Gallatin Gateway is a genuine community, not a contrived artifact of the New West. It has been my home for nearly 40 years and I cherish it deeply. Just like other rural gems of the West, however, Gateway’s attractive ecological, cultural, and geographic features put it at risk for exploitation. The question is can the […]
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It’s easy to be modest when our neighbor is Ted Turner, owner of the historic Flying D Ranch. The ranch spreads from the Gallatin to the Madison Rivers covering some 113,000 acres, and carries a variety of wildlife, including about 3,500 buffalo. For several years I told Ramona we too needed buffalo. After all, they […]
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While joyful in anticipation, coming home for Christmas is often a mixed blessing. Folks arrive with their baggage of memories packed over some years and selectively sorted by time and experience elsewhere. Pleasing recollections color our expectations. Unless gone for a very long while, we expect our home territory to be much as when we […]
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The 21st Century will be the century of biology. Breakthroughs in rDNA technologies allow the precise manipulation of genetic material. This holds great promise for human and ecological well-being. Applying these molecular tools builds on the oldest and most widespread of human inventions — traditional selective breeding. It is through this method that we created […]
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When Lewis and Clark explored our region, it was a vast “commons.” Anyone sufficiently skillful and lucky to survive the dangers could exploit its bounty of furs and gold. Without individual incentives to consider the common good, the land was subject to the “Tragedy of the Commons.” Consequently, beaver were trapped out in many areas […]
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One of the best features of our community is the most difficult to measure. While we can cite symphonies, recommend fine restaurants, and calculate the distance to skiing, spring creeks, and Gallatin Field, how can we calculate the value of trust? The implicit ability to trust others facilitates social interaction. Trust reduces the costs of […]
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I was recently in Texas meeting with folks devoted to the preservation and improvement of their state’s wildlife habitat — university researchers, ranchers, public officials, and NGO leaders. The take-home lesson was that private ownership offers no magic elixir. Texas conservationists face problems that challenge us in Montana — habitat fragmentation, water allocation, and invasive […]
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Mark Twain’s observation, “Whisky is for drinking, water is for fighting,” arose from his experiences in the arid West. Some claim that more westerners have been killed with irrigation shovels than with guns. An old neighbor told me that a man was killed on our place during the drought of the 1930s. In Montana — […]
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Ramona and I owe a lot to Dr. Ruth, DVM. You’ll see why. Over the past decade, Ramona and I have hosted several hundred guests at our ranch pavilion. Nearly all remember Thor, our 140-pound, wholly loveable, livestock guard dog. He was an affection sponge. Folks ranging from Camp Brave Heart kids to federal judges […]
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Our modest ranch lies near the mouth of Gallatin Canyon. It’s 10 miles from Bozeman — an easy 40-minute bike ride — and 27 miles north of the Big Sky turnoff. A mile and a half of the West Gallatin Canal winds through it, and Wortman Creek cuts through the pasture just south of our […]
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