Explore Big Sky - March 21 to April 3, 2024

March

BOZEMAN AIRPORT CONTINUES TO GROW

NEW DATA SHEDS LIGHT ON BIG SKY WORKFORCE

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LPHS ATHLETES MAKE ALL-CONFERENCE BASKETBALL TEAM

RESORT TAX COLLECTIONS DIP; LARGE INVESTMENTS AHEAD

STORIES OF GALLATIN ‘CANYON BABIES’

PLUS: IT’S GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SEASON

March21 - April 3, 2024

Volume 15, Issue No. 6

Owned and published in Big Sky, Montana

PUBLISHER

Eric Ladd | eric@theoutlawpartners.com

EDITORIAL

VP MEDIA

Mira Brody | mira@theoutlawpartners.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jack Reaney | jack@theoutlawpartners.com

DIGITAL PRODUCER

Jen Clancey | jen@theoutlawpartners.com

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT

Leslie Kilgore | leslie@theoutlawpartners.com

CREATIVE

LEAD GRAPHIC DESIGNER

ME BROWN | maryelizabeth@theoutlawpartners.com

SALES AND OPERATIONS

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Josh Timon | josh@theoutlawpartners.com

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Megan Paulson | megan@theoutlawpartners.com

VP DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Hiller Higman | hiller@theoutlawpartners.com

DIRECTOR OF RELATIONSHIPS

Ersin Ozer | ersin@theoutlawpartners.com

MARKETING MANAGER

Tucker Harris | tucker@theoutlawpartners.com

CONTENT MARKETING LEAD

Taylor Owens | taylor@theoutlawpartners.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT

Sara Sipe | sara@theoutlawpartners.com

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LEAD

Patrick Mahoney | patrick@theoutlawpartners.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Mario Carr, Rachel Hergett, Ian Hoyer, Clint McKnight, Merrick Parnell, Benjamin Alva Polley, Nevada Reed, Sara Sipe, Paul Swenson, Brant Wiedhardt

On March 17, the James Sewell Company gave their 20th performance and 12th year bringing ballet to Big Sky. James Sewell and John Zirkle, executive director of the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, said that this kind of partnership—in which a company returns annually and regularly—is unprecedented. This year’s performance was sold out.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

10

STORIES OF GALLATIN ‘CANYON BABIES’

Even with the relatively new Bozeman Health Big Sky Medical Center, the Big Sky community continues to rely on Gallatin Valley facilities for childbirths. Expecting parents make plans to drive to Bozeman when the time comes. But sometimes, nature has other plans and a “canyon baby” is born.

RESORT TAX COLLECTIONS DIP; LARGE INVESTMENTS AHEAD

With more than $750 million in recommended infrastructure investments over the next decade, the Big Sky Resort Area District is paying close attention to its budget—especially with resort tax collections dropping significantly this winter and cutting into year-over-year growth. New strategies will help BSRAD balance investments with existing support of nonprofits and government services.

NEW DATA SHEDS LIGHT ON BIG SKY WORKFORCE

On March 7, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce hosted the first Business in Big Sky event at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center. The evening included a presentation by Jackie Haines about Big Sky’s population and economy, highlighting new, detailed population data from the state and how it reflects Big Sky’s workforce.

BOZEMAN AIRPORT CONTINUES TO GROW

In the decade since Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport launched its first direct flight to New York City, the airport has tracked closely with the region’s rapid growth. EBS spoke with Brian Sprenger, airport president and CEO, to learn how the hub for adventurers will continue to keep up with travel demand.

LPHS ATHLETES MAKE ALL-CONFERENCE BASKETBALL TEAM

On Saturday, March 16, dozens of burly athletes competed in the Shedhorn Skimo, a ski mountaineering race at Big Sky Resort. Competitors skinned and climbed more than 16 miles across Lone Mountain, rewarded with expert-level descents down routes including the Big Couloir and First Fork on the Headwaters. Pictured here, athletes summitted Lone Mountain—the first of two summit ascents—and prepared to drop into “the Big.”

EDITORIAL POLICIES

place an obituary, please submit 500 words or less to media@theoutlawpartners.com.

Senior Astrid McGuire, junior Isaac Bedway and sophomore Ebe Grabow were all selected to their respective Montana District 5B all-conference basketball rosters. This season was the Big Horns’ first in Class B, after making a deep playoff run in Class C last winter. Each all-conference team—one for boys and one for girls— had only 13 spots, and Lone Peak athletes earned recognition despite the school’s relatively small enrollment.

PLUS: IT’S GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SEASON

Since 2015, Big Sky’s Girl Scout Troop 3760 has offered opportunities for young girls to learn lifelong skills. One classic tradition has become an $800 million industry—the sale of girl scout cookies is “the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world,” according to Girl Scouts. In late March, locals can purchase cookies from the local troop, or support a charity based in New York City.

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.

ADVERTISING DEADLINE

For the April 4th issue March 27th, 2024

CORRECTIONS

Please report errors to media@outlaw.partners.

OUTLAW PARTNERS & EXPLORE BIG SKY

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© 2024 Explore Big Sky unauthorized

PHOTO BY LESLIE KILGORE

NEWS IN BRIEF BRIEFS

MUSSELS DISCOVERED ON BOAT TRAVELING THROUGH MONTANA

EBS STAFF

A mussel-fouled pontoon boat was intercepted on March 10 at the Anaconda watercraft inspection station, the first mussel-fouled watercraft of the year in Montana.

The pontoon boat was on its way from North Dakota toward Ephrata, Washington, according to a March 12 press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Mussels were discovered along the hull, transom and gimbal areas.

All watercraft coming from outside state borders, motorized and nonmotorized, must be drained of all water and inspected. Yellowstone National Park recently issued a news release about their efforts to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species into park waters.

“Watercraft inspection stations are Montana’s first line of defense to prevent the movement of aquatic invasive species which can have devastating impacts on Montana waterways. Boaters must stop at all watercraft inspections stations they encounter,” the release stated. More information is available by contacting the FWP Aquatic Invasive Species Bureau at 406-444-2440.

YELLOWSTONE RECEIVES $40 MILLION GIFT FOR NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION AND NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

EBS STAFF

On Feb. 29, the National Park Foundation and National Park Service announced a $40 million gift to improve housing for Yellowstone National Park employees. The investment will fund more than 70 new modular units, according to a Feb. 29 news release from the NPS.

The new units will address a critical shortage of employee housing, which the park says leads to more expensive options, a trend seen across U.S. communities. Because of this, park employees have to commute long distances between work and home, leading to difficulties in recruitment and retainment.

“This transformational gift will meet a critical need for new housing in Yellowstone, and be a catalyst for more philanthropic investment,” Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation stated. “These skilled, dedicated professionals at the National Park Service who protect our parks and make visitors’ experiences great deserve housing they can be proud to call home.”

ELECTION JUDGES NEEDED FOR BIG SKY’S NEW POLLING STATION

For the first time, Big Sky’s Madison County residents will be able to vote here in Big Sky. With support from the Big Sky Fire Department, the county has established a new polling station at Fire Station No. 2 near Big Sky Resort.

Also a first, Big Sky’s Madison County residents will need to officiate upcoming 2024 elections—the federal primary on June 4, and general election on Nov. 5. Madison County Clerk and Recorder Paula McKenzie is looking for workers who will become certified election judges for two years.

Election judges work at the polling station, taking voters’ information, demonstrating how to properly fill ballots, and communicating with county officials when issues arise. The judges are paid an hourly wage with a stipend for miles driven and meals.

“Basically their job is to make sure you get the correct ballot, know how to vote that ballot, and get it back to us... [to ensure] the ballots you cast are actually counted with everybody else,” McKenzie told EBS in a phone call.

McKenzie will host a paid two-hour training at the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District on Wednesday, March 27 from 2 to 4 p.m. She asks that anyone interested contact her by calling 406-843-4270 or emailing pmckenzie@ madisoncountymt.gov ahead of the training so she can prepare. However, signing up is not required.

“It’s fine if people just show up for the class,” McKenzie said.

She has had a few people show interest but hopes to find more interested workers.

Election judges will not have noteworthy commitments aside from serving on election days. With a new polling place comes new responsibility, she explained, and she hopes Big Sky residents will step up.

DAM REMOVAL RECONNECTS 1,160 MILES OF RIVER IN U.S.

EBS STAFF

A Feb. 13 American Rivers press release stated that 80 dams in total were removed across the U.S. in 2023. The removals reconnected 1,160 of free flowing river miles.

“These projects reestablished migration corridors, made natural and human communities more resilient to climate change, improved access to habitat to promote biodiversity, eliminated safety hazards and maintenance costs, enhanced access to rivers for local communities, reestablished natural processes for healthy rivers, and many other benefits,” the release stated.

Since 1912, 2,119 dams have been removed across the U.S. So far in Montana, 18 dams have been removed in that time period, including one in southwest Montana in 2023.

American Rivers plans to further this effort, restoring habitats, ecosystems and allowing rivers to flow more freely in the future. “We will be working with this community to build out strategies to get to 30,000 dam removals by 2050,” the release stated.

Paula Mckenzie, Madison County Clerk

Ruby Bright Delzer, 96, of Big Sky, Montana, formerly of Burnsville, Minnesota, died peacefully on Feb. 27, 2024. She was preceded in death by husband Ralph Delzer; parents

Harry and Vivian Bright; brothers Harry, Ralph and Charles; sisters Fern and Barb. Ruby is survived by her sons, Steven (Donita), Daniel (Suzanne), James (Gertie), Peter (Kelli) and John (Toni); daughter Mary (Gary Jirele) Delzer; grandchildren Rebecca (Andrew) Peterson, Benjamin (Lisa) Delzer, Sarah (Jeff) Glockner, Sam (Abby) Brummund-Delzer and great grandchildren Finn, Chloe, Jett, Mackenzie, Lydia, Hawk, Lucy, Curtis, Luke, Jacob,and Levi.

Ruby was born in Minneapolis to Harry and Vivian Bright on June 30, 1927. She grew up in Edina, Minnesota, and graduated from Minneapolis Central High School in 1945. Ruby and Ralph Delzer met at work and were married on Aug. 4, 1948. Ruby worked as a secretary, bookkeeper, teacher and homemaker. One of Ruby’s greatest accomplishments was going to Concordia College in St. Paul,

Minnesota and earning a degree in Teacher Education, while still raising a family.

Ruby was an active participant in her church, Ascension Lutheran in Burnsville, and All Saints in Big Sky. Ruby and Ralph were instrumental in the construction of the chapel in Big Sky. Ruby enjoyed singing in the church choir and loved teaching children in Vacation Bible School. She also enjoyed playing bridge with friends.

Many people were touched by Ruby’s love and faith, and she will be remembered with deep love by her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and many friends.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts are preferred to All Saints Church 510 Little Coyote Rd. in Big Sky. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at dahlcares.com.

LOCAL

BIG SKY RESORT ANNOUNCES 2024-25 SEASON PASSES

DAY TICKETS TO INCLUDE TRAM ACCESS; ‘FLEX 3+’ AND ‘FLEX 5+’ PASSES DISCONTINUED

Big Sky Resort announced season pass products for the upcoming 2024-25 season on Thursday, including changes to Lone Peak Tram access and discontinuation of Flex passes.

Pricing and additional details will be available when passes go on sale in early April.

“With a year of learnings from the new Lone Peak Tram and our continued effort to provide choice in access to all of you—our guests—we’re excited to announce next season’s lineup,” the resort stated on its website.

Certain visitors will be able to ride the new Lone Peak Tram without the additional per-ride charge. This current season, the resort charges guests and passholders between $15 and $40 for every tram ride, excluding those holding the top-tier “Gold” and “Double Black” season passes. Those passes include unlimited tram access, and 25 tram rides, respectively.

Next winter, all single- and multi-day lift tickets will include access to the tram.

Tram access will not be included for Big Sky Resort’s “Green,” “Blue,” or “Black” season passes, Ikon or Mountain Collective passes, or flexible pass packages.

“Big Sky Resort passes without tram access will continue to have the option to ride the tram on a per-ride basis via Autocharge,” the resort’s website states.

In the FAQ section of the new passes webpage, the resort explains why certain season passes do not include the Lone Peak Tram.

“We offer a range of season pass products that provide options to fit different budgets and access needs. As part of our continued efforts to manage rider frequency and the ski experience off Lone Peak, only certain pass products include tram access. If frequent rides on the tram are in your plans for next winter, we encourage you to consider either the Gold or Double Black Pass.”

Aside from adding tram access for single- and multi-day lift ticket customers, the resort has announced no further changes to Lone Peak Tram access for 2024-25.

Flex passes discontinued

Another change will be the removal of “Flex 3+” and “Flex 5+” passes, which included unlimited access during

Big Sky’s early and late seasons, plus three or five flexible days in between during non-blackout days.

“When looking at passholder behavior from the past few seasons, it was clear very few were taking advantage of the unlimited early and late season access included with Flex passes,” the FAQ states.

“With that learning, to give our guests more options, we have split the former Flex Pass into two separate pass products.”

For 2024-25, the resort will instead offer three- to fiveday “Multi-Day Passes” which include blackout dates during busy holidays. Those Multi-Day Pass products are different than the multi-day tickets—noted above— and will not include tram access.

The resort will also sell a “Twin Tips Pass” with unlimited early- and late-season access. The anticipated early season dates are Nov. 27 through Dec. 13, 2024. The late season is expected to span April 1 through April 27, 2025.

“Guests can combine a Multi-Day Pass and the Twin Tips Pass at checkout to achieve the same access as the former Flex Passes,” the online FAQ states.

HAPPY EASTER from your friends at

STORIES OF GALLATIN ‘CANYON BABIES’

BY MARIO CARR EBS CONTRIBUTOR

On Oct. 7, 2023, my wife gave birth to our first child, a baby girl. We live in Bozeman, and opted for a home birth with the help of midwives and a doula. The Bozeman Birth Center provided this care and was extremely helpful every step of the way through my wife’s first pregnancy. Giving birth can be an exciting and nerve-racking experience. My wife and I had faith that if we needed to get to the hospital for an emergency, we’d be able to get there in time. But this had me wondering—how do pregnant mothers in Big Sky, further from immediate medical care, prepare for birth?

Our midwife told us that the Bozeman Birth Center has assisted with home births in Big Sky, but that many plan on giving birth in Bozeman. During the winter months, however, the Birth Center cannot assist with home births in Big Sky due to the unpredictable nature of road conditions in the Gallatin Canyon—22 twisting and turning miles of U.S. Highway 191 separate Big Sky from Gallatin Gateway.

Big Sky residents Jodi Daily and Ariane Coleman both planned on giving birth in Bozeman, but are now bonded by their intense and unique common experience – giving birth IN Gallatin Canyon.

“I’m glad you have a baby and I’m not just talking to some random guy about this,” Daily told me, laughing.

On Jan. 25, my wife, my baby and I sat down with Daily and Coleman to talk about their experiences giving birth on the side of the road, in their cars, with their husbands being the ones catching their newborns. We didn’t know just how relevant our conversation would be.

It’s about 5 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2007. A Chevy Silverado pulls out of the northbound lane into a turnout near mile marker 59 in the canyon, with more urgency than the typical highway traveler.

Coleman gives birth to her second child, a baby girl, across from the Gallatin River in a location that still lacks cell phone service more than 16 years later.

On Jan. 14, 2016, Daily is on a similar mission to reach Bozeman, but nature has other plans. She gives birth to her second child, a baby boy, in the last northbound turnout of the Gallatin Canyon on her way to Bozeman. Even as she nears Gallatin Gateway, she’s still more than 15 miles from the city.

Both women were planning on giving birth in Bozeman, Daily at the Birth Center and Coleman at the hospital. That plan worked for their first pregnancies—both women were driven an hour, Coleman from Lewis and Clark Canyon, and Daily from Big Sky to their destination and delivered where they wanted—but it is not uncommon for a second pregnancy to result in a much quicker labor.

Both women shared their experience with plenty of smiles and laughs, but they also seemed comforted by the presence of my wife and baby as a reminder of how intense giving birth can be. Daily explained that she still feels a surge of adrenaline to this day when thinking back on the birth of her second son, the “canyon baby.”

These canyon deliveries were quite different. Coleman was busy preparing for her first son’s birthday party and hosting family from out of town, and was fighting off signs of her early labor.

“So I just decided that we weren’t having a kid anymore,” she said facetiously.

Once her contractions were too frequent to ignore, she and her husband called their doctor who told them to start driving to Bozeman. At the time the couple lived up Dudley Creek Road, which Coleman described as a “very sh**** dirt road,” and by the time they made it to Highway 191, Coleman had jumped out of the car and was prepared to give birth right there. Contractions subsided and the couple started driving north, but did not make it very far.

“We were honking and driving down the canyon, trying to get people out of our way and people were not having it at all. My husband was waving and flashing his lights and nobody was having it,” Coleman said.

After pulling over, Coleman’s husband Ben was able to recruit a fisherman to help. The fisherman ran to the emergency telephone to call an ambulance, and got the help of some others that were passing by.

“So this poor guy has to quit fishing and run down to make the phone call for an ambulance,” Coleman said.

Both Coleman and Daily said that they dispute the details of what happened with their husbands.

“My husband and I still argue about this. There was a little audience, and he said they weren’t lookin’ but I think they saw somethin’,” Coleman said.

“Ben pushed me in the car, slammed the door, turned on the heater and the baby was already crying and pink and beautiful and we’re getting ready to go and a knock goes on the car window and he’s like, ‘Can I get my knife back?’” Coleman recalled. She wiped the blade on her pajama pants and gave the man his knife, which they had used to cut the umbilical cord.

They pulled their truck into the ambulance bay at the hospital in Bozeman and Coleman said that

The Daily family, left to right: Sam, Jodi, Frank and Kevin. COURTESY OF JODI DAILY

The Coleman family, left to right: Orrin, Ben, Ariane, and Cyrus. COURTESY OF ARIANE COLEMAN

they came and grabbed her baby and her husband, and for a moment she was left alone before they wheeled her into the emergency room.

“I just broke down,” she said. “They didn’t have any room for me in labor and delivery because there were so many babies being born.”

Both women emphasized the altered state of consciousness that they were in while in labor.

“I feel like both times [giving birth] I left my body and reason behind,” Coleman said.

Nine years later, Daily was not fighting off signs of early labor like Coleman had. In fact, she had just been in Bozeman the day before for a checkup at the Birth Center.

“I was very nervous about having a baby in the canyon… Because my first happened really fast and my mom had had babies in hospital hallways,” Daily said.

When Daily wasn’t feeling well, she called her midwife who suggested she come in for another checkup, just to be safe.

“When we started the drive, it was totally precautionary,” she said. But not long after passing the Storm Castle area in the canyon, Daily had a feeling that she wouldn’t make it out of the car before giving birth. Not long after, her water broke and it was time to pull over. Daily had been talking with her midwives about being prepared in the event of giving birth in the canyon throughout her pregnancy, and they helped prepare her for the unexpected. They told her to pull over and give birth if need be.

“Don’t just keep driving,” they told Daily.

Daily’s husband Kevin pulled over into the hunter’s check turnout at the mouth of the canyon, to which he claims that he “Dukes of Hazzard” slid over the hood of the truck to go catch the baby in time. In just a few moments, the baby was out.

“These men did stop, and see everything there was to be seen, and they went into service to call for an ambulance,” Daily said. But they, like the Colemans, did not end up waiting for the ambulance and were able to make their way to the Birth Center.

Coleman and Daily were both able to deliver healthy babies with the help of their husbands to

catch them. Thankfully there were no additional complications aside from the location.

Delivery services in Big Sky

In January 2016, when Daily gave birth in the canyon, the Bozeman Health Big Sky Medical Center had just recently opened. And while their drive to Bozeman was at the time simply precautionary, she explained that even if she had showed up at the BSMC in the throes of labor, that they would have simply flown or driven her to the hospital in Bozeman.

“You can do all your monthly checkups here [in Big Sky], but they’re not gonna deliver your baby,” Daily said. It’s still true in 2024.

While talking about their canyon babies, Daily and Colman discussed a recent post on the Gallatin Canyon Road Conditions Facebook page – a man, Dan Goodrick, had asked about road conditions in the canyon because his wife was in early labor. The next day, Goodrick informed the group that he and his wife had made it to the Birth Center for the birth of their first child, just in the nick of time at 2:25 a.m. on Jan. 24. The Goodricks live and work at a ranch just south of Big Sky.

Eager for another canyon baby story, I reached out to Dan and his wife Kirsten about the birth of their

child. The couple had a plan, but with this being their first child, there were some things they just couldn’t anticipate. Their backup plan, in the event that they felt they couldn’t make the drive, was to try to have the baby at their cabin and to get ahold of the Big Sky Fire Department. Kirsten’s labor had progressed quickly and when her water broke, the couple knew they needed to hit the road.

“It went from–she’s fine, a little cramping, nothing much– to just like that, waters broke and she’s pushing,” Dan said.

On their drive to Bozeman, the couple planned on re-evaluating at the intersection with Lone Mountain Trail in case they felt they needed to get to the Big Sky Medical Center in the event of an emergency. They opted to keep driving towards Bozeman, Dan’s brother Joe following behind with light-bars ablaze. Thankfully, the roads were dry.

“[Joe] lit the entire canyon up like a Christmas tree,” Dan said. “We were a little nervous… What do we do if we get pulled over? Because we were definitely moving at a high rate of speed.”

After the couple made it to the Bozeman Birth Center, the midwives were able to assist with delivering their child.

“Thank God it was not in the canyon, because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck… It just made me think, that’s all the more reason that I did not want this to happen in the canyon,” Dan said.

The couple agreed that they would do some things differently if they were to be expecting another baby while living at the ranch – leaving earlier, and establishing a plan with friends, as well as getting in touch with the sheriff’s office for a possible escort through the canyon.

Hearing these three family’s stories reminded me of the realities of childbirth in an isolated area like Big Sky and many other parts of Montana and how difficult it is to prepare for such a life-changing experience. Luckily, all three births have happy endings, and I hope that sharing them will help encourage expecting mothers to take those extra steps in order to be ready when labor signs begin.

Mother Ariane Coleman cross-country skiing with her son Cyrus, now 16. COURTESY OF ARIANE COLEMAN

Mother Jodi Daily and her son, Sam, now 8. COURTESY OF JODI DAILY

WINTER RESORT TAX COLLECTIONS DOWN; BSRAD DISCUSSES BUDGET

WITH PLANS TO SUPPORT MORE THAN $750M TO SUPPORT LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE, BSRAD DISCUSSES UPCOMING BUDGET STRATEGY

BY JACK REANEY

BIG SKY—Six months ago, the updated Big Sky capital improvement plan called for $777 million in recommended infrastructure improvements over the next decade. At a recent meeting, the Big Sky Resort Area District board discussed the importance of careful budgeting, seeing a slowing trend in resort tax collections.

BSRAD collects and allocates Big Sky’s 4% resort tax on luxury goods and services, and BSRAD also commissioned the capital improvement plan. At BSRAD’s March 13 board meeting, they discussed the current collections and budgeting strategy for upcoming years.

“We’re looking at probably closing the year a little under on collections, based upon the trend that we’re on,” Executive Director Daniel Bierschwale told the board.

BSRAD forecasted fiscal year collections of about $23.6 million and is currently tracking to fall roughly $100,000 or $200,000 shy, he said.

Year-to-date, collections are still beating the past fiscal year, but losing ground—December saw a 6% shortfall, and January dipped 10% below last year’s collections for the month. Big Sky’s historic lack of snowfall through February likely dampened the trend in resort tax collections, a trend Bierschwale expects to continue through February, before leveling out in March.

On the upside, he noted that BSRAD’s operation costs are under budget for the fifth straight year.

With massive infrastructure costs ahead—including an unbudgeted $10 million expense to acquire land and improve traffic flow at Big Sky's crucial intersection— and the current reminder that resort tax collections aren’t a sure bet for year-over-year growth, Bierschwale

emphasized the importance of expanding revenue streams and bolstering cash reserves without deeply compromising BSRAD’s support of local government services and nonprofits.

“As we’re projecting out cash flow for upcoming years and the likelihood of a large investment in the capital improvement plan, [and] we explore the potential of taking on debt service, it’s important to us that we maintain programming that is currently being funded through resort tax,” Bierschwale told EBS in a phone call.

He pointed out the importance of initiatives like the wellness district, a recent effort to redirect property tax dollars paid by Big Sky’s Madison County residents from the Madison Valley Hospital District in Ennis into a newly formed hospital district in Big Sky. The effort stalled in January, but leaders have engaged legal counsel to appeal. If successful, Bierschwale said $1.4 million in annual property taxes could be deployed as capital investments into local infrastructure.

Bierschwale said that ongoing legal process is costing $75,000, and BSRAD is being careful to honor its fiduciary responsibility to the community—for example, BSRAD’s office manager Sara Huger-Carroll is leaving her position and BSRAD will not rehire in the near term, to help offset operational expenses including legal action for the wellness district.

Bierschwale also sees potential for BSRAD to transition some programmatic funding—including annual grants to local nonprofits—into funding for community-oriented capital investments.

“Annual programming operation requests we get, while they are critically important, don’t have the same long-lasting effect on needed infrastructure in our community,” he told EBS.

He said nonprofit partners will need to form accurate forecasts over the next few years so BSRAD can budget reasonably for programmatic needs.

Bierschwale pointed out another challenge: a “glitch” occurred on Madison County property tax rolls and prevented an assessment that should have raised more than $200,000 for Big Sky’s Trails, Recreation and Parks District.

That district will fund certain operational costs for the Big Sky Community Organization, serving as “another alternate source of funding,” Bierschwale said.

Local leaders with the parks and trails district had worked closely with both counties, and they thought it was across the finish line, Bierschwale told EBS. Madison County commissioners did not include the assessment on property tax bills, presenting a cash flow problem of more than $200,000 for the parks and trails district—a new resolution will allow the county to “double up” in the coming year, but until then, the error created “a gap in cash flow that the community is covering” through BSRAD.

“As a result of that, we are hoping that we have a better process moving forward through an interlocal agreement with both counties,” Bierschwale told EBS.

In the board meeting, he added, “When we move into more meaningful debt service, we will not be able to cover that kind of a gap in the future.”

BSRAD is also budgeting $500,000 for a study of local governance options, including incorporation as a municipality. Bierschwale said that’s a pretty big dollar amount, but it’s only a conservative forecast based on the highest bid received—$330,000—from vendors last year for BSRAD’s capital improvement plan.

“[The CIP] was a smaller project than this one,” Bierschwale told EBS. BSRAD will review prospective vendors in a public board meeting in April, and choose a firm in May.

COUNTY VOTERS TO DECIDE ON POTENTIAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT STUDY

BY JACK REANEY

BIG SKY—In the June 4 primary election, Montana voters will see a ballot item regarding a study of their respective county’s government structure.

“We should all pay very close attention to this,” said Daniel Bierschwale, executive director of the Big Sky Resort Area District.

Bierschwale said if the Big Sky community is interested in exploring how both Madison and Gallatin counties could improve their “power, form and plan of government,” according to state documents—from voter representation to number of county commissioners— then voters should go to the polls on June 4 and push the effort forward.

If a simple majority of voters in June choose to move the study forward, then a commission of citizens will be elected in November to conduct the study.

More information is available online through Montana State University. The webpage includes links to virtual office hours—six, one-hour informational sessions between March 8 and May 31—to discuss the study, and a statement from Dr. Kenneth Weaver about the importance of the review.

"Article XI, Section 9 [of the 1972 Montana Constitution] mandated that the legislature establish procedures that would require every unit of county and municipal government to undergo periodic citizen review of the structures of their local government,” Weaver stated.

“This Local Government Review process was unprecedented in the United States and remains, after

more than three decades and four complete Voter Review cycles, a truly distinctive characteristic of the Montana political landscape and, arguably, one of the most important innovations in modernizing the performance and accountability of local government in the twentieth century [and beyond],” Weaver added.

If voters in each county choose not to establish the study commission, no further action will occur until 2034.

For Big Sky community members, Bierschwale was sure to distinguish between two similar but unrelated efforts: this state-mandated government review for counties and municipalities, and BSRAD’s upcoming study of local governance options in Big Sky.

“The [BSRAD] incorporation report is primarily around municipal government... The local government study is a requirement every 10 years for municipal governments and counties,” Bierschwale said.

RECENT DATA PROVIDES MORE ACCURATE VIEW OF BIG SKY POPULATION, ECONOMY

DATA PRESENTED PREVIEWS A LARGER-SCALE BSRAD REPORT ON ECONOMIC IMPACT

BY JEN CLANCEY

BIG SKY—On the night of March 7, members of the public gathered to learn about Big Sky’s economy in The Business of Big Sky event hosted by the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center. Brad Niva, CEO of the chamber, gave opening remarks and then passed the microphone to Jackie Haines, a recent addition to the Big Sky Resort Area District team.

Haines, director of economic and strategic development, gave a presentation titled "Using Data to Understand your Workforce." She clarified that her objective was not to provide business recommendations or solutions, but instead educate Big Sky businesses about their workforce.

“What the data says is that the Big Sky workforce is a really young workforce,” Haines told EBS over the phone following the event. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of Big Sky’s population is a little over 37 years old. “In that age and stage of life, individuals are thinking about families, they’re having families,” Haines said.

Two takeaways for employers looking to better support their workforce are offering stable schedules, and offering dependent savings accounts, according to data.

This data comes from working with the state to accurately depict Big Sky boundaries and results were fascinating for Haines.

GIS boundary allows BSRAD to see Big Skyspecific data for ‘first time’

BSRAD worked with the Montana Census and Economic Information Center to create a GIS area adhering to the resort area district’s boundaries. “That was what I was really excited about when I’m standing on stage,” Haines said.

“The population estimates they gave us are very, very specific and very tailored to Big Sky … That was nice, because trying to capture growth for Big Sky has been challenging up until we got that data.”

The data estimates that the Big Sky population has grown 54% from 2010 to 2020. “That becomes really important, especially when we’re talking about the need for housing and the need for expanded infrastructure in Big Sky,” Haines said.

She explained that community leaders need to be mindful of the amount of growth,

thoughtful about investing in infrastructure and express support for larger, more expansive systems in the community.

A

closer

look

at where Big Sky’s workforce lives

While the Census Bureau is helpful in estimating the number of commuters in the workforce, it’s unable to identify what areas those employees lived in the state. BSRAD reached out to several large businesses that provided, with respect to privacy, what zip codes their employees resided in. Haines noted that no names, addresses or personal information were revealed.

From that collection, Haines determined Bozeman’s zip codes landed just underneath Big Sky with the highest number of Big Sky employees. Gallatin Gateway and Belgrade came after, respectively. The Census Bureau estimates that 73.9% of those employed in Big Sky commute in, 26.1% live and work in Big Sky and 21.1% live in Big Sky and commute elsewhere.

Haines also was excited to share new data about Big Sky’s seasonal workforce. The report estimated that 4,322 people are employed seasonally, though it does not note which season.

Some limitations exist in the data: the Yellowstone Club is excluded due to geographical boundaries and self-reporting error is always a factor in data collection.

How far Big Sky’s dollar goes

BSRAD is working on an economic impact analysis that will depict how Big Sky’s economy supports itself and the regions around it. Three factors go into finding these estimates: the direct spending of community members, what further spending occurs because of that initial purchase or investment, and the total gross impact of all those dollars combined.

Haines provides an example: “When you spend $1 in your community, it actually generates more activity behind it—your dollar spent at the grocery store pays the wage of the cashier, the cashier then goes to the the restaurant and buys a pizza, and that dollar then pays the wages of the waitress.”

So, Big Sky made up 14.6% of Madison and Gallatin counties’ economic activity or county gross domestic product, 4% of GDP statewide, and Big Sky’s economy is associated with 26,065 jobs, or 32%, of jobs in the twocounty region.

“The economic activity in Big Sky is really important and should be really important to all of us,” Haines said.

A panel followed Jackie Haines' presentation. Led by Karen Lum, the panel featured Kelly Kern at Hungry Moose, Twist Thompson at Blue Budda, Tres Toros and Blindside Burger, Danielle Miller with Big Sky Land Management, and Andy Dreisbach at Cornerstone Management Services. PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY IN BOZEMAN’S GROWING WESTSIDE

Located at the southwest intersection of Ferguson Avenue and Babcock Street, this project occupies one of the last remaining infill land properties in Bozeman. It will be situated in the heart of the city’s rapidly growing population center. Spanning 8.64 acres, the site boasts excellent connectivity to the region’s primary highways and roads, including Highway 191 and I-90. Additionally, it offers convenient access by foot or bike to various key attractions, such as local elementary and high schools, the esteemed Petra Academy, and the bustling Ferguson Farm commercial hub.

The project’s plan encompasses 192 meticulously designed and spacious condominium units set in a picturesque garden-style environment. These residences are tailored to cater to the needs of young professionals and families, the fastest-growing demographic in Bozeman. The condominiums range in size from studios to three-bedroom units, with floor areas spanning from 406 square feet to 1,488 square feet. They are configured as single-story, two-story, or triplex units, and the site will also feature 12 storage units for residents’ convenience.

REGIONAL

MEASURING BIG SKY’S SNOW HOW SNOTEL SITES PROVIDE CRUCIAL DATA ABOUT LOCAL SNOWPACK AND RIVER HEALTH

BY MARIO CARR EBS CONTRIBUTOR

As a resort community, measuring snow is an important science in Big Sky. Thanks to a network of over 900 automated data collection sites – called SNOTEL, or Snow Telemetry – located in remote, high-elevation mountain watersheds in the western U.S., that data can be carefully monitored.

The Lone Mountain SNOTEL in Big Sky is just one of 96 SNOTEL stations located in Montana, and is situated at 8,800 feet. This station, like all SNOTEL sites, has been designed to operate unattended and without maintenance for a year or more. At this site, there is equipment collecting data on snow water equivalent, snow depth and air temperatures every hour since it was created in 1989.

Zachary Hoylman, a hydrologist and a state climatologist in Montana, helped break down the importance of these SNOTEL stations.

“SNOTELs are meteorological stations that are typically distributed at relatively high elevations, and the intent is to basically measure snowpack in locations that are experiencing quite a bit of snow,” Hoylman said.

“What makes SNOTELs really really unique is that they measure what’s called 'snow water equivalent,' and snow water equivalent is effectively the amount of water that would be stored in the snowpack,” Hoylman said.

SNOTEL stations use what is called a “snow pillow” to measure the SWE. These pillows weigh the snow that has fallen with a pressure transducer, and are then able to calculate density and water content of the snow.

“There’s a known relationship between the volume of water and the weight of the water, because it’s a non-compressible fluid,” Hoylman said.

SNOTEL stations provide foundational data sets for our understanding of the environment in the Rocky Mountains according to Hoylman, and there are sites that have been recording data for 50 years. The data from SNOTEL is fed into a snow data assimilation system, which produces a hydrological model to try and create a more complete picture of the snowpack between all of the SNOTEL stations.

“SNOTEL is the foundational snowpack monitoring network that we’ve used for literally decades to understand our water sources, predict things like stream flow, and it’s a really key piece of the hydrological puzzle,” Hoylman said.

As we seek to understand our environment, SNOTEL sites are very helpful in determining expected streamflow and water availability, but when it comes to predicting something like the likelihood of forest fires, Hoylman said that there are many other variables in that equation. Hoylman said that the late February and early March snow events have greatly improved our snowpack in Montana this winter.

“We’ve had several good snow events and so things have improved quite a bit. But we’re still

below average for sure when it comes to snowpack dynamics and snow pack storage. At this point I think we can expect lower runoff,” Hoylman said.

Understanding our snowpack in the Rockies is essential to understanding the environment. Communities in the Rocky Mountains depend heavily on the rise and fall of our snowpack through the winter, and the subsequent ebbing and flowing of our streams and rivers in the summer.

On the topic of the transition from snowpack to snowmelt, Andrew Larson, a professor of forest ecology at the University of Montana, explained how SNOTELs can help us understand the effect of snowpack on the ecosystem post-wintertime.

“There’s a big switch that gets flipped on the landscape as the snow melts out and you move into spring green-up,” Larson said.

Larson explained that after the snowpack has melted, that summer weather has the greatest impact on fire likelihood, and that the moisture of those forest fire fuels in the dryer summer months is the biggest factor in the likelihood of a burn. And that the longer the snowpack remains, the longer those fuels are likely to remain too wet to burn.

“We’re in a position right now with our well below average snowpacks that we would expect the fuels to become available to burn earlier… There’s preconditioning right now, so it doesn’t guarantee that we’re going to have a bad fire season, but we sure could, because we’re going in dry,” Larson said.

Our Lone Mountain SNOTEL data tells us that our snowpack and SWE this winter have consistently been roughly 50% of last year’s values month over month. With a wet spring and summer last year, we were thankful to enjoy a green landscape with minimal fires. Not knowing what the next season holds quite yet, SNOTEL data can help us be prepared by understanding the current season we are in.

Andesite Mountain at Big Sky Resort in late January 2024, when snowpack was in a 33-year low—since SNOTEL tracking began. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY

Larson (left) instructs a forest ecology class in the field at Lubrecht Experimental Forest, east of Missoula. PHOTO BY JUSTIN CROTTEAU

A HUB FOR ADVENTURERS

BOZEMAN YELLOWSTONE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HANDLES RECORD TRENDS, FACILITY UPGRADES WITH POISE

BY MIRA BRODY

BELGRADE—Behind the scenes of the bustling first floor of the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport—which hosted 2.4 million passengers in 2023—there’s a different kind of cacophony. A maze of interconnected conveyor belts, stretching 3,300 linear feet and monitored by a precise series of algorithms and a dedicated IT team, carry the airport’s 4,000 average daily bags from the check-in counters as folks drop them off and prepare for their flight, and through a meticulous security screening system before being sorted and loaded onto planes.

“For us, it’s not uncommon to see—during a peak day during peak season—to have 500 skis,” Brian Sprenger, the airport’s president and chief executive officer, said over the continual sound of rotating belts. Behind him stands a trolley piled high with nearly 50 skis bags. More are on their way, snaking their way down the series of belts.

Most airports that accommodate skiing travelers have belts for skis at the check-in counter, but not the robust belt system on the back end, like Bozeman Airport does. Sprenger explains the difficulty ski bags pose is not only due to their length or odd shape, but also the fact that they come from a mountain—a mountain that mitigates avalanche danger using explosives which leave residue from those explosives that is then detected in the screening system.

“Skis have a much higher detection rate than normal bags, and that means that you end up having to hand-inspect them more, but you don’t want to handinspect them if you don’t have to,” Sprenger said.

Bozeman’s new $23 million in-line baggage handing system, with state-of-the-art baggage screening and explosive detection technology, debuted in October 2023, is one of many upgrades to the airport in recent years, and one of many to come in the near future.

These upgrades aren’t just for show—just behind Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Florida, Bozeman Airport is the second-largest growing airport in the country.

Sky-high growth

On the heels of another record year, which saw an 8.8% increase in passengers, in 2024 the airport is projecting another 6.1% increase, or 75,159 passengers. While that increase may sound like a lot, Sprenger calls it “moderate” compared to the 80% post-COVID bump they experienced from 2019 to 2020.

“We have been really doing everything we can to accommodate the increase in passengers and looking at all the different check points, we have been kind of ticking them off as we can,” he said. “Parking is a big one, we basically nearly doubled our parking capacity in the last year.”

The airport has improved its passenger drop-off and pick up areas, adding space for ride-share services; built concourse B, which opened at the end of 2020 and added 70,000 square feet and four gates; opened BZN Market in November including grab-andgo food, a coffee bar and retail; expanded its TSA checkpoint queuing area, which increased the security checkpoint’s footprint by 60%; and built a new, larger concession area for shoppers.

Airport staff are taking down the temporary facade walls from the new concessionaire as we pass by, another project checked off the list. Standing in concourse A, we look down a gentle ramp to some of the oldest parts of the airport’s building, and the site of the next big renovation project, set to break ground in a week. Sprenger calls it the “Enabling Project.”

“We call it ‘enabling’ because all of this is basically to get us all set … to accommodate passengers and baggage, and all that when we lose a significant amount of space.”

He motions down the concourse and explains that they’ll demolish this older section of the airport to accommodate today’s larger, 150-seat planes, and add three more gates (for a total of 15, if you’re keeping track) plus additional concessions and bathrooms. Downstairs, a new baggage pickup area will include three distribution carousels that will triple plane unload capacity and add an additional bag drop at the east end of the airport for rental car customers.

BZN Market, a new place for passengers to eat and work before their flight, opened in November. PHOTO BY MIRA BRODY

Passengers drop their bags at check in. PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

The renovation will also include space for additional security screening.

He approximates that it will take four years.

For the time being, the Enabling Project will create a bypass for passengers to move from security to the two gates that will remain operational during construction. Sprenger calls it “a house of cards,” managing massive expansion projects while remaining fully operational and minimizing disruption to passengers.

“Our goal while constructing is to make it as invisible to the customer as we can,” Sprenger said, recalling times where he’d pitch in to help baggage loading during construction—a honed practice “near and dear” to his past when he worked for Northwest Airlines.

“And for the most part we’re able to do that.”

Going transatlantic

At the front of the terminal, there’s an energetic hum, different than the machinery that surrounded us earlier. It’s spring break and airline passengers are checking in, moving toward gates, collecting bags and waiting for loved ones. A woman stands at the gate exit holding a homemade welcome sign, and as her friend approaches, the two shriek with laughter, going in for a hug.

Behind them, crackling fireplaces, local art displays and floor-to-ceiling windows frame the surrounding mountain ranges. That’s all by design, Sprenger explains as we head back downstairs.

“We do a lot of things that are on purpose,” he said, specifically referencing the lack of advertisements on the walls and no 24-hour news stations running at the gates. Instead, pre-borders can be seen looking a landscape view of the Bridger Mountains. “People are on vacation.”

As we walk, he explains the numbers that drive airline growth, and how Bozeman has always remained an outlier.

United Airlines offered BZN’s first flight to New York 10 years ago with Saturday-only service to Newark, New Jersey in the summer. United projected these flights would only fill 35% of seats, and they’d operate the new service at a loss. The community risk mitigation agreement with United was to make up

part of the difference if the planes didn’t fill, Sprenger said.

“The very first summer we were at 80%,” he said. From there, the route grew to daily winter and summer service with expanded seasons from May through September. “Never would I have guessed that 10 years ago when we started that.”

He said that trend has continued, with Bozeman managing to fill the same number of seats per aircraft as any airport in the Pacific Northwest, including Denver and Seattle.

“And that’s considering they have international flights that are 350 seats,” Sprenger said. “That’s a really important thing for airlines and for growth because it cost significantly less per seat for the larger aircraft than the smaller aircraft… Bozeman has been able to fill the seats, while others have not.”

Bozeman Airport currently boasts 25 nonstop destinations, and while the low-hanging fruit has been picked as far as new airlines coming to the area, the airport is focused on maturing its existing markets, and of course, improvement projects to meet need over the next decade.

These projects are illustrated on maps pinned to the facility’s conference room wall that encompass the airport’s 4,000 controlled acres. Customs and immigration is on the list, which would entail a 1,000-foot runway extension for those heavier, cross-continental planes and a gate that can receive those aircrafts. Such an addition would accommodate scheduled leisure service from Europe for carriers like Condor and TUI. However, there are many logistics to figure out, such as customs staffing, before we’re there, said Sprenger.

Sprenger said Bozeman Airport’s success can be attributed to four pillars: the growing population center of Bozeman, Montana State University, winter tourism and summer tourism. It’s the perfect culmination of different people, drawn here for different reasons, yet all connecting over a strong sense of adventure; a love for travel.

“That adventure mentality is infectious,” Sprenger said of those who call Gallatin Valley home. “… They’re choosing to live here and their discretionary [goal] is going off [and] exploring the world, because this is their base.”

Bozeman Airport’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Brian Sprenger, stands in front of the new in-line baggage handling system. PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

A pair of skis heading through bag screening. PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

After a thorough security check, bags are organized into the correct airline trolley and loaded onto places. PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

The new concessionaire’s temporary walls come down to eager shoppers on a busy spring break travel day. PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY

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SPORTS

THREE LONE PEAK BASKETBALL PLAYERS EARN ALL-CONFERENCE

ISAAC BEDWAY, EBE GRABOW AND ASTRID MCGUIRE SELECTED TO DISTRICT 5B ROSTERS

BY JACK REANEY

BIG SKY—Lone Peak High School’s basketball programs moved up to Montana Class B this season, generally facing a higher level of competition against larger schools. Even with higher hurdles, three Big Horns shined bright enough to catch the eyes of coaches in Lone Peak’s District 5B.

From the varsity boys, junior Isaac Bedway and sophomore Ebe Grabow earned two of the 13 spots on their all-conference team.

“I am excited that both Isaac and Ebe’s efforts were recognized and rewarded by the coaches in District 5B with their all-conference selections,” head coach Al Malinowski stated in a press release to EBS.

The Big Horns finished their Class B debut with a 7-14 record, but they came together in time to pull off a playoff upset victory. In the Big Horns’ first-ever Class B playoff win, Bedway went bananas: he scored 23 of the team’s 41 points, including free throws with 0.4 seconds to put the game on ice. The Big Horns would not advance further in the district tournament.

In the regular season, Bedway averaged 15.1 points per game and led the team in average rebounds (8.2) and blocks (1.9)—he was previously tied with 2023 graduate Max Romney for most blocks in a single season (25), but smashed that record with 39 this year. Bedway knocked down 42 three-pointers this season and became third on Lone Peak’s single-season 3-point shooting record.

With 632 career points through his junior year— Bedway did not attend LPHS as a freshman—he now ranks sixth all-time for Lone Peak scoring.

Ebe Grabow, a sophomore, is not far behind with 539 points, good for 10th in LPHS history entering his junior year.

He led the team in scoring this season, averaging 15.7 points per game, and assists, with 53. He scored 103 two-pointers, the fifth most in a single season for Lone Peak.

He led the team in charges taken, and free throw opportunities—Grabow shot 67.5% from the charity stripe, netting 54 points with 80 opportunities.

“Both Ebe and Isaac were instrumental in our run to State in Class C a year ago,” coach Malinowski stated. Last season, the Big Horns held an 18-12 record in Class C, reaching the state tournament for the first time in LPHS history. “With the graduation of four seniors from that team, Isaac and Ebe brought valuable postseason experience to this year’s team, but had to adjust to more prominent roles, knowing that they would now be at the top of our opponent’s scouting report.

“I am proud of them for what they have accomplished and look forward to them continuing to develop their leadership roles for next year’s team.”

A team leader, McGuire earns a nod

Senior Astrid McGuire led her team in all offensive categories—including a tie for most rebounds (116) with fellow senior Vera Grabow. She scored 192

regular season points, averaging 10.7 per game and ranking eighth in Lone Peak’s district 5B.

McGuire also had 31 assists, 34 steals and 16 blocks in her senior season, one which required her leadership on a young team with only one other senior, two juniors, and 11 combined sophomores a nd freshmen.

Being Astrid’s father, head coach John McGuire abstained from the all-conference vote. He commended her on the recognition.

“I am incredibly proud and happy for Astrid for this well-earned honor,” McGuire stated in a press release. “Astrid started playing basketball at Lone Peak as an inexperienced freshman, and her achievements throughout high school and in particular this past season are the result of a ton of hard work and commitment to the school, the team and her teammates. It’s a real honor to be recognized by the other coaches in the District.”

Astrid plans to play soccer at Bowdoin College when she enrolls next fall.

Coach McGuire wrote that Astrid’s defense was at the top of district 5B, and remarked upon by other coaches. She would defend the opponents’ toughest players, and she was consistently double-teamed on offense.

He also noted Astrid’s strong performance in the district 5B tournament, in which the Big Horns took No. 2-ranked “powerhouse” Manhattan High School into overtime “in the team’s best performance of the season and what would have been the biggest upset of the tournament,” according to McGuire.

“It was awesome to see the entire arena rooting for us to upset Manhattan when we pushed them to overtime, and the team’s performance in the District Tournament reflected the excellent growth and progress achieved by the girls through the course of the season,” coach McGuire stated.

He added his excitement for the bright future of the team, including his belief that many future players will earn similar accolades.

Being recognized in Montana Class B isn’t easy.

Coach Malinowski wrote that schools in Class B range in enrollment size from 100 to 300 students. He gave numbers to compliment Lone Peak’s performance, including the players who gained allconference honors.

“LPHS currently has an enrollment of 112 students, which makes it the smallest of the seven schools or cooperatives that make up District 5B,” Malinowski wrote. “Compared to the Fall enrollment numbers reported to [the Montana Office of Public Instruction] for all high schools, LPHS is in the bottom 20% for student enrollment of the 46 schools that comprised the 45 teams—Whitehall and Willow Creek [share] the only cooperative—that participated in Class B this season.”

Both teams shared a young core, and coaches expressed excitement for their development when high school basketball returns next season.

PHOTO BY RICH ADDICKS

PHOTO BY RICH ADDICKS

PHOTO BY RICH ADDICKS

FROM MONTANA, TO THE WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE, AND THE HOCKEY MOM SUPPORTING THE DREAM

BY MERRICK PARNELL EBS CONTRIBUTOR

The Western Hockey League is regarded as one of the world's top Major Junior Hockey Leagues. It boasts 22 teams across the Pacific Northwest and western Canada that play in large arenas, some even in professional National Hockey League venues. The WHL features some of the top 16- to 20-year-old talent battling for a shot at the NHL or other professional leagues.

Goaltender Braden Holt is one of those players in the Western Hockey League. Raised in Big Sky, he holds the distinction and honor of being the first Montana prospect to be drafted by a WHL team after he was selected in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft by the Everett Silvertips.

Holt made his WHL debut with the Everett Silvertips as a 16-year-old in 2019 when he was put in after the starter was pulled partway through the game. Holt eventually started to play significant minutes as the Silvertips' starter. He was traded to the Victoria (Canada) Royals in 2022, and has played there since.

Holt has even attended camps with the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators throughout his budding career.

Any player at this elite level needs a robust support system, and Holt's mother, Melody, is a big part of that system. Melody has been a hockey fan since 1995 when she lived in Colorado and the NHL's Avalanche moved to Denver from Quebec City, Canada.

She has proudly held the "Hockey Mom" title since her older son Evan started playing roller hockey before switching over to ice hockey. She recalls that even as a child Braden got used to being whisked around to rinks in a stroller.

The Holt family eventually moved to Montana, and Braden started playing as a young goalie in Bozeman. His mother said the move has been essential in his development as a player, and hers as a supportive mother.

"Braden loves the state of Montana and the friends he's made there,” Melody said. "We met some truly Grade-A parents and coaches, and Braden was welcomed with open arms. A pivotal moment was when he was allowed to play with Team Northwest when he moved to Bozeman after meeting Garry Hefty with Top Shelf Hockey," she recalls.

After that, Braden was recruited and offered positions with a few high-level programs, eventually leading him to play AAA Hockey in the Detroit market.

The AAA opportunities eventually led to Holt›s selection in the WHL draft. This season will be his last in the league, as he will age out at the conclusion. As Braden’s career in the WHL ends, one early memory stands out to Melody when reflecting on her son’s WHL career.

"The memory of Braden making his first appearance in the net as a 16-year-old was such an overwhelming emotional experience," she said. "Words can't describe how proud we were, and to see the pure happiness and excitement on our son's face after that game was priceless."

Melody has also enjoyed traveling around the Pacific Northwest in Oregon, Washington and Canada to watch Holt play.

"My husband and I try to watch as many games as we can live, especially now that the end of his junior career is approaching,” she said. “It's amazing traveling to all the different [arenas] throughout the league. We've traveled by car, plane, ferries and seaplanes… however we can get there.”

Being the mother of a goalie can be challenging because they are under so much pressure and can be under a microscope, but Melody said that her family offers endless support, and she gives Braden a lot of credit for handling the pressure well.

"It's a lot of pressure for these kids at this level— not just goalies. Braden has a mental strength coach and outlets like his faith and his music that helps him through tougher times," Melody said.

Melody has enjoyed her time as a WHL hockey mom and is excited to see Braden's next chapter of his career. Until then, she can be found at the rink and arena, pouring her love, support, and admiration into watching her son on the ice as a true, blue hockey mom.

Braden Holt the first Montana prospect to be drafted by a WHL team after he was selected in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft by the Everett Silvertips. PHOTO COURTESY OF MELODY HOLT

Melody with her sons Braden and Evan. PHOTO COURTESY OF MELODY HOLT

Young Braden with the Bozeman Icedogs. PHOTO COURTESY OF MELODY HOLT

DINING

A LA CARTE

FRONT STREET MARKET IN BUTTE IS A FOODIE DESTINATION

BY RACHEL HERGETT EBS COLUMNIST

At the end of February, I spent a weekend with friends old and new at a cabin in the western Montana woods. I love to cook for a hungry crowd, so I took on the group’s Saturday dinner. After an Asian-inspired vegan meal of spaghetti squash and peanut sauce with teriyaki tofu and veggie sides, my hosts lamented the fact no one had thought to bring napkins. There’s a tradition in their family that after a truly great meal, you throw your napkin at the chef as a sign of respect. I was touched, if not by a napkin.

Later that evening, Grace—one of those hosts and my carpool companion—asked if I had any ideas on how to attack the next day. Is there time for more cross-country skiing in the morning? Do I want to pack up and hit the road?

Only one desire came to mind when contemplating the questions: I would be content with whatever form our plans took—as long as we made a stop at Front Street Market in Butte on the way home. Grace was in full agreement. Among our shared interests and reasons we are friends, it seems, is the knowledge that a market stop is essential.

Front Street Market is a foodie paradise and Italian grocery owned and operated by Jim and Marla Yakawich for over 30 years. Located at 8 West Front Street, the shop is one of the few places in Butte I can easily find without the help of directions.

The space is extensive, so allow yourself time to explore. Up the steps and through the door, Front Street Market greets you with a maze of tight aisles. Canned goods from Front Street’s own brand are first. I’ve truly never seen such a variety of pickled things in my life, and I’ve spent time in Poland, where pickling things seems to be a national pastime and the resulting pickles are essential to the regional cuisine. There are pickled vegetables of all sorts—cucumbers, naturally, but also squash, okra, Brussels sprouts, carrots, onions, green beans and more—plus pickle condiments like relish and chow chow.

After the pickles, you reach the sauces. Most ingredients in the shop are near like ingredients—a giant wall of pasta in the more open deli space, for example. There are repeats throughout, however, subtly suggesting pairings that would make a meal complete.

I choose a sauce near the entrance to the kitchen where cooking classes are held—Stanislaus Food Products’ “Exclusivo” wild porcini sauce. A sign tells me this is the sauce of the year, and one doesn’t ignore such a recommendation. Grace tells me it has one of the most impressive ingredient lists she has ever seen in a jarred sauce. “Vine-ripened fresh tomatoes, eggplant, Corto olive extra virgin olive oil, onions, porcini mushrooms…” and I’m already drooling.

Sauce acquired, I go in search of things to pair it with. I go in search of the freezers. They’re filled

with even more gourmet ingredients, naturally. But among the ingredients are house-made pastas and Italian-grandmother-worthy dishes. Lasagne to die for is rivaled by the chicken florentine. And let’s not forget what draws me in time and time again: the ravioli. Staple flavors are always nestled next to an experimental ingredient combo or two. Somewhere in my mind, I seem to remember a stellar chicken tikka ravioli, though the freezer section remained pretty tame on this visit. I love the ravioli because they are easy to cook and dress to make a complete meal.

Try the butternut squash with olive oil and chopped herbs, like a chiffonade of sage if you’re into fancy knife cuts. Or the lobster with some combination of butter, wine and lemon for a sauce.

I haven’t even discussed Marla Mia’s deli, which serves soups, sandwiches and salads for lunch. And surely some of you will want to know that there’s a huge wine selection beyond the kitchen.

I opened the sauce this week. Inspired by the cabin trip, I used spaghetti squash as a base. This one’s easy.

To prep, cut a squash in half through the stem so your pieces are long and shaped more like a boat than a bowl. Remove the seeds and stringy guts with a spoon then cover the flesh with olive oil and salt and pepper. Put the halves flesh-side-up into the oven and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, longer for monster-sized squash. When it’s done, it’s still a little firm, but a fork will easily separate the innards.

For this meal, I left half a squash unshredded, filling the center with sauce and topping it with parmesan before putting it back in the oven while I heated and seared meatballs I had picked up in the freezer section under recommendation by Grace’s sister.

I’d throw a napkin at everyone if I could. The sisters, the sauce makers, and of course the Front Street Market. Che buono!

Rachel Hergett is a foodie and cook from Montana. She is arts editor emeritus at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and has written for publications such as Food Network Magazine and Montana Quarterly. Rachel is also the host of the Magic Monday Show on KGLT-FM and teaches at Montana State University.

PHOTO BY RACHEL HERGETT

PHOTO BY RACHEL HERGETT

BIG SKY EVENTS CALENDAR

Thursday, March 21 - Wednesday, April 3

If your next event falls between Apr. 4 - Apr. 17, please submit it to media@theoutlawpartners.com by March. 27.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

Fly Fishing Film Tour

The Waypoint, 5:30 p.m.

Waxing Poetic- Encaustics Group Art Exhibition

Gallatin River Gallery, All day (until March 25)

Montage Big Sky Wine Dinner: Sip & Ski with a Pro

The Montage, 6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, MARCH 22

Climate Town Live: Comedic Relief on Climate Change WMPAC, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 23

The Portal: Cacao Ceremony, Transcendental Breathwork & Sound Journey

Santosha Wellness Center, 6 p.m.

Brahms Symphony No. 1

Willson Auditorium, 2:30 p.m.

Live Music: Scavenger The Waypoint, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY, MARCH 24

Inner Stellar Radical Transformation & Peak State Experience

Santosha Wellness Center, 11 a.m.

MONDAY, MARCH 25

Family Trivia Night

The Waypoint, 6 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 26

Western Roots Dance Lesson Tips Up, 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27

The Wilson Lobby Bar Concert Series: Jacob Rountree Wilson Hotel lobby bar, 5 p.m.

Trivia

The Waypoint, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY, MARCH 28

Holy Thursday Mass: St. Joseph Catholic Mission Big Sky Chapel, 5 p.m.

Holy Thursday Service: All Saints Big Sky Big Sky Chapel, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY, MARCH 29

Good Friday Mass: St. Joseph Catholic Mission Big Sky Chapel, 3 p.m.

Good Friday Service: All Saints Big Sky Big Sky Chapel, 5 p.m.

The Vagina Monologues The Waypoint, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 30

WMPAC: 360 All Stars WMPAC, 7:30 p.m.

FEATURED EVENT: SUNDAY, MARCH 31

SUNRISE EASTER SERVICE

Top of Andesite (Big Sky Resort), 7 a.m.

On March 31, Big Sky Resort Ministries will offer an Easter Service at the top of Andesite during sunrise. Attendees are encouraged to bring skis or snowboards to ski down after the service ends. Between 6:30 a.m. and 6:55 a.m., Ramcharger lift will transport attendees to the service.

Live Music: North Fork Crossing The Waypoint, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY, MARCH 31

Sunrise Easter Service

Top of Andesite (Big Sky Resort), 7 a.m.

Easter Sunday Mass: St. Joseph Catholic Mission Big Sky Chapel, 8 a.m.

Easter Sunday: Big Sky Christian Fellowship WMPAC, 9:30 a.m.

Festival Eucharist: All Saints Big Sky Big Sky Chapel, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY, APRIL 2

American Legion Bingo The Waypoint, 6:30pm

Western Roots Dance Lesson Tips Up, 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3

High School Musical: Mamma Mia! WMPAC, 6:30 p.m.

Trivia

The Waypoint, 7 p.m.

WEEK

COMMUNITY EVENTS PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDING

FRIDAY, JULY 12

BIG SKY COMMUNITY RODEO 7:00 PM - Big Sky Events Arena

TUESDAY, JULY 16

FREE COMMUNITY DAY / FAMILY ACTIVITIES

2:00 PM - Big Sky Events Arena

MUTTON BUSTIN’ 4:00 PM - Big Sky Events Arena

DICK ALLGOOD

COMMUNITY BINGO NIGHT

6:00 PM - Big Sky Events Arena

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17

BIG SKY PBR GOLF TOURNAMENT

9:00 AM - Big Sky Resort Golf Course

THURSDAY, JULY 18

BULL RIDING NIGHT 1 6:00 PM - Big Sky Events Arena

MUSIC IN THE MOUNTAINS CONCERT

8:00 PM - Featuring TBD

Len Hill Park

FRIDAY, JULY 19

BULL RIDING NIGHT 2 7:00 PM - Big Sky Events Arena

PBR AFTER PARTY 9:15 PM - Featuring Corb Lund

Big Sky Events Arena Stage

SATURDAY, JULY 20

BULL RIDING NIGHT 3 7:00 PM - Big Sky Events Arena

PBR AFTER PARTY 9:15 PM - Featuring Jason Boland & The Stagglers

Big Sky Events Arena Stage

BUSINESS

MAKING IT IN BIG SKY: BIG SKY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Behind the scenes of many Big Sky businesses is a robust and passionate support system known as the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce. For 40 years, the chamber has acted as the one-stop shop for local businesses, aiding them in their success through any economic climate with networking events, educational opportunities and industry knowledge. For this special Making it in Big Sky, Explore Big Sky sat down with part of the chamber’s core team—CEO Brad Niva, Director of Business Development Ashley Muckway, Workforce Development Manager Bethany Davies, and Communications and Events Manager Fallon Grant.

Explore Big Sky: What brought you to Big Sky and what is your role with the chamber?

Brad Niva: I was recruited by the Chamber Board of Directors to be the CEO for the Big Sky Chamber. My background in owning three tourism-based businesses in Oregon, as well as years serving on the board of Travel Southern Oregon; I had the resume and the experience to support a tourism business economy. Tourism is a tricky market and fortunately I’ve spent almost 20 years in tourism and half of those years specifically focused on the seasonable businesses.

EBS: What kind of services does the Big Sky Chamber offer local businesses?

Ashley Muckway: Our goal is to create a thriving small business community. We aim to be a one-stop shop for local businesses, providing them with the tools they need to succeed. This includes invitations to our networking events to meet the right people at the right time, the advocacy efforts with governing bodies, or our educational workshops where we bring in local and national experts.

EBS: What is your favorite thing about working with business owners in the area?

Brad Niva: I have a huge respect for anyone who has stepped up and started, or purchased a business. It’s a huge undertaking and I feel lucky that I’ve been in their shoes. Big Sky is a wonderful place to live and work. However, it’s a tough place to own a business. With staffing challenges, lack of housing and a higher than average cost of living these are all factors that a business owner faces. I have never been a part of a business community that is so involved in facing the issues and persevering to solve them and prosper. It would be easy to throw up your hands and give up, but our businesses do the opposite, they say, “Let’s figure it out!”

EBS: As someone at the Chamber, what feedback do you get from business owners in the area about working and living in Big Sky?

Ashley Muckway: At the chamber, a recurring conversation we have with business owners is the desire for a stronger business community. Big Sky's fast-paced environment can leave business owners with limited time for networking and collaboration. They seek a platform to forge local connections, share ideas and access current industry information. In addition to the need for this business community, workforce development is another key concern. The idea of fostering the next generation of leaders is crucial to attracting, retaining and empowering a skilled workforce for Big Sky.

EBS: What is a great example that the chamber has been successful in the community?

Brad Niva: Historically, the chamber has worn many hats in serving the needs of Big Sky for over 40 years. In the beginning, the Big Sky Owners Association and the Big Sky Chamber were the two organizations that were serving the community. Today, you can look back and see that the Big Sky Housing Trust, Visit Big Sky and the Sustainability Network (SNO) all came out of the Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has a history of pulling people together to support initiatives that are important to the community of Big Sky. The chamber is poised to continue in this role and support additional infrastructure initiatives as well as support local businesses with the tools and the advocacy so they can be successful in the future.

EBS: Big Sky is a place of great partnerships—do you work with any other local organizations on any projects or events?

Bethany Davies: We work with Lone Peak High School, Lone Mountain Land Company and engaged high school students to put on the Big Sky Futures Program.

Prospera Business Group provides business skill building workshops. We partner with the Gallatin Valley Human Resources Association, our local chapter of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Managers) to provide continuing education opportunities for human resource professionals in the area.

Our signature program, Leadership Big Sky is designed to engage and empower professionals and emerging leaders in our community with a large variety of businesses, organizations and local decision makers.

EBS: Anything we can look forward to from the Chamber this coming spring or summer?

Fallon Grant: This coming spring and summer the chamber has programming that not only benefits our membership but also the community.

As part of the Big Sky Futures program, on April 19, we will be holding the 2nd Annual Career and Summer Job fair for high school students at Lone Peak High School.

Breakfast in Big Sky is a new series that aims to give a platform to organizations who have updates and important information to the community. Our next Breakfast in Big Sky is on April 24, Dr. Bertany, CEO at Bozeman Health, will be speaking to the state of our healthcare system.

On June 18, the chamber is holding our 27th Annual Black Diamond Dinner Award. Each year we gather our membership and the Big Sky Business community to honor standouts that exemplify outstanding success and service to our community.

As always we will be hosting ribbon cuttings for new member businesses, quarterly member meet ups, and other workshops. Be sure to regularly check our events calendar to stay up on what the Chamber is doing!

EBS: Is there any business advice you’ve received that has stuck with you?

Brad Niva: Probably my favorite saying hung in my moms kitchen my whole childhood and I think it represents the Chamber of Commerce and our role: “Lead, Follow, Or Get Out Of The Way!” Because the chamber has served this community as long as it has, it used to have to lead everything. Today with the wonderful community organizations in place, our role is now to take a step back and fill the gaps in our community. Our newest motto is to, “Be of service and get stuff done.” That might be advocating for better roads, supporting the missing middle of our workforce with additional housing options or supporting a new community group who is focused on welcoming our seasonal workforce.

EBS STAFF

The Big Sky Chamber of Commerce team. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BIG SKY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

ASK: LONE MOUNTAIN LAND COMPANY

What has LMLC done to help with childcare needs in the region and what childcare options are available for Big Sky workforce this summer?

In a 2023 poll conducted by the Big Sky Child Care Task Force, more than 35 families indicated a need for summer childcare for 4 to 5 year old’s. The survey noted that 96 percent of women who live in Big Sky work, and those with children spend $1,733 monthly – 16 percent of their median income – on childcare. Additionally, the 70% of Big Sky’s workforce that commutes also face a need for childcare. Big Sky only has one full-time, yearround childcare facility – Morningstar Learning Center. These challenges make it difficult for families to live in Big Sky and they also make it hard for businesses to attract and retain employees.

Recognizing the urgency, Big Sky’s private, philanthropic, and public entities joined forces. Employing spaces donated by Big Sky School District #72, the teams at LMLC, Spanish Peaks Community Foundation, and Yellowstone Club Community Foundation worked with the Greater Gallatin United Way to launch a summer camp for preschoolers aged 3–5 in 2023 and the program is running again for summer 2024.

Another piece of the puzzle was helping Morningstar to receive more resources. Applying for a Childcare Innovation and Infrastructure Grant was the best option. In order to receive the $1 million dollar grant, Morningstar needed a 10 percent corporate match. While Morningstar only ended up receiving $413,904 of its request, LMLC still matched its $100,000 commitment. Ultimately, more expansion will be necessary to meet the growing demand.

In February 2024 LMLC opened Gallatin River Child Care in Gallatin Gateway for ages 6 weeks to 5 years with hours Monday through Friday 7am-7pm. Gallatin River Child Care is an employer supported center, providing licensed, quality care for LMLC and entities’ employees who live in the Gallatin Valley. We plan to expand beyond our affiliate employers as soon as we can.

For Summer 2024 camp registrations for Big Sky families are opening or already filling up. Here are a few options for kids aged 3-16 across the Big Sky region – Camp Moonlight, BSCO’s Camp Big Sky, Camp Lightning Creek, Greater Gallatin United Way kidsLINK, Jack Creek Preserve Outdoor Skills Camp, Big Sky Resort Youth Mountain Bike Camp, Big Sky Futbol Club Soccer Camp, Montana Outdoor Science School, World Language Initiative Language Camp, Eagle Mount Big Sky Kids, and Alpengirl Teen Adventure Camp. There will be a Camp Kick Off Expo held at BASE on Wednesday, April 3rd from 4-6pm.

Are there any recent updates you can share on the remaining Town Center development plans?

Yes, Lone Mountain Land Company is excited to invite you to a Town Center and Community Development Update event on Tuesday, April 2 at 3pm at The Wilson Ballroom. Join us for an informative session where we will share updates on our vision for the future of the Big Sky Town Center, along with news on additional progressing projects. Refreshments and appetizers will be served after the presentation. Come be a part of this conversation with Lone Mountain Land Company and the Town Center planning teams. Please email info@lonemountainland.com for more information.

Can you explain more about the South Fork Park plans with BSCO and LMLC’s involvement?

To provide symmetry and access to the Big Sky community, a new six-acre public park between Ousel Falls Road and Rainbow Trout Road will provide an athletic field, basketball court, picnic shelters, and playgrounds in the Southfork neighborhood area walking distance for many Big Sky residents. Lone Mountain Land Company donated 4.5 acres of land and has invested significantly in the BSCO’s ‘All Out Campaign’ to help BSCO make these new park plans a reality. Construction is planned to begin in 2025/2026 with timing dependent on charitable contributions. We encourage the entire community to get involved.

I heard there will be new additions to the Tips Up entertainment, what is happening there?

We are excited to announce that a new sound system for Tips Up will be installed beginning March 18. The transition to a top-of-the-line system will position Big Sky to provide an audio environment perfect not just for the best local and regional talent, but for national acts who want to stop in Big Sky. Our goal is for Big Sky to be known for its World-Class outdoor pursuits and similarly for its vibrant music and arts culture with a World-Class music scene as its centerpiece. Tips Up will be sounding great and providing awesome entertainment for you in the coming weeks. Find upcoming events at bigskytowncenter. com/events.

ENJOYING THE RIDE

FRAUD PREVENTION TIPS TO HELP PROTECT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

BY BRANT WIEHARDT EBS CONTRIBUTOR

Sponsored Article

Scammers are relentless when it comes to finding new ways to take advantage of people.

They may claim to be contacting you on behalf of your bank, a government agency, a shipping/delivery company, or any person or business with which you have a relationship.

Their methods and messages can be very convincing. They employ a variety of scams (auto warranty renewal, problems with a Social Security payment, debts owed to the IRS, health insurance renewal, or a relative with an “emergency”) and often present a sense of urgency to attempt to gain information and/or money from their targets.

The following tips could help you avoid being scammed and becoming a victim of fraud:

Verify the source of unexpected communications

Be certain that the person calling or contacting you is who they claim to be.

Scammers can make calls and texts look as if they are coming from your bank or an actual business. Even a text or email that seems to have been sent by a friend may be coming from a phone number or account that has been hacked. Emerging scams may even rely on AI technology to create voice fakes of family or business contacts.

Contact the person, bank, or business directly to confirm the legitimacy of the communication you received.

Don’t share sensitive or private information

If you did not initiate the communication using what you know is a legitimate telephone number, email address, or website account location, do not give out any personal information, including your address, birth date, or Social Security or account numbers.

Remember that some information should never be shared. This includes your financial password, PIN, and one-time access codes. Your financial institution will never ask you to share this information with anyone.

Be vigilant

Phone calls:

• Don’t answer a call from an unfamiliar number. Let it go to voicemail.

• Remember that caller ID can be spoofed or imitated, so do not rely on that technology to verify the caller.

• Be wary of phone calls with a false sense of urgency. Scammers want you to act quickly, so do the opposite. Go slow, hang up, and verify that the call is legitimate by calling that institution directly.

Texts and emails:

• Do not click on a link in a text or email until you are certain the sender is legitimate.

• Avoid downloading or opening unexpected files included in the message.

• Do not rely on phone numbers included in the message. Go directly to the organization’s website for the correct phone number.

Be wary when asked to pay in a specific way

Scammers will often ask you to send a payment in a method that cannot be recovered. They may ask for a payment using gift cards, prepaid credit cards, wire transfers, an online payment service, or even cryptocurrency. If you’re being pressured to make a payment in a very specific way, that can be a clear warning sign.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Before taking action on a request, discuss it with a trusted friend or family member, which could help you to authenticate the legitimacy or deceit of the communication.

If you suspect or know that you have been defrauded, it may be helpful to tell a family member or friend. Victims of fraud have reported they were fearful or embarrassed to admit they had been scammed.

Report the incident to the appropriate authorities. You could be instrumental in helping shut down a fraudulent operation and protecting others from being victimized. Remember, scammers are professional criminals and anyone can be caught in a fraud scheme.

Stay aware of trending scams

Scams and fraud are constantly evolving, so it’s important to stay informed to help you avoid them.

The more you know about the types of scams and methods used, the better you can help protect yourself and your family. When you learn about scams that have been exposed, share those stories with your friends and family.

It can also be helpful to review guidelines from Wells Fargo concerning how to recognize and avoid scams at wellsfargo.com/privacy-security/fraud/bankscams. Another informative source is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website scam alerts page at consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts

Brant Wiehardt is an Associate Vice President and Financial Advisor at Shore to Summit Wealth Management. He currently works and lives in Bozeman, MT with his wife and children.

This article was written by Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network and provided courtesy of Brant Wiehardt, Associate Vice President, Shore to Summit Wealth Management, in Bozeman, MT.

Investment products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN), Member SIPC. Shore to Summit Wealth Management is a separate entity from WFAFN.

©2023 – 2024 Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALES BUILD NATIONAL AND LOCAL COMMUNITY

BIG SKY TROOP 3760 PREPARES FOR LOCAL COOKIE SALES IN LATE MARCH

BY SARA SIPE EBS CONTRIBUTOR

Beginning February and ending in April each year, “The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world,” according to the official Girls Scouts website. The organization’s cookie program, first established in 1917, has grown into a cookie empire topping $800 million in annual sales, and “the net proceeds from Girl Scout Cookie sales stay local… to fund activities for girls year-round as well as impactful girl-led community projects.”

Sounds good, right? But what if you don’t have a strong community? Or if your community is transient?

Enter the Girl Scouts Troop 6000 Transition Initiative.

Established in 2017, Troop 6000 serves girls with families living in temporary housing and shelters in New York City. Hungry cookie shoppers can support Troup 6000 by purchasing cookies online, and with the proceeds, Troop 6000 supports girls while they are transitioning from the shelter system into permanent housing, which can often take 18 months or longer. The troop provides an opportunity for the girls to experience consistency, and to build community where none may exist. Troup 6000 will ship cookies anywhere in the country. To support Troop 6000 girls living in shelters, purchase online at girlscoutsnyc.org/ troop6000.

Local cookie fans can also support a troop a little closer to home. The Big Sky Troop 3760 was established in 2015 and currently serves girls ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade. Big Sky Troop 3760 is working to expand their presence in the community through educational opportunities, community projects and, of course, by selling cookies.

Although troop membership and activity has ebbed and flowed throughout the years as Big Sky grows and changes, current local troop leaders Eric McCormick, Sanja Bergin, Maren Dunn, Corina Traxler, Kami Hussey, and “cookie mom” Susan

Tso say Big Sky Troop 3760 is a great program for “any girl desiring to make friends, try new things, explore their interests, and develop leadership skills.” Benefiting from family and community business involvement, the scouts have gone fishing, learned about emergency medical services, and learned to plant and grow things. Other upcoming activities include learning art and rock climbing.

In an email to EBS, troop leader Maren Dunn explained how cookie sales benefit the local troop.

“The girls learn about entrepreneurship and team building. Among the rewards are funding toward Girl Scout Camp tuition and funding for the monthly outings [and] meetings.”

Troop leader Erin McCormick added her view.

“They gain confidence, learn to approach others in a professional manner, and take chances. Each girl sets a goal for their cookie sales and figures out a plan to reach that goal. They learn about money and work as a team at the cookie booths,” McCormick wrote.

We get cookies. They learn skills. Now that’s a winwin for the whole community!

In upcoming weeks, Big Sky Troop 3760 will host the following cookie sales. For those unable to attend, cookies can be purchased online to support Big Sky’s troop.

March 23, 2 to 5 p.m. at Moonlight Lodge.

March 24, 2 to 5 p.m. at Roxy’s Market.

March 29, 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Hungry Moose Market and Deli.

March 30, 2 to 5 p.m. at Roxy’s Market.

April 1, 4 to 6 p.m. at BASE.

Sara Sipe is a former Brownie/Girl Scout and selfconfessed Girl Scout Cookie connoisseur. She is the senior accountant at Outlaw Partners, publisher of Explore Big Sky.

Local Girl Scouts learn to cook to earn their Scout Cooking Badge, and volunteer to serve lunch at Ophir Middle School.

EBS contributor Sara Sipe shows off her 2024 haul of Girl Scout Cookies. Big Sky locals can purchase Girl Scout Cookies in-person at upcoming sales, or online to support Big Sky Troop 3760 or Troop 6000.

DOWNTOWN BOZEMAN COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

The two NEW ground floor commercial spaces at The Ives enjoy a prime location at the heart of Bozeman’s North Central District, situated just three blocks north of Main Street. This district is poised for growth, with plans for extensive expansion of vertically integrated commercial and residential developments.

Commercial Shell 102, offering 1,825 square feet on the southeast corner and, Commercial Shell 101, occupying 3,920 square feet on the northeast corner, benefit from their strategic positioning within this burgeoning urban landscape. As the North Central District evolves into a dynamic hub of activity, these spaces promise unparalleled opportunities for businesses to thrive amidst the growth and vitality of downtown Bozeman.

With their floor-to-ceiling window bays facing Willson Avenue, these commercial shells offer exceptional visibility and accessibility, making them ideal choices for restaurants, retail, and other businesses seeking to establish a prominent presence in one of Bozeman’s most exciting and rapidly expanding neighborhoods.

311

Commercial Shell (101)

Commercial Shell (102)

Listed by: Ethan Stokes | 406.579.1989 | ethan@outlaw.realty

ENVIRONMENT

DISPATCHES

FROM THE WILD

THE MARCH OF THE BEARS

BY BENJAMIN ALVA POLLEY EBS COLUMNIST

On March 4, Missoula’s KGVO-AM News reported, “After a mild winter, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is reporting that bears all over western Montana are emerging from hibernation nearly a month early.”

This news flash seemed alarming, so I contacted FWP Region One, Two, and Three—generally, these FWP regions represent northwest Montana, west-central Montana, and southwest Montana, respectively—out of curiosity to see if this was accurate.

Yes, we had a mild winter in western Montana. Yes, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region Two has received reports that bears have come out of hibernation a month earlier than normal. But this behavior isn’t unheard of and is not necessarily the case throughout western Montana.

It is accurate to say that biologists in western Montana usually see bears coming out of their dens over the next several weeks. Still, it depends on the species and gender, and what part of western Montana.

KGVO reported the following quote from Vivaca Crowser, FWP Region Two education and program manager.

“In a typical year, we think of April 1 as kind of the target date for bear activity, but this year, in line with what we were just talking about, we already have reports of bears out and about because the conditions just are making them vacate [their dens],” Crowser told KGVO. “It’s time to get up and it’s okay to be out there.”

I emailed Crowser on March 7 to clarify this news briefing.

“I think it is important to note that we’re seeing earlier bear activity in some places, but it is not unheard of,” she wrote. “Just last year, for example, we had a few grizzly bears confirmed out at the end of February. This year’s mild winter has prompted a little bit earlier bear activity, but it is not drastically different than an average year.”

Not all bears wake up at the same time. Males generally wake up first, followed by females

without newborn cubs, and finally females with newborn cubs. It also depends on temperature and food availability and whether or not the bears had enough fat reserves stored up. If they are starving, they will wake and amble about in search of easy food at any time throughout the winter.

Some bears are waking, but not all.

Crowser wrote that FWP has seen some black bear activity in Missoula’s Rattlesnake neighborhood.

“One bear got into garbage there, which is a reminder to secure garbage and other bear attractants—pet food, bird feeders, etc.— around your home now to prevent conflicts. We also had a few grizzly tracks confirmed in the Blackfoot Valley. So, not a lot, but activity will continue to increase over the coming weeks,” Crowser wrote.

For information relevant to the Bozeman, Big Sky and West Yellowstone area, I contacted Morgan Jacobsen, FWP communications and education program manager in Region Three—Region Three includes the counties of Beaverhead, Broadwater, Gallatin, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Madison, Park, Silver Bow, and part of Deer Lodge.

“This year has not been atypical in Montana’s portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” Jacobsen wrote. “Right now is typically when we start to see bears emerge from their dens here.”

I also contacted Dillon Tabish in northwest Montana. Tabish is the regional communication and education program manager for Region One.

“Nothing out of the ordinary to report,” he wrote. “In northwest Montana, black bears typically emerge earlier since they tend to den at lower elevations compared to grizzlies that typically den in the mountains. Not always, but that’s typically how it goes up here, while other parts of the state have grizzlies denning at lower elevations, which is why they can emerge in plain view sooner.”

He added, “It’s still pretty cold up here, so it seems like we’re on schedule for a normal spring green-up—for example, the arrival of green vegetation, aka fresh food— which usually starts in April. That’s when bears and other wildlife start moving around.”

Bears are not necessarily waking up a whole month early throughout western Montana. There is no reason to be alarmed, but this is a great time to be bear aware and properly store food attractants like garbage, pet food and bird feeders.

Benjamin Alva Polley is a place-based storyteller with stories published in Outside, Adventure Journal, Popular Science, Field & Stream, Esquire, Sierra, Audubon, Earth Island Journal, Modern Huntsman, and other publications at his website www.benjaminpolley.com/stories. He holds a master’s in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism from the University of Montana.

A black bear tracks through snow in Yellowstone National Park. PHOTO BY DIANE RENKIN / NPS

GNFAC WATCHING FOR RED FLAGS

BY IAN HOYER EBS CONTRIBUTOR

Reading the daily avalanche forecast is the best way to prepare yourself for the snow conditions you’ll encounter when you head into the mountains. In southwest Montana you’ll find the forecast at mtavalanche.com. If you're traveling elsewhere, Avalanche.org is the place to find the local forecast. Avalanche forecasters work hard to collect weather and snowpack information and distill it into an easy-to-read forecast that will identify the day’s potential avalanche hazards. Take advantage of that resource and set yourself up for success.

Once you’re out there, you also need to stay alert and watch for warning signs that the snow is ready to avalanche. Make a plan before you head out, but be ready to back off if needed. Listen to what the mountains are telling you. Watching for “red flags” is one tool that can help.

Recent avalanches

Seeing avalanches that broke within the past 48 hours is the clearest sign that triggering another

slide is possible. If avalanches are breaking on their own, or you see someone trigger an avalanche, the odds point towards more of the same. If you see recent avalanches, avoid steep slopes for the day.

Collapsing or cracking

If you feel the snowpack collapse under you, hear a “whumpfing” sound, or see cracks shooting out far into front of you—this is a sign that the snowpack is very unstable. You almost just made an avalanche, but weren’t on a steep enough slope for it to slide downhill. If you see these signs of instability, stay off slopes steeper than 30 degrees. If you don’t, you’re likely going to trigger a slide.

Heavy snowfall

New snow adds weight to the snowpack. The more weight that’s added and the faster it’s added, the more likely the snowpack will reach its breaking point. Be alert whenever it snows, but a foot of new snow in the past 24 hours definitely means you are likely to trigger slides.

Windblown snow

Wind drifting can load a slope really quickly, often depositing snow three- to five-times faster than snow falling from the sky. Blowing snow and fresh drifts are indications of wind loading and increased avalanche concerns on wind loaded slopes.

Rapid melting

Water in the snowpack, whether from melting on sunny days or rain, makes for unstable conditions. Not all warmups cause avalanches, but be very suspicious anytime the snowpack is wet. If you’re sinking in past your ankles in wet snow, it’s time to avoid steep slopes or find a shadier slope.

Remember that not seeing these “red flag” signs of instability doesn’t mean the snowpack is safe. But if you watch for these signs and back off if you see them, you’ll avoid many of the most clearly unstable situations.

Stay safe and enjoy springtime in the mountains!

Ian Hoyer is an avalanche forecaster for the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.

Writer and forecaster Ian Hoyer in front of a slide in Taylor Fork. PHOTO COURTESY OF GNFAC

Avalanche cracks in snowpack around Taylor Fork. PHOTO COURTESY OF GNFAC

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

COST

BY PAUL SWENSON EBS COLUMNIST

While I was skiing the other day I remembered a saying that a friend and I had back in the day when all we did was backcountry skiing.

“Earn your potential!”

It was kind of a nerdy slam toward our frontcountry friends who skied the lift served terrain. So what did this mean?

Reminiscing back to physics class, a change in potential energy is the amount of work you have to put into, or take away from, an object to change its elevation in the gravitational field of the Earth. It is quite easy to calculate: PE = mass times elevation change, times acceleration due to gravity, PE=mgh. So as I rode up “Swifty” at Big Sky Resort the other day I did a mental calculation to find out how much potential energy the lift gave me. PE = 100 kilograms (220 pounds including my skis and clothing) * 800 meters (elevation gain in meters of the Swift Current chairlift) * 10 meters per second squared (the approximate acceleration due to gravity).

This resulted in a potential energy gain of 800,000 Joules. That’s twice as much as it takes to skin up to the ridge above Beehive Basin, not taking into account the friction and drag breaking trail. So we can pay for the energy by buying a ski pass, or earn the potential by climbing the hill ourselves.

Of course, the great thing about gaining potential is turning around and losing it. Where does it go? It gets transformed into kinetic energy—the energy of motion—and into thermal energy losses due to air and sliding friction which is the fun part of this energy cycle. Then back onto the lift, or trail, to repeat the process.

Sitting down on the chair I hear snarky comments from other skiers about the use of carbon neutral electricity as advertised on the back of the chair in front of us. Big Sky Resort’s website explains how they use REC (Renewable Energy Certificates) to purchase electricity from the grid that is generated from non-carbon emitting sources including solar, wind, nuclear, hydro and biomass. REC’s are common in industry. They support the renewable energy market and help reduce the customer’s carbon footprint, enable generators, users, and stakeholders to know where their electricity is coming from, and provide documentation that the electricity is generated from renewable sources.

So it got me thinking about my carbon footprint for a day of skiing. I thought for sure my daily contribution to atmospheric carbon-dioxide would be tiny compared to the resort. I did some research online to find carbon footprint estimates for my daily goods and activities.

Alarm, cup of coffee—coffee, grown elsewhere, uses lots of water and has to be harvested, transported, roasted, packaged, brewed, then poured into my cup. In total, that’s estimated to be half a pound of carbon-dioxide per cup. Fried egg, 1 pound carbon dioxide per egg; bacon, 1 pound per slice; driving to the resort and home, 20 pounds (1 pound per mile at 20 miles per gallon); pizza for lunch, 10 pounds per slice; hamburger for dinner, 24 pounds for a half-pound burger; shower, 1 pound for heating the water; salad, 1 pound for dinner. Holy cow, that is a grand total of about 80 pounds of carbon dioxide I contributed in one day, by these estimates.

Now let’s go back to the Swifty ride requiring 800,000 Joules of energy. Seems like this is gonna be a lot, but based on a physics idealized situation— without friction taken into account, just the vertical gain, and ignoring the other carbon-emitting factors tied to building and manually operating a chairlift—it comes out to .02 pounds of carbon dioxide per ride. Ten rides equal .2 lbs. Guess my riding the lifts didn’t even equate to the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a single slice of bacon. Goodness, not the result that I was expecting. Now

I have some talking points on how to answer the comments from others around me.

But if we look at a resort as a whole and assume an average of 500 kilowatt motors on the lifts, we can estimate that an entire day of operations creates a total of 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalence. Then divide that by the number of skiers on the mountain—let’s just say 3,000 to be reasonable—and that becomes 4 pounds of carbon dioxide per person for skiing. That’s still 20 times less than my daily contribution from eating and driving.

Climate change seems to still be a debatable topic for some reason, but surely this winter has been kind of a wake up call for all of us that enjoy winter. January was the warmest on worldwide record by .7 degrees Celsius, and the average ocean temperature is .5 degrees Celsius higher. Around Montana there were record cold temperatures for a few days in January, but that did not offset the warm temps the rest of the month. January 2024 was the driest January on local record and had record warm temperatures.

For us old guys we can say, “When I was a kid we didn’t have snowmaking. Didn’t need it either.”

So this article is not to change your mind or your behaviors, just to give you some talking points next time the person on the chair next to you starts trash talking Big Sky Resort’s attempt to help maintain our way of life. We all contribute to the problem, and carbon output seems to depend less on whether we skin or sit—a difference of about 4 pounds of carbon dioxide—and more on the daily consumption habits many of us share.

Perhaps a bigger difference lies in how the potential is earned, cash or sweat.

Paul Swenson has been living in and around the Big Sky area since 1966. He is a retired science teacher, fishing guide, Yellowstone guide and naturalist. Also an artist and photographer, Swenson focuses on the intricacies found in nature.

Earning potential on the way up to the Gallatin headwaters. PHOTO BY PAUL SWENSON

WRITERS ON THE RANGE

FREED WOLVES MOVE INTO THEIR OLD NICHE

BY CLINT MCKNIGHT WRITERS ON THE RANGE

What was it like for 10 captured Oregon wolves when Colorado Parks and Wildlife opened their crates on a December day last year? The wolves had been chased by helicopter, drugged, blindfolded and collared, then moved to remote public land in central Colorado. One of those animals might have had this experience.

The grey wolf in the metal crate tenses as the door unexpectedly opens. Through the bright threshold, he sees a field of winter grasses laced with snow and a line of juniper trees. After a moment, he bolts for the trees, disappearing into their shadows. And he keeps running.

Only after his captors are far behind does the wolf come to a stop. Panting with exhaustion, his heart pounding, he sniffs at the breeze and looks about. His pack—his family—is nowhere to be seen.

He throws back his head and unleashes a plaintive howl. The tone rises and falls and rolls across the landscape. Its meaning could not be clearer: “I am here. Where are you?” But there is no answer.

The wolf explores, nose to the ground. He ignores a scolding raven. Of far greater fascination is the discovery of an elk bedding area. Pawing at the flattened grasses, he notes they were there just this morning. This is good to know.

Always alert, he climbs a ridge above a broad treelined meadow. He knows he must find his pack, but he has no idea how to start searching when there is no wolf scent.

The short winter day is ending. Now the wolf feels the full weight of fatigue after his sleepless threeday ordeal. He finds a shallow depression next to a fallen tree. He circles, lies down.

And the wolf dreams. He dreams he is running through a forest. Up ahead, he can just see the bounding prey he is chasing but he cannot gain any ground. He yips in frustration and abruptly wakes to a pink sky dawning in the east.

A meadow below is shrouded in fresh snow and stillness. Then, a movement electrifies his attention.

He rises into a crouch and silently descends the ridge on an intercepting path. The elk pause upon reaching the meadow, then begin to cross the open space. One of them has a hitch in her walk and lags behind.

The wolf immediately explodes into a run. Simultaneously, the elk launch into a panicked flight.

The wolf races through the snow-covered grass. As the paths of prey and predator converge, he leaps and seizes the laggard’s rear leg. She kicks and he lets go. He falls back and is startled to see her stop and turn to face him. The ailing elk is already spent. He leaps again, his jaws clamping down on her throat. She stands for only moments before collapsing. In minutes she is dead.

The meadow is quiet again. The wolf is suddenly overwhelmed with hunger as he tears into the elk’s belly, powerful jaws ripping open the hide.

As his own belly fills, the wolf feels the fear of these last days falling away, and in that moment he sees, among the pinyons and junipers, a pair of eyes watching him. It is another captured wolf that had been released, a coal-black female.

She emerges from the shadows, head and tail down, but walking without hesitation. She comes before him and raises her muzzle to lick the blood off his. He does not object.

He turns back to the kill. She comes closer, then pauses to weigh his reaction. There is none, and the black wolf eagerly feeds.

In the weeks to follow, the grey wolf and the black wolf explore their new home. When they hear the howl of another wolf, they reply: “We are here. You stay there.”

They find a location for a den and learn to hunt well together. In time, their prey will learn things, too, and both they and the landscape itself will be better for it.

As winter turns to spring, the black wolf shows signs that a new pack is being created. A family in a tradition as old as the ancient hills themselves—is being born.

Clint McKnight is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is a former national park ranger and natural history illustrator.

A small herd of female elk is browsing among the trees.

In December 2023, wolves captured in Oregon were released in Colorado as part of the state’s wolf reintroduction plan. COURTESY OF JERRY NEAL, COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE

WILDLANDS RESIDENCE 202

2 Beds | 2 Baths | 1643 sqft

Listed at $1,650,000

Listed with Ej Daws

192 AUDOBON WAY

4 Beds | 4 Baths | 3,643 sqft

Listed at $2,199,000

Listed with Ethan Stokes

WILDLANDS RESIDENCE 204

2 Beds | 2 Baths | 1,855 sqft Listed at $1,900,000 Listed with Ej Daws

KB RANCH

HEALTH

LET’S TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH

SUPPORTING MENTAL HEALTH IN KIDS AND TEENS

BY NEVADA REED GUEST COLUMNIST

Opportunities for selfcomparison and judgement seem to be lurking around every corner for our kids, from social media influencers posting carefully edited scenes about their best life—or so it appears—to the latest news story about another student setting a new athletic record or getting a perfect ACT score. Our digitally connected society and the impacts of the COVID pandemic have led to different daily mental health pressures, which is reflected in ever-climbing rates of anxiety and depression across all age groups, including striking increases in children, teens and young adults.

Parents are important partners in supporting their child’s mental health. Certainly, the most important building blocks of healthy self-care are consistent sleep, exercise and a nutritious diet with good hydration. However, there are other important habits that can help children and teens to build resilience. As a pediatric neurologist who focuses on neurobehavioral diagnoses, I often provide these five tips to families.

First, compliment kids on their personality traits and behaviors, not just on awarded accomplishments.

Children and teens can’t help but overhear us chatting with friends and family—“Oh, Kate won the essay contest and has straight A’s again” or “Johnny is going to get an athletic scholarship for sure, he just broke another record.” For the kids who are not the constant all-stars, hearing this can be hard. But it can be just as tough for those high achievers, who develop a sense that their accomplishments define their worth.

While we certainly want to praise special achievements, it is equally important to consistently highlight our child’s positive behaviors and personality traits. For example, mention that you saw your daughter pick up another child’s coat when they dropped it and you love that she is always thoughtful with others. Or tell your son that his jokes cheered up his little brother, and you see how he pays attention to others’ feelings and tries to be kind. This helps children understand the worth of their character, not just awards.

Second, label your emotions and model positive mental health approaches.

We all have bad days now and again. It’s healthy for kids to see this. But remember, they are also observing and learning from how we act in response to our emotions. It is helpful for parents to label their emotions and discuss their response. For example, “Gosh I am feeling really stressed out/sad/ anxious tonight because I really made a mistake at work and missed a deadline. I talked to my boss and we have a plan to get back on track, but tonight I need to work on feeling a little bit better. Do you want to help me pick some fun music to listen to? Or take a walk with me?” By doing this, you

validate that negative emotions are normal and are teaching coping strategies.

Third, encourage age-appropriate independence.

Many of us who are currently parents grew up in an era where we could not be tracked or contacted by our parents in real-time. It is certainly a luxury to be able to feel confident about our children’s safety, but unfortunately, over-dependence can lead to anxiety. However, by giving children some ageappropriate independence, we show them that we trust them and their skills to make good choices, which in turn improves their confidence.

This independence can take many forms. Even young children can be placed in charge of a daily task, like making their own lunch by using some visual guideline suggestions you develop together. Older children can be allowed to go somewhere safe on their own, like to the library after school to select a book. A child’s self-confidence grows when we show our confidence in their self-management.

Fourth, teach gratitude.

Life is about change—it constantly throws us new obstacles. Some of the happiest people are those who can say, “I’ve had some bad things happen today, but there was also some good.” Helping kids learn to actively identify several positive things about each and every day is an important life skill. These positives don’t have to be big—for example, a positive might be that the color of the sky was so blue against the white mountain tops, or that someone told your child they had on a nice shirt, or that what you are cooking for dinner smells delicious. Helping children to appreciate and value small positive moments allows them to learn to deal more effectively with life’s challenges.

And finally, challenge catastrophic thinking.

Sometimes kids make false assumptions that the very worst thing is going to happen. They might say, “My C in math class is going to prevent me from getting into an ivy league and if I don’t go to Harvard I will never get into law school,” or “Kids are saying mean things to me and I’m never going to be able to have a friend.” These false catastrophic conclusions can worsen anxiety and depression.

It can be helpful to have kids examine if these thought statements are “real” or “not real.” For example, you could have your child ask some adults if they ever felt bullied in school. Or ask if they ever got a really disappointing grade and what the outcome was. This will help your child to get a more accurate perspective on challenges.

As your child’s mental health partner, it is also important to recognize when additional care is needed. If anxiety or mood changes cause your child to withdraw from friends and activities, or disrupt their sleep and eating, it is important to seek medical attention. Talk to their primary care provider as a first step and seek out psychological support. Your Navigators from Be Well Big Sky can help as resource guides.

Nevada Reed is a pediatric neurologist who subspecializes in neurobehavioral diagnoses and neurodevelopmental disabilities. Her husband and son, now 14, moved to Big Sky from Ohio two years ago, and their family includes two 20-something sons in Missoula and a daughter in Washington D.C. Reed enjoys hiking in Big Sky, cheering on her youngest as he learns to drive, volunteering at Big Sky Thrift and seeing patients at Wellness In Action.

171 SHIELDS RIVER RD E

Livingston

Private sporting retreat that hosts a magnificent custom residence and barn on 210 acres w/ approx. 3/4 mile river frontage. The lodge-style home has 2 master suites with 3 additional guest rooms and 7 bathrooms with both forced air and radiant heat. $11,200,000 | #379239

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TBD TIMBERLOFT DRIVE

Big Sky

40± acre alpine meadow overlooking the Gallatin Canyon, outstanding views of the Spanish Peaks and Lone Mountain. Two adjacent 40± acre properties, designated building sites, end of the road privacy easy all season access. Close to Ophir School and the West Gallatin River.

TBD

SKYWOOD ROAD

Big Sky

Enjoy privacy and outstanding views of Lone Peak from this beautiful Skywood Preserve property. Rolling forested hills combined with a grassy alpine meadow complete with a small natural pond create a beautiful 21± acre parcel, just minutes from Town Center or Meadow Village.

Peak Projects is a steadfast client advocate throughout the life of high-end residential real estate projects. Our goal is to make designing and building a home an enjoyable and memorable experience.