2
Hi-Line
June 2014
FARM & RANCH
www.havredailynews.com
June 23-25 Pam Burke community@havredailynews.com No rt h-c ent ra l Mon ta na you ths a nd adults, from 4 years old to 94, have one more chance June 23-25 to take advantage of a premiere rangelands educat i o n o p p o r t u n i t y w h i c h m ay n eve r return to their backyard during their lifetime. Montana Range Days is a traveling educational event, held in different conservation districts around the state for the past 38 years. Range Days stays in an area for two years in a row before moving on to the next conservation district that applies for and is granted the hosting privileges, said Hill County Conservation District Administrator Jennifer Kenck, the organizer of this year’s event in Havre. Range Days offers courses and activities covering plant and weed identification, plant anatomy, range sites and soils, range plant inventory and monitoring, stocking rate and utilization, and range planning. Havre Daily News/File photos Participants in the 2013 Montana Range Days, held in the badlands northwest of Havre, learn about plant identification.
15
Hi-Line
June 2014
features of an extensive array of plants, said Kenck. “There is a fellow by the name of Jack Norris out of Browning that has put together plant pressings for decades,” she said. “I don’t know if he’s going to make it this year, but he always has his plant collection there. It’s one of the best anyone has ever seen.” Many of the instructors will be on hand registration day to work with people at the practice site. Also that first day any participants from 4-19 who wish to do so can give an illustrated talk on any range-related topic. All ages compete in the same category, Kenck said, adding that “you’d be amazed at some of the topics.” Other competitions, both individual and team, include plant and weed collections and range displays, on-site plant anatomy and identification testing and range management testing. Many of the youth participants are FFA and 4-H members who use this opportunity to advance their learning and presentation skills, she said, as well as to advance to national competitions. Adults attending Range Days can choose to participate in as many of the workshops and in testing as they wish. They and any family members or chaperons traveling to the event can go on guided tours of Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump, Havre Beneath the Streets, Blaine County Museum and Bear Paw Battlefield. For the Blaine County tours, North Central Montana Transit will provide a bus and local teacher and historian Jim Magera will give historical presentations on the way to and at the museum and historical site. Registration is Monday, June 23, from noon to 6 p.m. at Camp Kiwanis about 25 miles south of Havre. Starting at 1 p.m.
FARM & RANCH participants can work through the practice site or tour dalmation toadflax bio-control plots and that evening is the time for illustrated presentations. Tuesday, June 24, will have day-long instruction and the Blaine County tours. Evening entertainment includes a beef banquet and a dance. Wednesday, June 25, activities will include the testing, a youth educational program for those kids not testing and the Havre museum tours, followed by lunch and an awards ceremony. “They’re getting good information and the enrollment price is really good,” Kenck said. “I don’t know of another program out there that kids only have to pay — kids and adults — $50 per person to come for three days, have really good food, meet other people that do the same thing and take in as much information as they can absorb for those three days.” Deadline for the early registration discount is past, so the price, which includes all educational materials, three meals Tuesday and two meals Wednesday, is $55 for individuals and $110 for families. “I would just really encourage everyone to come. I know that falls right into trying to finish up the last push of field work and everything that goes with living in northern Montana, but I don’t know if this will ever come back to the area again,” she added. “I would encourage everyone to come and do it while it’s here and learn from these amazing resources that we are being blessed to bring for these three days.” For more information, contact Jennifer Kenck at the Hill County Conservation District at 406-265-6792, ext. 101 or by email Jennifer.kenck@mt.nacdnet.net or go online to www.montanarangedays.org, and click the Montana Range Days link.
www.havredailynews.com