"Bison and Bee Habitat" project expands to MontanA
In May of 2024 Spring was springing a few weeks behind in Montana. I was rattling around in the camper van, waiting for the flowers and the bees to pop out; getting in some trail runs with Midgie, spending time laptopping away in friends' driveways in Missoula, and also taking road trips around the state to connect with a few ranchers working on the cutting edge of innovative conservation and coexistence projects.
One such rancher was Matt Skoglund of North Bridger Bison. A few years ago Matt and his wife, Sarah, mailed me the most dear care package after seeing that I was doing some work in their neck of the woods. A tee shirt, some stickers, and a kind and welcoming card extending the invitation to come over for a visit anytime. I have an actual list of ranchers I want to pop in on, and they were added to it.
The stars aligned when my buddy Zack Altman, producer of the Working Wild U podcast, wanted to meet up at North Bridger Bison to talk about pollinators and the "working wild" with Matt and I.
I spent a few hours driving around the ranch with Matt and learning his unique story and how he made the transition from environmental law to first generation bison rancher. I had a million and one questions about ranch management, acres, herd size, wildlife co-existence, on-ranch slaughter and butchery, profitability, and Matt’s environmental ethics. He was so generous and transparent with his answers – and was happy to repeat much of his story again once Zack showed up with the microphone. This is a fella that understands the power of connection through storytelling.
As Matt waxed poetic about bees, bison, and butterflies for the pod – I whizzed around the outer edges of the herd (with Matt’s permission); gathering clumps of bison fur from the sage, stuffing my pockets with hooves, and taking videos of the little cinnamon “red dogs” (baby bison) so I could treasure the memory forever. The coffee cup holders in the front console on the campervan have become a treasure trove of found items from the ranches and vineyards I work on. Every time I climb in the driver’s seat and fire up the diesel engine I marvel at my ear tags, hooves, bones, rocks, shells, snake skins, and dried flowers all snuggled in with bison fur.
It was a great visit, and in addition to the gleaning from the land, I built a whole iPhone album of baby buffs to swoon over. But the memories just aren’t quite cutting it. I really want to know more. Our primary goal with our ranching projects is to gain a clear picture (from multiple angles) of how grazing affects bee habitat – and are there specific practices, and/or specific animals, that can be more beneficial than others? And if so, are these practices replicable? Can grazing be used to expand bee habitat on our partner ranches? What are the barriers to entry for these practices? What are the stories of these animals, their people, and the land that holds them?
To answer these questions we are studying bison ranches in the Great Plains, and cattle ranches that are utilizing stockmanship techniques to mimic bison in the Mountain West. But what about bison ranching at the confluence of the Great Plains and the Mountain West?
North Brider Bison is the perfect living laboratory to explore these questions and we are overjoyed to officially announce that we are expanding our "Bison and Bee Habitat" project to Montana.
In their own words, a bit more about North Bridger Bison:
“In the Shields Valley of Montana, tucked up against the North Bridger Mountains amid a wild expanse of grass and sagebrush, North Bridger Bison is a family-run bison ranch that provides healthy, delicious, regenerative, humanely field-harvested bison meat.
Bison. A native herbivore. An icon of the West. Bison belong on the landscape out here, and we take great pride in raising bison and providing meat that is healthy for both you and the land.
Life at the North Bridger Bison Ranch is pretty simple. Nature is in charge here. It provides sunshine and water, which grows grass, which bison eat. That's the founding principle of North Bridger Bison.
Our ranch also provides habitat for a wide variety of birds and wildlife, including sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, sandhill cranes, coyotes, mule deer, wolves, moose, mountain lions, elk, black bears, waterfowl, songbirds, and many other wild critters.
Through our management practices, which are rooted in Holistic Management and Regenerative Agriculture principles, the bison on our ranch help build soil, improve the quality of the soil, increase the amount of water retained in the ground, increase the amount and diversity of the grasses, forbs, and wildflowers on the landscape, and help reduce climate change through carbon storage in the soil. And again -- amazingly -- the five pillars of all of this are sunshine, water, soil, grass, and bison.
Ultimately, our goals are to work hard, improve the land, help the environment, provide delicious and healthy meat you can feel good about eating, help change our food system for the better, contribute to Montana’s economy, be good members of our community, and have a little fun along the way.”
See the ranch and learn more about Matt’s story in this short film from Mountain Outlaw, and this Mountain & Prairie podcast episode.
I’ll be making multiple trips to North Bridger Bison in 2025 to meet with the Skoglund’s, set up study plots, and collect knowledge, art materials, and stories – to share with you.
I’m feeling immense gratitude for this new opportunity, for the Skoglunds’ openness to work together, and for Bee Regenerative donors and the High Stakes Foundation for supporting this work.