Explore Big Sky - October 30th to November 12th, 2025
October 30 - November 12, 2025 Volume 16 // Issue 22
Owned and published in Big Sky, Montana
PUBLISHER
Eric Ladd | eric@theoutlawpartners.com
EDITORIAL
VP MEDIA
Mira Brody | mira@theoutlawpartners.com
SENIOR EDITOR
Jack Reaney | jack@theoutlawpartners.com
STAFF WRITER
Jen Clancey | jen@theoutlawpartners.com
LOCAL JOURNALIST
Leslie Kilgore | leslie@theoutlawpartners.com
DIGITAL MEDIA LEAD
Fischer Genau | fischer@theoutlawpartners.com
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
Carli Johnson | carli@theoutlawpartners.com
CREATIVE
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Radley Robertson | radley@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.owens@theoutlawpartners.com
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT
Sara Sipe | sara@theoutlawpartners.com
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LEAD
Patrick Mahoney | patrick@theoutlawpartners.com
ACCOUNT COORDINATOR
Ellie Boeschenstein | ellie@theoutlawpartners.com
Micah Berman, Max Scheder-Bieschin, Ali Chipouras, Matt Dodd, Neilsen Greiner, Rachel Hergett, Jen O’Connor, Benjamin Alva Polley, Sophie Tsairis CONTRIBUTORS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BIG SKY LEGENDS: HARRY AND PEGGY RING
BRIEFS LOCAL SPORTS A&E ENVIRONMENT
Lone Peak senior Avery Graham (above) and eighth-grader Nikky Kamieniarz in “The Addams Family” on Oct. 26, portraying Wednesday Addams and Pugsley Addams, respectively. PHOTO BY CARLI JOHNSON
EDITORIAL POLICY
Outlaw Partners, LLC is the sole owner of Explore Big Sky. EBS reserves the right to edit all submitted material. Printed material reflects the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of Outlaw Partners or its editors. EBS will not publish anything discriminatory or in bad taste.
EBS welcomes obituaries written by family members or from funeral homes. To place an obituary, please submit 500 words or less to media@theoutlawpartners.com.
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When Big Sky royalty Harry and Peggy Ring passed away within weeks of each other in August and September, respectively, the community offered an outpouring of support for two of the Big Sky’s longest-standing leaders. EBS spoke with close friends to learn how the Rings contributed to Big Sky culture over the years.
RESORT TAX GRANTS $6.3M TO NONPROFITS
As part of the annual nonprofit grant allocation cycle, the Big Sky Resort Area District hosted a pair of meetings to dish out millions in nonprofit grants across seven categories: arts and culture, conservation, economic development, education and child care, health and safety, housing, and recreation. All 26 eligible projects were funded, mostly at the full request amounts.
HISTORIC RUN FOR BIG HORN GIRLS SOCCER
16
The Lone Peak girls soccer team made history this season, not only reaching the playoffs for the first time but winning in the quarterfinal round to earn a semifinal berth. The team fell in the semifinal game, but they have much to be proud of.
LPHS STUDENTS PERFORM ‘THE ADDAMS FAMILY’
On Sunday, Oct. 26, Lone Peak High School presented two showings of “The Addams Family” as part of the annual Haunted Peaks Halloween Festival and the school’s fall semester production.
BUCK’S TO REOPEN UNDER NEW MGMT.
Buck’s Roadhouse, formerly Buck’s T-4 until its closure in September 2023, finally has a concrete plan to reopen, as owner Lone Mountain Land Company has found the “perfect partner” it was looking for.
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 November 13th issue: November 7th , 2025
On Oct. 18, thousands of protesters lined Main Street in downtown Bozeman, marching and chanting in opposition to the current federal administration. PHOTO BY CARLI JOHNSON
BRIEFS
NEWS IN BRIEF
BLACKFEET TRIBAL COUNCIL HARVEST BISON, ELK FOLLOWING THREAT TO CRITICAL FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
EBS STAFF
On Oct. 24, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council—which serves the Blackfeet Nation in northwest Montana, and over 17,000 members— announced that they have authorized the culling of 18 bison from the Blackfeet Nation herd to address “economic challenges stemming from the ongoing federal government shutdown and potential reductions in food-assistance funding,” a news release specified. Processed meat from the bison will be distributed to community members.
The measure was described as “proactive” and part of a larger effort to safeguard essential food distribution programs, such as SNAP, relied upon by community members. Additionally, the Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife Department and the Blackfeet Commodity Office have organized an elk harvest, which will provide elk meat to community members in the coming weeks.
MONTANA HIGHWAY PATROL EXECUTES MASSIVE DRUG RAID IN BUTTE
EBS STAFF
Thirty-four individuals were arrested in Butte between Oct. 7 and 14 as part of a multi-agency operation led by Montana Highway Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol and Air National Guard Counterdrug unit.
Troopers and officials seized nearly 25 grams of fentanyl powder, 11 pounds of methamphetamine, 260 pounds of marijuana, and over $75,000 of “illicit money” according to an Oct. 16 MHP press release.
“Montana is no place for illegal activity,” Colonel Kurt Sager, head of MHP, stated in the release. “I am proud of the work that our troopers do day in and day out to get drugs and criminals off our streets to keep our communities safe. We couldn’t do it without the help of our partner agencies.”
The release added that in mid-October, MHP’s Strategic Enforcement Traffic Team cracked down on drunk and drug-impaired driving in Missoula. The team conducted 260 traffic stops, making an additional seven arrests and issuing 63 speeding tickets, and 26 seatbelt tickets.
PUBLIC COMMENT OPEN FOR DRAFT ROAD SAFETY REPORTS
EBS STAFF
In June, the Gallatin County Commission adopted the Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan, designed to improve transportation safety for everyone on roads. The plan identifies run-off-the-road crashes, intersection crashes, high-risk behaviors and driver age as focus areas, and presents ways to reduce serious and fatal crashes.
Now through Nov. 15, Gallatin County residents can comment on draft reports about five high-risk locations and priorities. Those five include high-risk curves and run-off-the-road crashes, non-motorist safety, the Love Lane and East Valley Center Road intersection, Baxter Lane safety and adjustments to Gooch Hill Road.
Residents can submit feedback through the plan’s website, via email at srandall@rpa-eng.com, by phone at 406-447-5005 or by mail at 3147 Saddle Drive, Helena, MT 59601.
MONTANA
FWP RESPONDS TO REPORT OF COYOTE-DOG ATTACK IN BIG SKY
EBS STAFF
On Wednesday night, Oct. 22, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks received a call from a Big Sky homeowner who reported their dog was attacked by two coyotes when they let the dog out at night. The homeowner described the animals as two “large” coyotes when reported to FWP.
The agency hasn’t confirmed what animals were involved. Following the report, FWP followed up with the homeowner and visited the scene of the incident northwest of Big Sky Town Center. Morgan Jacobsen, information and education manager with FWP, noted that wildlife activity is higher in early morning and late evening hours and advised residents to stay aware of their surroundings.
He also said that to avoid negative interactions with wildlife, residents can keep pets close by, make noise, and manage attractants such as food and trash.
FWP said the dog was badly injured in the incident, but there are no further updates about the dog’s condition as of the afternoon of Oct. 24.
LOCAL
LOCAL LEGENDS: HARRY AND PEGGY RING’S ENDURING LEGACY IN BIG SKY
FIVE-DECADE RESIDENTS’ FRIENDLINESS, ADVENTURE AND PIONEERING SPIRIT
PAIRED WITH A GENEROUS CONSERVATION EASEMENT WITH GVLT
BY CARLI JOHNSON
BIG SKY—The year is 1976. Big Sky Resort opened just three years prior and the community that would one day bustle with shops, skiers and thousands of visitors was still a fantasy. Harry and Peggy Ring, college sweethearts fresh out of Montana State University, moved from Bozeman to Big Sky in search of excellent skiing and found an even better community.
For the next five decades, that’s exactly what they built.
In the wake of their recent passing, friends and neighbors thoughtfully reflected on the everlasting mark the Rings left on the community.
When the Rings first arrived in Big Sky, there was no Lone Peak Tram, no Town Center and a very limited Meadow Village to gather in, but there was lots of room for opportunity. Young and energized, they both opened some of the first businesses at the base of the resort.
A Norwegian-born, Oregon-raised Nordic skier, Harry came to MSU on an athletic scholarship. He opened and operated Lone Mountain Sports, a ski rental and retail business at the resort’s base now owned by Christy Sports.
Peggy, who earned her teaching degree from MSU, set up Plum Logo at the base area Mountain Mall, selling T-shirts and local souvenirs.
“They were some of the pioneers in the area,” said Mark Gale, longtime caretaker and family friend, reminiscing on their successful business ventures and community involvement.
Spirit for adventure
In those early days, Big Sky was tight-knit and full of promise. Friends recall Harry ski racing intramurally and Peggy tackling the Big Couloir when the only way up was on foot.
Gale fondly remembers them sharing the story of one of the first descents down what skiers now call the Big Couloir—a feat memorialized on a wooden plaque that Peggy kept up in her shop. Gale recalls a group of Peggy’s friends and their dogs hiking up Lone Mountain, pausing at the edge of the steep
chute, deliberating their line and maybe their sanity, when one of the dogs, Schmidty, fearlessly took off down the couloir.
“To this day,” Gale said, chuckling, “I don’t let my kids call it anything other than Schmidty’s Couloir.”
Even in retirement, the Rings rarely sat still. They split their time between Big Sky and Florida, hiring Gale in 1995 to help care for their horses and home in the Beaver Creek neighborhood when they traveled in the shoulder seasons.
Harry and Peggy Ring on one of their many horseback rides. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHYLLIS JOHNSON
Harry and Peggy Ring pose with their horses. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHYLLIS JOHNSON
“They were both so active,” Gale said with a laugh. “Made me feel bad sometimes. Peggy would already be up in the barn working before I even woke up.” Eventually having moved into their guest house to be closer to help.
Each summer, Harry headed north to Alaska, where he worked as a commercial fisherman. At the turn of the season he’d head back to Big Sky, then south to Florida with Peggy to visit family before their return for the ski season.
Back in Big Sky, Peggy became a leader in the local horseback riding community. She organized weekly trail rides that grew into a beloved tradition among friends and neighbors.
“Everyone wanted to ride with Peggy,” close friend and fellow horseback rider Phyllis Johnson told EBS. “She knew the trails, she was passionate about the wildlife and she knew where the flowers were blooming.”
The riding group, affectionately dubbed “The Goatheads,” formed more than 25 years ago and included people from all walks of life.
“We had a New Yorker friend who’d always say, ‘Go ahead, go ahead,’” Johnson said with a laugh. “Pretty soon, it became ‘Goathead,’ and that’s what we called ourselves.”
The Goatheads explored Big Sky’s rugged backcountry, often bushwhacking and laughing their way through serious terrain. “If Harry ever got nervous, I panicked,” Johnson said. “Because Harry didn’t get nervous. But it was always fun.”
Johnson added that the group would not have been possible without the Rings. “They put together a very eclectic group of people—from their college friends to us in Mississippi to friends from California and Boston—all of these people came to be really close friends because of Harry and Peggy.”
One of Peggy’s favorite places to ride was the Taylor Fork area, a wild and scenic stretch of forest near Big Sky. She also loved to cross-country ski on their property, gliding through the same quiet hills that would later become part of their lasting legacy. Harry and Peggy’s generosity extended far beyond friendship. In one of their final acts of giving, the Rings allotted 200 acres of their property into a conservation easement with the Gallatin Valley
Land Trust, ensuring that the open spaces and wildlife habitat they loved would remain protected for generations to come.
“They were so committed to doing something to preserve their property and the wildlife that surrounds Big Sky,” said Brendan Weiner, Conservation Director at GVLT. “It was amazing working with them.”
Just south of their home on the donated property lies a peaceful aspen grove, where a memorial headstone will honor their lives.
Lasting spirit
For those who knew them, Harry and Peggy were more than neighbors or mentors, they were family.
“They embraced life and opportunity with great enthusiasm,” Johnson said. “They filled each day
with purpose and loved life in every form, whether it was the ocean or the mountains. They didn’t see challenges as obstacles but as opportunities.”
Harry, with his get-after-it nature and Peggy, with her steady kindness and teacher’s heart, inspired everyone around them. They were loyal, curious and endlessly inclusive.
“It’s hard to put it into words, everyone wanted to be in their orbit because their energy for life was just contagious,” Johnson said.
A celebration of life will be held in July 2026 with more details to come.
In many ways, Harry and Peggy’s story mirrors that of Big Sky itself, rooted in adventure, shaped by resilience and sustained by community. Their mark remains in the shops they built, the trails they loved, and the lives they touched.
Harry and Peggy enjoy each other’s company with their dogs in their favorite place. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHYLLIS JOHNSON
Peggy enjoying the rugged backcountry of Big Sky. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHYLLIS JOHNSON
Peggy joyfully crosses a stream. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHYLLIS JOHNSON
BSOA, KERNS CUT RIBBON ON HUNTLEYKERN POND
LEAD DONORS KRISTIN AND KELLY KERN REFLECT ON NEW COMMUNITY ASSET
BY JACK REANEY
BIG SKY—On Wednesday evening, Oct. 15, the Big Sky Owners Association held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the HuntleyKern Pond. Years in the making, the project offers community beautification, recreation and environmental benefits.
The pond will be open to the public from May 15 to Oct. 15, meaning Wednesday’s ribbon cutting took place on a symbolic closing evening. MidOctober weather joined in the celebration: a firm and cold rain shower followed by a dramatic breakthrough of sunlight. Attendees huddled under a small tent for a few brief toasts, and enjoyed a stroll around the new community pond.
“I couldn’t be happier,” said Kristin Kern, a lead donor and niece of Big Sky trailblazer Chet Huntley, whom she elected to name the pond after alongside her late husband Frank Kern.
BSOA board members Clay Lorinsky and Stacie Ossorio approached Kern in 2024, offering naming rights in exchange for her “significant” financial contribution that helped BSOA finish the pond’s primary phases.
“I was honored to be asked, and Kelly and I just thought it was so exciting that we could incorporate two wonderful men from our family that we’d like to pass on a little bit of their legacy,” she told EBS.
Kristin’s daughter, Kelly Kern, acknowledged how many people have worked to make the project possible, and how rewarding it feels to have a personal connection at the end of it.
“Very exciting, and it truly feels like such an honor to be a part of it,” Kelly told EBS.
Kelly said the project honors her father, Frank, by creating a sense of permanence to recognize his love for the Big Sky community, and the way he nurtured it during his time.
“It is really special to have my dad’s name is on it, because I think my dad loved Big Sky so much… and he absolutely loved the story of Big Sky, and that Chet Huntley lived such a big life, and was such a visionary. [Frank] had so much respect for that.”
BSOA Executive Director Holly Coltea said the project represents the love and care that locals bring to their lives and to the Big Sky community.
“Everyone genuinely cares, and they have just loved doing this as a team. I feel like people in Big Sky are the A-team… To be able to come together as a team and execute this vision, that truly was the founder of Big Sky’s vision … is just beyond gratifying, and so special. It just reaffirms to me, the specialness of Big Sky and how unique it is,” Coltea told EBS after the ribbon cutting.
BSOA is still fundraising as the planned beautification and recreation assets continue to evolve.
“We did a big, big lift to get it to where it is right now,” Coltea said.
In the short term, the pond will feature benches, picnic tables and Adirondack chairs. Users can bring their own paddleboards or kayaks, or use the beach space to gather with friends.
While the status of the pond for swimming was
unclear this summer, Coltea encouraged the public to jump in when the pond opens on May 15, 2026.
“We will be doing regular water testing… It will be open and ready to recreate next summer,” Coltea said.
Depending on fundraising, BSOA hopes to eventually construct a second beach and a pavilion—possibly with an observation deck.
“But all that takes money, and right now we are still in the visioning stage,” Coltea said. “If there is anyone out there who continues to want to have a mark on this pond, we will of course be offering named donation spots for those people.”
Community members can email holly@bigskyoa. org for more information.
Having taken a big swing at the project herself, Kristin encouraged the public to consider donating. Kelly said she’s excited to bring out her paddle board, and recently learned from some “Moosers,”—coworkers at the Hungry Moose Market and Deli—that the pond is perfect for small-scale sailboats. Kern is a manager and coowner of the Hungry Moose with Kristin.
“And I’m really excited to come over here after the Mooseketeers win their softball games,” Kern said, referencing the Big Sky Community Park right across the street.
Under shelter from cold October rain, photographer Jen O’Connor gifted the Kerns a commemorative print of the pond. Kristin found it exciting and heartwarming for the community to gather around a substantially completed project, and emphasized the importance of public gathering spaces on the north side of Montana Highway 64 (Lone Mountain Trail), which Kern pointed out is the original part of Big Sky.
“We’ve got a water feature now, and the other side of town doesn’t,” she told EBS. “… I’m just so glad to have this over here.”
Kristin (right) and Kelly Kern cut the ribbon on the Huntley-Kern Pond. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
and gifted to the Kerns, BSOA will sell this portrait to raise money for the project. PHOTO BY JEN O’CONNOR
RESORT TAX ALLOCATION SESSION SPARKS CHILD CARE SUBSIDY DISCUSSION
BOARD FUNDS ALL PROJECTS; FUNDING FOR GROW WILD’S FORESTRY PROJECT WILL REQUIRE $50K MATCH FROM COMMUNITY
BY JACK REANEY
BIG SKY—On Tuesday, Oct. 21, the annual convention of the Big Sky Resort Area District board to discuss nonprofit grant allocations proceeded smoothly, as all eligible applicants received awards and most projects were funded in full, tentatively—awards were all confirmed on Thursday, Oct. 23.
However, questions of how Resort Tax should fund child care sparked an in-depth discussion between the board and Mariel Butan, executive director of Morningstar Learning Center.
Ultimately, the board voted unanimously in favor of funding $850,000 to MLC, more than 94% of the provider’s $900,000 request to fund 16 months of early childhood education and tuition assistance. BSRAD moved its annual grant allocations from the typical June date to October to improve efficiency, requiring certain nonprofits to request funding for the four-month gap.
“I am grateful that we received the $850,000. And would I have preferred $900,000? Yes,” Butan told EBS after the full-day meeting. “I think sometimes, in certain sales tactics, it’s like, ‘ask for 900 so if you get 850, it’s OK.’ … We still asked for what we needed.”
Butan noted that MLC’s reserve fund should allow the provider to carry on without reducing tuition assistance or programming, although the shortfall equates to roughly $3,000 per month.
Sarah Blechta, BSRAD board chair, voiced her strong support for “integral” local child care efforts, recalling how it once enabled her to continue working as a mother. A former Morningstar board member, Blechta also recalled the change over time in how Resort Tax funds MLC, and challenged applicants to quantify funding needs on a perchild basis.
“I look forward to continuing the conversation with Morningstar,” Blechta said in an interview with EBS. “I just want to find out how much it really costs to educate a kid at all of our [providers], whether that’s Gallatin River Child Care, whether it’s Ophir school… they are all going to be different. Maybe they do need to be funded differently.”
Blechta and Butan both said the cost of child care varies dramatically based on age, and that Morningstar’s youngest students should not be cost-compared directly to older children under at Discovery Academy, for example.
“Providing any child care to a three-month old— whether it’s good or bad—is going to be more expensive than providing that same level of quality of child care to even a two-year-old, or three- or four- or five- or 10- or 18-year old,” Butan said. While she is not against the pursuit of a perstudent cost, she said those numbers must be discussed and compared in proper context.
After a 35-minute discussion, the board voted 4-1 against funding the full $900,000.
Board member Kevin Germain was surprised to learn that even families who pay full tuition at
MLC—only five families currently do—are still not covering the provider’s average per-child cost of care.
“I’ve been very consistent as a board member saying, ‘I want Resort Tax dollars to help those in financial need, and not just help everybody,’” he said.
After Germain’s comment, board member Grace Young motioned to fund the reduced amount, based on MLC’s three-year average enrollment of 50 kids, multiplied by the per-day, per-child cost of $57 over the 298 days of operation in the 16-month period. The board voiced support and voted unanimously in favor, although John Zirkle noted he would still have liked to fund the full amount and extend MLC “the benefit of the doubt.”
Five members of the public voiced general support for funding child care in Big Sky.
“It’s a big role in our community, it’s just getting tougher and tougher and tougher, and we need a lot of help. A lot of communities do,” said local parent Wes Hoecker.
David O’Connor, executive director of the Big Sky Community Housing Trust, compared child care and affordable housing: both are essential services that usually don’t pencil without subsidy, affecting communities across the country. Investments into housing and child care, O’Connor said, “are some high costs with very, very high payoffs that cross throughout the entire community.”
Summary of projects funded
Twenty-six nonprofit projects received awards, across seven categories: arts and culture, conservation, economic development, education and child care, health and safety, housing, and recreation. Most were funded in full with brief discussion and words of support.
After awards were confirmed on Thursday, Oct. 23, the district’s commitment is nearly $6.3 million to local nonprofits, leaving a budget surplus of $1.16 million across the six categories that will roll over into next year’s categorized budgets, in preparation for expected capital projects in those categories.
Arts and culture
In arts and culture, the Arts Council of Big Sky received $1 million as capital to continue
developing the Big Sky Center for the Arts, a renovation project for a former restaurant acquired by the arts council in November 2024. The arts council also received the full $250,000 for next summer’s Music in the Mountains, and both projects were met with excitement and gratitude from the BSRAD board.
The Warren Miller Performing Arts Center received $290,000 for its “tried and true” annual programming, as described by Kevin Germain.
Economic
development
In economic development, the board fully funded Visit Big Sky’s $277,333 ask for destination research and stewardship, and $300,000 request for operations.
The Big Sky Chamber of Commerce received full funding for operations at $206,667, and business skill development programs—including Leadership Big Sky—at $116,000.
Education and child care
In addition to Morningstar Learning Center, the board funded Discovery Academy’s 12-month request for early childhood student tuition assistance at the full amount of $200,000. Blechta also discussed per-child cost for Discovery’s program serving kids aged two to five, citing roughly $13,000 per child in operation costs.
“I think it is going to be part of a broader discussion in this education and child care space, over this year into the future,” she said.
The Friends of the Big Sky Community Library received its full request of $106,108 for operations, and Zirkle encouraged the community to continue exploring the creation of a library district as a funding stream.
World Language Initiative received its full $60,000 request for its community language learning program, after the board motioned to move it from the “arts and culture” category into “education and child care.”
Health and safety
Health and safety was the only category in which requests outpaced available funds.
The Big Sky Center for the Arts is undergoing renovation, and received numerous supportive public comments in addition to its $1 million grant. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
The board awarded the full request of $100,000 to the Big Sky Community Food Bank for workforce and community food security, as well as the full $115,000 for Wellness In Action’s affordable mental health counseling program.
To balance the category budget, the board did not award the full $150,000 request from Riley’s Urgent Fund for Friends to support Big Sky’s new animal shelter. That project received an award of $105,757.
“It’s a great cause, and just want to stay fiscally responsible for what we budgeted,” Germain said. Project leaders confirmed Thursday, Oct. 23, that the reduced award will not be an obstacle to the facility’s completion.
Housing
The lone housing request—multimillion dollar commitment to Cold Smoke notwithstanding— was the Big Sky Community Housing Trust’s operations and administration, funded fully at $475,000.
Recreation
In recreation, a $75,000 project to secure public access to the Beehive Basin road and trailhead was deemed ineligible, as the board affirmed road maintenance funding does not fit within BSRAD’s scope.
The local “Trail Dogs” chapter of the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association requested $50,000 for construction of a three-mile, intermediate flow trail from the top of the Elkhorn Spur Trail to the Madison Loop Trail, entirely located on Big Sky Resort’s property but accessible to the public without a lift ticket. The “Elkhorn Downhill Trail” project received full funding, and representative Wes Hoecker noted that the Trail Dogs “crushed it” this year with more than 600 volunteer hours, even more than Bozeman’s SWMMBA chapter.
The Gallatin Valley Snowmobile Association received its full $30,000 request for Buck Ridge winter trail grooming, and Germain noted GVSA is a fiscally responsible organization whose efforts bring visitors to local businesses such as The Corral, generating resort tax collections.
Conservation
In conservation, the Gallatin River Task Force received full funding for all five of its projects: $210,064 for Gallatin River Access Restoration; $258,820 for West Fork Restoration; $101,703 for its Big Sky Water Conservation program; $88,169 for water monitoring; and $134,988 for water planning, coordination and outreach. Board member John Zirkle commended GRTF for accurate and conservative forecasting ahead of the nonprofit’s numerous grant requests.
Big Sky SNO’s climate action plan implementation received its full request of $300,000, although Zirkle noted that SNO will need to keep working on securing matching funds. Germain added he looks forward to seeing an update on progress to help BSRAD justify its “significant dollars” committed in recent years.
The board fully funded Grow Wild’s $94,605 request for wildlife habitat conservation and $100,075 for land stewardship, but questioned the details of a $56,246 forest stewardship pilot project.
Board challenges Grow Wild to find $50K for forestry expert
forestry initiative aims to improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk, and engage
LOCAL
the Big Sky community in long-term forest conservation strategies. Executive Director Jen Mohler explained that the nonprofit recently lost a two-year partnership with the Big Sky Fire Department worth $50,000 per year—BSFD recently became ensnared in an unexpected budget crisis—prompting Grow Wild to adjust its plan to hire a forestry expert.
Originally a $76,669 request, Mohler reduced the project’s ask to $56,246 with aims of using $25,000 for Alpenscapes, and the remaining $31,246 for administrative and operational costs divided between Grow Wild’s other projects.
Board chair Sarah Blechta emphasized the negative impact of wildfire danger on home insurance, underscoring the importance of Grow Wild’s original plan to employ a forestry expert.
“This is a big thing for our community… So this is a project that I was super excited to get behind, and it was super unfortunate that we’ve lost some of the funding from the fire department,” she said, pivoting to ask if Grow Wild has explored partnerships with the Big Sky Owners Association and other small HOAs. “Ultimately it’s their homeowners who are losing out [on insurance].”
Mohler said Grow Wild has not yet looked into HOAs, and explained that the Big Sky community has been in need of a forestry expert for a long time. “It’s all connected. How we manage our forests impacts water quality and quantity, directly. It affects invasive species. It affects wildlife habitats,” she said.
As board members began discussing an award contingent on Grow Wild securing additional matching funds from sources such as Madison and Gallatin counties, Mohler asked for a smaller award, but no contingency. She cited the difficulty of high-stakes fundraising, especially considering that both counties already contributed $15,000 each to Grow Wild’s other programs.
Zirkle cautioned, “I am concerned about the message of us giving a large amount with no expectation of [matching funds], and then basically becoming the full funder of this moving forward.”
Germain added, “We have to have partnerships with our counties as well as some of these other public entities, and I think the BSOA is a great idea. So if we were to fully fund this, nobody is going to step up. They’re just going to let Resort Tax carry this, and this will become another annuity that we will be burdened with.”
The board agreed to fund the project at $56,246, plus an additional $20,426 contingent upon Grow
Wild presenting an updated plan for its forest stewardship project, and securing $50,000 in matching funds by first quarter of fiscal year 2026 from interested parties such as BSFD, U.S. Forest Service, BSOA and other HOAs, Gallatin and Madison counties, insurance brokers, local realtors and other concerned community members.
“This is an open call for realtors, insurance agents, anybody to help fund this,” Blechta said. “… Let’s get a forester for our community. This cannot be harder than getting some stoplights.”
In addition to the nonprofit grants discussed Oct. 21, BSRAD will fund $7.8 million in government services in fiscal year 2026 as an offset to local property taxes, as follows: $3.3 million in debt payments on Big Sky’s new wastewater treatment facility; $1.18 million to the Big Sky Fire Department; $50,000 to the Big Sky School District; $743,086 to the Big Sky Trails, Recreation and Parks District; $1.52 million to the Big Sky Transportation District; $729,760 to the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office; $100,000 to Firelight Meadows County Water and Sewer District; and $200,000 to the Gallatin Canyon County Water and Sewer District.
BSRAD will also commit $3.76 million to initiatives including the Big Sky Governance Study, 191/64 intersection project, and housing for district staff, as well as estimated bond payments of roughly $2.4 million for the Cold Smoke neighborhood and Big Sky Community Park renovations.
BSRAD staff emphasized that while annual nonprofit grants are impactful, they are just one part of BSRAD’s work in the community.
Gaither urges attendance from local workforce
Sarah Gaither, director of the Big Sky Community Food Bank, offered public comment on Thursday, Oct. 23, challenging employers in the community to incentivize their employees’ attendance at meetings like BSRAD’s nonprofit allocations.
“This is the day where our community symbolically gives something back to the people that carry its weight all year round. For the folks working two jobs, smiling through the impossible shifts… this is the day that says, ‘we see you,’” Gaither said.
She said between Big Sky’s low-wage workforce and its wealthier visitors—two populations who often interact closely in a tourism economy—lies an economic and emotional gap, often taking a toll on the former’s sense of fairness, dignity and connection to community.
Civic events like Big Sky Community Week and Resort Tax allocations, Gaither said, “are so important. They are a chance for the people who hold this place together to be a part of shaping what it becomes.”
Yet, looking around the room filled mostly with nonprofit leaders, Gaither noted those essential community members are generally absent.
She offered a request to Big Sky’s employers: “Pay your people to participate here. Offer your staff a paid hour or two, or some offseason wages, a stipend or some other bonus, to attend these civic spaces. Give them permission and encouragement, and maybe a little cash, to show up, speak up and be heard.
“Resort tax isn’t just a transaction, it’s a tool for repair. So let’s make sure that the people who help generate it can be in the room when it’s reinvested,” Gaither said, earning hearty applause as the annual meeting adjourned.
Grow Wild’s
MLC Executive Director Mariel Butan explains the funding request. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
Southwest Montana’s podcast covering people, stories and the Greater Yellowstone with humor and heart.
EP. 515
Does Your River Have Protection?
Charles Wolf Drimal of GYC explains the GYREAT Act, which designates 100 Montana river miles as “wild & scenic.”
EP. 481
Howls & Growls: Learning to Speak Wolf
Dr. Jeff Reed discusses the “Cry Wolf Project” with filmmaker and *Endless Venture* host Casey Anderson.
EP. 511
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Wyoming-born country artist and former bronc rider Chancey Williams joins us ahead of his Big Sky PBR performance.
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LMLC ASSEMBLES THIRD POWDER LIGHT BUILDING
EBS STAFF
BIG SKY—The third and final Powder Light building will be trucked across Big Sky this week, as modular units will be stacked into “building C” to add workforce housing capacity between the two existing Powder Light buildings.
The project builds on Lone Mountain Land Company’s $400 million effort to construct workforce housing in Big Sky and surrounding communities, according to an Oct. 20 press release from LMLC. Powder Light’s third building will add 72 new beds in a mix of four- and eightbedroom suites, with units available to all Big Sky employers through the Big Sky Community Housing Trust. In total, Powder Light will offer up to 520 beds.
“Housing and child care are the foundation of a thriving community,” Matt Kidd, LMLC president, stated in the release. “In Big Sky, we’re working together to create an elevated future where families can live where they work and our town remains vibrant and resilient into the future.”
Thirty modular units are currently stored beside Huntley Drive and Aspen Leaf Drive, and as they are transported to the Powder Light Complex along Montana Highway 64 (Lone Mountain Trail) community members should expect traffic impacts between Oct. 20 and 24.
Powder Light’s first two phases opened in late 2022 and 2023, providing housing for 448 residents in “modern shared suites,” with roughly three-quarters reserved for employees of LMLC and its affiliates, and roughly one quarter leased to other businesses in the community.
The release added emphasis on LMLC’s other housing initiatives.
Three of LMLC’s five RiverView buildings have been fully occupied since winter of 2024, and the remaining two buildings will welcome residents in
mid-November. “Once complete, RiverView will include five buildings offering 60 units ranging from one-bedroom apartments to eight-bedroom suites, accommodating 264 residents,” the release stated. Landscaping and campus beautification will follow in 2026.
Two additional RiverView buildings were developed separately by the Big Sky Community Housing Trust, with the first residents moving in one year ago.
Another recent workforce housing project is the Knight Building behind longtime establishment Buck’s T-4, now owned by LMLC. The building contains 95 workforce housing beds in seven- and eight-bedroom suites, and will be fully occupied this winter by employees of Moonlight Basin and One&Only Moonlight Basin.
After voter approval for Resort Tax bonding, and annexation by the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District, the housing trust is expected to close its $39.75 million purchase of Cold Smoke land this January.
The neighborhood is planned to include 264 apartments and 125 single-family homes, all deed-restricted with a mix of rent and ownership opportunities.
“Together, these projects demonstrate LMLC’s long-term commitment to addressing Big Sky’s livability challenges,” the release stated. “By investing in a diverse range of housing, from seasonal workforce accommodations to longterm community units, LMLC and its partners are helping create a more balanced, inclusive, and sustainable future for Big Sky.”
A modular unit is unwrapped and lifted into place by a crane. Existing Powder Light buildings were constructed in a similar fashion. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
Trucks carried dozens of modular units onto the Powder Light workforce housing campus as a third building is constructed. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
FOURTH, FINAL GOVERNANCE STUDY MEETING SET FOR NOV. 17
‘THE INFORMATION IS GOING TO BE IN ONE PLACE’ WITH FINAL REPORT
BY JACK REANEY
BIG SKY—On Monday, Nov. 17, the Big Sky Governance Study will share its final report with the community in a 5:30 p.m. meeting at The Wilson Hotel. For those unable to attend in person, the meeting will be available via Zoom.
The meeting builds on the most recent presentation in July, in which the study team revealed three potential scenarios: limited incorporation, in which Big Sky would become a municipality; comprehensive incorporation, with a bigger municipal staff, more departments, more capability and higher costs; and creation of a new county.
The fourth scenario is for Big Sky to maintain its status quo. Big Sky would remain unincorporated, and a detailed exploration of this option will also be included in the final report, now ready for public eyes.
“Participants will gain deeper insights into the three scenarios presented at the July 22 public meeting, which are also fully detailed in the final report,” an Oct. 23 press release stated. “The study team will present evaluation results that the community can use as a resource when considering future governance options, should they choose to explore them.”
As previously reported, the study team chose to delay its report by a few months to allow time for dust to settle on numerous governance changes— primarily statewide legislation like Montana property tax law reform, and local impacts from
Senate Bill 260 and millions of dollars in voterapproved Resort Tax bonding.
“We just slowed the roll a little bit to make sure we understood, because we didn’t want to come out with a report that was instantly irrelevant,” Meg O’Leary, consultant and public engagement leader for the study, told EBS in a phone call. Residents can find the final report on the governance study website after the meeting.
O’Leary said the final public meeting will be a good opportunity for the community to interact with the study’s lead author, Dylan Pipinich, and to process
COMMUNITY INNOVATOR
finalized information in real time with fellow engaged community members.
“This [report] is a resource. It’s going to be a report that has details that have never been detailed before, very specific to these scenarios,” O’Leary said.
Once the report is published, the community will be responsible for any potential change in governance—the study team will no longer be involved.
“The big win for this whole project is that the information is going to be in one place, and people can do with it what they want,” O’Leary said.
ERIK MORRISON STEPS DOWN FROM BIG SKY TOWN CENTER AFTER 14 YEARS
BY LESLIE KILGORE
BIG SKY—Erik Morrison, a longtime fixture in Big Sky’s community life, is leaving his role as events and marketing manager at Big Sky Town Center to pursue new opportunities.
Morrison has been instrumental in growing the Big Sky Farmers Market, transforming it into a beloved summer tradition. He started Love Street Media, a freelance marketing and event consulting agency in 2014 and the Town Center Owners Association was one of his first clients, contracting Love Street to manage the farmers market and Town Center’s digital marketing efforts.
“For over 14 years Erik has curated and expanded the farmers market to include hundreds of local and regional vendors of all sizes and descriptions, and built it into a permanent and widely enjoyed centerpiece of Big Sky summers,” said Jonathan Gans, local Big Sky resident and owner of Rancho Picante Bison, a staple food truck at Big Sky events. “He is a dynamic and generous figure in our community.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 28, Gans hosted a farewell gathering for Morrison on behalf of Lone Mountain Land Company at The Rocks Tasting Room where other community members came to
pledge their appreciation for what Morrison has brought to the community.
This year marked the 17th annual Big Sky Farmers Market, held every Wednesday from June through September. The event stretches through Fire Pit Park, along Town Center Avenue, and into the Town Center Plaza by The Wilson Hotel, featuring local produce, crafts, cuisine, live music, local Big Sky vendors and family-friendly activities.
Morrison championed sustainability efforts, partnering with Big Sky SNO and Karl Johnson at YES Compost to foster a zero-waste event. He noted his gratitude toward early supporters such as Ryan Hamilton and the Simkins Family, the teams at TCOA and LMLC, as well as sponsors and partners of the market that have helped it thrive.
Looking back, Morrison recalls fondly the early farmers market days.
“I really enjoyed the small intimate venue, strolling around catching up with friends I haven’t seen since ski season,” Morrison said. “Our farmers market family of vendors was quite tight then and everyone knew each other. … I’ve worked hard to curate that experience and keep that Big Sky vibe alive as the Town Center and the market continue to evolve.”
gathering for Erik Morrison took place at The
with those who have supported the Big Sky Farmers Market over the years, including Mark Sinclair of Sinclair’s Bakery, who was present at the first market over a decade ago.
His initiative Second Season will continue to sponsor the live music at Fire Pit Park, host the Big Sky Shootout and be a part of the vendor family he holds close. While Morrison’s next chapter is still unfolding, his impact on Big Sky’s culture and community will be felt for years to come.
“I would like to thank the Big Sky community for all of your love and support over the last 11 years,” Morrison said. “It has been an honor to serve you and to have been the keeper of this amazing Big Sky tradition.”
Consultant Meg O'Leary speaks during the third public meeting in July. PHOTO BY FISCHER GENAU
A
Rocks
PHOTO BY LESLIE KILGORE
Friday, November 7 | 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
The Wilson Hotel Ballroom
This workshop gives you the focused space to reflect on and analyze your previous year, as well as time and support to map out your goals and action steps to ensure 2026 is a year you meet or exceed your plan. We will guide you through a series of steps to evaluate 2025 and then we will shift towards future planning (all anchored in business trends and data ) There will be plenty of individual exercises and work session time, as well as opportunities to network and share resources with other business owners in the community. Faciliatated by Karen Lum of KLum Consulting
Deadline to purchase tickets is Friday, October 31
MONTHLY EVENTS ROADMAP TO SUCCESS
THANK YOU to our October Member Meetup hosts and attendees
FREE BUSINESS COACHING | All Day
Attend in-person office hours in Big Sky for personalized support tailored to your business needs
Monday, November 10
Thursday, November 20
Monday, December 8.
MONTHLY MEMBER MEETUPS
Connect with fellow professionals over light bites and conversation at our Monthly Member Meetup an opportunity to network, share ideas, and stay informed on Big Sky business initiatives
Thursday, November 20 from 4-6pm | Hosted By: Slopeside CPAs & Advising Ribbon Cutting Included!
December | Stop by the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce office during Christmas Stroll
TICKETS HERE Register for all events here!
SPORTS
LONE PEAK GIRLS WIN FIRST-EVER PLAYOFF GAME, FALL IN SEMIFINAL ROUND
BOYS SEASON ENDS WITH 2-0 LOSS AT COLUMBIA FALLS: ‘THEY LEFT EVERYTHING ON THE FIELD’
BY JACK REANEY
BIG SKY—The girls soccer program at Lone Peak High School continues to make history in its sixth season, as the squad capitalized on their firstever playoff appearance with a 1-0 victory against Hamilton High School on Saturday, Oct. 18.
With just five minutes remaining in the second half, sophomore Maeve McRae broke the scoreless tie and propelled the Big Horns to their first-ever playoff victory. The girls advanced to face Columbia Falls High School in the Class A state semifinal, where they ultimately lost, 4-1.
In an email to EBS from head coach Kim Dickerson, senior captain Maddie Wilcynski shared her thoughts on the historic playoff win.
“A very exciting game against Hamilton, with Big
Horns dominating the offensive third the whole game,” Wilcynski wrote.
She noted that Hamilton shifted to a defensive approach in the second half, allowing Big Horns to hammer shots at Hamilton senior goalkeeper Mia Faulk, whose “standout game” saved the Broncs from a blowout.
“Everyone on the Big Horn side played outstanding and connected passes beautifully. However, a huge shoutout to the well-deserved goal by Maeve McRae and a baller cross from [sophomore] Ava Staudt… This gives the Big Horn ballers a ton of momentum heading into their semifinal match against Columbia Falls next Saturday!”
Coach Dickerson added it’s an exciting time for the program, making their first-ever semifinal appearance.
“We look forward to preparing this week to take on our next opponent Columbia Falls on Saturday,” Dickerson wrote.
Girls fall in state semifinal
On Oct. 25, with hopes of continuing to a state tournament appearance, the Big Horns trailed at halftime, 1-0, but the team regrouped and senior captain Harper Morris tied the score at 1 apiece early in the second half. The Wildcats took control, scoring on a corner kick and free kick to grab a 3-1 lead, and tacked on a fourth goal in the final minutes to defeat the Big Horns, 4-1.
“Despite facing a physical game, Lone Peak continued to battle and create opportunities but couldn’t quite find the back of the net again,” head coach Kim Dickerson wrote in an email to EBS.
She noted her pride in the team’s historic run, and its overall win-loss-tie record of 7-4-3. She also recognized the team’s seniors “who were pivotal to the program’s success”: Hana Mittelstaedt, Harper Morris, Maddie Wilcynski and Poppy Towle.
“They will be greatly missed both on and off the field,” Dickerson wrote. “With a strong group of returning players and a talented incoming freshman class, the future looks bright for Lone Peak girls soccer. This history-making season will be one to remember.”
Boys fall to powerhouse Columbia Falls in quarterfinal
Three hours north, the Lone Peak boys took on Columbia Falls on Oct. 18. The opponent lived up to their 11-1 regular season record, advancing to the state semifinal with a 2-0 defeat over
the Big Horns.
The Big Horns embrace sophomore Maeve McRae after her go-ahead goal in the team’s first-ever playoff game. PHOTO BY MATT DODD
Sophomore goalkeeper Piper Dodd makes a diving save in the state semifinal game. PHOTO BY MATT DODD
“The game was very physical, Columbia Falls had some very large guys, very physical guys. Strong and fast players,” Lone Peak head coach Tony Coppola told EBS in a phone call. “The field conditions weren’t the greatest, so there was definitely some sloppy play by both teams… At the end of the day, it was really just a track meet.”
The Wildcats leveraged speed and strength, sending through-balls for dramatic breakaways and pressuring the Big Horn defense—enough to score midway through the first half, and early in the second. Coppola credited senior captain goalkeeper Oliver McGuire for his beautiful saves, and defenders Miles Romney and Syd Trulen for holding the Wildcats’ powerful attack to just two goals.
Trulen stepped into a relatively new position at right back, and was “super composed,” Coppola said. “He played a hell of a game… Just put his head down and did what he needed to do.”
On offense, the Big Horns had some chances but couldn’t finish. Junior Keegan Luchini struck a “beautiful” free kick on net, but the Wildcat keeper made a fingertip save to preserve the shutout. Junior Dudley Davis and sophomore Elijah Harder also earned a shoutout, and Coppola acknowledged senior captain Brady Johnson for battling through a hurt shoulder in his final high school game.
“We had moments when we were playing our game,” Coppola said. But the Wildcats were well-organized, well-coached and worthy of their 11-1 record. “We really never found our rhythm completely to put anything in the net. They were a
really good team… If I had to make a prediction, I’d say we lost to the state champions.”
Coppola was very proud of the character on display in his team’s final loss. A pillar of his program is to cultivate better people first, and better soccer players second—one Wildcat player shook Coppola’s hand and said the Big Horns were one of the most respectful teams he’d ever played against.
“That was huge for me, to hear that… We definitely lost with class yesterday,” Coppola said.
Win or lose, the coaches encouraged the goal of leaving Saturday’s game without regret, and with pride in the team’s effort. He feels the Big Horns accomplished that.
“I’m super proud of them,” Coppola said. “They left everything on the field.”
Senior captain Harper Morris fights for possession in Lone Peak's semifinal loss to Columbia Falls.
PHOTO BY MATT DODD
BIG HORN VOLLEYBALL HONORS SENIOR AVERY GRAHAM IN WRAP-UP MATCH
BY JACK REANEY
BIG SKY—Lone Peak High School’s volleyball team completed their JV-only season on Saturday, Oct. 25, with plans to return to the varsity level next season.
Head coach Steven Reid emphasized development throughout the season, focusing less on wins and losses and more on rebuilding the young program. Though the Big Horns improved dramatically during the 2025 season, Reid continues to let players know that they’ll face another steep learning curve in 2026 against Class B varsity competition.
Fortunately, he feels “very confident” about the group of girls who will put in work during the offseason and show up ready to play next fall.
“The best part of this team is, these girls have been playing together since middle school, and they’re all really close friends,” Reid told EBS in a phone call “... They’re very focused on the future and looking forward as well.”
One key player won’t return: senior Avery Graham was honored in her final home game on Saturday in a tight loss against Three Forks High School.
Reid would have understood Graham’s decision to quit before the season, upon her learning it
would be JV-only after prior years of varsity competition. But Graham committed to sticking around in support of the program, and Reid said her teammates will always remember her personal sacrifice and leadership.
“It was just amazing to have her this year... It was a struggle for her at times, but ultimately she decided to be there, felt it was important to her teammates that she was there,” Reid said.
Specifically, Graham took the team’s youngest player, eighth-grader Lili Dalrymple, under her
wing, offering suggestions and guidance to an eager understudy. Reid said it was one of the most important individual contributions to the team.
The team wrapped up with close games against strong teams, Reid said, and while they ended in five-set losses, the growth was evident.
“This season was just all about development, and growing, and we did that very well,” Reid said. “... I really believe in this team, and after next season—I know next season could be a struggle—but I believe this team could be a real force in the conference.”
Graham was a team leader with her presence at the net. PHOTO BY JEN O’CONNOR
Senior Avery Graham (middle) got her flowers at the end of a JV-only development season. PHOTO BY JEN O'CONNOR
BIG HORNS RESILIENT IN SENIOR NIGHT LOSS
PLAYOFF SPOT SECURE AS STUD SENIOR SUFFERS SEASON-ENDING INJURY:
‘WE’RE GONNA PLAY FOR HIM.’
BY JACK REANEY
BIG SKY—Sheridan High School led 28-6 at halftime, and 36-14 entering the fourth quarter. Spirits sulked on a cold, damp night at Lone Peak High School on a night meant to celebrate six seniors—one was sidelined almost immediately by injury, while the others felt frustration as their final home game slipped away.
Early in the fourth quarter on Oct. 17, standout senior Ebe Grabow returned a punt 35 yards, setting up an immediate touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Jens Biggerstaff to junior receiver Lucas O’Connor. Biggerstaff passed short left to senior Will Helms for the two-point conversion, and the 22-point deficit suddenly shrunk to 14.
The Panthers marched, but met a stiff defensive effort and turned the ball over on downs.
With seven minutes left, the Big Horns needed two touchdowns. Four-and-a-half minutes later, Helms broke into the open field and caught a touchdown pass to narrow the deficit to eight points. And with roughly six seconds remaining, the Big Horns got the ball back with a chance, or two, to take a shot downfield and tie the game.
The senior night comeback fell short, but the Big Horns walked away feeling better about a second half in which they outscored the Panthers, 22-8.
“We all played as a team, we rallied around each other and we really brought the energy,” Helms said after the game. “But we gotta bring that energy the whole game… They beat us at the beginning, and that’s what cost the game.”
Senior cornerback Aeneas Espinosa said the loss came down to a handful of poorly executed plays and missed opportunities, especially early.
“At halftime we all had to really come together and focus up,” Espinosa said. “‘Cause, we were all just getting in our heads… Focus up, don’t miss assignments, and we’re golden.”
Head coach Dustin Shipman said the Big Horns made defensive adjustments at halftime, aiming to contain the Panthers’ explosive rushing attack— senior quarterback James Reedy bulldozed and sophomore running back Charlie Larsen evaded tacklers for chunk plays throughout the game, combining for five total touchdowns.
“They ran the ball really effectively for the first half, and then coming out in the second half, they had that really long, time consuming drive,” Shipman said.
The defensive adjustment proved successful—save for a 55-yard touchdown run by Larsen after the Panthers converted on fourth down in the third quarter—but the comeback would remain just out of reach despite the Big Horns’ fourth quarter surge.
“Monday we need to bounce back,” Helms said. “We need to start bringing the energy to each game. We need to start playing as a team. We need to start tackling as a team… We just gotta get to work on Monday, and fix all this stuff.”
One crucial challenge can’t be fixed: senior Eli Gale, whose size and strength would have been a key asset for the Big Horns in their playoff run, suffered a season-ending lower-leg injury on Lone Peak’s second offensive play of the game.
Coach Shipman said Gale is crucial to team chemistry and energy, and it’s sad to see a senior go down shortly after fighting his way back from a separate injury—Gale finished months of rehab for a back injury and returned to action just two weeks prior.
“I mean, he’s one of the best linebackers in the state,” Shipman said. “In eight-player football when he’s healthy, he’s fast, he’s strong, he’s aggressive. So that’s difficult when you lose a player like that on the second play of the game.”
Espinosa said the team will need to use Gale’s absence as fuel.
“We’re gonna play for him… This is all for Eli,” Espinosa said. “‘Cause that’s my brother, he showed up to every morning workout, he worked so hard to play with us. For that to happen tonight, it’s a killer.”
Espinosa and Helms said the atmosphere was great in their final home game.
“I’m gonna miss my brothers,” Espinosa said. “Six a.m. lifts, summer workouts… I cherished all of it, every moment. I know I played with everything I had. I left everything on the field.”
As Shipman nears the end of his fourth season as head coach, he said the seniors are the first group he’s coached from start to finish. He’ll miss them.
“They mean a lot,” Shipman said. “They’ve built a culture here—we’re fortunate enough to be in the playoffs [this season], those guys will be in the playoffs for the third time in their high school career.”
He added, “I can never say enough about Ebe Grabow. Will Helms, Matthew Tompkins. Aeneas [Espinosa] has been a kid who’s been to every practice, every spring practice, every summer practice, works his butt off. They mean a lot to Big Horn football, those boys.”
Shipman thanked the community for supporting Big Horn athletics, from football to a historic girls soccer season and a rebuilding year for volleyball.
The football team played their final game at Lame Deer High School on Oct. 25, winning 76-28 to finish with a 5-3 record and clinch a playoff berth. Ranked No. 4 in the south division, Lone Peak will face the No. 1 seed from the west, Seeley Swan High School, on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.
“We hope to make a run in the playoffs… We’re gonna bounce back stronger,” Shipman said.
Will Helms dives for the goal line to earn a late touchdown. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
Senior Aeneas Espinosa runs out onto Lone Peak's home turf for the final time. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
‘ON TO NOVEMBER’ AS BOBCATS EXTEND WINNING STREAK TO SIX GAMES
MSU OUTSCORING OPPONENTS BY 30 POINTS PER GAME OVER 6-0 STRETCH
BY COLTER NUANEZ
SKYLINE SPORTS
BOZEMAN—The standard of excellence established during four-and-a-half seasons under Brent Vigen’s guidance at Montana State has become so elevated that Saturday’s 17-point win at Cal Poly might seem lackluster.
On one hand, Montana State dominated the Mustangs for three full quarters on Oct. 25, allowing just 105 total yards and just five first downs entering the final frame. On that same hand, Montana State out-rushed Cal Poly 290 yards to 50.
On the other hand, the Mustangs scored 14 straight in the fourth quarter to cut a 27-3 advantage to 27-17 before the Bobcats slammed the door in the Mustangs’ faces.
Julius Davis rushed for a career-high 175 yards and Adam Jones scored a touchdown with 3 minutes, 35 seconds remaining that proved to be the final dagger as Montana State emerged with a 34-17 win in San Luis Obispo, California.
Following the game, Vigen did not mince words as he described playing to the standard he’s set for his team following MSU’s sixth straight victory.
“A three-score win on the road and a game where we had dominance on both sides, but at the same time it was a messy win,” Vigen said following his 53rd win in his five years as Bobcat head coach.
“It felt methodical at times. Our inability to put up touchdowns early while our defense was really suffocating them. Fortunately, we got that score before the half and came out and scored in quick fashion, opened up a 27-3 lead and that’s when the knockout punch needs to come,” he added.
The win moves No. 5 MSU to 4-0 in the Big Sky Conference and 6-2 overall. The Mustangs fell to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Montana State’s football program was the class of the Big Sky Conference under Jim Sweeney in the 1960s and Sonny Holland in the 1970s. Sweeney led MSU to three of the first five Big Sky Conference championships before bolting to Washington State. Holland led MSU to three more Big Sky titles between 1971 and 1977, including the 1976 Division II national championship. His legend grew so great, there’s a statue of his image in his honor in front of Bobcat Stadium.
Sonny Lubick led MSU to the 1979 Big Sky title and Dave Arnold led MSU to the Division I-AA national title in 1984. Then Montana State football fell into hibernation.
Over the next 18 years, MSU did not make the playoffs or win the Big Sky. Four winning seasons under Cliff Hysell (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998) were the only four between 1985 and 2002.
Even when Mike Kramer led the Bobcats back to Big Sky glory with shared titles in 2002, 2003 and 2005, Bobcat fans were always weary of the projected success on road trips, especially to places like Cal Poly, Weber State and Northern Arizona.
Montana State won or shared seven Big Sky Conference championships before Vigen took over. The Bobcats made the playoffs nine times between 2002 and 2019 and advanced to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs in Jeff Choate’s final season.
Yet there’s never been a run of success, particularly against FCS and Big Sky competition, like Vigen has been able to construct.
Saturday marked his 33rd win in 36 Big Sky games. His teams have now won 12 conference games in a row. He has 53 wins against just 12 losses. Of those 12 losses, three—Wyoming in 2021, Oregon State in 2022 and Oregon this season—came against FBS competition. Two have come in national championship games at the hands of North Dakota State and three more have come to South Dakota State, including in the semifinals of the 2022 playoffs, early in the 2023 season and earlier this season in Bozeman. Two more have been rivalry losses to Montana in Missoula. The lone outlier was a 24-21 loss at Idaho in 2023, although that UI team was ranked No. 9 in the country and advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs.
In other words, don’t take a 17-point win in San Luis Obispo for granted. It’s never been as easy for the Bobcats as it seems under Vigen.
Montana State has swiftly rebounded from an 0-2 start to take a six-game winning streak into November. The Bobcats have held six of their seven FCS opponents to less than 300 yards of total offense. MSU is averaging 38.5 points per contest and giving up just 8.5 points per game during the winning streak.
A collision course seems to be in the works if both the Bobcats and the Grizzlies can take care of business down the stretch. Montana moved to 8-0 with a 49-35 win at Sacramento State on Friday night, Oct. 24. With South Dakota State’s 38-7 loss to North Dakota State, both the Treasure State powers are primed to move up in the polls.
Montana State will try to keep its momentum rolling at Northern Colorado on Nov. 1.
“Up 27-3, we need to be able to deliver the knockout punch on defense,” Vigen said. “Credit to Cal Poly for continuing to fight. When we get out on offense, we have to respond and not fumble.
“These other teams are well coached and they will try to take advantage of any opportunity,” he continued. “It wasn’t that our backs were against the wall, but we had to respond. We did. We definitely have some things to clean up. But that’s a road win against a good team and now it’s on to November.
Colter Nuanez has covered the Big Sky Conference for 19 seasons and has directly covered Montana State since 2011. His work can be found at skylinesportsmt.com and he can be reached at Colter.Nuanez@gmail.com.
Adam Jones has now scored eight touchdowns this year, including scoring the game-sealer against Cal Poly.
PHOTO BY JASON BACAJ / SKYLINE SPORTS
SPORTS RALLYING THE BLUE AND GOLD HOW THE MSU BOBCATS, THE BOBCAT
CLUB AND HOMETOWN ROOTS FUEL A CHAMPIONSHIP PUSH
BY LESLIE KILGORE
Editor’s note: This series is part of a partnership with Montana State University.
BOZEMAN—In Bozeman this fall, the roar of Bobcat nation isn’t just coming from the stands, it’s echoing through the locker room, the practice fields and into the broader community through the support of the Bobcat Club.
As Montana State University’s football program continues with another ambitious and successful season, two team members stand out: wide receiver and return-specialist Taco Dowler, and defensive back and team-captain-in-the-making Caden Dowler. The brothers often speak to how Montana State’s resurgence is intertwined with community support, player leadership, hometown talent and the energy that comes from the fans.
“We didn't want to sway each other to be on the same college team together, and we didn't really talk about it at all to each other,” Taco said. “And then, it kind of all flipped when we came to a Gold Rush game here at MSU, I think, in 2021. And that game was just so electric. We were just sitting up there together on a visit, and we were like, yeah, all right, we’re coming here. And from that moment, we were 100% all-in.”
Along with the energy that comes from the Bobcat Club, the scholarship fundraising arm of Montana State athletics, which is the integral part of supporting all student-athletes.
Head coach Brent Vigen, who led the 'Cats to MSU’s first Big Sky title in a decade, captured the most points ever scored by the Bobcats in a CatGriz game, and in 2024 won all 15 games before falling in the national championship game. He acknowledges that the program’s ascent is not simply about wins and historic records, but it is harnessing the institutional support that the Bobcat Club helps galvanize is an integral part of the program.
“I know this [football] program matters to a lot of people,” Vigen said. “There's a storied tradition. This program matters, and that's why you want to be a part of it.”
Vigen added that the most significant aspect of being a Bobcat is the college degree that his players, and all the MSU athletes, earn during their four years in Bozeman.
“For all of our student athletes, the value of getting their college degree is significant and more valuable to their futures. Continuing to have that be the foundation of how we can support them, I think, is critical.” Vigen said. "We need to support scholarships. That's what the Bobcat Club is meant to do. Especially as the potential for our scholarships continues to grow, not only in numbers, but in costs, and also with our recruiting efforts.”
The Bobcat Club’s financial support for student athletes is measurable. Under Vigen’s leadership, Montana State has posted a .887 winning percentage, including two national championship game appearances and four straight postseason berths. Vigen has always emphasized how community support and engagement help sustain the Bobcats’ program year‐round, not just on game day.
And that matters. For a team where in-state talent is prized, the Bobcat Club helps retain and develop Montana players, anchors the program in Bozeman, and offers a springboard for broader ambitions. According to several team leaders, the players notice the Club’s efforts.
From Billings West High School, Taco Dowler arrived at Montana State with hometown expectations, and he’s been delivering. As a return specialist and inside receiver, he has carved out a niche.
As a Bobcat, the opportunity has translated into big plays beyond the field. Taco is committed to community service, hosting youth football camps and encouraging Montana’s youth to follow in his and his brother’s footsteps at MSU—while also continuing his family’s tradition of elite athletic ability and a hometown connection that keeps the team rooted in Montana.
“Obviously, one of the most important parts of being a Bobcat is being here with Caden,” Taco said. “He’s been on every team with me. Everything’s a competition with us, but we're also each other's biggest supporters, and I'm his biggest fan for sure. He's my best friend and he'll always be my best friend and that's built in.”
Caden Dowler has been anchoring the secondary for the Bobcats, overcoming injuries to emerge as a team captain and defensive standout. His hard work, humble approach, and Bobcat pride shine through in everything he does, and is an example for younger players on and off the field.
“Coming here and being a Bobcat, you realize how much bigger it is than what we thought it was, you know, growing up,” Caden said. “It’s really cool for us both to be a part of it, and we get to see the support around Bozeman, and around Montana.”
Caden added it’s not just playing football at MSU that makes being a Bobcat so important to him.
“We definitely have, I think, the best coaching staff in the FCS in the country. But they really focus a lot on making us better people and not just better football players,” Caden said. “And obviously, it's a great school, and I focus on that as much as I can. Football has always been a big thing in our family, but being here with Taco, watching him catch touchdowns. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Putting it all together, with a strong institutional foundation through the Bobcat Club and a nationallyrecognized coaching staff, MSU is positioning itself not just for seasonal success, but sustainable prominence. It’s not just a fleeting moment, but a program and a community acting in tandem.
As the coaching staff and team members often mention, supporting the Bobcats isn’t just about tailgates and tickets, it’s about reinforcing a larger ecosystem of Montana talent, community investment and a winning tradition.
“I think our university does a great job of preparing our guys for life after their college experience, as does our community,” Vigen said. “I think that's the biggest thing our guys leave with, you know, this football program, but also a university degree. MSU has set them up to be successful in life.”
The Bobcat Club: Fueling Montana State’s athletics
The Bobcat Club is the official fundraising organization for Montana State athletics.
Its mission: to provide scholarship support for over 400 student-athletes across all sports.
Funds raised go directly toward tuition, housing and athletic development, helping Montana State compete at a national level while staying rooted in community values.
Scholarships: $3 million in annual contributions fund more than 100 athletic scholarships.
Facilities: In August, MSU hosted a grand opening of its new indoor practice facility, the Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center, totaling $26 million.
Homegrown talent: Scholarships help retain Montana athletes like Taco and Caden Dowler, keeping the best in-state players close to home, as well as out-of-state talent.
How to get involved
Many different giving levels are available to support MSU athletic scholarships.
Reach out to Kennedy Waible with questions about joining & donating: 406-994-3741
Donate at msubobcats.com
Did you know?
• Montana State has averaged over 19,000 fans per home game the past three seasons
• More than 40% of Bobcat football players are Montana natives
• Over $600,000 was raised at this year’s Blue & Gold Gala
• Over 500 donors were involved in the 2025 Blue & Gold Gala, online and in-person
With the ever-changing landscape of athletics, it’s more important than ever to continue building a strong foundation for student-athletes to succeed. To maintain the high caliber of student-athletes at MSU, fundraising efforts remain both necessary and impactful. Scholarships continue to be the top priority for MSU Athletics, providing essential support that allows our student-athletes to thrive on and off the field.
Taco (left) and Caden Dowler. PHOTO COURTESY OF MSU BOBCAT CLUB
A ‘CREEPY, KOOKY’ SUCCESS: STUDENTS BRING ‘THE ADDAMS FAMILY’ TO LIFE AT WMPAC A&E
BY CARLI JOHNSON
BIG SKY—On the evening of Sunday, Oct. 26, the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center transformed into a delightfully eerie mansion as students took the stage for the fall musical, “The Addams Family.” Typically, the school’s theater group performs a holiday production in December, but this year, they opted for a frightfully fun twist.
Produced by Barbara Rowley, the show featured a cast of both middle and high school students, many of whom also perform with Big Sky Broadway in the summer. Coordinating rehearsals proved to be the biggest challenge, Rowley explained in an email to EBS, as students balanced busy academic and extracurricular schedules.
Audience members were encouraged to dress up in Halloween costumes and trick or treat at intermission.
The matinee showing starred Elise Daugherty as Morticia Addams, Elliot Graham as Gomez Addams, Avery Graham as Wednesday Addams, Nikky Kamieniarz as Puglsey Addams, Frankie Seelye as Grandma, Lauren Jackson as Lurch, Grayson Kidd as Uncle Fester, Kate O’Connor as Alice Bienicke, Tristan Turley as Mal Bienicke, James Wilson as Lucas Bienicke, and an ensemble cast of Annie Coltea, Charlotte Merryman, Adeline Magrans and Olive Bibbins.
The evening show starred much of the same cast but with Olivia Kamieniarz as Wednesday Addams and Maren Sigourney as Alice Bienicke.
This year’s production also featured a new approach to casting. For the first time, Rowley allowed middle school boys to “play up,” a concept she borrowed from athletics after learning about it during a school board meeting. Four middle schoolers with years of Big Sky Broadway experience joined the high school cast, making the production possible.
“Their commitment, talent and experience were essential to our success,” Rowley stated. “In fact, without them, three of our high school seniors wouldn’t have had the opportunity to shine. [Seniors] Elise Daughtery, Olivia Kameiniarz and Avery Graham have honed their voices and acting chops for a decade, and I am so glad they were able to share their talents with our audiences.”
Another major addition this year was Tim Sullivan, LPHS music teacher, who stepped into a primary directorial role alongside WMPAC Executive Director John Zirkle. Sullivan brought his musical expertise and passion for student performance to the production.
“Tim’s involvement was essential, and his skill as an instructor and musician was clear. It was a total labor of love,” Rowley stated in the email.
The production team also included Kendall Jones, a new hire at WMPAC, who served as stage manager and lighting director.
Importantly, the high school musicals receive no funding from the Big Sky School District. They are produced through the Big Sky based nonprofit Big Opportunities, with essential support from the school district PTO and community ticket sales.
With a mix of haunting humor, heartfelt performances and community spirit, “The Addams Family” brought the Halloween spirit to Big Sky.
"The Addams Family" cast in the opening number on the Oct. 27 matinee. PHOTO BY CARLI JOHNSON
Avery Graham, Elliot Graham, Nikky Kamieniarz, Elise Daugherty and Frankie Seelye on stage as the Addams Family.
PHOTO BY CARLI JOHNSON
COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR
NO WINTER’S TALE
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 5 | 7 P.M., WARREN
MILLER
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
On the evening of Nov. 5 at 7 p.m., Montana InSite Theatre will perform an Intermountain West take on Shakespeare’s The Winter Tale. Written and adapted by Montana State University Professor of English Gretchen E. Minton, the story takes audiences through the drama, while nodding to themes of ecological collapse and renewal.
The play is presented by Minton and the MSU Center for Science, Technology and Society. including significant gift cards to local businesses.
IMAGE COURTESY OF WMPAC
ENVIRONMENT
DISPATCHES FROM THE WILD: MIKE LEE ATTACKS WILDERNESS ACT UNDER GUISE OF NATIONAL SECURITY
BY BENJAMIN ALVA POLLEY EBS COLUMNIST
This past June, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) attempted— and failed—to privatize 3.5 million acres of federally managed and protected public lands. This deeply unpopular proposal was rejected by a clear majority of Americans, most of whom cherish these lands for hunting, fishing and recreation. However, rather than respecting the will of the people, Lee—chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources—introduced a dangerous new bill that threatens the future of our wild places. The bill, dubbed the Border Lands Conservation Act (S. 2967), would allow the Department of Homeland Security to override decades of protection afforded by the Wilderness Act on lands within 100 miles of our borders, sanctioning the construction of roads, surveillance towers, fences, and bridges into oncepristine backcountry.
Proponents claim this overreach is necessary for national security, yet conservation groups and millions of Americans see the truth: this legislation is a thinly veiled attack on our public lands. By granting DHS the power to overrule federal safeguards—including the landmark Wilderness Act of 1964—this bill would permit unchecked development across millions of wilderness acres. “Tactical infrastructure,” as defined in the bill, includes observation points, remote surveillance, vehicle barriers and even roads and airports within lands meant to remain unspoiled.
Supporters argue that such extreme measures are needed to combat “border chaos” and stem environmental harm from illegal immigration.
However, these justifications overlook existing authority: DHS already possesses robust powers under the Real ID Act and through agreements with land agencies to address legitimate security threats. This bill is not about security—it’s about using fear to erode protections and advance a longstanding agenda against public lands.
The consequences would be devastating. Opening the door for roads and industrial infrastructure would shatter wildlife habitats, trample rare ecosystems and forever erase the promise of wildness these places hold. From Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the North Cascades, Frank Church Wilderness and the Boundary Waters, millions of acres— including parts of our own cherished Lee Metcalf Wilderness—would be at risk. Once roads and machines fragment these wild sanctuaries, they cannot be restored.
Make no mistake—this is a betrayal of Americans’ heritage and values. Our forests and open spaces face a greater threat from reckless policies and profit-driven interests than any outside adversary. Unlike wildfires or beetle infestations, the destruction Lee is championing is deliberate and permanent. It would accelerate climate change, destroy critical wildlife habitat, and poison the clean air and water generations have relied on.
Our public lands are not commodities to be sold off to billionaires and corporations focused solely on profits. If we allow this bill to pass, these lands—our lands—could be lost forever. Please stand up, speak out and help defend our wild inheritance before it is gone.
Benjamin Alva Polley is a place-based storyteller whose work has appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, Esquire, Field & Stream, The Guardian, Men’s Journal, Outside, Popular Science, and Sierra. More of his writing can be found on his website.
Glacier National Park. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN ALVA POLLEY
Glacier National Park. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN ALVA POLLEY
ENVIRONMENT
CAN WE LEARN TO CO-EXIST WITH GRIZZLIES?
BY MOLLY ABSOLON WRITERS ON THE RANGE
This summer, a grizzly cub in Grand Teton National Park gained international fame after an adult male bear killed the yearling’s two siblings. The sole survivor of the attack, dubbed “Miracle,” then separated from its mother to fend for itself, sometimes hanging around a busy area of the park.
As Miracle’s story spread, the cub became the object of fascination for thousands of people. Perhaps that’s no surprise, as many of us are intrigued by the grizzly’s power and strength, along with the reality that it’s an apex predator, like us.
Miracle’s survival is precarious. Since she left the protection of her mother so early, she’s on her own finding food before hibernating. Seventy-seven grizzlies died in the Yellowstone area last year—the highest number yet. As of September 2025, 63 bears had been killed; at this rate, the number of dead bears will surpass last year’s record. What’s going on?
You could say that grizzly bear recovery in the Lower 48 is a success story. Prior to European settlement, an estimated 50,000 bears roamed throughout the Lower 48. By 1970, though, only about 800 remained, with perhaps 130 of them in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
In 1975, grizzlies were listed under the Endangered Species Act, which ended their indiscriminate slaughter, and bear numbers slowly rebounded. Today, the Forest Service says an estimated 700 grizzlies live in and around the Yellowstone area, with maybe 1,000 more in the Northern Continental Divide region of Montana. Despite the increase in numbers, mortality rates are on the rise.
Most wildlife managers say the current rate is not a matter of concern. They say the species is stable.
And yet, is it? Roughly 200 cubs are born in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem recovery area each year, but of those, only around 40 survive. Wildlife managers assure us bears are doing well, but is this sustainable—especially when the mortality rate keeps inching upward year after year?
The most obvious reason for bear deaths is us. We are everywhere. 2024 marked the second-busiest year in Yellowstone National Park’s history with more than 4.7 million visitors. In August of 2025, the park was on track to see a 2% visitor increase over 2024.
On top of increased visitation, the human population in the Rocky Mountain West where grizzlies roam is growing steadily. Teton County, Wyoming has seen a 10% increase in residents over the last decade. The population in Teton County, Idaho is up 74% since 1990. Gallatin County, Montana has grown about 40% in the last 10 years.
On the ground, you can’t miss the impacts of growth: Trails are crowded. Parking is at a premium. You need reservations at restaurants, and the traffic is often stop and go. Not surprisingly, bear-human
conflicts are more frequent: Vehicle collisions kill bears, interactions with landowners kill bears. Grizzlies might do fine with more people if their habitat were intact and healthy, but much of their home ground has been in moderate to severe drought for several years, according to U.S. Drought Monitor. This year’s berry crop was dismal. Whitebark pines, whose seeds are an important food source for bears, are threatened by beetles and blister rust.
All this forces grizzlies to search out new food sources, and some of the best ones turn out to be ours. Our cows and sheep. Our apple trees. Our beehives.
Wyoming U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman has introduced legislation to take away endangered species protections for grizzly bears, which would be a major blow to their survival. “People shouldn’t have to live in fear of grizzly bears rummaging through their trash or endangering their children,” Hageman said. Such comments are deliberately inflammatory.
I have heard three people describe surviving a bear attack decades ago. All three insisted that the bear was only acting in self-defense. One even remembers how awed he was by the diamond-like glint of water droplets on the bear’s fur as she ran toward him.
I’m not sure what would happen if I faced a charging bear. I just want enough wherewithal to pull out my bear spray. While I hope I never have to deploy that spray, I am willing to take the risk to know wild bears roam the landscape. If grizzlies were gone, something vital would be missing from our world.
While grizzly bear mortality may not yet be alarming wildlife managers, I hope we’ve gotten a wakeup call.
Molly Absolon is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She hikes and writes in Yellowstone bear country.
A grizzly bares its teeth in Yellowstone National Park. PHOTO BY TAYLOR WRIGHT VIA UNSPLASH
A grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. PHOTO BY JIM PEACO / NPS
THRIVING LANDSCAPES: HOW FIRERESISTANT, WATER-WISE, NATIVE LANDSCAPES SUPPORT EACH OTHER
BY ALI CHIPOURAS GUEST COLUMNIST
In the mountains of southwest Montana, every yard, hillside, forest and river is part of something much bigger. Our landscapes are more than scenery, they’re living systems that support clean water, provide food and habitat for wildlife, and shape how fire moves across the land. When we care for these spaces thoughtfully, they return the favor: keeping our homes safer, our rivers cleaner and our ecosystems healthier.
That’s the vision behind Alpenscapes, a community partnership between Big Sky SNO, Grow Wild, the Gallatin River Task Force and the Big Sky Fire Department. Alpenscapes promotes beautiful, native and sustainable landscaping to reduce wildfire risk, decrease water use and conserve native species.
Living in Big Sky means more than adapting to the climate, it means living with it. It means understanding that fire is part of our ecosystem, that water is shared across seasons and that we are stewards of one of the last truly wild landscapes in North America. The way we shape our yards, what we plant, and how we care for the land directly affects the health of our rivers, the resilience of our forests, the abundance of wildlife and the safety of our homes.
Water-wise design of lawns
Snowmelt is Big Sky’s natural water bank. It recharges groundwater, keeps rivers flowing and supports our entire ecosystem, from wildlife and recreation to the water we drink. But as droughts lengthen and snowpack declines, conserving that resource is becoming essential.
Outdoor water use in Big Sky increases by up to 160% between July and September, making irrigation the single largest use of community water during the summer months.
Traditional turf lawns are among the thirstiest features in any landscape, often requiring several times more water than native vegetation. Replacing grass with drought-tolerant native plants, installing drip irrigation and watering efficiently are some of the simplest and most impactful ways to reduce use.
Native plants for a healthier foundation
Native plants do more than conserve water: they form the foundation of a healthy, self-sustaining landscape. These species have evolved for centuries in Montana’s mountain climate, adapting to dry summers, cold winters and thin, rocky soils. Once established, they thrive without the need for pesticides, fertilizers, or heavy watering.
Many native Montana plants are also naturally snow-tolerant, built to withstand deep snow loads and long freeze-thaw cycles that can stress nonnative ornamentals. Their deep root systems hold soil in place, prevent erosion, and filter water before it reaches our rivers.
Planting native is how we live in harmony with the land, ensuring that wildlife has food and habitat throughout the seasons. To best support biodiversity, aim for at least 70% of the plants in your yard.
By restoring native vegetation, homeowners can strengthen the local ecosystem, reduce maintenance needs and create landscapes that thrive naturally in Big Sky’s unique alpine environment.
Fire resilience
Native plants also can play a key role in fire resilience, the third pillar of Alpenscape’s landscaping philosophy. When thoughtfully placed and well maintained, native vegetation can slow the spread of fire, reduce ignition risk and help protect both homes and habitat.
Most homes are lost when embers ignite dry leaves, mulch, vents, decks or fences immediately adjacent to the house, often long before the main fire front arrives. Low branches, dense shrubs, or wooden fences connected to structures can act as “ladders,” allowing flames to move from the ground up into trees and rooftops. Dry vegetation, overgrown
shrubs and stacked firewood near buildings act like fuel.
Creating defensible space is one of the most effective ways to reduce risk. Small design changes can make a big difference. A well-maintained native landscape not only connects your property to the surrounding ecosystem, but can also serve as a natural fire buffer, helping keep your home, and your community, safer.
Alpenscapes is here to help
Alpenscapes is here to help Big Sky residents create resilient outdoor spaces through free home site visits, local resources and expert guidance from partners like Grow Wild, Big Sky Fire, Big Sky SNO and the Gallatin River Task Force. To schedule a free site visit or explore local resources, visit Alpenscapes.org
Ali Chipouras, writing on behalf of Big Sky’s Alpenscapes, is a sustainability and communications consultant with nearly a decade of experience helping organizations and communities in Montana advance their climate and resilience goals. Based in Bozeman, she enjoys spending time in the mountains.
Photo name Garden: PHOTO BY GROW WILD/ MICAH BERMAN, MBER CREATIVE
PHOTO BY GROW WILD/ MICAH BERMAN, MBER CREATIVE
Nov. 5, 6pm -
Nov. 6,
Nov.
Nov. 13, 7pm -
Nov. 19, 6pm - Belgrade Library
Nov. 20, 6pm - Bozeman Public
MONTANA’S DATA CENTER BOOM: A CROSSROADS FOR ENERGY, ECONOMY, AND COMMON SENSE
BY MAX SCHEDERBIESCHIN GUEST COLUMNIST
Data centers can bring real benefits to a community. They can create construction and technical jobs and attract supporting businesses— from fiber infrastructure to maintenance and cooling services. When structured thoughtfully, they can diversify Montana’s economy with long-term private investment.
That said, across the country, data centers are driving electricity demand and putting pressure on local grids. Developers often promise they will “pay their own way” and even bolster grid flexibility, but real-world results are varied. In some jurisdictions, consumers have seen sharp rate hikes or subsidized infrastructure costs hidden behind complex contracts.
The challenge is clear: capture data-center investment without imposing hidden burdens on everyday Montanans.
The state must ensure that electricity rates remain stable and reliable. That will require our lawmakers to put firm guardrails in place, and they need to do so immediately.
In northern Virginia, home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world, the legislature predicts that the average residential electricity bills will increase by up to $37 per month as utilities expanded infrastructure to meet data-center demand. In the 13-state PJM Interconnection region, capacity auction prices rose 82% in 2024, a spike analysts tied directly to new
data-center load and reliability pressures. Those increases flow through to consumers and small businesses—exactly the outcome Montana must work to prevent.
Montanans have ample opportunity to learn from others—and we must if we want affordable energy and good outcomes. In Loudoun County, Virginia, regulators required that infrastructure upgrades tied to data centers be funded by the data-center customers—not spread across all ratepayers. In Chelan County, Washington, Microsoft struck a deal whereby it paid $86.5 million up front to build infrastructure improvements that were needed to serve the data center. This enabled the local utility to commit to using surplus hydro capacity and solid long-term contracts to absorb large data loads without raising rates.
These examples show that when planners insist on transparency, accountability and contracts, new industrial demand need not harm existing consumers. Montana can adopt these lessons.
How we power new data centers matters. Montana and NorthWestern Energy still rely substantially on the Colstrip coal plant. Adding large new power loads could push the utility toward deeper coal reliance. Yet coal is increasingly expensive to operate. According to NorthWestern’s own 2023 data reported to the PSC, coal from the fully depreciated Colstrip plant costs $62.23/Mwh. solar plus storage systems across the U.S. are at these costs and lower today and coming down quickly.
The point here is not to debate exact figures; rather, it is to emphasize that renewable energy is a less expensive yet viable option in Montana. States like Texas, which embrace the market economy, have been adding renewable energy to their system since George W. Bush was governor.
Requiring data centers to bring their own renewable energy generation in exchange for the option to sell excess power back to the grid (which could lower costs for others), could ensure new industrial growth builds clean capacity instead of reinforcing fossil dependence.
Montana already generates more than half its electricity from renewables. While the bulk of Montana’s renewable energy comes from hydro power built last century, the state ranks among the top nationally for wind potential—estimated near 679,000 MW—and projects like the Rim Rock Wind Farm near Cut Bank (189 MW) prove large-scale renewables work here. Sunshine and geothermal potential add further upside.
By demanding transparency, cost accountability, enforceable contracts, phased growth, and renewable commitments, Montana can attract high-value industries while protecting ratepayers. Done right, the state can show that welcoming the digital future doesn’t have to mean higher bills or higher carbon—it can mean smarter energy and shared prosperity. Failing to do so will leave Montanans paying ever increasing power bills to subsidize the technology industry. We should do better by Montanans.
Please let your Public Service Commissioners hear from you. You can call them at 406-444-6199 or email them (maybe a copy of this article) at pschelp@mt.gov.
You can also let the governor’s newly formed energy task force know how you feel by submitting comments to this link or calling Christopher Wardell, public policy and government affairs officer, at 406-444-2813. Consider focusing on the governor’s stated “all of the above” approach and dig into if and how this is actually informing the task force’s conversations.
URBAN FARM
Bozeman’s Premier West-Side Investment Opportunity
Urban + Farm is a 106-acre master-planned community on Bozeman’s west side that blends modern living with the valley’s agricultural heritage. Designed around parks, trails, and shared spaces, it promotes walkability, sustainability, and authentic community connection. Offering residential, multi-family, and commercial parcels, Urban + Farm is set to become the vibrant new heart of Bozeman’s fastest-growing corridor.
A LA CARTE: TUTTI BENE LOOMS LARGE ON BOZEMAN’S MAIN STREET
BY RACHEL HERGETT EBS COLUMNIST
A line of poetry keeps going through my head. It’s Walt Whitman, from “Song of Myself.” “I am large. I contain multitudes,” Whitman writes as an aside in this section of “Leaves of Grass,” first published in 1855.
Though Whitman—at nearly six feet tall—was statuesque for a man in mid 19th century America, he was not speaking to the physical. To be large here is to embrace the complexities of humanity and vastness of our experience
So what has me thinking about Whitman today? It’s an appetizer, or rather an amuse-bouche—a single-bite served by chefs before a meal to wake up the palate. Its apt name means “amuse the mouth” in French.
This amuse-bouche was the most precious crostini, only about a centimeter square, topped with a cheese sauce and a tiny onion that was roasted until bursting with sweetness. It was miniscule and unassuming, mostly brown with only a couple micro greens on top to break up the monotone. And yet, in the mouth it was large. The flavors exploded, lingered, melded and contrasted.
This amuse-bouche was very much an indicator of what was to come at my first meal at Tutti Bene in downtown Bozeman. The eatery touts itself as “refined Italian” and opened in the Baltimore Building at 224 E. Main St. in September. Under the guidance of executive chef and general manager Cesare Lanfranconi, it has become Bozeman’s hottest new restaurant. If you would like a reservation, start looking at your calendar for January or February.
For my date, I chose Kathy, my second mother and former cooking club partner, who loves food as
much as I do and is willing to try most anything. We mainly had trouble whittling down the options, ultimately deciding that we would happily eat any dish from the menu if our stomachs were large enough to hold it. Tutti Bene’s menu feels extensive, with two pages featuring sections of “Carpaccio & Crudo,” “Antipasto,” and “Zuppa, Pasta & Risotto” before you even make it to the main dishes and steaks. I overheard our waitress describe the ravioli to the table to my right, clocking how her eyes lit up and she gushed over the dish, and added it to our planned order.
We chose the bison carpaccio to start. The meat was sliced so thin it was almost overpowered by its bed of dressed arugula. Almost. By the end, having discovered some thicker slices, I was marveling in the flavor meld between the marbled meat, mustard aioli, and wispy grated cheese melting in my mouth.
Next came the grilled octopus. For Americans, Kathy and I are both fairly well traveled. She was wary of ordering the dish, having spent much of the summer on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean. How could this octopus possibly compare to those served oceanside. For me, it has been years since I have had grilled octopus done well.
This octopus was done well. Somehow Chef Cesare’s team pulled off perfection, and the best octopus either of us have eaten. The cookery alone is worthy of mention, with not a hint of chewiness throughout. Instead, the crispy grilled exterior gave way to the most tender octopus I’ve ever experienced. It was a bit of a marvel, actually, and beautifully paired with a warm potato salad with olives, grilled lemon and Calabrian chilis.
Next up were the pasta-type dishes, which were offered in small and large portions, and allowed us to try a trio that included the lobster risotto, pumpkin gnocchi and that roasted guinea hen ravioli that had the waitress aflutter.
Unexpectedly, the lobster risotto let us down. The menu touted Maine lobster, aged Carnaroli rice and a Parmigiano cheese aged for two years. The lobster was tender, the rice had that classic Italian al
dente bite, but the dish still did not come together well. The lobster flavor was rich to the point of overpowering and it didn’t have the layers of flavors apparent in every other dish. It was the only plate we didn’t lick clean.
While most of my readers know my aversion to eating steak in restaurants, I did appreciate the explanation of the cookery and use of local producers. Then I ordered the veal Marsala, in part to try some mushrooms from those the restaurant grows on site. I suggest asking for wine pairings with each dish, as there seems to be a master sommelier at work. We tried the Costamolino Vermentino with the octopus and the No Name Nebbiolo with the veal, and with each I was surprised and delighted at how well the flavors of the wine brought out the food and vice versa.
Finally, and seemingly full, we come to dessert. Though there is a little surprise here too—a pair of small shortbread cookies—I can’t help but order the tiramisu. It was, as advertised, an entirely classic rendition. Then, the table to my left, which happened to include a friend and master mixologist from a restaurant down the street, ordered the zeppole. I found room to try one when it was offered, and was not disappointed.
Then, their waitress began bringing a variety of house-made gelatos. And I, being very unshy, asked for a spoon. We tried the coffee flavor, which felt like a frappe. Then came lemon, which packed a bite of tartness and would have made an excellent palate cleanser between courses. And finally, a blackberry that had everyone gushing. This gelato tasted like a jam, with an intense berry flavor that made it unanimously the standout dessert.
That dish brings back thoughts of Whitman. It was a single scoop of blackberry gelato in a dish. And yet, it was large.
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.
Grilled octopus
FY26 Commitments
Grant allocations were finalized on October 23, concluding the year-long process to establish the Big Sky Resort Area District FY26 budget. Resort Tax collections support core commitments, including essential services, infrastructure, operations, and reserves. Remaining funds are then allocated through the Annual Grant Cycle across eight community impact areas.
For FY26, the District committed $20,322,080 to community priorities
GOVERNMENT
$11,597,570
Local government entities provide essential community services such as public safety, transit, water & sewer, which are traditionally funded through property taxes, fees, and assessments.
NONPROFIT
$8,724,510
Nonprofit organizations are responsible for projects that address a wide range of community needs from childcare and housing to recreation and conservation and more.
BY NIELSEN GREINER EBS COLUMNIST
Editor’s note: Ski Town Vignettes is a new monthly series taking a creative look at life in the mountains, including some elements unique to Big Sky.
It’s a Sunday in midOctober. I sleep in and wake up to a few new inches of overnight snow, seen through the window opposite the bed when I open my eyes.
I take it slow—coffee, morning pages, more coffee, silence, stretching, pancakes—then leave the house for a walk, my body pulsing with the low-grade but steady beat of anxiety.
If you’re like me, you do fine for a while until comes a day or two—or three or more—when all the hard stuff catches up with you; you recognize it, name it, and allow yourself to sit within it, hoping it passes through like a wave, from trough to crest to trough, and then calm again. You wonder what you’ll do and how you’ll manage if it stays.
I walk. The trees are raining clumps of melting wet snow. I go to the end of my dead-end street lined with Douglas firs and lodgepole pines and sparse aspens and turn around. I glance out past the trees to the open meadows of Porcupine Creek, the point of Ramshorn Peak above and the jagged ridge below it; all is speckled white. I am a little better now. I pass the driveway and keep walking.
I don’t know if anything brings me as much peace as the sight of snow on evergreens, or makes me as glad as the sound of happy birds singing from and flying between branches. Noisy clusters of chickadees, nuthatches and juncos. Chuckling robins. A Townsend solitaire belting its melody from a treetop.
All around, the trees are raining. A few buckling aspens wish they would have lost their leaves a little sooner. Stout Douglas firs are not at all phased by the sudden weight of new snow.
Every time I go outside, it’s a small salvation. Nature offers an embrace I receive nowhere else.
When I walk back through the door to the tiled mudroom all the hard stuff might be waiting for me, but I couldn’t imagine facing it without the moments and fresh memories of nature’s small salvations that sustain me.
It could be something about its constancy, the way it stays the same for you whenever you come back, no matter how much has changed.
It doesn’t ask anything of you but gives and gives and gives. It’s not conditional like everything and everyone else, and all you need to do is put on your shoes and show up for a little while. It loves being that beauty for which you do nothing to deserve or create.
How desperately we need this gift.
I turn off the wet road and cut through a gap between the jack-legged fencing, climb over a log fence further down and walk towards my apartment, a soft crunch as I step on the snow covering the flattened native grass. I follow a faint game trail with dark droppings up the slippery bank and reach my door, open it up and return to life as I left it.
For at least a little while, I am a little more whole.
I hope nature’s small salvations carry you through the rest of your days in just this way.
Nielsen Greiner is an aspiring writer and outdoor enthusiast based in Big Sky. He loves snowboarding and splitboarding, mountain biking, long day hikes and truck camping in the woods, and has a thing for books, coffee, trees and birds. This summer, Nielsen lived out of his truck while traveling through Canada and Alaska for two months. To read more, visit nielseninthewild.com.
500 years ago, at least 30 million bison roamed the plains. That number is now less than 30,000. The depletion of free range bison has been attributed to:
•Decades of over-exploitation
•Decline in genetic diversity
•Habitat loss
•Human Interaction Yellowstone National Park boasts the nation's largest free range buffalo herd, but only two others remain - the Henry’s Mountains and Book Cliffs herds, both in southern Utah.
American Bison // Bison bison
NEW HOSPITALITY GROUP TO REOPEN BUCK’S RESTAURANT, MANAGE BLOCK 3 AND TIPS UP
EBS STAFF
Buck’s Roadhouse, formerly Buck’s T-4 until closure in September 2023, finally has a concrete plan to reopen after a multi-year closure, as owner Lone Mountain Land Company has found the “perfect partner” it was looking for.
Hospitality group Apres Cru will assume operations of Buck’s, as well as Block 3 and Tips Up in Town Center, with the goal of bringing “renewed energy and thoughtful stewardship” to the Big Sky restaurants, according to an Oct. 21 press release from LMLC.
Apres Cru operates locations across the U.S. and Mexico, with partnerships including Coachella, Auberge Resorts and jetBlue. The firm prides itself on creating community-driven restaurants and bars and aims to preserve the legacy and character of Buck’s while introducing modern touches, and to bring “renewed focus” to Block 3 and Tips Up.
“It’s important to us that we honor a sense of place and community in our restaurants, so we’re especially excited about this project and the rich history of this incredibly special mountain town,” Sabato Sagaria, managing partner with Apres Cru, stated in the release.
“… We’re looking forward to being part of this amazing community and bringing our signature hospitality to Big Sky.”
Buck’s is planned to reopen before the end of 2025, and LMLC will share more updates by the end of November. Community members are encouraged to share questions or concerns via email to info@ lonemountainland.com, according to the release.
“Apres Cru shares our vision for authentic, highquality hospitality that serves both locals and visitors,” stated John Speers, LMLC’s executive vice president of hospitality operations. “Their respect for Buck’s past and commitment to communitybased operations make them an exciting partner for energizing these dining outlets in our community.”
Renovated over the past two years including the construction of employee housing onsite, and rebranded to "Buck's Roadhouse," Buck's T-4 is one of Big Sky's oldest businesses. PHOTO BY JACK REANEY
IT’S TIME TO PROTECT
THE ELK AND DEER HERDS OF GALLATIN GATEWAY AND BIG SKY
3,562
Deer and Elk were killed by vehicles in Gallatin County since 2008.
PRIORITIZE WILDLIFE CROSSING SOLUTIONS. SUPPORT AND DONATE TODAY.
BACK 40
‘THE
For Explore Big Sky, the Back 40 is a resource: a place where we can delve into subjects and ask experts to share their knowledge. Here, we highlight stories from our
NEW YELLOWSTONE WOLF ERA’ WALKING IN 30 YEARS OF WOLF TRACKS
BY SOPHIE TSAIRIS
This story has been shortened for print. The full version can be found in the summer 2025 issue of Mountain Outlaw, at mtoutlaw.com
On Jan. 12, 1995, paws in shades of gray pressed into the frozen ground at Crystal Creek in Yellowstone National Park, leaving prints in the snow hardly seen in that landscape for nearly 70 years. The tale of wolves in and around Yellowstone has been a winding one, with the reintroduction of the species to the park 30 years ago marking one of its most significant turns. In recognition of three decades since the fateful reintroduction, we bring you stories of three wolves that offer insight into how these animals relate to this landscape—and how we relate to them.
The White Wolf: Fomenting Hostility
In the early 1900s, a ghost appeared in the rolling prairies and rugged mountains of Judith Basin, Montana. This specter wasn’t supernatural, but rather a creature of flesh and blood that seemed to possess a mythical ability to vanish into thin air. He came to be known near and far—revered and feared—as the White Wolf.
First spotted as a snow-colored pup near Square Butte in 1915, this lone wolf would go on to haunt Central Montana for nearly two decades. Sightings of the wolf were reported all the way from the Little Rockies in the north to the Big Belt Mountains in the south. To the ranchers whose livelihoods depended on their livestock, he was a devastating predator wreaking havoc on sheep and cattle. But even to the stockmen that loathed him, he embodied what had, in part, drawn them to the West in the first place: wild mystique, cunning and unbridled freedom.
In 1926, rancher Earl Neill managed what no one else had—he wounded the elusive wolf with a shot to the hind leg. Maimed but alive, the wolf disappeared once more into the landscape. An article in the Choteau Acantha dated April 3, 1930, chronicled J. William’s account of the wolf from the winter of 1923: “It was about this time I began to notice one particular wolf, which from his habit of following the highway most of the time, I began to refer to as the roadrunner. This is the wolf that has been receiving so much attention the last year and has been referred to as the white killer. A reward is offered for his capture … he was shot once and crippled by Earl Neill of Windham but managed to escape to the mountains and outwit his pursuer, who followed him for the next few days … he has been shot at a number of times by good hunters but has always managed to escape. At first he was lucky in dodging traps but soon he became, I believe, the wisest wolf in the state.”
Four years later, A.V. Chaney and his five Russian wolfhounds cornered the White Wolf near Geyser, where Chaney attempted to rope the animal. Once again, the wolf escaped, despite his age and limp, slipping the noose and wounding two of the hounds before disappearing.
SINCE THE SPECIES’ REINTRODUCTION
The local “wolf war” caught the attention of the Associated Press, and soon the story of Montana’s ghost wolf went national. Professional hunters and trappers descended on Judith Basin, drawn by hefty rewards and the challenge of capturing an animal that had become legendary. They came with horses and snowshoes, planes and dogs, to test their skills against the wolf’s. In bars and saloons around central Montana, the wolf’s exceptional intelligence became the subject of conversation, lore and wagers.
On May 5, 1930, Neill, who had wounded the wolf years before, spotted the aging wolf once again. Along with his neighbor, Al Close, and two dogs, Neill gave chase. The hounds finally cornered the wolf in a dense patch of fir, and Close, taking aim from 40 yards away, ended the legendary animal’s long reign.
On May 11, 1930, Elva Wineman, who covered much of the White Wolf’s life for several news outlets, wrote in Lewistown’s Democrat News, “As he lived, bold, courageous, arrogant, flaunting his contempt for man and beast alike—so he died, head up, facing the rifle unflinching and fearless.”
When the body was examined, they found an animal that weighed 83 pounds and measured 6 feet from nose to tail. His teeth were chipped and worn from years of survival. At an estimated 18 years old, he far exceeded what was a 10-year average lifespan of a wolf at the time. The stockmen who had cursed his name for so many years found themselves unable to forget such a worthy adversary. In death, the White Wolf achieved a different kind of immortality— mounted and displayed at the Basin Trading Post in Stanford, Montana.
Years after that final hunt, Al Close would recall the moment before he pulled the trigger: “I almost didn’t shoot because I thought, ‘What a shame to kill such a smart fellow.’ It was the hardest thing I think I ever did. I knew it was the cruel nature of the wilderness, the fight for survival that had made him the ferocious hunter that he was. But I came to and let the bullet fly fairly into the face of the old criminal.”
In a final gesture of respect, the Judith Basin Stockman’s Association raised money to have the wolf mounted for permanent display at the Judith County Courthouse, where he remained for 60 years. In 2017, the White Wolf was inducted into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame.
The reign of the White Wolf marked a period in Montana’s history when wolves were considered “a decided menace to the herds of elk, deer, mountain sheep, and antelope,” according to the 1915 Yellowstone Superintendent Annual Report, and efforts to “exterminate” the population were underway. Between 1914 and 1926, at least 136 wolves, including about 80 pups, were removed from dens, trapped, shot and poisoned in Yellowstone National Park.
Once among the most abundant predators in North America, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates through genetic data and extrapolations of wolf densities that likely hundreds of thousands of gray wolves had
inhabited the continent from coast to coast when Europeans arrived in the 1500s. But it took just a couple of centuries for humans to systematically hunt and trap the apex predator out of existence, wiping out 95 percent of their historic range by the mid-20th century. According to Yellowstone National Park, an intensive survey in the 1970s found no evidence of a resident population of wolves in the park, with the exception of occasional sightings, but no breeding pairs were confirmed.
During the 1980s, wolves began to reestablish breeding packs in northwestern Montana, with 5060 wolves reported by 1994. Around the same time, public attitudes shifted enough to sway politics toward wolf recovery with human intervention. Under the protections of the Endangered Species Act and some 80 years after the White Wolf was first spotted as a pup, on January 12, 1995, eight gray wolves were released into holding pens in the Lamar Valley of northern Yellowstone National Park. A new chapter in the complex story of wolves in the American West was about to begin.
Wolf No. 9: The Reintroduction Years
Doug Smith was kneeling on the ground, concentrating on disarming a leg-hold trap, when he felt eyes on him. Looking up, he found himself face-to-face with a wolf, just a few feet away, staring at him through the chain-link fence.
It was 1995, and the wolf was female No. 9, one of the wolves reintroduced to the park in the ’90s. As a wildlife biologist, Smith had extensive experience with wolves, even hand-rearing a couple of pups himself as a “wolf mother” while interning at a captive research facility in Indiana early in his career. He continued as lead biologist for the Yellowstone Wolf Project for several decades after helping to reintroduce those first wolves, but this interaction with No. 9 felt like nothing else he’d experienced.
“I had this moment alone with a wild wolf,” Smith said, recalling the day he released her from her holding pen for the second time. “When we cut her loose that October of ’95, she became a free wolf for good—but you get a special bond forever.” That unexpected connection became one of the defining moments in Smith’s 28-year career as Yellowstone’s wolf biologist, and Wolf No. 9 would go on to become one of the most influential matriarchs in the park’s wolf restoration effort.
The 14 gray wolves arrived in Yellowstone that January after countless bureaucratic battles to get them transplanted from the Canadian Rockies. They were carried in crates by then-U.S Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Mollie Beatty and Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Mike Finley, and placed in holding pens in the Lamar Valley before eventually being released into the wild. Over the course of two years, 31 wolves would be introduced to Yellowstone, eliciting mixed responses from the public, and some biologists who believed wolves would have made their way back to the region on their own.
Smith remembers the sensation they inspired. “It’s truly one of those things when someone walks in the room and the vibe changes,” he said. “These
Noun: wild or rough terrain adjacent to a developed area Origin: shortened form of “back 40 acres”
wolves were like royalty.” Transported in crates on a horse trailer, the wolves became instant celebrities, with visitors rushing to take photos beside the trailer whenever it stopped.
The reintroduction team placed the wolves in acclimation pens—a strategy designed to break the “homing response” that might cause them to attempt returning to their capture locations. The pens needed to be far enough from roads to shield the wolves from human disturbance, yet accessible enough for feeding and monitoring.
“The first winter we were so worried about people killing them,” Smith said. Anti-wolf sentiment ran high, prompting 24-hour surveillance of the pens. “Even back then there were so many people with strong feelings against wolves.”
At 18, Smith secured positions at Wolf Park in Indiana and later as a field technician at Isle Royale. By the time the Yellowstone reintroduction began, Smith brought 15 years of wolf experience to the project.
Among the reintroduced wolves, Smith formed his strongest bond with No. 9, a Northern Range wolf. The accessibility of her territory allowed him to know her better than most. Her story took a dramatic turn when, after being released and crossing the Beartooth Plateau, she had a litter of pups, only to lose her mate, Wolf No. 10, who was shot down by a man who claimed he thought it was a wild dog. He was the first reintroduced Yellowstone wolf to die.
In "Decade of the Wolf," Smith and co-author Gary Ferguson describe how No. 9 waited loyally for her mate to return. When he didn’t come back, she gave birth to a litter of pups under a large Douglas fir— “the first sizeable litter of pups born in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in some seventy years.”
The mother wolf moved each pup individually to a safer location high on a nearby mountain in a jumble of rocks. In what was very likely a lifesaving decision, then-director of the Wolf Project Mike Phillips called for the re-capture of No. 9 and her eight pups and returned them to the acclimation pen in the Lamar Valley.
Smith spent months horse packing up to feed them twice weekly. On one such occasion, a windstorm knocked trees onto the pen, creating gaps, and the pups escaped. Doing what any 3-month-old pups would, the litter quickly took to exploring the area around the pen, using the perimeter of the chainlink fence as a racecourse. Smith and his team set rubber-padded leg-hold traps to recapture them, eventually retrieving all but two. It was during this period that Smith had his memorable encounter with No. 9, made particularly momentous by the scheduled visit of President Clinton, the First Lady, and their daughter, who were coming to see the wolves. Smith had gone to the pen early that morning to disarm the traps, concerned about the possibility of one of the guests stepping in one. Usually, when humans were around, the wolves would stay to the very back of the 1-acre fence, as far away as possible, Smith explained.
“I’m down on my hands and knees digging this trap up and dealing with it, and when I looked up, there was No. 9 just a couple feet away, just staring at me.”
When No. 9 was finally re-released for good in October 1995, she became a foundational figure in Yellowstone’s wolf restoration. Her eight pups and their subsequent offspring established new packs throughout the park’s available habitat.
As the wolf aged, Smith made the compassionate decision not to recapture her when her tracking
collar failed. “She was graying,” he said. “It got harder and harder to catch the wolves because you run them down with a helicopter—you’re chasing them and they’re running for their life, and I just started feeling bad about it. I even remember back then seeing her from the airplane going ‘I don’t know if I want to catch her again.’” Because of this decision, the exact end of No. 9’s story remains unknown—a dignified conclusion for a wolf who helped reshape an ecosystem.
Despite current challenges, and what Smith calls “a return to war on wolves,” his memories of Wolf No. 9 and her contribution to what he called “the New Yellowstone Wolf Era” remain a powerful reminder of what was accomplished 30 years ago.
1479: A Controversial Conservation Legacy
In this 30th anniversary year of wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone, Canis lupus remains a hot rod for debate about conservation, predator tolerance and coexistence. Wolves have always been the West’s complicated neighbors—inspiring awe, fear and deep-rooted antipathy.
As of January 2024, there were an estimated 110 wolves across 9 packs in Yellowstone National Park. The park wolves are at the center of a larger population connected throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. While protected in the park, wolves who cross the imaginary boundary are managed by the states with varying policies—and tolerances—and often killed by hunters, poachers or because of livestock predation. The Northern Rocky population of gray wolves has been delisted from the Endangered Species List since 2017; wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are no longer protected by the Endangered Species Act. While the number of annual wolf mortality varies upon year, state, and accuracy of reports, several hundred wolves are killed by humans each year in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
Within the park today, the average lifespan of a wolf is 3.5 to 4 years. Rick McIntyre, longtime Yellowstone naturalist and author of the book series Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone said approximately 50 percent of deaths inside the park are caused by fights with other wolves.
One such wolf was 907F, the revered alpha of Yellowstone’s Junction Butte Pack who died on Christmas Day 2024 following injuries sustained in
a fight with the Rescue Creek Pack. She was nearly 12 years old.
Despite losing an eye early in life and developing a limp in her later years, 907F led her pack since 2016, birthing 10 litters of pups, the most ever recorded in the park’s history. She bore her last litter in the spring of ’24—only one pup emerged from the den.
Now nearly 2 years old, that pup —Wolf 1479— has big shoes to fill as the only survivor of the famed and recently deceased matriarch’s final litter. McIntyre observed 1479 grow up without the normal play and social interactions involved with having siblings or littermates.
“You could compare it to an only child that grows up in a neighborhood with no other kids their age,” he said. “In some ways she was deprived in that regard, but on the other hand, there were a lot of yearlings that spring and summer and they played with her. She also received a lot of attention from her mother.” McIntyre explained that social and leadership skills are what often determine who becomes alpha rather than physical battles of strength. “I often tell people that there are no two species on earth as similar in social behavior as people and wolves,” he said.
In the battle that lost 907 her life, many other Junction Pack wolves also died, likely including the pack’s alpha male.
“We saw the Junction Pack yesterday on March 20,” McIntyre said. “They number 11 now, with six that were born to the pack, three adults and three pups. Five adult males from the Rescue Pack have joined the group, bringing new vigor.”
McIntyre said Wolf 1479, now a young adult, has only two other older females above her in the pack hierarchy. He thinks it’s very possible that she will eventually take 907’s place as alpha female of the Junction Pack, continuing her mother’s legacy.
These dynamics among the Yellowstone wolves are natural threads woven into the ecosystem’s wild patchwork. But the patchwork is expanding, with a new color thread represented by the increasing— and increasingly deathly—interactions between wolves and the human world. Wolf 907F played an integral role in the species’ Yellowstone-based drama of the wild, but her youngest offspring’s fate could very well take a different turn, one greatly determined in myriad court cases and legislative actions, as well as by polarized public perceptions.
Thirty years after the reintroduction, it’s easy to forget such a milestone was the product of battles reminiscent of those surrounding wolves still today: What began as a congressional directive in 1988 took six years of exhaustive research, countless public hearings and unprecedented community engagement before wolves were returned to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. And even so, it was not the end of the story. As Smith wrote in Decade of the Wolf, the battle for sustained wolf conservation was far from won.
“When it comes to attitudes about the wolf, especially outside the national parks, on some days it seems little has changed at all in the past sixteen years,” he wrote in the 2012 book. “The animals continue to find themselves in an angry ping-pong game of politics, the result of their kind being neither fully predictable, nor always well behaved.”
Three decades ago, the howl returned to Yellowstone, but we have yet to see if the coming decades will retain such a sound, or merely an echo.
Sophie Tsairis is the deputy editor of Mountain Outlaw.
A Yellowstone wolf pack traverses through snow in Hayden Valley. PHOTO BY ASHTON HOOKER/NPS
