Grassroots education: Montana Range Days returning to Miles City June 23-25 

Most successful ranchers will say they don’t raise cattle – they raise grass.  

Montana Range Days will be held for a second year in Miles City on June 23-25 and offers participants of all ages the opportunity to learn about not just grass – but the entire rangeland ecosystem. The three-day event will include tours, workshops and competitions for adults down to 4 years old.  

“Rangelands are Montana’s largest natural resource and cover more than 70 percent of our state,” said Colter Brown, ag director for Northern Ag Network in Billings, Montana, and secretary and acting chairman of Montana Range Days committee. “Our rangelands are certainly an economic driver in rural Montana – they keep our ecosystem together and generate revenue by feeding cattle and sheep to drive our state economy, in addition to supporting wildlife.”  

By moving the event to different locations around Montana, with a two-year duration at each stop, attendees get to see different plant species and ecosystems. The state steering committee works with a local host committee that does the legwork to pull it off, said Brown. 

The event kicks off on Monday afternoon, June 23, with registration, time to visit the practice site, the illustrated talk contest and a tour of the local Tongue River Winery.  

Tuesday, following a hearty breakfast, participants board buses for the “guts” of Range Days – a full day of field workshops near Woodruff Park east of Miles City. High school students and adults rotate through stations on range plant anatomy and plant identification, soil type and ecological site determination, range inventory and monitoring, range planning, including fencing, water development and weed and wildlife management, and financial management of ranch operations.  

“This year’s learning site is a completely different type of ecological site than what we offered last year, and it will showcase that Eastern Montana really does have trees, not just plains,” said Whitney Hickey, co-chair of the local committee. “Our local rangeland is full of surprises when it comes to soil, grasses, and ecological sites that can only be found in our part of the state.” 

A separate 6-hour tour will be offered on Tuesday to the Pumpkin Creek BLM Restoration Area south of Miles City, and an evening tour is available to local Otium Brewery. 

Wednesday morning is the competition, where participants rotate through stations to be tested on the same content they studied the day before. Age groups include adults, ranchers, youth (for high school through age 19), Wrangler (ages 12-13), Superstarter (ages 9-11), Eco Explorer (ages 7-8) and Buckaroo (ages 4-6). A tour is also available to the USDA-ARS Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory. The afternoon includes visits to the Range Riders Museum and free time before the awards, which include Montana Silversmith belt buckles as top category awards. After 48 years of Montana Range Days, many Montanans recall with pride receiving top awards in the youth categories, and some adults still partake in a little friendly competition. 

Brown said he grew up going to Montana Range Days with his family and continues to stay involved because of what he learned and the memories made. And did he win a buckle? He did, he said with a smile, when asked. In 2007, he was named the Top Rangehand and certainly remembers his award well. “I appreciate being able to give back to this organization now, and keep this event continuing,” said Brown.  

“Montana Range Days strives to be family friendly, and we welcome teams and individuals of all ages, feed them, teach them, introduce them to new friends and mentors, and make sure there is lots of time for fun and play,” said Jen Muscha, who also co-chairs the event. Many groups camp out for the duration. Instruction is provided by range professionals from Natural Resources Conservations Service, Bureau of Land Management, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, conservation districts, University Extension and ranchers.  

“Many ranchers attend because they know Montana Range Days provides opportunities to keep their skills sharp, and vocational ag teachers rely on the event as an annual opportunity for range education, which is provided less and less in their official training but is still very important to the communities they serve,” said Muscha. Average attendance of the event ranges from 200-300 people. 

Devin Solle, 13, of Terry, Montana, has taken range management for three years in 4-H and works on his family ranch with his parents, Alroy and Tasha. He attended his first Range Days last year at the encouragement of his neighbor and range mentor, Cindy Tusler, and placed third as an individual in his age group. He plans to attend again this year. 

“I think it’s important to know about range management so people don’t overgraze or undergraze, and if they have an invasive species of plant, they can get rid of it. You don’t want to mistake another yellow flower for spurge, or a Canadian thistle for bull thistle,” he said. 

His favorite station was plant identification, but he also enjoyed seeing friends from other 4-H events and had a good time on the climbing wall provided by the Montana Army National Guard, eating lunch out on the prairie, and going to the dance.  

Montana Range Days grew out of a vibrant history of grass-roots local and county range tours in Montana, with the enthusiastic support of 4-H and FFA leaders and youth. The first event was held in Jordan, Montana in 1977. The leadership of Sam Short, an NRCS range conservationist, and promotion by Conrad Burns and Taylor Brown of Northern Ag Network kept up the momentum. Next year the 50th anniversary of Montana Range Days will be held in Malta.  

June weather in Montana can be unpredictable, but “the event goes on rain or shine,” said Brown. “Some of the biggest June rains I’ve seen have happened during Range Days, which causes us to get creative with our workshops and contests. I like to tell prospective host communities that more often than not we bring rain, so it can turn into ‘Montana Rain Days.'” Despite causing operational inconveniences, to a group of range managers rain is never a bad thing. 

Longtime supporters of Montana Range Days include FFA, 4-H, Farm Bureau, Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana CattleWomen, Montana Woolgrowers, Association of State Grazing Districts, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, USDA NRCS Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, Montana Land Reliance, the Society for Range Management, Stockman Bank, Northwest Farm Credit Services, Montana Livestock Ag Credit, Great Northern Properties, Murdoch’s and Northern Ag Network. 

The main event will be held at the Custer County Event Center in Miles City. Registration is $60 per participant with five meals included and $120 per family group of up to four people. Tour costs are a small additional charge. Interested participants should check with their local conservation districts, as they may be willing to help with registration costs. For more details and to register visit http://www.montanarangedays.org or find Montana Range Days on Facebook. Prices go up after June 9.