82801 August/September 2018

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018

Gear Guide :

Everything you need to know about Maven optics

5 REASONS HUNTING

WITH KIDS ROCKS An Evening at The Big Horn Mountain Festival

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Sorry, California. eatherby, Inc. is coming to town...

Forgive us for non-stop acting like joyous kids at Christmas.

Founded over 70 years ago, Weatherby is a prestigious, family-owned company that continues to fuel the passion of hunters and shooters around the globe by building some of the world’s finest firearms. With a legacy of setting new standards in ballistics and performance, the

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company is committed to redefining excellence on the range and in the field.

Thanks, in part, to the Wyoming Business Council and Sheridan Economic and Education Development Authority (SEEDA) Joint Powers Board, who worked with Governor Matt Mead and other impactful economic diversity-driven groups in Wyoming to develop a $12.6 million grant package being used to build a 100,000 square-foot

building in the Sheridan High-Tech Business Park for the firearms mega-manufacturer to lease from SEEDA upon its much-anticipated 2019 relocation of operations and corporate headquarters from Paso Robles, California, to Sheridan.

The move to 82801—creating 70 to 90 jobs and more than $5 million annually in payroll over the next five years while they’re at it—has Wyomingites feeling just a wee bit excited.

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Here’s why: The Weatherby line features popular Vanguard® rifles, legendary Mark V® rifles (production and custom), Weatherby Shooting Systems™ Rifles, Threat Response shotguns and other shotguns in over/under, semi-auto and pump designs. These bad boys are not-only Americanmade (and, soon-to-be Wyoming-made), they’re all 5-star rated across the board for value, quality and performance.

As we pause to wipe the drool from our faces, here’s some details and mechanical specifications on a few of our favorite firearms from the Weatherby line of awesomeness. Let’s start with the high-end MARK V line, shall we?

MARK V

The Marksman’s Staple You won’t have to worry about the weather with the new Mark V rifles that will begin being manufactured right here in Sheridan at the all-new Weatherby Inc. Sheridan facility, where skilled craftsmen will provide the exceptional quality and attention to detail you’ve come to expect from the legendary name. All Mark V rifles come with Weatherby’s SUB-MOA accuracy guarantee and their staple hand-lapped barrels that ensure that the bullet’s flight path will be true and consistent. Here’s a look at two of our hand-picked favorites from this line: MARK V® WEATHERMARK™ MSRP $1,70000 Specs: • SUB-MOA accuracy guarantee (.99” or less 3-shot group at 100 yards when used with Weatherby factory or premium ammunition) • LXX Trigger • Fluted Bolt Body • 54-Degree Bolt Lift • Integral Recoil Lug • Cocking Indicator • Magnum 9-Lug or Standard 6-Lug Action

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Mark V TACMARK ELITE MSRP $6,20000 Perfect for long-range, competition shooting, Weatherby combined the 9-lug Weatherby action, new LXX trigger and 5-round detachable magazine to make this wickedly-accurate tack-driver. Plus, with fully-adjustable stock, the TACKMARK ELITE fits in just right everywhere and every time for shooting and hunting.

Barrel and Metalwork: • Hand-lapped • Krieger Custom match grade • Cut-rifled • Free Floating • #3 contour • Hand-honed action to assure 100% lug contact with the receiver • DD Ross tactical bolt knob • Muzzle brake has 90-degree lateral gas dispersion ports • Detachable 5 round box magazine

MARK V DELUXE MSRP $2,70000 Stock: • Stock has been designed with a slimmer forearm and more distinctive lines and contours • Grip diameter has been reduced • Slight right-hand palm swell • "AA" fancy grade Claro walnut Monte Carlo stock (French walnut on 460 Wby. Mag model) • Fineline, diamond point checkering, rosewood forend and grip cap with Maplewood spacers • Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad

VANGAURD

Entry-level excellence Not your daddy’s rifle, the Vanguard line of Weatherby is well-known for delivering the unmatched knockdown power of both the Weatherby Magnum and standard calibers: providing the confidence of guaranteed SUB-MOA accuracy without compromise.

Add in a match quality, two-stage trigger that breaks crisp and clean, and you’ll begin to understand why the Vanguard has become one of the most popular rifle options today.

Shoulder a Weatherby Vanguard and see for yourself… the best rifle value on the market today.

VANGAURD CAMILLA™ MSRP $84900 Designed by women for women.

Shorter and slimmer in all the

right ways. Now available in 6.5 Creedmoor for women shooters.

A love story: “Since introducing Camilla, a rifle named after Roy Weatherby’s wife and the First Lady of the Weatherby family, the glowing response from female shooters has been amazing,” said Adam Weatherby, President of Weatherby, Inc. “It was a natural extension to offer the rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor for long-range match shooting and hunting. It packs a serious wallop without harsh recoil, so it’s really a joy to shoot this gun,” Weatherby said in a 2017 press release from the company.

Like all Weatherby Vanguard rifles, Camilla provides confidence with a match-quality, twostage trigger that breaks crisp and clean. Its 20-inch #1 contour barrel guarantees SUB-MOA accuracy, and when cycling 6.5 Creedmoor cartridges at long

range, Camilla proves that Nothing Shoots Flatter, Hits Harder, or is More Accurate® than a Weatherby.

Available Calibers: .243 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08 Rem, and .308 Win. Features: • SUB-MOA accuracy guarantee (.99” or less 3-shot group at 100 yards when used with Weatherby factory or premium ammunition) • Adjustable Match Quality, Two-stage Trigger • Fluted Bolt Body • One-piece Machined Bolt Body • Fully Enclosed Bolt Sleeve • 3-Position Safety • Cold Hammer Forged Barrel • Integral Recoil Lug • Hinged Floorplate

“I am a huntress who loves everything about the pursuit and will never surrender my femininity.” ~ Camilla

SEMI-AUTO

Sporting Shotguns Smooth. Reliable. Easy on the shoulder. These are the three characteristics used most often to describe the Weatherby SA-08 and SA-459 gas-operated semi-auto shotguns. The dual valve system allows for you to tailor your load from upland loads to 3” magnums. Common features of Weatherby’s semi-auto line include: CNC-machined aircraft grade aluminum, chrome-plated bolt for increased durability and corrosion resistance, drop out trigger system for easy cleaning.

SA-459™ TURKEY XTRA GREEN MSRP $79900 The SA-495, pictured, combines the smooth cycling action of the Weatherby dual valve system with the control of the ergonomic pistol grip for sure handling. Other shotguns can’t put a Tom down as efficiently as this shotgun that’s perfect for gobblers.

Stock: • Realtree Xtra® Green camo pattern adhered to all stock components • Rubberized pistol grip for one hand control • Swivel studs included Weatherby also teams with a select group of celebrities and professional athletes who serve as spokespersons for the company as a part of Team Weatherby including professional snowboarder Scotty Lago. Team Weatherby is co-sponsored by Leupold & Stevens, Inc. For more information, go to TeamWeatherby.com and Weatherby.com. You can also visit the free Weatherby online community at WeatherbyNation. com and follow @weatherbyinc on Twitter.

By: Stephanie L. Scarcliff with Justin Moore of Weatherby Inc. for 82801 Photos courtesy of Kevin Wilkerson / Weatherby Inc. AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018

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82801 Features

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In Good Graces Our Ag Editor Candice lives the ranch life, and so she knows how to access public lands and hunt with landowner permission. She shares her hunters’ secrets and weighs in on the risks, rewards and benefits of managing wildlife populations.

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TJ Parks: Ripe for Adventure Everyone has a story, and new contributor TJ Parks is ripe for adventure. Now, this Sheridan transplant’s in a position to listen and can do no wrong (editorially speaking). Meet the man, the soon-to-be- legend.

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AIS: Fishing Both Sides of the Border & Aquatic Invasive Species

Music: The Mandolin’s Message

Because recreational boating can spread aquatic invasive species when species become attached to a boat or survive onboard, there are several regulations in place to protect Wyoming’s resources. Does your watercraft need an AIS decal? Find out!

Marylander and Sheridan newbie TJ Parks swaps his flip flops for boots at the downhome Big Horn Music Festival this summer. The result is music to his ears.

Pronghorn Pioneers: The Wyoming Women’s Antelope Hunt

he day after passing her hunter safety course, Sarah Hamlin was already in the field, stalking antelope with a professional guide. She had never hunted before, but that’s not exactly atypical of hunters at the Wyoming Women’s Antelope Hunt.

“They couldn’t afford or don’t have someone that can teach them the sport,” Marilyn Kite, the hunt’s founder, said of many of its participants.

Kite said many of these women would greatly benefit from being able to hunt their own food, but many of them have faced barriers to the sport, financial and otherwise. Because of this, the organizers of the Wyoming Women’s Antelope

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Hunt have set up numerous scholarships women can win, reducing the effect that unstable finances have on women’s access to hunting.

The Wyoming Women’s Foundation hosts the event every year with the aim of fostering self-sufficiency in women who often struggle financially. Wyoming Women’s Foundation Director Rebekah Smith said that the hunt is a perfect fit for the organization.

“Our goal is to help women achieve economic self-sufficiency and really, there is no better way to be self-sufficient than to be providing nutritious food for your family,” Smith said.

The three-day event allows women to learn about more than just hunting. The guides and

other professionals running the event take the participants through the entire field-to-table process. Hunting the animal takes the most time, but participants also learn how to field dress the animal and cook it.

For hunters like Hamlin, the experience was exactly what they were looking for.

“I’m not sure I could replicate [field dressing] at this point by myself, having only done it one time… But I felt strongly it was something I wanted to know how to do,” Hamlin said.

But, beyond that, the hunt allows its participants to meet new people and see landscapes that many of the hunters have never seen before.

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“The whole town was shut down,” Courser said. “We were eating breakfast by candlelight.”

Courser said that several people joked that if it had been men at the hunt, they would have abandoned the idea of hunting and stuck to drinking beer.

Kite remembers those jokes, as well.

“Yeah, that’s what the guides told us,” Kite said. “But everybody was there and ready to go, so we got out and walked and toughed it out.”

Kite’s partner, the greenhorn from California, ended the weekend by winning the Teddy Roosevelt Award, an award given at the hunt that recognizes

“It’s amazing how far people will come for this hunt,” Kite said.

Previous hunters have hailed from Maine, California, Florida, and Alabama, just to name a few.

Smith said she enjoys sharing Wyoming’s wildlife with the out-of-state hunters.

“It’s neat to see people come to Wyoming for the first time and experience our landscape and our wildlife,” Smith said. “Some may have never hunted antelope before, and may not have experienced antelope before because they don’t have antelope in their part of the country, so that’s really neat to be able to share.”

Kite’s first partner was from California.

“The first year the woman I was with was from California, and had driven out here by herself, and it was the first time she ever hunted,” Kite said. “She had her car break down on the trip out, so it was an epic experience for her.”

That year, there was a large snowstorm.

“Our very first year we had this epic snowstorm that closed virtually every road in Wyoming and almost caved all the tents in at the event,” Kite said.

Gloria Courser, who also participated in the hunt that year, recalled the snowstorm.

The Wyoming Women’s Antelope Hunt is scheduled to begin Oct. 11th

There will be a dinner and auction open to community members Oct. 12th

For more information about the hunt and associated events, visit WyomingWomensAntelopeHunt.org 8

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the “epitome of dedicated effort.”

Smith explained that the awards are often for different things than one might expect. They were developed by organizers of the hunt in conjunction with the Boone and Crockett Club.

“They helped us develop some awards that would really encourage fair chase and for the hunters to learn the most ethical hunting skills,” Smith said.

“And so the awards center around things like getting as close to your antelope as you can before you harvest it, or just really thinking hard about your shot, making sure you have a really good shot before you take it… maybe, in some cases, passing up a shot

because you don’t have the best shot.”

But some of the greatest rewards earned at the hunt have nothing to do with a plaque. The hunt often allows women to connect with each other and gain more confidence in themselves.

“It really surprised me what an emotional impact it has on women who have never experienced or have had the opportunity to hunt before,” Kite said. “I remember one young woman I just spoke to… about how the weekend had been and see if she was enjoying it, and her response was just to have tears running down her face. She said it was the most important thing she had ever done in her life

and she wanted to move to Wyoming. So that’s the kind of impact it has on individuals.”

Smith said that women often come to the event as strangers and leave the event as friends.

“That’s a lot of what the hunt is about— is just to see those relationships develop and to have the hunters develop those relationships that can help them continue their hunting journey,” Smith said.

By: T.J. Parks for 82801 Photos of the Wyoming Women’s Antelope Hunt provided

by Steven Girt and the Wyoming Women’s Foundation, a priority fund of the Wyoming Community Foundation.

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THE AUTHOR HIKES WITH HIS SISTER IN THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA

TJ Parks: Ripe for Adventure –

eople have accused me, at times, of being overly grandiose. Where most people see “a few strokes of luck” or “a bad day,” I am sometimes inclined to interpret it as part of an overarching narrative with complex characters, unexpected events, and scenery that can’t be replicated with CGI. My sister thinks it’s weird that I see people as protagonists (and occasionally as antagonists) in a messy web of overlapping storylines. I once believed that everyone saw themselves as the main character of their own personal tv show—maybe even several tv shows. But maybe that’s just me.

Regardless of how abnormal my worldview is,

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Everyone has a story. – I haven’t been proven wrong yet.

In the four years I spent at the University of Alabama, I visited decrepit mansions, ran from feral hogs, and had dealings with secret societies. There were plenty of dull moments, but there were also enough exciting ones to keep me convinced of life’s adventure.

And if any place is ripe for adventures, it’s Wyoming. Since arriving here a little over a month ago, I’ve met a whole cast of characters ranging from moonshiners to cowboy poets. I’ve seen landscapes that seem to be plucked from a Peter Jackson movie and quaint small towns that would make Stephen King proud. And Wyoming has certainly held true on its promise to be unpredictable. I learned that on

my first day, when my tour along a “Scenic Backroad” culminated in helping to corral an escaped sheep.

I’ve been blessed with the ability to experience quite a few stories throughout my life. But for every story I can tell, I’ve encountered dozens more told by others. In fact, despite seeing myself as the main character of my own story, most of my favorite tales are ones that were experienced by other people.

I’m fortunate to be in a position where it’s my job to listen to people’s stories, and I encourage you to tell me yours sometime. But, beyond anything else, I want you to know that you have one.

By: T.J. Parks for 82801

Fishing Both Sides of the Border & Aquatic Invasive Species n May 24, 2018, while inspecting a boat on its way from Wisconsin to Alberta, Montana, officials were alarmed and dismayed enough by what they found to lock the boat to the trailer being used to transport it. That way it couldn't be unloaded in Montana waters, or anywhere, until reaching Canadian authorities who had been notified of the dangerous cargo it carried.

This was the fifth time this year that Zebra Mussels were found during a boat inspection in Montana, and their alarm was persuasive enough that the current situation in Montana's Aquatic Invasive Species program can be best described as a pitched battle.

Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are a big deal in the West. Preventing and containing them costs billions of dollars, and the cost of losing the battle for everyone, not just anglers and water-sports

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enthusiasts, would be virtually immeasurable.

Necessity being the mother of invention, rising levels of concern are leading to new, innovative ways to address the issue.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, state agencies are planning to use musseldetecting dogs at Tiber and Canyon Ferry reservoirs. The dogs have proven effective in identifying adult mussels attached to boats and other watercraft. At the reservoirs, the dogs will inspect boat docks, launches and shorelines.

Tom Bansak, assistant director at the Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station, invented a "DNA Tracker" to detect Zebra Mussel DNA in water samples. While the DNA testing technology isn't new, Bansak's device innovates the process in important ways. It's small and affordable, $50,000 and the size of a small suitcase, whereas the old model cost $250,000 and was the size of a chest freezer.

On April 15, 2017, a new Montana law went into effect: All watercraft entering Montana are required to be inspected for aquatic invasive species prior to launching in the waters of the state.

Just south of the border, in Sheridan, AIS Specialist Mike Locatelli stands as the northern guard in defense of Wyoming's relatively pristine waterways.

"Something could be native to one place, but it's invasive to here," he said.

Locatelli said that he understands locals' frustration when they face mandatory inspection even if their boat has only been in the waters of the Tongue River watershed. Tongue River Reservoir contains the same water, regardless of the border.

"Biologically, there is no issue," he said. "but it's a preexisting regulation." Like most officials dealing with AIS, he is unapologetic about his mission.

"We're willing to hear the public’s opinion," Locatelli said, "but the state can't afford to make AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018

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exceptions." He explained that locals from both Montana and Wyoming sometimes get "caught in the middle."

For example, many boaters physically leave Montana to turn at the port of entry and continue up Decker Road to the reservoir. "So, they're from Montana, and their fishing in Montana's waters with Montana bait, but they happened to cross into Wyoming."

AIS Aquatic invasive species (AIS), including amphibians, crustaceans, fish, plants, and mollusks are currently present in Wyoming, most notably the New Zealand mud snail and Asian clam. According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), the most significant known threat to Wyoming is from zebra and quagga mussels based on their proximity and demonstrated impacts in Montana and Colorado.

Mussels in their larval stage are known as veligers, and they’re microscopic. Montana changed their AIS program drastically after zebra mussel veligers were confirmed in Tiber Reservoir, and results from Canyon Ferry Reservoir were deemed "suspect."

With the introduction of the new law in Montana last year, inspections are currently mandatory for all boats crossing the Wyoming/ Montana border, in either direction.

Liz Lodman Stine, head of AIS Outreach & Education for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks explained some of the ingenious and highly effective methods used by aquatic invasive species.

Zebra mussel veligers, for example, attach via "byssal threads" that grow from their muscles.

"Those threads are what allow them to attach in order to filter water and eat," Stine said.

Montana’s native mussels do not attach, but can grow to be fist-sized. "If you see little mussels covering everything—rocks, docks, boat hulls— those are invasive." That ability to blanket every available surface means that mussels can wreak havoc inside important infrastructure such as dams and water treatment facilities.

Other examples of sneaky, invasive species are Eurasian Watermilfoil (a plant) and New

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Zealand mud snails. It only takes one fragment of a Eurasian Milfoil plant, not roots or seeds, to start a new infestation, and New Zealand mud snails can clone themselves. Both are tiny, easily escape notice, and it only takes one.

Concerning invasive mussels, Locatelli said Montana’s program focuses on containment whereas Wyoming is routinely in full prevention mode, which means taking lots of samples.

Locatelli and his colleagues drop fine grain mesh nets as close to the bottom as they can get.

When they pull a net back up, it serves to filters out the material and collects the water into a small canister. The sample is then sent to two labs for independent analysis. An "infested" diagnosis means both labs detected veligers, "suspect" means one lab got a positive result, and a negative means both labs found nothing.

So far, all Wyoming results have been negative. The state’s isolation, low population, and water PH are possible factors. "I'm not exactly sure what’s working in our favor," Locatelli admitted. For now, Wyoming AIS Specialists will keep on with what they're already doing.

Wyoming protocol says that high-risk inspections include watercraft that have been last launched on a zebra or a quagga mussel-infested water or watercraft transporting standing water from a state that has known mussel-infested waters. High risk watercraft undergo a simple decontamination that should take 5-6 minutes. The process includes flushing the motor, ballast, and live well with hot water (120-140 degrees F). No chemicals are used.

In 2017, precisely 5,587 watercraft inspections were conducted in the Sheridan region and 576 were considered high-risk.

Of those high-risk inspections, 73 required a decontamination to treat standing water and four vessels were found to be transporting zebra or quagga muscles from Lake Powell, Utah; Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin or Lake Michigan, Wisconsin. Thankfully, the mussels on all four vessels were dead from being out of the water for several months, and they were able to be removed at Wyoming inspection check stations.

If actual mussels are found, "... they're getting the full treatment," Locatelli said. A full

decontamination includes a thorough pressure wash and takes as long as is necessary. Extreme cases may require quarantine.

"Our worst-case scenario would be to see a boat at a station, say 'ok,' then something happens," Locatelli said. Inspected boats are connected to their trailers with cables bearing wax seals, which sends the message to inspection stations down the road, "This boat’s already been checked."

STOWAWAY MUSSELS The Sheridan region has seen only two boats with living mussels onboard. One was traveling from

Maryland to Washington and was sent down the road clean. The other was from Michigan and had mussels in a sometimes-overlooked place, the anchor compartment. Wyoming Game and Fish Department considers anchors a vital part of inspection. It just takes one dropped anchor to pull up something undesirable.

According to Locatelli, 90 percent of mussels that have infested Lake Mead are from anchors. Aquatic invasive species specialists from around the nation travel to Lakes Mead, Powell, and Havasu for training, as the three are among the worst mussel-infested lakes in the nation.

Boats from those areas are considered to be the highest risk.

"We do have snowbirds who go down and winter in warmer waters," Locatelli said. "Then spring hits, they load up and go back to Wyoming.”

“In any given year, we see boats from the lower 48, Alaska and Canada," Locatelli said. "Every year I’m surprised. There is a lot of movement with boats and people who move are higher-risk."

There aren’t AIS prevention programs in the East—it’s already too late for that. "Sometimes our program is very alien to people," Locatelli said. "We have to explain—this is how it is in the west." While boats are the most obvious vessel, they aren't the only concern when it comes to preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species.

"We want to visit with wading anglers," Stine said. "The way the soles on most waders are designed, (they) can harbor the microscopic

mussel veligers." For this reason, Yellowstone National Park doesn't allow wading at all.

Fishing nets, laces, dogs, and scuba equipment are possible attachment sites for mussels, as well. Stine also warned people to beware of used irrigation equipment from out of state. Locatelli pointed out that construction equipment can also carry aquatic invasive species.

"If somebody is getting work in Montana; “clean, drain, and dry," Locatelli said.

PREVENTION IS KEY Once an area is infested, eradication options are extreme and unlikely to succeed. "Prevention is the key," Stine said. "Eradication is very hard, I won’t say completely impossible."

Locatelli described efforts on a Nebraska Air Force base where a manmade reservoir became infested. "Anytime you’re dealing with shelled organisms, it makes it more difficult," Locatelli said. All the water was drained and treated with chemicals, and in the end, it proved unsuccessful anyway.

Locatelli pointed out that the chemicals may kill everything else but the mussels, and can travel downstream. A more natural approach involves introducing natural predators from the species' native ecosystem, but this can raise even more issues.

Currently, the Bureau of Reclamation is offering a total prize purse of $100,000 for the 100 percent eradication of invasive quagga and zebra mussels from large reservoirs, lakes and rivers in a cost-effective manner and without harming non-targeted species. If successful, stage two of the BLM contest is to provide proof of concept in a laboratory-scale demonstration.

According to Locatelli, since Montana has stepped up their AIS program, Montana has become busier than Wyoming, especially at boating destinations like the Tongue River Reservoir, which attracts boaters from both states. Also, a new Wyoming regulation for 2018, which requires boaters to remove all boat plugs after exiting the water and to travel with all the plugs out, takes its toll.

Throughout Wyoming, Game and Fish offices offer a training course to the public to certify them to do their own inspections. "We AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018

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were seeing people Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so we're trying to ease the burden,” Locatelli said.

A different color is used for the wax seals on the wires wrapped around the boat and trailer after self-inspection. "It's handy for Sheridan folks going up to Tongue River," Locatelli said.

"If you take the course, you're certified for 12 months." He said the self-inspection program has had a good turnout for the last two years and is especially helpful in Sheridan. "Just stop in and show your seal. It should save people time."

The most concerning aquatic invasive species already present in Wyoming is the Asian clam in Keyhole Reservoir which, according to Locatelli, is, "not devastating, but not good.” Previously, Asian clams were only known to be in the North Platte River and Laramie river in Wyoming.

“We will never know where they came from, but it was obviously water from another area. Now we're concerned about people leaving Keyhole.” Locatelli stressed that even within Wyoming, containment is essential. "A lot of people think if they don’t leave the state, they're safe. It's still not safe."

Also, in 2017, brook stickleback was observed for the first time in Goose Creek near Acme, Wyoming. According to WGFD, brook stickleback is not native to Wyoming, but they have been illegally introduced, most likely through the use of illegal bait minnows, into drainages in the east central area of Wyoming. They are also common in eastern South Dakota and Minnesota.

MONEY IN THE BANK

Locatelli insisted that an infestation affects everyone, not just fisherman. Invasive species can cause biofouling of water systems, compete with native species, and can contribute to algae blooms, causing oxygen depletion in the water.

Clogged dams and water treatment plants can cost states millions of dollars.

"Nobody wants to be that guy that introduces an invasive species to the lake," Locatelli said. "But people overlook things, and nobody knows a boat better than the owner. Take responsibility and we’ll keep up the fight. Every year clean is money in the bank."

By: Kevin M. Knapp for 82801

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Western: Big government has been a staple of the Wyoming Economy since territorial time ur state’s populism began in 1889 when a group of men gathered in Cheyenne to write the Wyoming Constitution.

These 31 Republicans and 18 Democrats were mostly businessmen and lawyers. Frugal and wary of creating a bureaucracy with too much power or money, they still didn’t believe in no government. They distrusted the free market as much as they distrusted bureaucrats – or legislators for that matter. In their roles as guardians, they inadvertently laid the foundation for a welfare state.

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First, they heeded the words of John Wesley Powell, who had just a month previous, advised the North Dakota constitutional convention, to “hold the waters in the hands of the people.”

Wyoming banished the free market from the irrigation business. It also set up a state-run bureaucracy tasked with regulating water.

Private interests didn’t fare too well with disposal of land granted to states for educational purposes, either. Unlike states like Nevada that sold the schools sections granted to them by the federal government, Wyoming retained ownership of 83 percent of its original land grant

of more than 4.3 million acres. This, however, meant creating a land commission to oversee the state’s interests.

The assault on laissez-faire continued. With populist aplomb, the conventioneers put “brass collars” on corporate power including that of the state’s biggest employer, the Union Pacific Railroad.

They prohibited children and women from working in coalmines. In order to enforce these regulations, they created the office of mine inspector.

In an era where employers got almost unlimited leeway on a worker’s terms of employment, the conventioneers limited a miner’s AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018

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hours to eight hours. They put the same hourly restrictions on state employees, the first state in the nation to do so. The conventioneers prevented corporate goons from harassing striking workers and did away with limiting the amount of damages an injured worker could collect from an employer.

They underwrote education, making it “as nearly free as possible.”

Here’s what Wyoming’s founding fathers didn’t do: figure out a way to pay for it.

Except for a 20-year window of prosperity, roughly 1900 to 1920, budget sessions in Cheyenne were exercises in scraping by and, above all, getting the federal government to fund services Wyoming citizens wanted but wouldn’t pay for. The writers of the Wyoming constitution killed a suggested per ton tax on coal and, until 1969, legislators subsequently squashed attempts to tax minerals.

Imagine then, the Legislature’s delight when, in 1921, the first Federal Mineral royalty check for $748,455 arrived at the state treasury. The salons used almost all of it for basic services: highways, teacher pay, and the University of Wyoming.

Over the years, Wyoming has received in excess of $25 billion in federal mineral royalties.

When the energy boom of the seventies hit Wyoming, we followed the tried and true formula: little of it went to fund our future; instead we used the money to pay the cost of running government.

Unlike Alaska, this largesse didn’t come in the form of an annual check, but rather a subsidy: funding schools (once a funding prerogative of local school districts), roads, and astonishingly low property taxes. The Wyoming Taxpayers Association revealed that in 2016, a three-person Wyoming family received $32,100 worth of services and paid only $3,050 in taxes.

According to Governing Magazine, Wyoming has the highest percentage of full-time government employees (4660) per thousand residents of any

state in the union. Wyoming also employs the most correction workers per capita and the second highest number of highway workers. We are also first in the nation for relying on the federal government funding for our general education budget, 20.4 percent, and second in the nation for federal monies as a percentage of our highway budget, a whopping 67.3 percent.

With this history, how do we “limit government,” and crow that we’re fiscal conservatives who won’t raise taxes even at gunpoint?

We can start by embracing a realistic history.

“The perceived antigovernment stance of the western states is a staple assumption of western history and political studies,” Amy Bridges, a professor at UC, San Diego.

And its bunkum, concludes Bridges.

“Although delegates were wary of state legislatures, and denied them many powers, at the Gilded Age conventions (this includes Wyoming), delegates affirmed and expanded the prerogatives and authority of state government.

They created new institutions for managing their economies and wrote property law for settlement and growth. They also greatly expanded bills of rights, creating positive rights, which mandated activity by state government.”

The result, said Bridges, was that undoubtedly the sentiment of the country favored “more government, not less, and more elected officials, not fewer.”

By: Samuel Western for 82801 This article, republished with permission, was first published July 31 by The Casper Star Tribune. Samuel Western lives in Sheridan and writes about economic history, among other topics. He manages a Facebook page called New Wyoming Narratives and periodically teaches at the University of Wyoming.

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In Good Graces unting season is upon us. In Wyoming, hunting is an important and cherished thread in the fabric of our identity. Granted most of the land in the west is owned or managed by the federal government, not all of the state or federal land can be hunted, and over 40 percent of Wyoming land is in private ownership. Access remains limited as much of these public lands are surrounded by private lands with no available public access routes, especially in Sheridan, Johnson and Campbell counties.

This, coupled with game animals spending a considerable amount of time on private lands leaves many hunters seeking access, putting the hunter-landowner relationship in the spotlight.

To maintain a healthy game population and thriving hunting community that is an important driver in our state’s economy, it is critical that this relationship stay positive and be based on a mutual respect and understanding of each other.

Almost every hunter has a story about a notso-positive encounter with an unhappy landowner.

Finding themselves being dressed down for the horrible and irresponsible behavior of others who have come before them. The landowner may have a bad taste in their mouth and is incredibly busy and frustrated, and in turn responsible and reliable

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sportsmen are denied the opportunity to prove themselves, leaving them on the other side of a no trespassing sign from the animals they have tags in their pockets for.

RISKS AND REWARDS The benefits of managing wildlife populations and maintaining the balance with their agricultural operations is not lost on the landowner, but do the risks outweigh the rewards?

Most often, the landowner is a farmer or rancher, and their livelihood depends on the land on which you are seeking access. For many, especially in Wyoming, their farm or ranch is their sole source of income. “Close the gate behind you” is a forgotten adage. It’s increasingly difficult for landowners to trust hunters when they’re left to deal with open gates, potential loss of livestock, destroyed fences, thoughtless littering and garbage dumping, noxious weeds, fires, torn-up pastures from off-roading vehicles, vandalism, property damage, and just plain unethical behavior.

To top it off, the fall season is an incredibly busy time for ag producers. It is after all, harvest time. On our operation, we are busy preparing to ship our calves in addition to rushing around

completing a much as possible before winter comes and the opportunity is gone along with the warmth.

The days are shorter, things don’t ever go as planned, and everything seemingly begins to compound. I can hear the clock ticking just thinking about it.

Dealing with an ever-increasing number of hunters calling and showing up at their door step steals precious time and takes them away from all of the important work that needs to be done, and increases their negative feelings in regard to hunting and hunting season.

For hunters without an existing, positive relationship with a private land owner–it may seem the odds are stacked against them. Cooperation and tolerance go a long way, and in the following we’ll look at the steps hunters can take to build and maintain a positive relationship with private landowners.

THE ART OF THE ASK It’s human nature to fear rejection, however if you don’t ask, it isn’t going to happen. The landowner certainly isn’t going to be coming to you. That said, there is an art to “the ask” and some key things to keep in mind, adapted from Jim Braaten’s article “The Ten Commandments for Seeking Landowner Permission” for The Sportsman’s Channel.

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Timing is Everything

Plan ahead. Remember, fall is an incredibly busy time and time is money, so ask early and keep your visit short and to the point. Don’t wait until the last minute.

Fly Solo

Bringing all of your buddies is a bad idea. A large group of strangers showing up at the door is intimidating, even to the ranch wife who is packing.

Choose one or two spokespersons from your group to request permission, but be sure to explain the number of people who will be hunting in your group.

The Importance of a First Impression

You don’t need to show up in a penguin suit by any means, but put yourself together and appear responsible and respectable. You could lose out on the opportunity before you even ask so work on making a positive impression from the moment you arrive and step out of your vehicle.

Put Your Best Face Forward

Smile and maintain eye contact to build trust. If it isn’t your style, practice it because it could go wrong.

Big smiles can appear phony and you can go a little far with the eye contact, resulting in the opposite outcome – making them extremely uncomfortable.

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Anticipate Concerns

Offer to Help

Leave a Business Card

Follow the Rules

You just drove through a pasture filled with happy, healthy livestock. Acknowledge this and assure them that you will not put what they value most in jeopardy. Continue to build their trust and confidence in you by describing the care you intend to take.

This gives piece of mind should they need to contact you, and if it’s your professional business card for your career, it shows them more about you as a person. If you don’t have a business card, you can get some printed for very low cost or even free from various online outlets by performing a quick Google search. Be sure to have your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, as well as your photo and information about the vehicle you’ll be driving while hunting.

Respect Their Decision

If you get a “no,” be gracious. The landowner owes no further explanation. Who knows, they may have second thoughts afterward and if you were gracious with your response (and left that business card), they have a way to get back in touch with you.

By offering to help the landowner for a day or weekend in exchange for the right to hunt, you can really set yourself apart. Activities like planting trees, building or fixing fence, and sawing and splitting firewood can help you build a lasting relationship that benefits both parties.

Learn the landowner’s rules ahead of time and do not break them! Perhaps there are certain areas that are off limits, or certain days or times. Be respectful and remember the rules are there for a reason, even if you don’t know the reason or understand it.

Express Your Gratitude

Show your appreciation when granted permission.

Be the hunter that continues to leave a positive impression that will reopen those same doors next season by stopping by with a basket of goodies, or gift certificate to a local restaurant when the season has wrapped up. Of course, the holidays are another good time to touch base, and send a card once again expressing your gratitude.

ACCESS YES! Another way to access private lands for hunting is through the Wyoming Game and Fish’s Access Yes! Program. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) instituted theis program that compensates landowners for allowing hunters and anglers access to their lands and waters. The program has also had success in increasing access to more private land encircled by public land. Over 30,000 acres of private land has been opened up to hunters. There are three programs within Access YES!, each with their own rules and regulations.

HUNTER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Hunter Management Areas (HMAs) are only open for hunting of specific species during specific times of year. The property entered into the program can be a mix of federal lands, and state trusts that lie within the boundaries of privately held land.

You must apply for access and if approved, receive a printed permission slip from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for that specific area. You may find the application on the program’s website wgfd.wyo.gov/Public-Access/ Access-Yes.

WALK-IN AREA HUNTING PROGRAM Walk-in Areas (WIAs) are certain private lands where the landowner has an agreement with WGFD to allow hunting. All private land enrolled in this program have signs marking the boundaries, and are accessible almost exclusively by foot only. As long as a hunter is hunting approved species during approved access times, explicit permission from the landowner to hunt is not required. You can find maps of Wyoming’s WIA locations on the program’s website.

HUNTER/LANDOWNER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM To gain access to these properties, hunters must contact the owner directly. The Hunter/ Landowner Assistance program is for landowners who aren’t interested in participating in the other

programs, but are open to allowing a limited number of hunters on their property to assist with wildlife population control. Landowners may still charge a fee, as well as have additional rules to follow. You can find landowners enrolled on the program’s website.

THE POWER OF ONE DOLLAR It’s critical to note that a large part of funding for Access Yes! comes directly from donations when licenses are purchased. The funds from donations are only used to ensure more access for all hunters, and do pay for other state expenses.

The program is successful, but there are currently more landowners interested in enrolling than there are funds to compensate them. Hunters have the power to change this! Wyoming Game and Fish notes that if just one dollar is donated on every license applied for, the program’s budget would double – so each dollar that is donated ends up opening an additional 3.5 acres for public access.

KEEPING LANDOWNERS IN THE PROGRAM Despite the relative success of the Access Yes! program, Wyoming Game and Fish receive complaints every fall from landowners enrolled.

Landowners have been known to leave the program because of inconsiderate hunters. To keep in their good graces, know the do’s and the don’ts of their property, clean up, and most of all, be courteous!

KEEPING A TRADITION ALIVE - TOGETHER Together, hunters and landowners share common ground in their interest in Wyoming’s land and wildlife, dependence on a healthy, and sustainable landscape, and the challenges they face when working or hunting the natural landscape. A relationship built on appreciation for different views, common understanding and mutual respect is key in keeping this important thread in the fabric of our identity strong for generations to come.

By: Candice E. Schlautmann for 82801 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018

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John Kosel of the High Country Cowboys

The Mandolin’s Message:

An Evening at The Big Horn Mountain Festival “I should have traded in my flip-flops for a pair of boots” y introduction to the Big Horn Mountain Festival was a series of songs by kids who, during the week, were “a lot of kids who don’t play any music.”

At least, that’s what Tessa Taylor told me.

She had spent most of the week with them, training them for this moment.

And, she was right; before this week and even,

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to some extent, during it, they didn’t play music.

But, somehow, they did now.

As a group of 40, they sang on stage about trading in their flip-flops for boots.

Elise Surrell, a camp participant, had never picked up an instrument before that week. By the time I spoke to her that day, she had already played the bass in front of scores of strangers.

“It was fun,” Elise said. “I made some new

friends and I met a lot of new people.”

When asked whether she would play these instruments again or join a band with her friends, Elise nodded in affirmation.

It may be too soon to tell how far Elise’s stageperforming, professional music career will go. But that sits fine with the organizers of the Big Horn Mountain Festival and its corresponding BigHorn Bluegrass Camp. For many in attendance at the

festival, music is less about the notes and more about the neighbors, less about the melody and more about the meaning.

“Michelle Shocked once pointed out that music is too important to leave to professionals,” event organizer Bill Bradshaw said.

For this reason alone, the Big Horn Mountain Festival has a “band scramble” event where professionals and amateurs alike play in a string-fed, mountain harmony.

And no one is saying that today’s amateurs won’t be tomorrow’s stars. Morgan Blaney, of all people, knows that.

Blaney, who teaches at the camp, had never touched a stringed instrument before her first camp experience seven years ago. Now, along with bandmates Holly Qualm and Sage Palser, Blaney plays at paid gigs across the state.

Qualm, who only played classical guitar before her camp experience, recalled the events leading up to the group’s role as a professional bluegrass band.

“We knew each other at camp and we went to camp the summer before we formed, and we love each other and played with each other,” Qualm said.

It took some time after their camp experience for the trio to form the band. The band was ultimately formed by the music teacher the three had in common, Lynn Young.

“He put us together for the Stars of Tomorrow Talent Show in February 2016, and we had our next big gig the week after that,” Qualm said.

A girl strums an instrument at the Big Horn Mountain Festival

“Cowboy, great American Cowboy” Other groups that performed at the festival had been playing music together since childhood.

The Kosel brothers grew up in a musical household and formed their western band, the High-Country Cowboys, in 2003. But they didn’t play in public until over ten years later, when their sister scheduled them to play at a Christmas party.

“Our sister, she’s manager at the local community center, needed Christmas entertainment one Christmas time and she put us on schedule to sing without asking us… so we did it and the folks there really liked it,” John Kosel said.

The High-Country Cowboys didn’t place high expectations on their impromptu yuletide concert. They played their music and left, doubting AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018

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they would make an impression on the crowd.

“We are very reserved, naturally,” Kosel said.

“I mean, we grew up very reserved, and we played music. We didn’t talk on the microphone, and folks could see that we were really tense and reserved.

Nobody talked, you know; we played and then we left, and we were kind of surprised when they asked us back.”

The brothers knew they were talented musicians, but they worried for several years over their stage presence.

“When we first started playing, we didn’t have a thing to say,” Kosel said. “There wasn’t anything about what we did that was impressive other than the fact that we played music.”

After a year of playing in Red Lodge, one of their fans finally brought it up.

“Eventually—it probably took about a year— before somebody finally came up and said, ‘You guys need to start talking,’” Kosel said. “So, since then we’ve been working on it.”

A lot has happened since that moment. The High-Country Cowboys now have several awards under their belts, including the Western Music Association’s “Best Traditional Album of the Year” for 2017.

“When you get a few miles behind you, you start to feel more comfortable in the atmosphere, and you also have more to say,” Kosel said.

“Hey boys, I think I’m gettin’ old” One artist at the Big Horn Mountain Festival has worked on his act for 50 years. Bryan Bowers discovered the autoharp at a jug band party when he was in his twenties. His friend put the instrument in his hands, and Bowers hasn’t dropped it since.

“He played an autoharp,” Bowers said of his friend. “He played with his thumb and his little finger. Little brush strokes. He had hard, calcareous finger nails, no fingerpicks like I wear, and he played Shady Grove. And I was like ‘that’s in tune, and that’s pretty! Golly!’”

Next, it was Bowers’ turn.

“I closed my eyes,” Bowers said. “He said, ‘push down on that chord and let me have your right hand.’ He took my right hand and strummed it across. I went and bought one the next day. That was 50 years ago.”

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Bowers loved playing the autoharp, but the passion transformed into something far greater than Bowers ever imagined.

“I never dreamed it would become my life’s work,” Bowers said. “It was just something I was interested in.”

During his early days, Bowers spent some time on the road with the Dillards. They were a seasoned bluegrass band, and time with them helped Bowers learn both the ropes of show business and the strings of his harp.

“They were really, really, really good musicians and writers and performers, and I learned a lot,” Bowers said. “I learned a lot about performing.

I learned a lot about the road life. I learned a lot about what it takes to turn in a good show. I learned what it meant to schedule your whole day around the performance.”

There’s more to putting on a show than tuning your instruments and memorizing the notes, Bowers said.

“You’ve got to be clean,” Bowers said. “You’ve got to be rested. You’ve got to have cleaned your instruments. You’ve got to have thought about what you’re doing. You can’t overeat just before the show or you’ll be belching at people…. There’s a lot of dos and don’ts to turn in a show. I don’t get to work for 50 years because I’m sloppy. I didn’t get into the autoharp hall of fame because I’m sloppy.

I tune those harps three times each before I walk on the stage.”

If an artist does these things, it helps them

put on a good show. If they put on a good show, it’s easier for them to connect with people. And, at the end of the night, it’s easy to see if you’ve done your job.

“If your CD sales are soft night after night, don’t whine about the economy; don’t whine about the ‘stupid audience,’” Bowers said. “Go look in the mirror. It’s you. If your show is good—if you’re reaching people, if you touch people—they’re coming back.”

“Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees; nobody knows but me” Sometime after Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen took the stage, I slipped away to the campground.

As I neared the humble one-man tent I had thrown together earlier that day, I could hear the strings of a guitar sounding from the next campsite over. I glanced over to see several of my neighbors huddled around a lantern, the LED glow giving just enough light to form outlines and color patches of skin.

“Mind if I join?” I asked.

“Sure, buddy,” one them replied.

I had met two of the tenants earlier that day.

They were a group of college students from West Virginia who called themselves bluegrass purists. It wasn’t that they didn’t enjoy hearing the other stuff, they noted… but they had each dedicated several months, even years, to studying music played by the

Bryan Bowers plays his autoharp, continuing his 50-year passion for the instrument

likes of the Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe.

One of the students, Nick Blake, invited me to take a seat.

“Want us to play something for you?” he asked, This was the moment I had been waiting for since hearing about the festival: a moment matching the sound quality of a staged event, but carrying all the intimacy of a family campfire. I couldn’t refuse.

I brought out my camera as they readied their ensemble.

“It hovers in G for a while and then goes ‘D,’” guitarist Josh Pitcock said as he prepared the group for a Buck Owens classic.

Then, it began—a collective, euphonic strumming, a sound as beautiful as cool Appalachian rain on a late summer night.

“Roll in my sweet baby’s arms, roll in my sweet baby’s arms! I’m gonna lay around the shack till the mail train comes back, then I’ll roll in my sweet baby’s arms!”

For a few moments, I went back east. Back home.

While I listened to their music, Bryan Darby fixed me a SPAM sandwich, or, as he called it, “West Virginia Cuisine.” Bryan doesn’t play an instrument, but the Glenville State College kids would argue that he is just as important to the band as they are.

Bryan, Nick, and I talked about the relationship between country and bluegrass as the slices of meat sizzled in the pan. Today’s country has lost a lot of its meaning, they said.

"Everybody today thinks country music is about pickup trucks and drinking beer,” Nick said. “Originally, country music wasn't about that.

Traditional country music was about life... about hard times."

A young woman slid in next to us. At first, I mistook her for one of the college students. As she started talking, I realized I was wrong. All of the students were passionate about bluegrass and knowledgeable of its history, but she took these qualities a step further.

She introduced herself as Dr. Megan Darby, the head of Glenville State College’s Bluegrass Program. All of the students at the campsite were her students. Some were pursuing a bluegrass major, some were just taking a class, but all of them received instruction from her.

Glenville’s program focuses on traditional bluegrass, taking students back to the music’s

Appalachian roots.

“If nothing else, that’s what we try to get our stamp on,” Megan said.

Megan explained the origin of bluegrass, its relation to old country music, and some of the genre’s tropes.

Some of the tropes are overused today, she said. How can a person sing about dependence on hard liquor or dirt-floored shacks if they’ve never been around poverty? If someone is singing about hard times, but has never been through them, they’re not going to be able to connect to their audience on an emotional level.

However, other aspects of bluegrass have remained just as true as they always have been.

Community has always been a core component of the genre, stemming back to when people gathered around radios for entertainment, and even before that, when banjos could be heard from the front porch. Megan directed my attention to an older gentleman who was playing alongside the Glenville students.

“This guy here, they don’t know him,” Megan said. “But if he knows the song, he’s going to jump in.”

Eventually, Megan joined in as well.

“You have a pretty voice,” Megan said to the gentleman. “I’ll bet you know ‘The Long Black Veil.’”

The man confirmed that he knew the song.

“Would you sing it for us?” Megan asked.

The man agreed, and the group joined in, producing a song just as gothic as any novel Faulkner’s ever written.

“I knew you would know that one,” Megan told he man. “I could tell by your voice.”

“And home is home.

Home is, home is home.”

I walked the campground with Megan and the crew, joining in the various music circles we came across. At about 2:30, I wandered off to bed, exchanging a brief but heartfelt goodbye to my West Virginia friends.

I heard them pack in the morning. I considered saying goodbye to them then, but I’m not great at first goodbyes, much less second ones. I knew I would be in touch with them sooner or later.

Once I got home, I pulled out my phone to listen to a song. Sometime during Friday’s chaos, in

Holly Qualm of Prairie Wildfire plays inside one of the fairground buildings

some intermission or another, I was able to shazam a song that blared across the speakers. I knew very little about its lyrics, but it had a fairly catchy tune, so I decided to give the song a try. Within a few moments, my phone began playing “My Sweet Midwest” by the Fruit Bats.

“My baby and I, we live out west… where the air is so clean it'll burn a hole in your chest.”

As I took in the lyrics, the song became much more than a catchy tune. It was a shared experience.

It was the feeling lingering in every person who has ever lived thousands of miles from home. I’ve never lived in the Midwest, but by the second chorus, the song already had my heart.

“The road is the road-- takes you where you wanna go. And home is home. Home is, home is home.”

Home is home.

And music is music.

Powerful melodies, beautiful voices… They’re just a part of it. At its deepest level, music does something as basic as pictures and writing: it shares something. And when you share something, sometimes the final form of what you share isn’t anywhere near important as who you share it with.

For more information about the Big Horn Mountain Festival, visit bighornmountainfestival.com.

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018

By: T.J. Parks for 82801

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