How is climate change affecting
the places and people you love in Montana?
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Words & Images
By Jacob Owens | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
Ranchers throughout northcentral Montana, including those on the Fort Belknap reservation, are reporting dramatically reduced herds. Some ranchers, though generally optimistic, harbor concerns about the future of their iconic way of life.
By Clarise Larson | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
Bends isn’t new to wildfire. His family has been ranching on the reservation for generations. Ranching is a part of who he is. He is accustomed to wildfires — he remembers spending summers of his youth protecting his family’s ranch from wildfire.
But things are changing.
By Hannah Telling | Live at the 2023 Montana Folk Festival
“Looking back on my life, I realize I grew up surrounded by living ghosts. In the lush forests of my childhood, I chased stories of my great-grandparents—immigrants, miners, union members. In the heat of summer, I leapt over deep, linear trenches marking collapsed mine tunnels, explored desolated, alien planet landscapes caused by toxic mine waste, and unearthed strange, rusted machinery from Montana’s industrial past.”
We are past the point of discussion and inactivity when so many are fleeing their homes and communities are forced to navigate slow government response and people are being denied safe access to necessary medical care. We must rally together in these times across demographics and countries.
What gives me hope is the tremendous set of tools we have at our fingertips to solve climate change. We can and I believe we will get it right! But it won’t happen without a lot of work, coming together and challenging our old conceptions.
By Tyler Nienstedt | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
The sweetgrass that grows on the Rocky Boy’s reservation has inhabited the plains and wetlands there for centuries and is unique to this specific area. Used in ceremonies and for personal use, the Anishinabe Ne-I-Yah-Wahk believe the smoke carries prayers to their Creator.
In recent years, the sweetgrass on the Rocky Boy’s reservation has become harder to find.
By Tye Brown | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
The Fort Peck reservation, home of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, spans more than 2 million acres in the far northeast corner of the state. For most of its history, water accessibility has been a challenge in this region, in particular for farming, ranching and personal use. Recently, worsening drought has made it even harder in the heavily agricultural region.
After more than two decades, a water treatment and delivery project is finally nearing completion. Within the next few years, it could provide thousands of households, ranches and farms with clean water. Residents hope this will mark the end of water insecurity that has made it difficult to live in the area.
By Serena Carlson
Serena’s essay, one of the winners of Changing Times youth writing contest, responded to a prompt focusing on a creative future and how their community is responding to the climate in 2070.
By Rosie Ferguson | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
Climate change and human deforestation has been threatening the availability of quality lodgepole pines that the Apsáalooke use to practice their culture. While the tree is not threatened, the future of lodge- poles in eastern Montana is unclear.
By Traute Parrie
There was direct damage to flora and fauna, concentrated around riparian corridors. Streambanks, where kingfishers nest, were swept away. Riparian vegetation was lost, at the expense of many insect species, including aquatic beetles, damselflies, butterflies, dragonflies, and stoneflies, which utilize the vegetation for a portion of their lives.
Recordings
By Laura Garber | Live at the 2023 Bitterroot Climate Story event
“Nature is in it 100 percent right now. The plants just really want to succeed, so that's what they do…nature is doing everything it can, to try every way to be successful, every way to reproduce, every way to find abundance and beauty and harmony right now.”
Interview with Susan Evans | CSKT Earth Day Celebration
Susan, a longtime social justice activist, explains her outrage and frustration about the political landscape in Montana, especially during the 2023 legislative session and lack of public input on fast moving bills. She’s stepped back into activism as a “gray-haired lady” with the Montana Sierra Club to speak up against the actions of Montana legislators. Despite her anger, she knows there are ways to be heard and stand up and encourages others to do so.
Interview with Stephen Small Salmon | CSKT Earth Day Celebration
Stephen, a Pend d’Oreille tribal member from the Flathead Reservation, remembers days without electricity and grocery stores. He recounts stories from his elders about how our job is to take care of Mother Earth rather than pollute her waters, land, and air.
Interview with George Price | CSKT Earth Day Celebration
George Price, a retired professor of Native American studies and history, teaches about the uncomfortable truth of overconsumption and the reality of overshooting our resources on Earth. He explains how we got to where we are by a “series of wrong turns” and explains solutions to get back on track as a civilization.
By Steve Thompson | Live at the 2023 Montana Folk Festival
“I am grateful for summers of clean air, rivers cold and deep, rainy Junes, and winters of snow uninterrupted by repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Not so long ago, we took this for granted. But now I’m thankful for those fleeting interludes of the ‘old normal.’”
Isaac Kantor, is the father of 15 year old, Mica Kantor, plaintiff in the Held v. State of Montana lawsuit that went to court in June 2023. Isaac is an attorney in Missoula, Montana. We had the opportunity to interview Isaac at the courthouse in Helena, MT on the first day of historic Held v MT trial to ask him what it means to support his child as a plaintiff and how other parents can support youth voices.
Steve Held is the father of Rikki Held, lead plaintiff of the Held v. State of Montana lawsuit that went to court in June 2023. We had the opportunity to interview Steve at the courthouse in Helena, MT on the first day of historic Held v. MT trial to ask him what it means to support his child as a plaintiff and how other parents can support youth voices.
By Katie Harrison | 2023 Billings Climate Week
Katie Harrison, founder of SustainaBillings, sat down with Caitlyn Lewis, FLC Event Coordinator, during Billings first ever Climate week to share her climate story. Katie talks about how her love of the ocean later turned into a passion for reuse and sustainability. Katie calls Billings, her new home, “depritratly thirsty” for climate-conscious business and action.
By Shauna Yellow Kidney | Missoula Climate Stories Live
At a live climate storytelling event in Missoula, Shauna Yellow Kidney shared insightful reflections about what it means to come together as a community to solve difficult problems through collaborating, questioning ourselves, and reaching out to those around us.
Listen to Rikki Held, Grace Gibson-Snyder, Mica Kantor, Taleah Hernández, and Claire Vlases - 5 of the 16 youth plaintiffs in the Held v. State of Montana lawsuit - as they explain why they are involved in the trial and the climate impacts that motivate them to advocate for change.