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Montana Ranchers Affected by Historic Flooding

by Ruth Wiechmann sand and round bales.

Near Roscoe, MT, Austin Frank After experiencing significant drought watched his neighbor’s house come just 12 months ago, southwestern Mondown the East Rosebud River, redirecting tana was devastated by historic flooding the rising water toward his house, corrals June 12-13. and barns. “It was amazing,” Loyning said. “There

Crystal Anderson was working horses are so many emotions. It was devastatat her cousin’s barn when a neighbor ing and incredibly sad for all the people walked in, requesting help to get another who lost homes. We are facing some neighbor’s cattle out of the path of the significant costs to replace fences, our rising Yellowstone River. headgates, likely losing an irrigation

Denise Loyning watched in awe as season. Yet it was truly amazing to see the Stillwater River filled her ‘nursery what the river did in such a short time.” pasture,’ floating a calf shed off its moor- Montana’s governor Greg Gianforte ings, pushing past irrigation head gates, has requested a presidential disaster decand filling irrigation channels with rock, laration and assistance for those affected Eight of the region's premier seedstock producers invite you to attend the All Breeds Cattle Tour. There is no cost to attend! Pre-registration is not required but is appreciated. Pre-register by calling (701) 223-2522 to be entered into a drawing for $250 cash. For hotel reservations, call the Americlnn in Valley City at (701) 845-5551 and ask for the All Breeds Cattle Tour rate. by this flood, which experts consider at least a once in 500 year event. Ryan Newman, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation Area Manager, described the conditions that developed to bring the deluge down the rivers. “We had a near average winter,” he said. “We did not have a record snowpack. But we had a very cool, even cold spring, so we never saw much runoff materialize. The snowpack stayed on the mountains. Spring moisture events brought welcome rains to ease the drought from last year, but also brought more snow to the higher elevations. We normally see some runoff earlier but we lost that spring transition because of the cooler than normal weather.” Then, as the snow started to ‘ripen,’ melting, condensing and becoming slushy, temperatures warmed quickly and a heavy rain sent the vast majority of the snow all off the mountain at once. “Rain on ripe snow is something we always worry about,” Newman said. “This is definitely a record breaking high flow event. People build based on where the river is at the time, not on where it might be. We are definitely looking at significant numbers in regard to damage: houses, infrastructure, roads, bridges. The larger communities that were affected, such as Red Lodge and Bridger, and of course Yellowstone Park, got a lot more attention than some of the rural areas and smaller

Carl Loyning of L Bar W showing an area of lost hay ground. communities. Many farmers and ranchers were severely hit but you don’t hear about the individuals on national news.” Newman said the Bureau of Reclamation made an effort to capture as much water as possible in several dams to help L Bar W headgate before the flood and after the flood. reduce the impact of the flood farther downstream yet they saw high water all the way to Sidney on the Yellowstone River. “We were able to manage dams and reservoirs to capture a lot of water in the Buffalo Bill dam above Cody, Wyoming, as well as the Yellowtail Dam and the Fort Smith reservoir,” Newman said. “But there has been a big impact on a lot of farmers and ranchers. The Yellowstone River, Clark’s Fork, the Stillwater: every stream off the north basin of the Beartooth and Absarokee ranges flooded. There is a lot that is not making the headlines.” The East Rosebud River used to make an S-curve through Austin Frank’s ranch. But on June 12, it carved a new channel, (continued on page 14)

Start calving March 1, 2023 Ultrasound preg checked: can sort into short calving intervals.

Please call for more information: Don and Jean Home: 402-626-7994 • Don: 402-336-7194 Matthew and Kristen Matt: 402-336-8182 Kevin and Sherry Kevin: 402-340-6189