Steve Wanderaas (McCone CD), Dean Rogge (Garfield CD), Rachel Frost (MRCDC Coordinator), Lesley Robinson (Phillips County Commissioner), Elena Evans (MACD Executive Director), and Carl Seilstad (Fergus County Commissioner) outside the Regional Offices of the US FWS in Denver.
A group of Montana folks representing 4 counties as Conservation District Supervisors and County Commissioners traveled to Denver on January 26th to meet with leaders in the Mountain-Prairie Region of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Dean Rogge from Garfield County Conservation District, and Steve Wanderaas of McCone County Conservation District, traveled with Missouri River Conservation Districts Council (MRCDC) Coordinator Rachel Frost, Montana Association of Conservation Districts Executive Director Elena Evans, Phillips County Commissioner and local rancher Lesley Robinson, and Fergus County Commissioner Carl Seilstad to the Mile High City. There they met with Noreen Walsh, Regional Director; Matt Hogan, Deputy Regional Director; Will Meeks, Assistant Regional Director of Refuges; and Mike Blenden, Refuge Supervisor for Montana, Wyoming and Utah to discuss locally-led conservation efforts in Montana.
The purpose of the visit was to highlight the success of current locally-led conservation efforts, and to provide local insight on the socially complex issues of bison, endangered species, and changing land use. With both County Commissioners and Conservation District Supervisors in attendance, the group was capable of conveying the broad range of indirect effects that regulatory uncertainty and conservation efforts without local support can provoke in communities.
The attendees described efforts such as the CMR Community Working Group which is a stakeholder group dedicated to enhancing the vitality of the region surrounding the CMR NWR, the Montana Saltcedar Team which is a collaborative approach to prioritizing and treating saltcedar infestations in the Missouri and Musselshell watersheds, and the Montana Rangelands Partnership, which is a public/private partnership to bring technical assistance and uniformity among agencies to rangeland monitoring and whole ranch planning. Efforts such as these and many other examples of locally led conservation practices were described demonstrating the resourcefulness of local communities to work together to solve their natural resource problems.
Along with all the good things that are currently happening in Montana, the group had the opportunity to provide insight on the challenges that conservation efforts are facing. Regional leaders were made aware of the constant pressure on local landowners and how pushing a single species or agenda too strongly can result in lost conservation opportunities across the broader landscape. Landowners expressed their desire to be included in the data collection, interpretation, and decision making efforts of the service and advocated for better communication regarding future petitions of species for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
“For any conservation effort to be successful, it has to have local buy-in and support”, Dean Rogge advocates. Conservation does not always have to be a big endeavor fueled by lots of money; and is often more successful as a local endeavor fueled by the passion of people who care for the land and respect the local economy and culture.
The group concluded by inviting the Regional leadership to Montana, to attend local working groups, and visit personally with local conservation districts and engaged landowners. Walsh expressed her desire to meet with local landowners and thanked the group for making the effort to travel to Denver to reach out and maintain communication. We will try to make that happen with a formal invite this spring. This trip was also an opportunity for us to show our appreciation for those local agency employees who work with conservation districts and county government to find solutions to natural resource issues that work for everyone. However, sometimes the local agency employees do not receive funding or political support from their supervisors for locally important projects. This can prevent their participation, end the project, and in some cases, damage the relationship between the local agency office and the community. It is our belief that visiting directly with the upper-level management of agencies will encourage them to provide the needed support to local agency offices to work more cooperatively with Conservation Districts and county government. It is good practice to remind the Regional leadership of agencies that decisions they make can have impacts on local communities far outside the confines of their agency. When the federal government makes better decisions by using the input of local people, all of Montana benefits through decision that are more sound, take into account more factors, and focus on sustainability.
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) honored conservation leaders at an awards banquet during the 2016 NACD Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada.
 Lee McDaniel, NACD president, left, and Jason Weller, NRCS chief, right, present Larry “Skip” and Diane Ahlgren of Winnett, Mont., with the Olin Sims Conservation Leadership Award. |
The NACD/NRCS Olin Sims Conservation Leadership Award was presented by Jason Weller, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Lee McDaniel, NACD president, to Larry “Skip” Ahlgren and Diane Ahlgren of Winnett, Mont. The Ahlgrens were recognized for their superior service to the conservation community and commitment to promoting and leading conservation on private lands. Diane serves on the Rangeland Resources Executive Committee for the Montana Department of Natural Resources. Larry serves as secretary/treasurer for the Grass Range Grazing District, as one of the directors of the Williams Coulee Grazing District, and on the board of directors for the Montana Association of State Grazing Districts. The Ahlgrens ranch and produce cattle on their land in eastern Montana.
NACD/NRCS Olin Sims Conservation Leadership Award recognizes outstanding conservation leadership at the state and local level. The award is named after Olin Sims, former NACD president and rancher from McFadden, Wyo., who had many years of distinguished volunteer service to conservation at the state and national level.
Wed Dec 30 11:45:00 MST 2015
Through the Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is offering a cost-share opportunity in 17 priority counties to assist agricultural producers who enroll private and state trust lands in the federal Conservation Reserve Program.
Producers may improve their CRP ranking by planting high-scoring seed mixtures—such as CP 2 and CP 25—that provide the greatest benefits to upland game birds. These seed mixes consist of a larger number of native grasses and forbs but may be more costly to the producer.
Eligible producers may enroll up to 640 acres of CRP for cost-share. The program pays up to 35 percent seed cost-share, but not more than $30 per acre. The priority counties eligible for FWP’s cost-share program are: Cascade, Chouteau, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Fergus, Glacier, McCone, Pondera, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Teton, Toole, Valley, and Wibaux.
Enrolled producers agree to free public upland game bird hunting and no emergency haying or grazing of their enrolled CRP that is in addition to scheduled maintenance.
For more program information and an online application form, visit FWP’s web site at fwp.mt.gov and search “Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program.” Click on Habitat Enhancement for information and a CRP seed cost-share application.
Mail applications by March 7, 2016 to: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks – Wildlife Division; P.O. Box 200701; Helena, MT 59620.
For more information, contact Debbie Hohler at 406-444-5674, or email to dhohler@mt.gov.
See the CMR CWG Past, Present and Future Presentation from the Zortman Meeting
No, we didn’t have the meeting in Zortman, but I still wanted to share our celebration of the accomplishments of the CMR CWG over the last five years. You can view the full presentation online. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed making it. Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Happy New Year!
McCone Conservation District 