Stories of stewardship

Stewardship: The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.

What does it mean to be a good steward? This is something we think about a fair bit at the Blackfoot Challenge. Whether we find ourselves stewarding the lands and waters that we rely on or the communities that we are a part of, stewardship in all forms requires a commitment to place and a commitment to the future. We believe it also requires a commitment to one another – and to learn, adapt and share.

We hope you enjoy these two short stories of stewardship as told from the voices of our members.

April & Steve: Everything we do has effects downstream

For Steve and April Woodhouse, wildfire and invasive species threaten two things they most enjoy about living in the Blackfoot – the forests that surround them and the clear, healthy waters of the lake they live on.

Ever since buying their property on Cooper's Lake, the Woodhouses have been cutting dead, dying, and hazard trees near their house but hadn't thought much about overall forest health. Then April and a neighbor took a forestry stewardship class together.

"We learned so much," said April. "We realized we needed to get on it. We needed to do more."

With assistance from the Blackfoot Challenge, the Woodhouses treated the forest surrounding their home to improve its health and reduce wildfire risk.

"We feel much better about our surroundings. The ground looks healthier. If a fire comes through, we can likely defend our home and it won't be as devastating for us or for the lake."

When the Blackfoot Challenge began monitoring for invasive mussels on Cooper's Lake a few years ago, the Woodhouses stepped up to volunteer their boat and their time to the effort. When asked why, Steve and April replied, "Why wouldn't we? How could we not?"

Over the years, the Woodhouses have realized just how important the health of their immediate surroundings is for the health of the entire Blackfoot watershed.

"Everything we do has effects downstream. It all comes down to cooperation and communication, working together and doing what you can for others. We're glad to do what we're doing."

Denny: The sum of the parts doesn't necessarily equal the whole

In 2008, rancher Denny Iverson and his neighbors in Potomac began hearing rumors that Plum Creek Timber Company was planning to sell 34,000 acres south of town. If sold, the future of the intact landscape that bordered their community was in jeopardy – 10,000 acres had been prioritized for subdivision.

"That would have really changed the face of the valley, the quality of life, everything," said Denny. "We were really concerned and wanted to find a solution."

Only a few years before, the Blackfoot Challenge partnered with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to purchase 89,000 acres of Plum Creek land in the Blackfoot and transfer those lands into permanent conservation ownership. TNC was ready to team up again, and Denny was ready to bring his community together through the Blackfoot Challenge process to ensure these lands continued to produce timber, be grazed by neighboring ranches, provide wildlife habitat and be open to public access for generations to come.

"Our community trusted the Blackfoot Challenge to get it right. To involve them, not just bulldoze through it knowing what was best. That's not how we operate. When people see how well this process can work, it's infectious."

When the legislative session began that winter, Denny and his neighbors were ready to campaign for the State of Montana to purchase the land.

"We had about 70 people from our community and the logging community show up for the hearing. They had to move it to a bigger room to get everybody in. It was impressive."

With such strong and diverse local support, the funding was quickly approved.

When it comes to an intact landscape, the sum of the parts doesn't necessarily equal the whole. As Denny explained, "A healthy watershed that has the ability to hold snow, to keep the creeks flowing, to support forest health – it keeps me on the land." 

Updating the Challenge's look

On another note, you may have noticed that the Challenge has a new look. We unveiled our refreshed logo a few months back. We think this new look brings us into the current era while maintaining a connection to the past – as in our previous version, the river still runs through it and is the barometer for how we are doing as stewards of this landscape.

As part of this effort to revitalize our look, we also launched an updated and more user-friendly website that allows the communities we serve to more easily find what they're looking for. We hope that you'll visit us at blackfootchallenge.org soon to check out more stories of stewardship, read our history, get to know our staff, and catch up on the latest Challenge happenings.

Most importantly, if you'd like to start receiving our e-newsletter or become a member, you can easily sign up. It's free to become a member of the Challenge and always will be. We hope you'll join us.