recommended due to cold water and air temperatures, as well as the high likelihood for a spring rain storm to roll in.

• Be aware of hazardous strainers in the water. This includes but is not limited to: trees, brush and other debris.

When along riverbanks: • Stay on established trails or developed areas.

• Keep a close eye on pets and children.

• Do not attempt to cross rapids or above falls; Never underestimate the power of the spring current.

What to do if you are having a water-related emergency: • Determine your location and call 911 for help.

• Do not attempt to rescue someone in the water unless you are trained in water rescue.

• If you lose a vessel down the river, report it immediately to the Gallatin County Dispatch non-emergency line at (406) 582-2100.

This helps prevent misreporting of victims in the water.

This list has been compiled from information from Gallatin County Search and Rescue as well as a 2018 Explore Big Sky story by Geyser Whitewater Owner Eric Becker.

WOMAN GORED BY BISON IN YELLOWSTONE EBS STAFF YELLOWSTONE – A bison charged and gored a 25-year-old Ohio woman after she and two others approached within 10 feet of the large mammal on May 30 in Yellowstone National Park near a boardwalk at Black Sand Basin north of Old Faithful.

The bison’s horns gored the woman, tossing her 10 feet into the air, and inflicted a puncture wound and other

injuries, according to a May 31 statement from the National Park Service.

sheep, deer, moose and coyotes, and at least 100 yards from bears and wolves.

The woman was transported by ambulance to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. The incident is still under investigation, the statement said.

This is the park’s first reported incident of a visitor threatening a bison and it responding to the threat, according to the statement. Bison have injured more visitors than any other animal in the park, the park stated.

Park officials are reminding visitors to stay cautious and not approach wildlife within the regulated distances.

Park regulations require visitors should stay at least 25 yards from all large animals including bison, elk, bighorn

For more information on park safety and wildlife visit the park’s website.

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BIG SKY RESORT BREAKS GROUND ON NEW TRAM

BY BELLA BUTLER BIG SKY – The scraping sound of excavators scooping up rock and dirt echoes off the walls of the Bowl at Big Sky Resort. It’s June 1, and the mountain cirque on the northeast face of Lone Mountain is seeing more action than is typical this time of year.

Though the resort has been closed to skiers for more than a month, snow still covers the ground and more is falling from the sky. Longtime resort employees comment that this spring isn’t unlike that of 1995, when the resort broke ground on the original Lone Peak Tram. It’s a relevant parallel to draw today on the groundbreaking ceremony for the resort’s brand-new tram.

Big Sky Resort announced in February that it would replace its iconic 27-year-old tram as part of Big Sky 2025, a 10-year growth vision that’s already yielded superlative-worthy infrastructure like Ramcharger 8, North America’s first eight-seat chairlift, and this year’s Swift Current 6, among the fastest lifts on the continent. Construction has already begun on the new tram’s lower terminal, located at the base of the Bowl rather than at the top, where the tram’s current base sits on a slowly moving glacier. The new tram will take two summers to build and will be operational for the 2023-24 winter season, resort officials said.

“We’re so excited about this new design, that it is going to be the flagship of the most technologically advanced lift system in North America,” said Big Sky Resort General Manager Troy Nedved at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Nedved was joined at the event by representatives from the broad team that will tackle various aspects of the massive project, from builders to architects to resort executives.

While still delivering visitors to the 11,166-foot summit of Lone Mountain just as the old tram has done since its 1996 debut, the new tram will be the picture of technological innovation and rider comfort, according to Mike Unruh, senior vice president of Boyne Resorts.

Big Sky Resort also announced in February that it would replace the current Explorer lift with a

Partners from across the spectrum of the new tram project break ground at the forthcoming lift's future lower terminal on June 1. PHOTO

BY SETH DAHL

gondola that will connect visitors from the base directly to the bottom of the new tram. The resort has yet to disclose the capacity of the new tram but confirmed the cabins will hold more people than the current cabins, which each carry up to 15 people.

“We’ve sized the capacity of the tram for the future, and we’ll operate it for the day,” Unruh said.

Among other differences from the old tram, the new tram will travel an additional 600-plus feet of vertical. It will also have the capability to travel 10 meters per second for a sub-four-minute ride, up from the 5 meters per second at which the current tram operates.

According to the resort, the new tram and the forthcoming Explorer Gondola will also allow for the first-ever pedestrian summit access from the base area.

Building projects of this scale come with unique hurdles. Chad Wilson, director of construction management, said the biggest challenges will involve the steep terrain—the new tram line will stretch from the bottom of the Bowl above the Gullies and up the summit—as well as the logistics of transporting materials.

The new tram is a milestone marking a new era for Big Sky Resort as it moves forward with ambitious projects, just as the lift it’s replacing stamps another inflection point in the resort’s growth. “[The tram] transformed Big Sky, ultimately put us on the map, put us in the big leagues with many of the others,” Nedved said. “Accessing this fantastic high mountain, big-mountain terrain—it was a game changer for us.”

Memories made waiting in line, riding in the cabin or skiing off the top of the original tram may forever define the Big Sky Resort experience for many, but few know the seminal lift as intimately as Lift Maintenance Director Laurel Blessley. Blessley has worked on Big Sky lifts for 20-some years, many of which operating or supervising the tram.

She spoke fondly of early mornings snowmobiling up to the bottom terminal, shoveling the trench and, of course, lots of skiing.

Big Sky Resort President and COO Taylor Middleton is another longtime employee that’s been around since the construction of the first tram.

“It’s just another phase for me,” Middleton said about the new tram. “There were new phases 25 years ago and there’s a new phase today and there will be a new phase tomorrow. It’s always changing if you’re doing it right.”

At the groundbreaking, leaders from the project on the count of three thrust their shovels into a pile of dirt, symbolically launching a new phase for Big Sky Resort.

Excavators make way for the new tram's base on June 1. PHOTO BY SETH DAHL

“That will be the easiest thing we do on this project,” one representative said.

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LONE PEAK HIGH TO GRADUATE CLASS OF 2022 EBS STAFF

BIG SKY – With pomp and circumstance, Lone Peak High School will graduate 19 seniors on June 4.

With such a “dynamic” class, according to LPHS Principal Dr. Marlo Mitchem, the students’ future plans will spread them near and far to places she hopes they carry the spirit of Big Sky with them.

Though the Class of 2022 faced remote learning

and other pandemic-spurred challenges, Mitchem said they also got to enjoy LPHS traditions that define the experience for so many students: the senior year backpacking trip, prom and other dances, athletic senior nights, theater performances and other milestones.

for the next stages of life, Mitchem said she hopes Big Sky will always be home.

Despite the skills the students have cultivated in and out of the classroom that have prepared them

The LPHS Class of 2022 invites the community to celebrate their graduation on June 4 at 4 p.m. at The Wilson Hotel. A cash bar will be available.

“I hope they always come back,” she said. “I want Big Sky to be a community that our graduates … come back to.”

MADISON PERDUE Madison will attend the University of Montana Western in Dillon to study natural horsemanship.

CAMPBELL JOHNSON Campbell will attend Carnegie Mellon University to study physics.

SOPHIA CONE Sophia will attend Middlebury College to study international relations and business.

TJ NORDAHL TJ will attend the University of Hawaii Manoa to study psychology.

SAMANTHA SUAZO Samantha will attend Yale University to study political science and government.

KASSIDY BOERSMA Kassidy will attend Washington State University Honors College to study communications and sports management.

TRISTEN CLACK Tristen Clack will attend Utah Tech University to study to be surgical technician.

CARLY WILSON Carly will attend Emory University to study political science.

AIDAN MILLER Aidan will attend Arizona State University to study business administration.

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ROBERT PRUIETT Robert will attend Montana State University to study electrical engineering.

HENRY SLAD Henry will attend Bates College to study economics.

JOHN CHADWELL John will attend the University of Pennsylvania to study political science.

NATE MCCLAIN Nate will work for a year at Big Sky Build and then attend the Colorado School Of Trades for gunsmithing.

LUKE KIRCHMAYR Luke will attend the United States Air Force Academy to study economics.

TONY BRESTER Tony will attend Texas Christian University to study finance.

OLIVER GOUGH Oliver will attend Montana State University to study computer engineering.

ISABEL MCGAUGHY Isabel will attend Montana State University to study computer science.

RIN SWENSON Rin will attend Montana State University to study computer science.

VALERIO DIOTALLEVI Valerio will return to Italy for a year and will then attend a university in the U.S.

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ANNEL GARCÍA TO GRADUATE FROM DISCOVERY ACADEMY SOLO ART EXHIBIT BEFORE CEREMONY

The exhibit before the ceremony will encompass many of the works García has created over the past three years.

BY TUCKER HARRIS BIG SKY – Colorful art pieces fill the conference room at the BASE community center as students proudly point out their art on display at the Discovery Academy Art Exhibit. Soon-to-be Discovery graduate and artist Annel García smiles at her gouache painting of vibrant wildflowers titled “A Bouquet for Big Sky,” before making a point to note the other impressive works in the room.

“I’m excited to show the pieces that are actually interconnected that were done through different years,” she said. “Because each piece you would think, ‘Oh, this is an individual piece,’ but in reality, I have quite a bit of [connected art works].”

Many of the themes apparent in her works at the graduation exhibit relate back to her culture and family heritage in Jalisco, Mexico.

“For me, art is a form of expression and I adapt that form of expression,” García told EBS. “I like to do storytelling through my pieces. They all have some sort of meaning behind them; They’re made with intent.”

García, a junior in the accelerated program at Big Sky Discovery Academy, will graduate a year early on Friday, June 3 at Fire Pit Park in the Town Center. She has been at Discovery for two-and-a-half years, transferring midway through her freshman year, and has been involved in the art program since.

As the sole graduate at the ceremony, García has a bit more freedom in choosing how the celebration will roll out, and she has chosen to include an art exhibit before the ceremony takes place.

Additionally, García’s older sister, Julia Lizeth Larsen, will speak before García receives her diploma, joining the two other 2022 Discovery Academy graduates Kyan Smit and Libby Flach in recognition of her time at the Montessori school.

PHOTO BY JULIA LIZETH LARSEN

“My sister has seen it all,” García said. “She’s seen it since I was born [until] now. And growing up often she would be the one of my siblings that would help take care of me the most.”

Not only will this moment be special for García because the two are so close, but also because Larsen is a large reason for García’s passion for art.

“My sister actually is the one that inspired my love for art because she loves sketching and 3D animation,” García said. “She always encouraged me.”

“I got so separated from where I’m from when I moved to Big Sky, that it took me until high school to reconnect with it,” she said. “So that’s why there’s a lot of reoccurring themes in my later pieces more than my earlier ones—like marigolds or little things that are very close to that culture of where I came from.”

Next fall, García plans to attend Montana State University to study film. She will take with her lessons learned at Discovery of time management, the importance and value in close relationships and mentors, and her love of art.

Big Sky Discovery Academy invites the community to celebrate Annel García’s graduation on June 3 at 1:30 p.m. at the Fire Pit Park in Town Center. Her art exhibit will begin beforehand at 12:30 p.m.

DRINK WITH YOUR FRIENDS. TEQUILA IS FOR SHARING.

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CREATING HOMES FOR LOCAL BIRDS

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS, BIG SKY HOMEOWNER, CONSTRUCTION OWNER BUILD BIRDHOUSES FOR COMMUNITY

Roger Ladd provides instructions to a table of eighth-grade girls assembling their bird houses. PHOTO BY TUCKER HARRIS

BY TUCKER HARRIS BIG SKY – On a cool, overcast spring day in May, more than 30 Ophir Middle School eighth-grade students crowd around a wood-working table under a garage awning. Their technology teacher, Jeremy Harder, motions for them to quiet down before Roger Ladd explains the project for the day: constructing wooden birdhouses.

Ladd, local Big Sky homeowner, and Grayson Timon, owner and operator of Timon Development LLC, have spent the past two weeks building out the majority of 50 birdhouses: cutting the wood into shape, drilling holes for screws and placing hooks for easy opening and closing.

Harder’s eighth-grade design technology class has come to Ladd’s home workshop in Gallatin Gateway to add the final touches: screwing the wood pieces together, adding hinges to connect the lid to the rest of the birdhouse, and affixing copper protective portals around what will be the birds’ entry hole.

Student Stella Haas is adding the final touch to her birdhouse: attaching a hinge to the opening.

“I’m learning how to use my engineering and mechanical skills to apply them to real life experiences,” she said as she drills in the final screw and completes her birdhouse.

The design technology course offers career-centered skills and curriculum focusing on projects from computer-aided design to sowing beanbags together and learning how to do a basic stitch. Today, they will use electric drills to create birdhouses, which students will observe to compile and submit data to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

“Technology is certainly not the solution for everything, but perhaps it can accompany the building of and hanging up of the birdhouses,” Harder said.

Cornell’s lab is known for its citizen science and has been collecting species and location data observations from birder watchers across the country since 2002 for scientific use. As of October 2020, nearly 50 million checklists and 10,511 species of birds had been recorded from these observations, according to the Cornell lab website.

“I learned that you use these protection guards so that predators can’t get into the house,” Ditullio said.

Harder plans to bring back more place-based experiential learning to his course, a practice he says has fallen off the curriculum since COVID-19.

“My grandkids look in those things all the time to check on the process: see how they’re building the nest; what color eggs and what kind of birds use them … and I don’t think there’s any age that doesn’t enjoy it,” Ladd said.

“Learning and collecting data that we can use to look at various species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is really cool and I’m excited to bring that experiential learning back,” said Harder, adding that he hopes the project will hopefully benefit the GYE, but also go beyond the surrounding area by connecting the students to the Cornell lab in New York.

“Doing something for someone or something else is huge to me,” Harder said. “For eighth graders, their life is so immediate to what’s in front of them. Giving them opportunities to sort of change that lens, to see a little bit more forward, to make that circle a little bit bigger around them, I think is a win-win for anyone.”

Ladd echoed the importance of stepping out of the classroom and into the outdoors as a learning environment.

“I think we can all learn something from nature,” Ladd said. “It’s also just fun to watch the process. That’s why we build these [birdhouses] so you can look inside of them and observe.”

On-site education can make learning practical and give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a real-world environment, Harder said. It’s something his student Geno Ditullio noticed as he installed copper guards that will help protect the birds that build nests in the birdhouses.

Each year, Ladd constructs birdhouses for his grandchildren and neighbors so they can also experience the joy of watching the birds who establish their nests in these hand-built homes.

This project with Ophir will be Ladd’s largest build to date, and the class assembled 50 birdhouses in the hour of allotted time.

The birdhouses are built with local birds in mind: barn swallows, blue jays, nuthatches and mountain chickadees. But competition for the houses isn’t easy.

Harder compares the birdhouse “market” to the current housing market in Big Sky: a crisis.

“The houses are for anyone, but just like our housing crisis around here in Big Sky, while they’re for any species of bird, potentially through natural selection the bluebirds tend to overtake these houses," Harder said.

Harder is encouraging students to take their birdhouse home to hang in their yard. The remaining houses will be installed at the school next year once summer construction is completed, according to Harder.

More bird homes mean, well, more birds, Ladd says.

Through the birdhouse project, he hopes increased habitat will allow more Big Sky-area birds to build nests and reduce the competition between species.

“We can never have too many birds,” Ladd said.

BIG SKY, MT

L I M I T E D AVA I L A B I L I T Y

POR TI ON OF PROC E E DS TO B E N E F I T

14 June 2 - 15 , 2022

L O CA L

Explore Big Sky

BIG SKY FARMERS MARKET RETURNS FOR 14TH SEASON

Q&A: ERIK MORRISON

EBS: What distinguishes Big Sky’s market from other farmers markets?

E.M.: I’d have to say it’s our balance and diversity of vendors with a focus on local and regional farmers, professional artisans, young artists and entrepreneurs, and community organizations. All of this is done with the goal of helping to foster and maintain a market that is true to our Big Sky mountain culture. This is no easy task. The market is constantly growing and changing with the growth of the community.

BY TUCKER HARRIS BIG SKY – A longtime community staple is returning fresh produce, art and other local goods to the streets of Town Center: the Big Sky Farmers Market is back.

Every Wednesday from June 1 through Sept. 28 the Big Sky Farmers Market will host an eclectic mix of local and regional farmers, professional artisans, community organizations and young artists and entrepreneurs.

Erik Morrison, the town center’s events and marketing manager, has been helping grow and manage the market for the past eight years.

To Morrison, showing gratitude and making a point to look your neighbor in the eye to say hello is a piece of Big Sky culture that makes its market so special.

EBS spoke with Morrison about other unique components of the market as well as what to expect this year.

The following Q&A has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Explore Big Sky: Tell me about the history of the Big Sky Farmers Market. How many seasons has it been happening and how long have you been involved?

Erik Morrison: This year will mark the 14th season of the Big Sky Farmers Market. The market was originally started by the Town Center Owners Association’s Ryan Hamilton and Wendy Swenson. Wendy went on to become the marketing director of the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce and I came on in 2014 as a consultant to help manage and grow the market.

EBS: What do you think makes the market special?

E.M.: It’s the vibe at the market and throughout Big

PHOTO COURTESY OF BIG SKY TOWN CENTER

Sky that makes it special. It’s felt the moment you turn on Lone Mountain Trail and are welcomed by the stunning sight and powerful presence of “The Peak.” You can’t help but slow down a bit and smile as she holds your gaze. That smile will follow you most everywhere you go on the faces of locals and visitors alike. Here we look each other in the eye, say hello, show gratitude and take pride in our customs and this place we call home.

That vibe is the beating heart of Big Sky’s mountain culture and it beats strong at the market.

EBS: How would you describe the culture or identity of the market?

E.M.: The culture and identity of the market is as eclectic as the community that comes together every Wednesday to make it up. If you were on a tour bus of an all-time family band on their way to play an après block party and progressive dinner to help raise funds and awareness for community causes that matter and collided with a roadside produce stand and artisan festival ... You might find yourself at the Big Sky Farmers Market.

EBS: Are there any new vendors that you’re excited about having at the market this summer?

E.M.: We are looking to add some density to the venue that should allow for some new vendors. Look for some new faces and offerings later this summer.

EBS: Are there any changes this year to the market? What should visitors expect?

E.M.: In addition to live music at the Town Center Plaza, we are bringing back music to Fire Pit Park this summer. Blue Buddha Sushi Lounge is hosting music at the plaza and Lone Mountain Land Company is sponsoring the music at the fire pit.

We are also working with Big Sky Sustainability Network Organization, YES Compost and 406 Recycling to up our sustainability efforts and continue to strive toward a zero-waste event.

Besides that, the market layout will remain the same and run east from Town Center Plaza, down Town Center Ave. and into Fire Pit Park.

EBS: Anything else you would like to add?

E.M.: Thanks to all our sponsors and community partners who have worked with us to help make the market what it is today.

JOIN US THIS SUMMER FOR

Big Sky’s Biggest Week WED. JULY 13 – SUN. JULY 16 Big Sky Art Auction

FRIDAY, JULY 15

Big Sky Community Rodeo Street Dance, Len Hill Park

TUESDAY, JULY 19 Big Sky Bingo Night

Big Sky Community Day / Mutton Bustin’

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20

Big Sky PBR Golf Tournament at Black Bull Golf Course

THURSDAY, JULY 21

Big Sky PBR Basecamp Vendor Village Open PBR Bull Riding Night 1

FRIDAY, JULY 22

Big Sky PBR Basecamp Vendor Village Open PBR Bull Riding Night 2 Live Music Following Bull Riding, Tony Marques Band

SATURDAY, JULY 23

Big Sky PBR Basecamp Vendor Village Open PBR Bull Riding Night 3

Live Music Following Bull Riding, Hayes Carll

VISIT BIGSKYPBR.COM FOR TICKETS & INFORMATION BIG SKY EVENTS ARENA, BIG SKY, MONTANA

16 June 2 - 15 , 2022

L O CA L

Explore Big Sky

RESORT TAX REQUESTS CONSIDERED AT UPCOMING MEETINGS EBS STAFF

BIG SKY – The Big Sky Resort Area District board will consider more than $8.7 million in resort tax request funding starting June 6.

As of the end of March, the district has collected more than $15.4 million, some of which will fund the district’s budget and a reserve allocation as well as community funding requests.

The district remits a 4 percent tax within its Big Sky boundary. One percent is collected for designated infrastructure projects in Big Sky and the other 3 percent funds interlocal agreements with government entities such as the sheriff ’s office and the fire department as well as projects and budgets of local organizations.

The board will review this year’s applications and award funding at two public meetings, one on June 6 and the other on June 9. Both meetings are from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the BASE community center as well as on Zoom.

Review applications and learn how to submit public comment at resorttax.org.

66 PROJECTS 21 ORGANIZATIONS $8.7 MILLION REQUESTS

Public Works

31%

Recreation & Conservation

20% Economic Development

Arts & Education

13%

Housing

24% 8%

Health & Safety

4%

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19 June 2 - 15 , 2022

L O CA L

Explore Big Sky

LONE MOUNTAIN LAND COMPANY ACQUIRES TOWN CENTER

BY BELLA BUTLER BIG SKY – Local developer Lone Mountain Land Company acquired the remaining undeveloped residential and commercial land in the Town Center in a deal that closed Tuesday. The original developers of Town Center, the Simkins family, sold the approximately 500 acres and applicable development rights and with it their remaining interests in Town Center.

LMLC, a local development arm of Boston-based investment firm CrossHarbor Capital Partners, plans to “move slowly on building things out,” according to LMLC and CrossHarbor Managing Director Matt Kidd. While LMLC envisions a mix of residential, commercial, hospitality and other development, Kidd said nothing specific is planned at this stage and no further building will occur in 2022.

Big Sky’s mountainous land profile has forced the community into a fragmented layout, but Town Center has become a hub where all of Big Sky can connect. Maintaining this identity for the development is at the heart of LMLC’s vision, Kidd said.

“This is where the whole community comes together, right?” Kidd told EBS. “Whether you live in the canyon or in the meadow or in West Fork, in South Fork or at the resort or in Aspen Groves, Yellowstone Club, Spanish Peaks, Moonlight; this is where everybody comes and so we want to build on that.”

The Town Center illustrates an evolution of LMLC and CrossHarbor’s role in the Big Sky community, Kidd said. CrossHarbor made its first appearance in the area in 2009 when it purchased the Yellowstone Club as part of a Chapter 11 reorganization. While prioritizing getting the previously bankrupt private club back in good standing, Kidd said that during its earlier years CrossHarbor needed to focus primarily on internal priorities before broadening its purview to the larger Big Sky community.

By Kidd’s account, that all changed in 2013 when CrossHarbor acquired Spanish Peaks Mountain Club and, later that year, Moonlight Basin. Unlike with the Yellowstone Club, the firm understood it would need to consider a broader view of Big Sky to make those investments successful. According to Kidd, this forced CrossHarbor to expand its role from solely a distressed real estate investor to a community developer.

“We immediately started working with the Simkins family to think about what was going to happen— what could happen—down in Town Center,” he said. “And we have always looked at Town Center as the lifeblood of the year-round community.”

LMLC, formed by CrossHarbor in 2014, acquired its first property in Town Center in 2014. It has since built 80 residential units in Town Center, 78 of which it still owns. The developers launched discussions approximately five years ago with the Simkins family about purchasing the remaining land in Town Center.

An aerial view of Town Center shows both the completed development as well as some of the remaining undeveloped land. PHOTO COURTESY OF LONE MOUNTAIN LAND COMPANY

The Simkins family purchased the land for Town Center in 1970 and began acquiring development rights in the ‘80s. By the early 2000s, development had begun to rise from what was once little more to the eye than a vast sagebrush field. Today, the development includes more than 250 residential units, according to an LMLC statement, and many commercial units including a host of restaurants, bars, music venues, retailers, grocery stores and a hotel. It’s home to the hospital, the new community center, Len Hill Park, the movie theater and a network of trails along with several other community staples.

“We are proud of our efforts to build an incredible community at Town Center,” the Simkins family wrote in a May 19 statement to EBS. “…The accomplishments that we are most proud of are the community-building, connections, and partnerships that were made over the decades.”

Through the purchase LMLC also became the Town Center declarant and developer and will manage the Town Center Owners Association. It is currently in the process of hiring a new TCOA executive director.

According to a calculation by LMLC, flat land on the west side of the South Fork of the West Fork of the Gallatin River is 64 percent built out.

Still, Kidd said one of the hurdles he anticipates facing in building out the rest of Town Center is inspiring community consensus amid some development angst.

“I think the biggest challenge is ultimately trying to build community support for something that we hope is ultimately great for Big Sky as a community and as a place,” he said.

In the context of community struggles such as housing and year-long economic sustainability,

Kidd reframed development as a solution rather than a problem.

“We actually can’t address our challenges without more development and growth over time,” he said.

Kidd said “community-based housing,” will be a primary focus of the remaining Town Center development and will likely include a broad spectrum of options ranging from apartments, dorms and small townhouses to single-family homes and larger, market-based products. He added that LMLC plans to work with the Big Sky Community Housing Trust, the Big Sky Resort Area District and other community entities to identify where and when affordability requirements, deed restrictions and other housing solutions might make sense.

Another focus, Kidd noted, will be continuing to use Town Center as a tool to further stabilize Big Sky’s shoulder seasons. This goal was echoed by Big Sky Chamber of Commerce and Visit Big Sky CEO Brad Niva, who since stepping into that role has prioritized building a stronger year-round economy in Big Sky. “I think Town Center is the only place we can grow and mature as a community,” Niva said. “… It’s the center of the community … it’s still very young.

And as we all know, there’s challenges, we have growing pains. I think as our Town Center develops more, and more options and opportunities are available for our visitors but also our residents, [it] maintains a strong economy and maintains a strong community.”

Outside of the private clubs, Kidd said Town Center is for the most part what remains to be developed in Big Sky. “That is very energizing,” he said. “And we take a lot of responsibility with this.”

L O CA L

20 June 2 - 15 , 2022

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Explore Big Sky

21 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

BUSINESS MAKING IT IN BIG SKY: SANDY REVISKY AT PUREWEST PROPERTIES

BY MIRA BRODY BIG SKY – When Sandy Revisky first visited Big Sky, she knew there was something special about it. Today, as a broker and one of the founding members of PureWest Properties, she revels in the fact that her job takes her all over the community—from her office, to snowshoeing through 20-acre parcels with her clients and showing them ski-in/ski-out properties.

As a selling and listing broker, Revisky prides herself on her honesty and refuses to call herself a “salesperson.”

Instead she views herself as an advisor to all her clients, providing them with the best possible service while they sell their investment or search for their dream home in Big Sky. This series is part of a paid partnership with the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce. The following answers have been edited for brevity.

Explore Big Sky: I’d like to start with a little background information on you. When did you first come to Big Sky and what brought you here?

Sandy Revisky: I moved to Big Sky in 1996. I had worked at a wilderness camp in Colorado in the summers when I was in college, so even though I went to college in Ohio, I knew I wanted to move out west after I graduated. I had heard good things about Big Sky from a friend of mine, so I drove out with another friend right after I graduated from Kenyon College. I immediately fell in love with the scenery, outdoor actives, weather and the people. I grew up in a small town in New Jersey, and went to a small high school and a small college, so I knew I did not want to live in a city or even a very large town. There is something so special about a small town, especially a small ski town in Montana!

EBS: When did you get started in real estate and what has been your favorite aspect of it?

S.R.: I started selling real estate in 1999. I was working as a graphic designer at the time for a local Big Sky paper. I was approached by an agent team that asked if I wanted to be their assistant. I was hesitant at first as I had never considered going into real estate, but I very quickly realized how much I enjoyed working with people. Within a year I moved on from being an assistant and was selling property as an agent.

One of the wonderful aspects of selling real estate is that every day is different and you never quite know what is going to happen. I can plan to work in the office all day

“

One of the wonderful aspects of selling real estate is that every day is different and you never quite know what is going to happen.

I can plan to work in the office all day just to find myself snowshoeing 20-acre parcels with a client instead, or touring gorgeous ski-in/ski-out homes – Sandy Revisky, Pure West Properties

”

just to find myself snowshoeing 20-acre parcels with a client instead, or touring gorgeous ski-in/ski-out homes.

I’ve been doing this for 23 years and it is still such an exciting job that I find so fulfilling.

I truly love the relationships that I have formed with my clients throughout the years. Because of the close customer service that I offer, my clients become friends, and I so enjoy continuing the relationship with my clients for many years. That has to be my favorite part of my job—the long lasting friendships and connection.

EBS: How/when did you become involved with PureWest Properties?

S.R.: I was one of the founding team members at PureWest Big Sky, back in 2009. I had previously worked at Big Sky Properties from 1999-2009. It was very exciting to be invited to a team with some fantastic agents and start up a whole new office/company in Big Sky! EBS: How big is the team you work with in Big Sky and what is your favorite part about working with PureWest?

S.R.: We currently have six active, full-time agents at PureWest Big Sky. We all pride ourselves in being longtime agents in the Big Sky market that specialize in Big Sky. I very much enjoy working with a small team of agents that are so knowledgeable about Big Sky, and that work so closely together.

EBS: Tell me about the different services you offer as a broker in Big Sky? S.R.: I work both as a listing broker and a selling broker.

I pride myself on my customer service, my strong work ethic and my honesty. I am never trying to “sell” a client anything. My job is to advise. I want my clients to enjoy the process and not to feel any pressure to buy or sell. It is rare that someone needs to purchase property in Big Sky. Purchasing property in our beautiful town is almost always a luxury transaction and something that families have dreamed about doing for many years. I therefore want to make the experience one that is as relaxed and enjoyable as possible for my clients.

EBS: What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not at work?

S.R.: Anything outside! I enjoy hiking, backpacking, cycling, paddle boarding, dirt biking, floating our area rivers, skiing (downhill, backcountry and touring), snowshoeing, snowmobiling, etc. If it is outside enjoying the wonderful scenery in Montana, I love it. I also very much enjoy traveling with my family.

Sandy Revisky is a broker and one of the founding member of PureWest Properties, she revels in the fact that her job takes her all over the community. PHOTO COURTESY OF SANDY REVISKY

EBS: What is the best business advice you have ever received?

S.R.: I’m not sure if it’s the best advice that I received, but what I have learned through the years from my customer testimonials is that what I provide to my clients is fantastic customer service, quick responsiveness and honesty. I work very hard to make sure that my clients are informed, protected and get the answers that they need to feel great about their transaction.

22 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

OP NEWS

EBS REFLECTS ON 300 EDITIONS Q&A: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JOSEPH T. O’CONNOR

L-R: Explore Big Sky Digital Producer Tucker Harris, Editor-in-Chief Joseph T. O'Connor and Managing Editor Bella Butler enjoy flipping through old copies of EBS on the eve of the release of the paper's 300th edition.

PHOTO BY ME BROWN

“Three-hundred editions later, I’m proud to say we have solidified that mission, and our goal of being a constant pillar for the community and supporting businesses is paramount,” said Outlaw Partners CEO Megan Paulson.

“We are thankful for the years of support, hard work and dedication of our team, and being a voice for the Big Sky community and all of southwest Montana. We look forward to the next 300 editions!”

BY BELLA BUTLER BIG SKY – The copy of Explore Big Sky you hold in your hands is the 300th edition, a milestone in a nearly 12-year journey since the first edition was published under Outlaw Partners as the Big Sky Weekly on Oct. 29, 2010.

Much has changed in the Big Sky community during that time, and EBS as a publication has evolved accordingly. EBS has expanded its print publication to include a robust digital presence, reaching readers across the country through social media, its daily Town Crier newsletter and website. EBS engages with the community not only through reporting but through town halls, events and forums.

More than a decade after buying his first newspaper company, Ladd is looking forward to what’s next.

“We take great pride and responsibility in being the only news source for Big Sky and proud of the team’s effort in building this media platform,” he said. “We are grateful for the community support and look forward to the continued growth of Outlaw media!”

“Our goals with this paper include thoughtful journalism, meaningful discussion, quality advertising and community support,” EBS Publisher Eric Ladd wrote in the first edition. “The opportunity of publishing this newspaper is a way to give back to the Big Sky community, and the Outlaw team is committed to making this a world-class publication and is committed to being an integral part of the Montana communities we live in.”

And those goals are what we continually strive for on a daily basis.

In reflecting on EBS history and looking ahead at its future, Managing Editor Bella Butler interviewed Editor-in-Chief Joseph T. O’Connor, who’s been an editor with EBS since 2012.

Bella Butler: How has EBS evolved since that first issue was published on Oct. 29, 2010?

October 29, 2010

Joseph T. O’Connor: We started out much more like a journal or an alt-weekly … I also think that we’ve seen tremendous, explosive growth in the Big Sky area … A lot of the stories that we did early on were enterprisetype pieces, where we were digging up stories. With

O P N E WS B.B.: What role does EBS play in the Big Sky community?

J.T.O.: We are the resource for—the only real resource— for news and information for Big Sky. I look at our role as symbiotic with the community because we need everyone in the community as much as they need us …

I look at EBS as a friend of the community, and I don’t mean that as any trite description but more as a real friend who knows you’re not always told what you want to hear but what you need to hear and that’s the mark of a true friendship. That’s how I think about our community.

Special Edition: COVID-19

Mar. 27 - Apr. 9, 2020 Volume 11 // Issue #7

Covering COVID-19:

B.B.: As Big Sky’s only newspaper, what responsibility does EBS have in the community? What are ways Outlaw Partners and EBS are working to fulfill and uphold that responsibility?

• Big Sky’s first case • Resort suspends operations • EMS response • Virus Relief fund • Businesses address pandemic

Plus:

Coping with stress and COVID-19 Q&A with gubernatorial candidate Whitney Williams Coach Buzz Tatum: Sports more than a game

J.T.O.: We have a huge responsibility to the community and to ourselves. Some of the tenants that we lean on [as a newspaper] are accuracy, timeliness and being informative. From the day-to-day it means checking facts and quotes. But it also means what stories we choose to run and the tone that we use to tell these stories. We have a responsibility to the community and our readership to be fair. We have a responsibility to be transparent and forthright … We need to call ourselves out when we do make mistakes, which we do.

Explore Big Sky

Big Sky

Exploring life, land and culture from the heart of the Yellowstone Region

Oct.5-18,2012 Volume 3 // Issue No. 20

LPHS homecoming Candidate Q+A: Madison County Commission

PEARL JAM ROCKS FOR TESTER Big Sky Fire asks for community support BUSINESS PROFILE: Rivers, Lakes, Oceans Montana-Canada tourism-trade mission

media@theoutlawpartners.com

Big Sky's locally owned and published newspaper explorebigsky.com

October 5 - 18, 2012

March 27 - April 9, 2020 the expanded amount of people and the explosion since COVID, there’s more traffic, more development, more people, more issues with those interactions in the environment. And with all of that comes more news. I think we’ve become a lot more adept at turning around news quicker. And I think part of that’s really been leaning on the digital side of our publication.

Our goal going forward for EBS is to give the community in Big Sky and our readership the information they need in the way they want it.

That can mean more of a digital presence. It can mean expanding print.

I look at [EBS] as a living, breathing thing and like any living thing it has to learn and adjust and I think we’re constantly reevaluating the way that we’re perceived and the way that we’re digested as a news source, the way we interact with the community. Ultimately, I think the goal is that we are able to adjust to the needs of the community.

B.B.: Which stories or issues stand out as having some of the most lasting impact?

J.T.O: What’s interesting is I’ve gone back through over the years and looked back at stories we’ve done, and a lot of the same stories and issues we continue to cover today because they continue to be issues and they’re growing along with everything in Big Sky. One might think that growth and traffic and these development projects would be some of the most lasting and most important stories.

But you asked about impact, and I think that impact goes deeper than that.

The stories with the biggest impact are the community stories where we can not only reach the local community, some of whom have been here for a long time, to talk about and help us remember our own history, but I think it’s also impactful for visitors, first-time or otherwise, to understand that this is a community and a community has history and these are some of its stories.

B.B.: For the first paper you served as editor for in 2012, you wrote that you wanted to hit the ground running. And you did. You said you were sprinting. Are you still sprinting?

January 1 - 14, 2021 Another way we can be transparent is through native content or paid content. A lot of news organizations mark these things in different ways. But in my mind the clearest way to differentiate between paid content and news is to have it very much clear toward the top of the story that this is a paid piece of content because if you conflate those two things, you not only confuse your readership but it looks like you’re being dishonest.

There are so many ways that newspapers and media organizations are looked down on these days that any opportunity we have to be forthright and transparent with our audience—we’re going to take that chance.

B.B.: EBS has chronicled a lot of Big Sky’s lifespan in 300 issues. What does the path ahead look like for EBS? What goals do you have for the future?

June 13 - 26, 2014

PHOTO BY MATTY MCCAIN

23 June 2 - 15 , 2022

J.T.O.: I think with any newspaper, especially smaller community papers like ours, it’s really key to have reporters living in the community. This gives them an opportunity to get to know people at a personal level during work but also outside of work and, vice versa, allows the community to see our reporters with boots on the ground and feel like they can approach them and discuss issues with them and bring stories to us. That’s difficult. It’s increasingly difficult in a place like Big Sky. But we are committed to making that happen as best we can just because the news needs to happen from the inside out.

J.T.O.: I think I’ll always be sprinting … I think that any runner who has been running for any length of time regularly learns tricks of the trade. For example, I’m still going to be sprinting but there might an inside track I could take to run a shorter distance. But that just means we become more effective in the work that we do and efficient with the time that we have to do it. I think if I ever stopped sprinting, I would have to stop working in journalism.

™

Aug. 3 - 16, 2018 Volume 9 // Issue #15

200 editions EBS celebrates

Big Sky PBR

What a week it was

NorthWestern settles on substation

NEW:

Yours in Health by Dr. Andrea Wick

A step toward Big Sky sustainability

August 3 - 16, 2018

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25 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

ENVIRONMENT

TROUT-FRIENDLY LANDSCAPING AIMS TO PROTECT WATER

BY GABRIELLE GASSER BIG SKY – The typical American lawn is a lush, green mat of Kentucky Bluegrass, a grass that requires high water use, especially in drought-prone places like Big Sky. When considering resource expenditure, the nonnative grass is not well-suited for the high-elevation mountain environment.

Gallatin River Task Force encourages Big Sky homeowners and businesses to make the switch to drought-tolerant, native landscaping that local rivers smile upon. The Trout-friendly Landscape Pledge launched at the end of summer 2020, making this the second full summer that it is available.

The goal of the pledge is twofold, according to Emily O’Connor, conservation director with GRTF. “The trout friendly pledge encourages landscaping practices that protect water quality and quantity,” she said in an interview with EBS. The benefits from switching to trout-friendly landscaping are numerous. The landscaping is healthier for children and pets, saves homeowners money, creates habitat for local fauna, protects water quality and conserves water.

Water conservation is doubly important in this instance because not only was Montana in an extreme drought for the entire summer last year, the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District raised their rates for water. On June 1, 2021, the board voted to pass an ordinance that increases water rates by 5 percent for the base rate and rate user tiers. Conserving water will not only benefit the nearby Gallatin River, but it will also take a load off property owners’ wallets.

This water-wise landscaping also protects water quality from nonpoint source pollutants like fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides which can be

replaced with organic options or are unnecessary for native plants. These chemicals can be a significant source of excess nitrogen and phosphorous, according to the GRTF’s website. O’Connor said these excess nutrients enter streams and rivers and become food for the widespread algae blooms seen on the Gallatin in recent years which threaten riparian habitats and river health.

Taking the pledge is as simple as completing a seven-step checklist.

There are many resources on GRTF’s website available to property owners, including the Big Sky Water-Wise Landscaping Guide.

Steps include using native plants, reducing chemical use, improving soil and making irrigation practices efficient.

“Having a good soil base reduces the amount of water you need,” O’Connor said. “We are encouraging practical lawn areas so limiting the size and how you maintain it, things like mowing at 3 inches or greater to conserve water.”

Implementing efficient irrigation practices is equally important. O’Connor referenced newer irrigation technology that has timers to automatically turn off water based on soil and weather conditions. Getting a new system will not break the bank for property owners since the task force offers rebates on new irrigation equipment.

To help bolster the relatively new program, a conservation associate, Jess Olson, has joined the task force team. Olson will be available to connect property owners with a variety of resources and ideas on how they can transform their landscaping and homes to be more water-wise.

The pledge process is designed to be as easy as possible for property owners. After completing the

Adding rocks to landscaping is an aesthetically pleasing way to reduce water use. PHOTO COURTESY OF GALLATIN RIVER TASK FORCE

trout-friendly pledge, available on the task force website, property owners can make any desired changes to their landscape and receive any relevant rebates from the task force.

One Big Sky homeowner, JeNelle Johnson, shared her experience managing her landscaping. Johnson said she has owned her home in Big Sky for around a decade and for the first several years, she spent a lot of time and money on landscaping that didn’t do well.

“The past few years I have gone to a more minimalist approach,” she said. “We have added boulders to our landscaping which look great and don’t need water. We love our native grass and old growth trees. We have installed some droughttolerant plants near our home that are on a drip system. I’m currently replacing mulch with rock bark for fire resistance. I add a splash of color by planting flowers in a few pots on our front porch and deck.”

Another Big Sky local and member of the GRTF board of directors, Heather Budd, spoke to the importance of implementing trout-friendly landscaping.

“In our eyes, trout friendly equates to overall river health and overall river health affects everyone who connects with the Gallatin from fishermen and recreationists to downstream landowners and agriculture,” Budd wrote in an email to EBS. In addition to some Big Sky homeowners who have made the switch, O’Connor said the Town Center, Lone Moose Meadows, Hidden Village and Big Sky owners associations have committed to water-wise landscaping practies.

She encouraged property owners to visit the website and take advantage of the variety of information. “We are here as a resource,” she said.

The Gardens at Crail Ranch are great demonstration gardens that have implemented native landscaping and use less water. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER

An earlier version of this story was published in a June 2021 edition of EBS.

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ENVIRONMENT

Explore Big Sky

PART II: GRIZZLY 399’S FOUR CUBS WILL SOON REACH A LIFE-OR-DEATH CROSSROADS

EXPERTS, LOCALS AND VISITORS CONTEMPLATE THE FUTURE OF SOME OF THE WEST’S MOST ICONIC WILDLIFE

BY MIKE KOSHMRL WYOFILE.COM

This is the second installment in a two-part story. Read part I on explorebigsky.com.

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK – All eyes have been on famous Grizzly Bear 399 and her four cubs this spring as they emerge from a winter’s rest and into a potentially more dangerous world than the one they fell asleep in.

The cubs, now separated from their mother since May 12, as reported by the Jackson Hole News & Guide, have been conditioned to find food in areas of high potential human conflict. Recent data shows that Wyoming wildlife management has trended further in the direction of killing problem grizzlies over relocating them, a reality that could potentially bode ill for the cubs.

Wyoming Game and Fish intends to take the lead in managing Grizzly 399 and her offspring if and when those bears depart Teton Park this year. That’s a departure from 2021, when the state agency pulled back its on-the-ground management during the family group’s extended stay in southern Jackson Hole. The federal government dispatched

its own wildlife officials instead, running up a big bill in the process, according to Fish and Wildlife Service’s grizzly bear recovery coordinator Hilary Cooley.

“We spent $60,000 last year, the Fish and Wildlife Service in Jackson,” Cooley said. “We can’t do that, and we shouldn’t. We’ve got 2,000 bears in the Lower 48 states."

Calls for a different tack Ardent Grizzly 399 admirers feel otherwise. The extraordinary sow—the oldest-known female with cubs alive today in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—is widely considered an ambassador of her species, and she’s a force attracting legions of tourists who bolster the local economy. Fans argue that the famous bear, her progeny and other habituated, roadside grizzlies do deserve continued special treatment.

“The bears are the draw, in my opinion,” Rochester, New York photographer Tom Knauss said while watching the bears from the road shoulder in Grand Teton National Park May 4. “The peaks are nice and all that, but people come to see the bears—they really do.”

Two of Grizzly 399’s subadult offspring shake off excess water on May 4, after swimming across the Snake River. PHOTO BY MARK GOCKE

“To euthanize them,” he said, “would be a big mistake.”

Knauss called for the Park Service to “rethink” what it takes to keep bears with Grizzly 399’s bloodlines alive. Officials could strategically place road-killed ungulate carcasses in the national park, he said, to dissuade their departure. That’s an idea his partner, Ricki Swanson, thought was wise.

“We feed the damn elk on the [National Elk Refuge] to keep them out of town,” Swanson said.

“All the things they say they can’t do because it’s not natural, they’re already doing.”

Knauss and Swanson were not ready to write Grizzly 399’s four 2-year-olds off, but other roadside spectators took a dimmer view of the youngsters’ prospects.

Roadside grizzlies should be managed to preserve viewing opportunities for the public, Alpine resident Walt Ackerman said. “They should be considered golden ambassadors of their species,” he said, “and that should transcend boundaries and transcend agencies.”

27 June 2 - 15 , 2022

ENVIRONMENT

Explore Big Sky

Campbell said. “And in the last year, our community stepped up, to a certain degree.”

There’s a new initiative, Jackson Hole Bear Solutions, that’s providing free bear-resistant trash cans, livestock feed containers and electric fencing to residents who request it. Ackerman, the Alpine resident, helped get that program off the ground, convincing the nonprofit Wyoming Wildlife Advocates to take it on.

“It’s an effort to try to solve some of the problems,” he said. “It’s better than doing nothing, and nobody was doing anything.”

Mangelsen, meanwhile, is also contributing to the chorus calling on wildlife managers to change plans for handling the subadult grizzlies once they strike out on their own. The fivesome’s behavior, he contended, should not necessarily be construed as “conflict,” just because they access human goods left out for the taking.

Two of Grizzly 399’s 2-year-old offspring size up photographers who cut off their desired travel path near the residence occupied by the Bureau of Reclamation’s Jackson Lake Dam operator. PHOTO BY MIKE KOSHMRL / WYOFILE

He recognized that’s not the reality, however.

“They’re doomed,” Ackerman said of the subadults.

“And the reason they’re doomed is because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the park—and this is my opinion—has made it obvious that they’re trying to kill the next generation of roadside bears.”

Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team data suggests that Grizzly 399 descendants, which learn to tolerate people, fare poorly relative to most grizzlies, Thompson said. Research focused on the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem’s grizzlies shows that survival increases steadily with age: 61 percent of cubs survive their first year out of the den, while 68 percent of yearlings monitored make it through year two. By the subadult life stage, annual survival rates spike to 85 percent and some 95 percent of adult grizzlies survive any given year, according to the research.

A study team “parentage analysis” suggests there are “16 to 17” individuals that are “known or likely offspring” of Grizzly 399, not counting her current litter, Thompson said. Of those bears, five were captured and killed as a result of conflict— most recently, Grizzly 962, a 4-year-old female from the world-famous sow’s previous litter. Two more Grizzly 399 cubs were killed by vehicle strikes. “One to two” more died from undetermined natural causes, he said.

she pointed out, more or less beelined it for ranchland in southern Jackson Hole after emerging from the den over Easter weekend. There were no reports, she said and Thompson confirmed, of the grizzlies getting into human-related foods.

“Let’s celebrate small victories,” Campbell said.

“Maybe it’s not so small that her and her family just spent however many days in the [southern] Jackson Hole valley with zero conflicts.”

Another cause for optimism Campbell perceived was increased public awareness and a policy shift.

Grizzly 399, she said, has been a catalyst for change, encouraging residents to tuck away bear attractants and motivating the Teton County Board of Commissioners to require bear-proof trash cans and dumpsters throughout Jackson Hole.

“Grizzly 399 came through town on a white horse and said, ‘This is screwed up, that’s screwed up,’”

“It used to be like three strikes,” Mangelsen said.

“Saying we’re not going to tolerate one strike now, that’s a pretty lousy way to manage a species on the endangered species list.”

But Thompson said the problem-bear policy was never so simple. Relocation is never predetermined, he said, and there’s no concrete number of grizzly bear blunders managers condone—even if their tolerance of missteps has diminished.

“Twenty years ago you could maybe move a bear, even within the recovery zone, and it could find a vacant home range to make a living as a young bear,” Thompson said. “But the likelihood of that now is very low.” Wyoming’s large carnivore manager repeated his preliminary plans for Grizzly 399’s offspring.

“If any of those bears are involved in a conflict involving food rewards or something like that,” Thompson said, “I do not feel it’d be appropriate to relocate them.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Jackson Hole News & Guide reported that as of May 12 Grizzly 399 and her cubs have started to separate. The News & Guide on May 13 reported that one of Grizzly 399’s male cubs was hazed in the Solitude subdivision.

Only four of 399’s known offspring that have been captured—less than a quarter—have no known conflict history, Thompson said. Four more were captured and relocated as a result of conflict. Three of those bears whereabouts are unknown, he said, and the fourth, a female from the same litter as 962, is now a problem bear that’s frequenting residential areas in Red Lodge.

“What’s going on [with Grizzly 399], it’s not a good scenario for her and for other bears,” Thompson said. “Having grizzlies walking through downtown Jackson doesn’t help grizzly bears as a whole.”

Cause for optimism Red Top Meadows resident Cindy Campbell, a longtime grizzly bear activist, said she’s focusing her energy on the silver linings of the Grizzly 399 clan’s wanderings. The five-grizzly family,

A creature of habit, grizzly 399 takes a familiar route along Jackson Lake’s shoreline on her way from Signal Mountain to willow-filled meadows along the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. PHOTO BY MIKE KOSHMRL / WYOFILE

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WEAR HEY BEAR! Support bear safety and education!

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30 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

A&E ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

ART AUCTION GATHERS COLLECTORS OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS

BY MIRA BRODY Editor’s Note: The Big Sky Art Auction is produced by Outlaw Partners, publisher of EBS. BIG SKY – There’s a big white tent in Big Sky Town Center under which certain creative energy gathers each July—an energy that defines the experience of the Big Sky Art Auction. Now in its seventh annual event, this year’s auction takes place July 13 through 16 and offers a virtual and inperson component, allowing lovers of the arts to bid and browse over 100 unique pieces from artists all over the region.

This year, Outlaw Events, producer of the Big Sky Art Auction and publisher of Explore Big Sky, announced the auction will follow a theme: Collector’s Collecting. The theme aims to educate and encourage art lovers to celebrate collectable art, and the event will include a speaker series on the topic.

As the auction nears, take some time to get acquainted with a few of the artists featured in this year’s event.

AVERI IRIS SMITH Acrylic paint averiirisart.com

BY WESTERN HANDS Western arts guild bywesternhands.org Western arts guild By Western Hands is a Big Sky Art Auction veteran. The guild’s devotion to preserving the wild and free spirit as well as the functional craft of the West captures a unique sense of place. By Western Hands is a nonprofit out of Cody, Wyoming that supports the minds and works of those who have devoted their lives to creating functional, lasting art made from wood, carved leather and bone, beaded textiles, antler, silver and iron, to name a few. This work is vastly unlike anything you’d ever see in a typical furniture store.

The artists of By Western Hands are reflections of a style born in the late 1800s now deeply rooted in American culture and embraced by acclaimed furniture craftsman as having the highest quality of workmanship—only those with an eye toward the Western tradition are invited to join the master craftsman guild.

While working mostly in solitude during the pandemic, Echo and her husband, Ron, are looking forward to reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones and seeing people interact with their work at this year’s art auction.

ROBERT RODRIQUEZ Illustrations and paintings RobertRodriguezArt.com

COURTNEY COLLINS Fine art gallery courtneycollinsfineart.com Courtney Collins speaks of the artists she represents in her Big Sky Town Center gallery intimately, as though each is a close friend, whether deceased or living. Kevin Redstar, Tom Gillian, Ben Pease, David Yarrow and many other acclaimed Western artists are featured in her space and each has played a role in her journey of opening her gallery.

Working with clients, advocating for artists and a career in gallery curation fell into place naturally for Collins, who moved to Big Sky after growing up in Long Island, New York, going to school in Syracuse and Chicago and living in Jackson Hole. She has now been in Big Sky for 10 years and has built a name for herself.

ECHO UKRAINETZ Batik hechoukrainetz.com

Averi Iris Smith is a young artist who has already made a name for herself. This bison portrait will be one of her featured pieces in this year’s auction. PHOTO COURTESY OF AVERI IRIS SMITH

Averi Iris Smith will be the youngest artist at the auction, but at 17 years old, she’s already made a name for herself. Drawing inspiration from the Montana landscape in which she was born and raised, Smith finds time between her studies and three sports teams to paint things she loves.

From mountainscapes to bison, she took to acrylic paints, adding her own colorful flair, laying a bright palette and sometimes gold leaf—a thin gold paper—over her pieces. Smith won the 2020 Sweet Pea Festival poster contest, has work displayed in the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport and is Sage Lodge’s featured artist.

Echo Ukrainetz is a storyteller. That’s because behind each of her pieces is a story. One of her pieces, “The Song of Mountain Chief,” for example, depicts a Blackfoot leader of the 19th century. He was known as a warrior, diplomat and healer to his people until his death in 1942 at age 94 at his home in Blood Indian Reserve, Montana. Ukrainetz is a batik artist, using wax-resistant dye on cloth, a practice that originated in Indonesia.

The Song of the Mountain Chief by Echo Ukrainetz features a Blackfoot leader of the 19th century. PHOTO COURTESY OF ECHO UKRAINETZ

The Mexican Parade Saddle is one of Robert Rodriquez’s featured pieces, and like many of his paintings, focuses on the object as opposed to the person or place. PHOTO COURTESY OF ROBERT RODRIQUEZ

If you’ve eaten Quaker Oatmeal, you’ve probably seen Robert Rodriquez’s work before; He painted the likeness of the Quaker man on the package.

From movie posters to liquor labels (including his most recent series for Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans) Rodriquez’s illustrations and paintings bring to life people and places and he and his art have won awards for across the country, including an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

At this year’s auction, Rodriquez will feature two large paintings, one of a Lakota War shirt from 1890 and the other a Mexican Parade Saddle. Both, he says, focus on an item rather than a person, forcing the viewer to observe each piece “without the story attached that having a person would bring to the painting,” he said. “… I wanted them to be the story, not the person wearing or using them.”

For more information and to register for this year’s event, visit bigskyartauction.com.

A&E

31 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

BIG SKY EVENTS CALENDAR Thursday, June 2-Wednesday, June 15

If your event falls between June 16-29, please submit it to media@theoutlapartners.com by June 8.

THURSDAY, JUNE 2

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8

Healing: The other side (A story sharing End the Silence event) Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, 6 p.m.

Trivia Night The Independent, 7 p.m.

Native Plant Sale Pick Up Crail Gardens at Crail Ranch, 4 p.m.

Big Sky Farmers Market Big Sky Town Center, 5 p.m.

THURSDAY, JUNE 9

FRIDAY, JUNE 3

Big Sky Serenity Seekers Al-Anon meeting All Saints Chapel, 4 p.m.

Monsters of Destruction Gallatin County Fairgrounds, June 3-4

FRIDAY, JUNE 10

Craig Hall Trio Jazz Night The Independent, 8 p.m.

Eagle Mount’s Western Rendezvous Cyndi Fonda Riding Center, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY, JUNE 4

Craig Hall Trio Jazz Night The Independent, 8 p.m.

National Trails Day with BSCO Big Sky Community Park, 8:30 a.m.

Summer Music Kick-off Party: Scott Pemberton Tips Up, June 10-11, 9 p.m.

ACRE Dinner Series ACRE, 6 p.m.

Live Music: Emma and the Ledge The Independent, 8 p.m.

SUNDAY, JUNE 5

American Legion Bingo Night Gallatin Riverhouse BBQ & Events, 5:30 p.m.

Open Mic Night Tips Up, 9 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 Big Sky Farmers Market Big Sky Town Center, 5 p.m.

Trivia Night The Independent, 7 p.m.

FEATURED EVENT: NATIONAL TRAILS DAY WITH BSCO

All Saints in Big Sky Big Sky Chapel, 10 a.m.

Live Music: Seymour Ceike The Independent, 8 p.m.

Soldier’s Chapel Service Soldier’s Chapel, 11 a.m.

Summer Music Kick-off Party: Desperate Electric Tips Up, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY, JUNE 12 St. Joseph’s Mass Big Sky Chapel, 8 a.m.

Live Music: Joe Purdy Live From the Divide, 8 p.m.

Crail Garden Open House Crail Gardens at Crail Ranch, 4 p.m.

ACRE Dinner Series ACRE, 6 p.m.

Baroque Music Montana Schwer-Toepffer residence, 7:30 p.m.

MONDAY, JUNE 6

TUESDAY, JUNE 14

SATURDAY, JUNE 11

St. Joseph’s Mass Big Sky Chapel, 8 a.m.

Big Sky Christian Fellowship Big Sky Chapel, 4:30 p.m.

Moss Story Walks with GVLT: Summer Survival Glen Lake Rotary Park, 9:30 a.m.

Live Music: The Damn Duo Tips Up, 9 p.m.

Gallatin River Weed Pull Moose Creek Flat Campground, 9 a.m.

Live Music: Bo Stephenson Tips Up, 9 p.m.

MONDAY, JUNE 13

Celebrate National Trails Day with Big Sky Community Organization on June 4 by helping complete various projects on Big Sky’s trails.

Volunteers will meet at the Big Sky Community Park at 8:30 a.m. to divvy up trail assignments before heading out to hit the dirt. Project trails will include Kircher Park Trail, Hummocks, Uplands, Little Willow Way, Ousel Falls, Crail Trail and Ralph’s Pass. Following the trail work, BSCO will host volunteers at the community park for a BBQ and drinks. Visit bsco.org/ volunteer to sign up to volunteer on National Trails Day.

All Saints in Big Sky Big Sky Chapel, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY JUNE 7

Soldier’s Chapel Service Soldier’s Chapel, 11 a.m.

Open Mic Night Tips Up, 9 p.m.

American Legion Bingo Night Gallatin Riverhouse BBQ & Events, 5:30 p.m.

Big Sky Christian Fellowship Big Sky Chapel, 4:30 p.m.

Do You or Someone You Know Need Help Getting Sober?

Contact A.A. - We’re alcoholics helping other alcoholics stay sober.

Call 1-833-800-8553 to talk to an A.A. member or Get the Meeting Guide app or Go to aa-montana.org for virtual and face-to-face meeting times and locations

Pull together for the Gallatin!

PREVENTION IS KEY.

14th Annual

Clean your gear and watercraft. Remove mud, water, and vegetation after every trip. Use a brush and water, there is no need for chemicals.

Gallatin River Weed Pull

Drain water from your boat and equipment at your access point. Pull the drain plug. Use a sponge for items that can’t be drained.

Dry your equipment thoroughly.

The longer you allow waders and other equipment to dry out between trips, the better.

June 11 9-11am

The health of the Gallatin depends on you.

Learn more at CleanDrainDryMT.com

gallatinisa.org events page

Rendezvous @ Moose Creek Flat Campground, bring gloves.

Enjoy coffee, cinnamon rolls & volunteer raffle.

Pretty wildflower?

THINK AGAIN!

Hoary alyssum is a noxious weed.

Noxious weeds (invasive plant species) are ecological tumors. They establish easily, grow quickly, and cause environmental and economic harm.

Need help identifying & managing noxious weeds on your property?

The Alliance provides free on-site landowner assistance!

406.209.0905

Land Stewardship Partners:

www.gallatinisa.org Native plants evolved with our local climate, soil types, and animals. Their deep roots stabilize soil, increase water infiltration, and enable them to survive during drought conditions. When used in the garden, they save water, sustain wildlife, and preserve our historic landscape.

Join us for: - Crail Garden Open Houses · June 12, July 14, Aug 30 - Wildflower & Weed Hikes · June 23, July 14, Aug 18 - Big Sky Wildflower Festival · July 11-15 - Noxious Weed Bouquet Contest · July 13 - Bag the Peak Cornhole Tournament · Aug 2

Sign up to volunteer at Crail Gardens on events page @ gallatinisa.org!

Visit Crail Gardens, our native demonstration garden, to get educated and inspired!

Located at the Historic Crail Ranch, open 7 days a week during daylight hours @ 2100 Spotted Elk Road.

Crail Garden Partners:

33 June 2 - 15 , 2022

A&E

Explore Big Sky

CONNECTING A COMMUNITY

JERECO STUDIOS ADAPTS BUSINESS AND ENTERTAINMENT FOR BIG SKY AND BEYOND

Jereco Studios has been a strong partner with local event centers such as the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, the Bozeman Symphony and the Yellowstone Club. PHOTO COURTESY OF JERECO STUDIOS

BY PATRICK STRAUB SPECIAL ADVERTISEMENT

When Jereco Studios founder Jeremiah Slovarp accepted his first Emmy Award in 2011, he never imagined his passion for event production would create an essential service. Fast forward 10 years and the production company he built from the ground up is one of Montana’s leading providers of essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic—producing and broadcasting live events and business conferences.

Prior to the pandemic Jereco Studios’ reputation for quality live event production was well-known in the entertainment industry. Slovarp had crews from Missoula, Montana to Jackson, Wyoming at venues both large and small. When the pandemic crippled the entertainment industry in early 2020, like picking up in a jazz ensemble, Slovarp came in and improvised.

“COVID has really changed the event production industry,” Slovarp says as he takes a break from the mixing board. “Now, more than ever, people need to connect. But they’ve got ‘Zoom fatigue,’ grandma can’t travel to the wedding, or employees aren’t able to travel. People and businesses still need to meet and connect, just not in person like they used to.”

Slovarp and Jereco Studios created a broadcast service out of demand for local businesses and organizations needing to reinvent how their audiences engage with performers. With groups like the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, the Bozeman Symphony and the Yellowstone Club, Jereco Studios picked up the boom and mic and began to provide event broadcasting services.

“From event planning to technical expertise, to problem solving and sourcing in our rural

destination, Jereco provides the finest technical support in our area,” said John Zirkle, executive director of WMPAC. “Even to ship a drum kit from Los Angeles to put on a concert, Jereco is up to the task, no matter what. It’s no wonder they are Emmy winners.”

depth event broadcast service for indoor or outdoor events and conferences. From set-up to take-down, Slovarp’s team can provide everything from large format TVs and displays to streaming and digital access channels, and make it all appear seamless for in-person and remote participants.

In bringing these formally in-person events to anyone with an internet connection, Slovarp saw an even bigger demand to provide high quality business conference services so employees could still interact locally and globally.

“Hybrid meetings are becoming more and more popular,” says Dana Ocher, director of catering and events at the new Kimpton Armory Hotel in downtown Bozeman. “This meeting style is not going away anytime soon. Working with Jereco is great. Jeremiah and his team are always there for me when I need assistance for an existing or potential client.”

“The boardroom has changed,” Slovarp says. “In fact, the way businesses and organizations conduct in-person events has changed dramatically. They must broadcast meetings and conferences on a welldone platform. Sales and marketing can’t stop just because face-to-face stops.”

Jereco Studios’ experience with live event broadcasting has proven invaluable for businesses looking to adapt to a post-pandemic world. Drawing from their excellent reputation broadcasting concerts, weddings and live streaming a myriad of other events, Jereco’s success with business services is quickly becoming in high demand.

“Our business conference services are booking up quickly,” Slovarp says. “Our video and audio quality is so high and our experience in event broadcasting means we can broadcast a business event or conference without hiccups, which means the business or group can focus on the conference or event and not worry if people can access it and see and hear it.”

With a dedicated team of full-time employees and a large inventory of technical equipment, Jereco Studios provides the area’s largest and most in-

Prior to the pandemic, less than 10 percent of the country’s workforce worked remotely or had access to a flexible workspace or the ability to telecommute. One year later, over 50 percent of these positions are remote, making it clear that remote conferencing can serve a crucial purpose in the new world of business communications.

“Remote work is here to stay,” says Slovarp. “We’ve seen many of our business services customers so excited about our work, they say it was like a wellproduced television show.”

And he should know, because since 2011 Slovarp has earned eight more Emmys and could win three more this year. But he didn’t do it alone—he intentionally created a team at Jereco Studios that shares his passion. Not even a global pandemic can stop this enterprising business from improvising and keeping the show going.

This article was originally published in the summer 2021 issue of VIEWS. Big Sky magazine.

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35 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

OPINION

EVERY DROP COUNTS

WHAT DOES THE RECENT GROUNDWATER STUDY TELL US?

BY MARNE HAYES EBS COLUMNIST

The Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology recently released findings from a study that shed light on threats to Big Sky’s groundwater and identified its direct connection with the Middle Fork of the Gallatin River.

The study, titled “Hydrogeology and Groundwater Availability at Big Sky, Montana” by hydrogeologist James Rose was a product of the bureau’s Ground Water Investigation Program. This program supports science-based water management in Montana by answering site-specific questions that are prioritized and assigned by the Montana Ground Water Steering Committee, as mandated by the Montana Legislature. Projects may be nominated by any individual or group. The Gallatin River Task Force and the Big Sky Water and Sewer District nominated this study as well as a second study that is underway in Gallatin Canyon.

the stream recharges the MVA by adding water to it. Further downstream, the Middle Fork gains water from the MVA, unless the pumping of public drinking water wells intercepts this flow.

4. Snowmelt is the most significant recharge source to the aquifer.

5. Heavy rainfall events can also recharge groundwater. The groundwater’s response to rainfall and the unconfined, shallow nature of the aquifer highlight its vulnerability to contamination from the land surface.

6. Septic system discharges, horse feedlots exposed to precipitation or over-applied fertilizers will infiltrate contaminants into the aquifer over time.

7. Contamination of the streams that recharge the aquifer can also potentially contaminate the aquifer due to their connection.

at the far southeast end of the MVA has a “failing community septic system with reported nitrate discharge exceedances from 2016-2020.”

11. Aquifers outside of the MVA are generally low-yielding and unpredictable because of Big Sky’s complex geology.

12. The report encourages connection to public water supply and wastewater systems at new residential and commercial developments. These systems enhance the capacity for professional management of the limited and vulnerable water resources.

As community growth increases water demand, the MBMG study will provide a basis to address how a growing community deals with a finite, interconnected water resource. The study gives us the information necessary to identify the nature of this resource and allows for educated solutions moving forward. The Gallatin River Task Force

Big Sky relies solely on groundwater for its water supply. Within this reality, we are vulnerable to water shortages given the future with continued community growth and with less snow predicted as a result of climate change.

The purpose of the Big Sky study was to define the geology of Big Sky’s aquifers and characterize the water quality so that local and state entities could evaluate the effects of future water development.

The study area covered the Mountain and Meadow Village areas, with a specific focus on the Meadow Village Aquifer, the main drinking water source for the Meadow area. Groundwater and surface-water data were collected from 2013 through 2016.

The Gallatin River Task Force asked MBMG hydrogeologist and local resident Mike Richter to consider community questions and key findings related to the study and how to best apply the knowledge gained from the report. What follows are a dozen takeaways from our conversation concerning this technically detailed, scientifically based report. These points address some of the community questions posed during groundwater study presentations hosted by the Gallatin River Task Force on May 17.

1. The Meadow Village Aquifer, or the MVA, is a small but productive aquifer that, according to the study, is “especially vulnerable” to contamination from activities on the land surface, like fertilizer or pesticide application, and over-pumping which has the potential to reduce streamflow in the Middle Fork.

2. Future increases in pumping (groundwater withdrawals) from the MVA are likely to reduce baseflow in the Middle Fork.

3. Groundwater and surface water in the MVA are directly connected. This means that in some places, the Middle Fork feeds the groundwater and in other places, the groundwater feeds the Middle Fork. As the Middle Fork enters Meadow Village,

Pulled from a groundwater study report, the image shows the footprint of the area and aquifer referenced in the study. IMAGE COURTESY OF GALLATIN RIVER TASK FORCE

8. In the MVA, groundwater flows northeast, generally parallel to, not toward, the South Fork of the Middle Fork of the Gallatin River, as was previously assumed. On the southeastern edge of the MVA, groundwater with elevated nitrate spills over the top of the shale, as evidenced by springs flowing into the South Fork in the Kircher Park area.

is focused on taking the information therein and developing informed paths forward with community and regional partners for addressing our water quantity and quality challenges growth continues. A follow-up in next month’s Every Drop Counts column will focus on the implications of the study, and what those next steps in a strategic process forward will look like.

9. Wells with the highest nitrate concentrations are upgradient of the Big Sky golf course. This finding is significant, as it suggests that fertilizer and effluent applied to the golf course may not be the most significant source of elevated nitrate pollution, as previously thought.

The full report and other MBMG resources are available in the links below:

10. The report included a statement by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality that an “unsewered development” (figure 11 map)

MBMG report: http://mbmg.mtech.edu/mbmgcat/public/FileDirector. asp?fn=3719& MBMG GWIC mapper: https://mbmg.mtech.edu/mapper/mapper. asp?view=Wells&

OPINION

36 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

NEW WEST

NOTED WRITER JOHN MACLEAN, SON OF NORMAN, TO DISCUSS ‘A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT’ IN BIG SKY

BY TODD WILKINSON EBS CONTRIBUTOR

It has been said and written that “A River Runs Through It,” the motion picture, changed everything in western Montana and rivers in the Rockies from New Mexico to Canada.

Robert Redford’s film, based on the novella by Norman Maclean, is, looking back now 30 years, portrayed as a big bang moment which hastened not only the adoption of fly fishing by millions as an outdoor passion, but also the sale of former working ranches with waterways into recreation properties.

I don’t need to wax on about how important the “fly-fishing economy” is to the larger Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, home to several nearmythic rivers known for their trout water.

John Maclean, the son of Norman, a lover of Montana and an acclaimed writer and journalist, is coming to The Independent in Big Sky on Thursday, June 16 for a night of conversation about a legendary fly-fishing family you don’t want to miss. The ticketed event is sponsored by the Gallatin River Task Force.

Years before I ever touched a copy of “A River Runs Through It,” I was more familiar with John’s work than Norman’s. By then, Norman was an English professor at the University of Chicago, a city where I started my career as a violent crime reporter. At the time, John Maclean was a vaunted Washington, D.C.-based journalist for The Chicago Tribune whose byline I read regularly.

Both John and I were alums of the same journalistic training ground—the City News Bureau of Chicago. Only after I moved West, to the Greater Yellowstone region, did I pick up a copy of Norman

Maclean’s classic reflection about an anglingobsessed family who loved rivers with an almost religious zeal and whose drama is punctuated by the loss of Norman’s younger brother, Paul.

I wrote about Redford’s filming of the movie around Bozeman and Livingston in the early 1990s and interviewed him. In both versions, Paul has a penchant for drinking, playing cards and consorting with shady figures, then is murdered.

Last summer, we were treated to a new book

by John Maclean that is a reflection on his father, uncle and conservation of the river—the Blackfoot—that his dad made famous.

John’s memoir, “Home Waters: A Chronicle of Family and a River,” is truly a fine read, for it serves as backstory to a slightly embellished tale that romanticized fly fishing so much. And it is topical now with the 30th anniversary of the movie— filmed in part on the Gallatin River—hitting the big screen.

For years I’ve been fascinated with how Paul’s end really happened in 1938 because both Norman Maclean and Redford treat it with a cloak of mystery. Without giving too much away—you really ought to read “Home Waters”—John reveals that Paul was murdered in Chicago shortly after he had started a job in the public relations department at the University of Chicago. Paul had earlier been a young journalist in Montana.

This and the impact of the book and movie are certain to be lively topics in Big Sky when I will be joined by Joseph T. O’Connor, editor-in-chief of this newspaper, for a live conversation on stage at The Independent with John Maclean.

What I savor about John’s writing, related to Paul’s end, is its classic digging for facts and presenting them with the narrative method that both John and I learned at City News Bureau.

John went on to distinguish himself for his international reporting as a diplomatic correspondent, even traveling with Henry Kissinger.

During those years, he, like his dad before him, made summer trips back to the family cabin at Seeley Lake, Montana. And, just as Norman had written about wildfire, memorializing the smoke jumpers who perished in the Mann Gulch Fire outside Helena, John penned a riveting awardwinning book, Fire on the Mountain, about the tragic Storm King Fire that claimed the lives of 14 firefighters in Colorado in July of 1994.

The circumstances of Paul’s homicide left me thinking of how a good reporter is continually searching, fueled by curiosity, led on by discoveries of detail and accumulated insight—the exact same way an angler appreciates the allure of rivers and instinctively knows how to read them.

After Paul died in a Chicago hospital following a severe beating, the Cook County Medical examiner interviewed Norman. John Maclean writes: “My father speculated that Paul had gone wandering through the neighborhood that night, as he had done as a reporter back in Montana, simply to acquaint himself with his surroundings.”

John quoted the actual report in which his father, who had to identify the body, had been interviewed by the coroner. “‘He liked to walk around in odd sections of the city,’ Norman told a coroner’s inquest. ‘He was a newspaper reporter by trade, and he was from a small town. He liked to walk around, just to see the town … I had warned him that this was not Montana.’”

Sometimes real-life stories, memoirs that explore classic earlier memoirs, are as fine as the originals.

In many ways, they are exceeded. This is the case.

When John comes to Big Sky on June 16, you’ll hear a lot more about a fishing story for the ages.

Todd Wilkinson is the founder of Bozeman-based Mountain Journal (mountainjournal.org) and is a correspondent for National Geographic. His latest article, of a two-part series on the 30th anniversary of “A River Runs Through It,” appears in the forthcoming summer 2022 edition of Mountain Outlaw magazine.

SCAN THE QR CODE BELOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE JOHN MACLEAN EVENT AT THE INDEPENDENT.

Paul Maclean, John’s uncle, in his 20s. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN MACLEAN

John Maclean’s new memoir, “Home Waters” looks deeply into his father Norman’s iconic novella, “A River Runs Through It.” PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN MACLEAN

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OPINION

38 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

WRITERS ON THE RANGE BISON—BACK WHERE THEY BELONG

BY BEN LONG WRITERS ON THE RANGE

Early in the COVID-19 epidemic, I visited the Bison Range on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana. But the bison didn’t get the memo about social distancing.

A trio of bull bison—each a ton on the hoof—fed on bunchgrass. I watched my son’s eyes grow wider as one of the bulls approached our truck, as if it might want to rub off its winter coat on the fender.

Not long ago, the Bison Range visitor center would have given my family a history of the place by focusing on Theodore Roosevelt, America’s 26th president and founder of the National Bison Range. Now, that story is getting a much-needed makeover.

Roosevelt still captivates the American imagination, as demonstrated by the recent Ken Burns miniseries on PBS. In particular, Roosevelt has been lionized by conservationists. He helped rescue American wildlife from extinction after the market-hunting bloodbaths of the 1800s, created the first national wildlife refuge and signed the Antiquities Act that enabled the creation of national monuments.

More than any other elected official in U.S. history, he made conservation a household word. Americans were so grateful we carved his face on a mountain.

But that ignores the rest of his legacy. Roosevelt was also a white supremacist who believed that whites were meant to rule the world. His views on race warped his policies, both foreign and domestic. It’s easy to dismiss this dark side of Roosevelt as reflecting the norm for his era, but he was behind the times, even in his times.

This contradictory man was someone who knew birds by their songs and wrote bestsellers about the beauty of nature. Yet he also threw around racial slurs and used pseudo-science to justify his racist policies.

So, what are we to make of this today? Is Roosevelt a hero for being a trustbuster, savior of the Grand Canyon and the egret? Or did he set destructive policies for a century to come? Perhaps both are true.

Case in point: the huge bison that thrilled my son.

Before 1776, tens of millions of bison roamed North America. But by the time Teddy Roosevelt was a young cowboy in the Dakotas in 1883, only a few hundred animals still lived in Canada and the U.S., somehow avoiding the mass slaughter that accompanied Manifest Destiny. After Roosevelt shot one of the last lonesome bison, the death is said to have sparked a change in him, spurring him to become a conservationist.

But there is more to that story. Indigenous people had created deep cultures of conservation that predated Columbus. In Roosevelt’s day, tribes were desperate to save the bison and their way of life. It was Indigenous people, such as Sam Walking Coyote and Michael Pablo, who helped rescue a small herd of bison from

Saskatchewan, and brought them back to the Flathead Reservation.

Roosevelt also wanted to restore bison, and as president in 1908, he created the National Bison Range by taking 18,500 acres out of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

But this action ignored the wishes of the Salish, Pend Oreille and Kootenai people, who had been forced to live there since 1855. What’s more, the bison refuge was run not by the tribes, but by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which mostly inflated Roosevelt’s role in the story and dismissed those of Native Americans.

But history has written a new chapter. Congress in 2020 moved to return management of the Bison Range to the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, and this May, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited the Bison Range to take part in a celebration of that longawaited change.

The return of the Bison Range to the tribes is a “triumph and a testament to what can happen when we collaboratively work together to restore balance to ecosystems that were injured by greed and disrespect,” Haaland said at the ceremony.

It has taken decades, but a historic wrong has been righted. All we had to do was look honestly at history and one of our conservation heroes.

Ben Long is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is senior program director at Resource Media in Kalispell, Montana.

STACY OSSORIO Broker, Private Office Advisor 406-539-8553 bigskybozemanrealestate.com stacy.ossorio@evrealestate.com

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Let me be your community connection. ©2021 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. If your property is currently represented by a real estate broker, this is not an attempt to solicit your listing. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.E&OE. Published by REAL Marketing (REM) | www.REALMarketing4You.com | 858.254.9619

OPINION

39 June 2 - 15 , 2022

Explore Big Sky

HEALTH BUZZ

CURIOUS ABOUT COLLAGEN?

BY DR. KALEY BURNS EBS COLUMNIST

From bone broth to protein bars, collagen is quickly becoming a popular supplemental nutrient for many consumers. Collagen is one of the most abundant proteins found in the body; There are at least 16 different types, helping to make up the structure of skin, bone, cartilage and muscle. While collagen is widely known for preventing wrinkles, the nutritional benefits of collagen are many.

How do you know if you need collagen?

It’s quite common for the body to produce less collagen with the natural aging process. Yet age isn’t the only antagonist of collagen production: Stress, poor diet, lack of exercise and gut imbalance can all contribute to an inability to produce this nutrient. Additionally, environmental factors such as pollution and overexposure to sun can play a role in depletion. Decreased absorption or deficiency in certain vitamins such as vitamin C can also lead to collagen deficiency. Here are some signs you might have a collagen deficiency: Skin: The formation of wrinkles, sagging skin, easy bruising and loss of elasticity can all signal collagen deficiency. In addition, wounds take time to heal when collagen is lacking.

Muscles: Collagen is essential to muscle fibers.

A deficiency may lead to frequent muscle aches.

Cartilage: Collagen deficiency can affect joint stability and lead to stiffness and joint pains.

Blood vessels walls: Blood vessels are also affected by collagen deficiency by producing chest pain, dry eyes, headaches, skin rashes, breathing difficulty and more.

Teeth: Collagen substance aids in anchoring the teeth to gums. Lack of collagen may result in toothache and early destruction of teeth.

Gut: Collagen contains the amino acids proline and glycine, which are essential building blocks to repairing damaged intestinal lining. Deficiency may show in symptoms of GI discomfort.

How does collagen help?

Collagen is a fantastic gut-healing, immune supportive and anti-inflammatory agent. It protects the gut from harmful bacteria, can soothe and prevent ulcers and helps to decrease inflammation in the gut.

Studies have found that women who take collagen supplements saw a significant decrease in wrinkles and improved skin elasticity. Additionally, collagen has shown promising benefits in reducing sun spots and the promotion of wound healing when taken regularly.

Collagen has also been shown to promote healthy cartilage and reduce pain in osteoarthritis patients.

Athletes who put a lot of pressure and strain on their ligaments, muscles and bones can experience a reduced risk of joint deterioration with optimal collagen levels.

Glycine also plays a crucial part in brain function.

Research has shown that glycine has been associated with alleviated insomnia and more mental acuteness during the day. Taking collagen not only helps your ability to fall asleep, but it can also improve memory.

How can you build your collagen stores?

One of the most popular ways to increase collagen stores is bone broth. Beyond bone broth, collagen is available as a tasteless powder or in capsule form.

Look for grass-fed, pesticide-free, hormone-free, non-GMO collagen. You can also boost your collagen by supporting your vitmain C intake with foods including tomatoes, citrus fruits, kiwis, papayas, bell peppers, oranges, strawberries, brussel sprouts, broccoli, kale, cauliflower and other leafy greens.

Start the healing Try mixing a collagen powder into your morning coffee, smoothie or favorite bedtime tea. You can even use chocolate collagen to make a fun spin on hot cocoa!

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40 June 2 - 15 , 2022

OPINION

Explore Big Sky

AMUSE BOUCHE NEW & CONSIGNED GEAR FOR ALL YOUR OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

'YES! WE HAVE NO BANANAS!'

BY SCOTT MECHURA EBS COLUMNIST

As Louis Prima once sang, "we have no bananas."

Or at least as we once knew them.

For decades, multiple generations on my mother’s side of the family would leave us with a lighthearted parting phrase: Eat your bananas and drink your milk. As children, we of course had our fun with this and transposed it to “drink your bananas and eat your milk.” Such clever children we were.

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Botanically, bananas are the largest perennial herb on earth. The morethan 1,000 current species of bananas worldwide derive from two original species, each with three sets of triple chromosomes.

Similar to apples, most banana species today are sterile so they require humans to cultivate them. One species in particular, the Gros Michel, or “Big Mike,” is the source of what we all know as the banana flavor. But due to a wilt known as Panama Disease, almost every last Gros Michel was wiped out in the 1950s. And as we fought back and cultivated more and more species that were resistant to Panama Disease, it turned out to be a pyric victory. We saved the banana, but we lost all its flavor.

In other words, the bananas our grandparents ate tasted nothing like what we eat today.

Even some variants of some German wheat beer yeasts exhibit more true banana aromas than bananas themselves.

And have you ever noticed how artificially flavored things such as popsicles or candy have that strong banana flavor that you can’t seem to get in even the ripest of bananas? Well, you aren’t crazy. This banana flavor is still a derivative of the Gros Michel.

Despite this loss of flavor, bananas are the most popular fruit in the world.

They are regularly consumed on six continents and available year-round.

But again, this comes with another cost.

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As far back as my adolescent years, I remember hearing about the decimation of the rain forests. Studies and articles continue to blow the whistle on the harmful environmental and social impacts of cultivating bananas on a mass scale. These monocultures are huge resource sucks, some of the biggest growers also use some of the most agrochemicals of any industry, and producers are often the target of unfair trading practice and poor working conditions claims.

Since I like to question most everything, my question here is this: Do we even need bananas? Couldn’t we just live without them?

If we go down a quick checklist: They decimate our rain forests. They’ve retained little to none of their original flavor. Every vitamin contained within that yellow skin can be found in many other fruits and vegetables.

As a chef, I can’t think of a time when I felt compelled to include a banana or a banana flavor or texture in a dessert. Let’s be honest, bananas just don’t have that wow of a vine-ripe heirloom tomato or a perfectly ripe Cara Cara orange.

If I’m craving that banana flavor, my best bet is not to head to the grocery store, but to hope the ice cream truck comes down my street on a hot, sunny summer night.

Scott Mechura has spent his life in the hospitality industry and is also a former certified beer judge.

2022 HOUSING SURVEY

Shape future housing developments and programming

Big Sky Community Housing Trust is conducting a community-wide survey targeting employers and employees to understand the housing gaps it still needs to fill. By participating, you can help prioritize future housing projects and programs in Big Sky. bigskyhousingtrust.com/about/2022-housing-survey

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And the Nominees Are… Every year for the past 25 years, the Big Sky Chamber has honored excellence in the business community with the Black Diamond Business Awards. Our members nominate their peers in this celebration of the hard work that is done in service of Big Sky. This year, the nominees are: NONPROFIT PERSON OF THE YEAR So much of

EMERGING ENTREPRENUER Someone who has

the community building that happens in Big Sky is thanks to the robust nonprofit organizations

brought fresh entrepreneurial engagement to the Big Sky business community



Brian Hurlbut, Arts Council of Big Sky



Amanda Doty, Wilson Peak Properties



Kristin Gardner, Gallatin River Task Force



Christine Lugo-Yergensen, Sweet Buns Bakery



Laura Seyfang, Big Sky Community Housing Trust



Jen Steele, Steele Pressed Juice



Stephanie Kissell, Morningstar Learning Center



Kaley Burns, Big Sky Natural Health



Whitney Montgomery, Big Sky Community Org.



Megan Porter, Moving Mountains

BUSINESS PERSON OF THE YEAR This person helps

BUSINESS OF THE YEAR This award honors the busi-

elevate Big Sky with their service to our community

ness that best exemplifies success and care in our community



Christine Alexander, Big Sky Post Office



Beehive Basin Brewery



JC Knaub, Andesite Construction



Big Sky Fitness Fusion



John Haas, Haas Builders



Big Sky Medical Center

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Kara Blodgett, The Rocks Tasting Room



Big Sky Post Office



Kurt & Melissa Puckett, Covered Wagon Ranch



Lone Mountain Land Company

CHET HUNTLEY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Honoring a person who has, over a period of time, provided leadership and their personal touch to building our Big Sky Community. 

Andy Dreisbach, Big Sky Search and Rescue, Cornerstone Management Services



Grant Hilton, BSOA Board Member and Community Volunteer



Nancy & Monty Johnsen, Choppers Grub & Pub



Ron Edwards, Big Sky County Water & Sewer District

Join Us to Find Out Who the Winners Are at the

25th Annual Black Diamond Awards Dinner Tuesday, June 21st | 5—9pm | Buck’s T4 Tickets available at BigSkyChamber.com/BlackDiamondDinner2022 Presented by our Event Sponsors:

OUR COMMUNITY. OUR BUSINESS. BIGSKYCHAMBER.COM | 406.995.3000 | CAITLIN@BIGSKYCHAMBER.COM The Big Sky Chamber is a 501 (c) (6) nonprofit membership organization.

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44 June 2 - 15 , 2022

BIG SKY BITES

FUN

Explore Big Sky

SUSHI STACKS

BY TUCKER HARRIS

Homemade sushi can be difficult and complicated to make. Sushi stacks, however, are simple and the perfect alternative. I first tried this recipe back in college with friends, and then decided to give it another try recently after purchasing the Half Baked Harvest cookbook which featured a similar tuna sushi stack recipe. It was as simple and delicious as I remembered.

Adapted from the Half Baked Harvest spicy tuna roll stack recipe, I opted to use salmon, but subbing tuna back in would be equally as delicious.

Ingredients: • 1 pound salmon, cut into bites • 4 tablespoons soy sauce • 1 green onion, sliced • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes • 1 tablespoon sesame oil • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds • 1 cup cooked sushi rice • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar • 1 teaspoon sugar • ½ teaspoon salt • 2 tablespoons siracha • 1/3 cup mayonnaise • 1 cucumber, diced • 2 avocados, diced • Crispy wontons for serving (optional) • 1 nori sheet

Directions: 1. Cook the salmon in a skillet marinated with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and sesame oil and add in 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds, green onion, and red pepper flakes.

2. Toss the cooked rice with rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

3. Add salmon to the bottom of a measuring cup or similarly sized and shaped round cup. This is where you’ll form the stack.

4. Combine diced avocado, green onion, salt and pepper in a bowl and add this as the next layer in your cup.

5. Dice cucumbers and add as the next layer and firmly press down to secure.

6. Top the stack with seasoned sushi rice. Pat everything down with the bottom of a spoon.

7. Flip your cup by carefully wiggling ingredients onto a nori sheet.

8. Create your sauce by combine mayonnaise, sriracha and remaining soy sauce in small bowl.

9. Top your stack with sauce, remaining green onion and sesame seeds. Repeat for additional stacks and enjoy!

Additional suggestion: Add diced mango for a sweeter flavor or jalapeños for a hotter kick with the cucumber layer.

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Grand Targhee Resort is a year-round mountain resort situated in the Western slope of the Tetons in Alta, Wyoming. Located in the CaribouTarghee National Forest it’s a mountain biker and adventure-lovers paradise.

The mountain serves up over 70 miles of multi-use trails for hiking and biking, including 18+ miles of liftserved downhill trails and 50+ miles flowing cross-country trails. Plan your next adventure and escape to the Tetons this summer.

RIDE THE TETONS ALTA WY. | WWW.GRANDTARGHEE.COM | 800.827.4433

FUN

45 June 2 - 15 , 2022

ILLUSTRATION BY CY WHITLING

BIG SKY

BEATS BLUEGRASS COVERS

BY BELLA BUTLER There’s something so quintessentially summer about bluegrass music. Not only is it the genre that dominates stages across Montana between June and September; its sound has a multiplicity that best pairs with the dynamism of the season. Hearing the first live bluegrass song of the season feels a bit like watching runoff on the Gallatin: it’s a sudden rush of energy that fills you up, overflows you even.

While the topic of covers can be controversial among music lovers, there’s nothing quite like that moment at a live show when at the peak of the performance’s momentum, a bluegrass band starts plucking a rock classic on their string instruments and the crowd goes wild for an old favorite reinvented before their eyes. So, in the spirit of looking forward to that moment, we present to you Big Sky Beats: Bluegrass Covers.

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“A Day In The Life” by Greensky Bluegrass “Where Is My Mind?” by Trampled by Turtles “Super Freak” by Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby “Wildflowers” by Trampled by Turtles “Sex on Fire” by Pickin’ On Series, Iron Horse “Enter Sandman” by Iron Horse “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Pickin’ On Series, Iron Horse “Karma Police” by Mother Falcon “Africa” by Love Canon “Bittersweet Symphony” by Graeme James

Explore Big Sky

46 June 2 - 15 , 2022

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BACK 40

Explore Big Sky

For Explore Big Sky, the Back 40 is a resource: a place where we can delve into subjects and ask experts to share their knowledge. Here, we highlight stories from our flagship sister publication Mountain Outlaw magazine.

Noun: wild or rough terrain adjacent to a developed area Origin: shortened form of “back 40 acres”

BRANDI CARLILE: THAT WILL BE ME

BY DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY, THE ROCK-FOLK PHENOM IS DOING WHAT SHE ALWAYS WANTED. AND BECOMING A SUPERSTAR

BY JOSEPH T. O’CONNOR Brandi Carlile sounds rested. It’s her third day off in a row, something that hasn’t happened in the months following her monumental performance of the hit single “The Joke,” which she played on stage after accepting three Grammy awards in February.

Since then, her life has been a cascade of concerts, interviews, TV gigs and fanfare. She appeared in Bradley Cooper’s film "A Star is Born" and released a new video of the song “The Mother” just ahead of Mother’s Day weekend in May. It’s to be expected.

After all, these are the days of a rising star.

And while they have been “insanely busy,” she says, on this warm spring morning Carlile is relaxing at her home in rural Maple Valley, Washington, about 45 minutes southeast of Seattle. She’s settling into a quieter life for now.

“I’m just getting into the routine of waking up and feeling normal,” says the 38-year-old mother of two daughters.

As we chat, 4-year-old Evangeline is playing with a water pitcher while Elijah, 14 months, casually munches edible flowers that Brandi and her wife, Catherine, planted on the deck to garnish Shirley Temples and salads. Carlile talks about her dad, who she’s bringing to Montana’s Peak to Sky concert in early July for his 60th birthday. She discusses a happy life and how she finds balance.

“My individuality has become more important to me,” she says, “and assimilation has become less important to me since my kids were born.”

Most mornings at home, the kids wake Carlile and she heads to the porch, coffee in hand, to gaze at Tiger Mountain. But even in the tranquil beauty of the Cascade foothills, she stays busy. On today’s agenda? Get outside and play with her latest toy: a 4-ton John Deere excavator.

“I could stay on that thing all day long and not even know what hit me,” she says. “Today I’m gonna build a fire pit.”

Later in the afternoon, she’ll mulch the fruit trees outside the cabin she bought 17 years ago, then water the plants and fry up sea bass for dinner. This is how Brandi Carlile relaxes.

--By the age of 7 Carlile was already performing.

Her mother, Teresa Carlile, was a country music singer and would invite Brandi and her two siblings, brother Jay and sister Tiffany, to sing with her on stage. Her father was a bit of an outlier himself, she says. “I’m sure I was already absorbing and gleaning some of those thoughts and habits at a really young age.”

Carlile taught herself guitar and piano and later dropped out of high school to pursue her musical career, singing backup for an Elvis impersonator and busking in downtown Seattle pizza shops and beer joints.

Carlile lays it on the line playing “The Joke” at the 61st Grammy Awards in February. Fans and critics alike have called the performance one of the best in the history of the awards. PHOTO BY PETE SALES

47 June 2 - 15 , 2022

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Explore Big Sky

PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER MUSIC GROUP

When she met Phil and Tim Hanseroth, twinbrother musicians from Seattle, Carlile was coming into her own. They began gigging together and in 2005, at the age of 24, Carlile released her selftitled debut album with the twins. But it was the title track from her 2007 album "The Story" that caught fire. The song was featured in commercials for General Motors and at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and subsequently played on the TV show, "Grey’s Anatomy." The record saw Carlile emerging with an explosive voice and a penchant for writing raw, blistering lyrics about realities she believes in: the underdog, redemption, empathy, forgiveness, authenticity.

The once-self-proclaimed shy girl from Ravensdale, Washington, has let loose her tenacious spirit. As country music legend Brenda Lee said in a video to Carlile: “Forget about the prom, girl. You are the prom.”

“…Something about her shifted from promise to absolute certainty as Carlile let loose a hurricane of lung power,” one reviewer wrote in Paste magazine.

In August 2016, Carlile played a sold-out show at Missoula's Big Sky Brewing Co. but barely made it through the piercing pain in her back. After a chiropractor tended to her at the show, she had to cancel the tail end of the tour.

Since The Story, Carlile has been on an everrising trajectory, collaborating on projects with Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and comedian Will Farrell, among scores of others. She’s close with Sir Elton John, and former President Barack Obama named “The Joke” among his favorite songs of 2017.

Carlile’s packed summer schedule includes the Bonnaroo and Telluride music festivals, and dozens of concerts across the nation. And she’s playing a July 6 show in Big Sky called Peak to Sky, with a few close friends: McCready, Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses. In September, she’s headlining Madison Square Garden.

A love for performing has held Carlile in the spotlight her entire life, but as the crowds have grown, so has the pressure. “Entertaining a room, getting a laugh, affecting someone emotionally, inciting empathy,” she says, “all that stuff that comes with entertainment that’s so fun, so emotionally exhausting, has to be balanced by my love of nature.

I’m pretty much always fishing.”

To distract herself, Carlile fished her way through the Mountain West, from Montana to Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. “It cleared my mind of all the anxiety and the stress of not being able to do my job properly. I made this decision … to every day get up, hire a fishing guide and go fly fish a river: the Blackfoot, the Bitterroot, the Gallatin, the Smith. It was epic.”

Carlile also finds passion and balance through the nonprofit she started with the Hanseroth twins in 2007. Called the Looking Out Foundation, and directed by her wife Catherine, the organization aims to empower the voiceless and backs causes that include gender equality, human and civil rights,

education, the arts and children from war-torn nations. Donations help, Carlile says, but boots on the ground are better.

“People can do more for their fellow human beings with their hands and with their minds than they can with their money,” she says. “We don’t believe the great American dollar is the savior of the world.”

Relating to the marginalized in society is something Carlile believes deep in her core. “The Joke” is about the kids (and others) who feel left behind in today’s world and Carlile belts it out with a conviction rarely seen these days. She sees winning at the Grammy Awards as a victory for entire groups of people.

At the 61st Grammys in February, Brandi Carlile put on an inspired performance deemed among the best in the history of the awards. Having just won three Grammys for “The Joke” and her sixth studio album, "By the Way, I Forgive You," Carlile took the stage in a black-sequined jacket with her guitar, the twins and the band. It was a moment, the kind you see when someone lays it on the line. Call it the zone, call it Zen, call it flow.

“I felt like I had snuck into the party through the backdoor and that I was being given a chance to just wear my heart on my sleeve,” Carlile told me in May. “I felt like that performance was just, emotionally, as an uncool kid, a complete victory lap and I just let it rip, you know? I just let it rip.”

An earlier version of this story first appeared in the winter 2019 edition of Mountain Outlaw magazine.

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