Rosie Komoto, a fourth grader at Monforton Elementary, will soon start to see her artwork pop up in retail stores across Bozeman after winning a recent contest at the Gallatin Earth Day Festival that challenged students to raise awareness about the importance of using reusable bags. Rosie’s artwork, which tells people, “Don’t Forget to Use Reusable Bags,” was chosen by the City of Bozeman’s Sustainability Board from 98 student entries. Rosie says, "I just wanted to make a simple reminder for people to bring their reusable bags into the store. Maybe if they see my poster, they'll go back to their car and get them!" 

Travis Frandsen, general manager of Bozeman's Town and Country stores, has given the go-ahead for the signs to be placed in the parking areas of his stores to remind people before they leave their cars to bring in their reusable bags!

The art contest was sponsored by Gallatin Valley Beyond Plastics, which awarded eight finalists family-sized pizzas from Papa John’s. Rosie’s entire fourth-grade class also enjoyed a pizza party. Terry Quatraro, of Gallatin Valley Beyond Plastics, says the contest was meant to continue a larger dialogue within Bozeman and across Montana about the adverse effects of single-use plastics on human health and the natural environment.  Students from Monforton, Manhattan, Whittier, Irving, and Hawthorne entered artwork into the contest. 

Thanks to the City of Bozeman’s Sustainability Board, there will be 40 outdoor posters distributed by Gallatin Valley Beyond Plastics to participating retail stores in Bozeman. The most common excuse for not using the many reusable bags people have is, "I forgot to bring my own bag into the store!”

BOZEMAN  - Acclaimed documentarian, photographer, and Bozeman native Steve Quayle is offering audiences an extraordinary new perspective on America’s first national park with the release of Yellowstone: Above and Below, a visually immersive film showcasing decades of unparalleled footage and photography from Yellowstone National Park.

Drawing from more than half a century of exploration, documentation, and aerial cinematography, the film combines breathtaking imagery captured both above and beneath the surface of Yellowstone’s rugged and mysterious landscape. More than just a documentary, Yellowstone: Above and Below serves as a visual time capsule spanning generations of Yellowstone history, preserving rare imagery and evolving landscapes for future generations to experience and appreciate.

Quayle’s connection to Yellowstone began early in life. Raised in a family of geophysicists, he was introduced to the geological significance and wonder of the park from a young age. He began photographing Yellowstone in 1972 and later earned a degree in Motion Picture Production and Still Photography from Montana State University, blending artistic vision with decades of firsthand exploration and technical expertise.

While millions dream of visiting Yellowstone National Park, relatively few ever make the journey. And for those who do, most experience only a small fraction of the park’s nearly 3,500 square miles of geothermal wonders, remote wilderness, wildlife habitats, and hidden geological features. Yellowstone: Above and Below was created to reveal the Yellowstone that most visitors never get the opportunity to see, including remote landscapes, aerial perspectives, and geological formations otherwise inaccessible to the public.

“Yellowstone National Park is THE wonder of the world, not just a wonder of the world,” said Quayle. “I’ve traveled and photographed incredible places around the globe, but it’s the colors of Yellowstone that keep pulling me back. There’s something alive in the landscape here that you simply can’t find anywhere else. This film is the culmination of a lifetime spent documenting the park and sharing its awe-inspiring beauty, hidden details, and incredible scale in a way audiences have never experienced before.

”Shot between 2023 and 2025 using some of the most advanced aerial cinematography technology available, the film features footage captured with Cineflex and Shotover camera systems, considered the gold standard in aerial filmmaking. Utilizing an ultra-high-resolution 6K camera platform mounted to a gyro-stabilized helicopter system, Quayle spared no expense in documenting Yellowstone with extraordinary cinematic precision and clarity.
Flying consistently over the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, Quayle traveled by helicopter from Bozeman to Jackson and Gardiner while maintaining strict aerial filming protocols at 2,000 feet above ground level. Using advanced gimbal stabilization technology rather than traditional tripod systems, the production captured remarkably fluid footage of Yellowstone’s vast geothermal basins, waterfalls, and rugged backcountry terrain.

The film features sweeping aerial cinematography, rare landscape photography, geothermal formations, wildlife imagery, and remote sections of the park inaccessible to most visitors. Rather than a traditional travel documentary, Yellowstone: Above and Below offers an intimate and cinematic exploration of the park’s power, beauty, geological complexity, and scale through Quayle’s unique lens and decades of firsthand experience.

A longtime Yellowstone documentarian and outdoor photographer, Quayle has spent decades archiving the park through still photography and advanced aerial camera systems, creating an extensive visual record of one of the world’s most iconic natural wonders. The film ultimately acts as both a celebration of Yellowstone and a snapshot in time, preserving the park’s grandeur and fragility for future generations.

In support of Yellowstone’s future preservation, 10-percent of the film’s proceeds will be donated to Yellowstone Forever to help fund conservation, education, and stewardship efforts that protect the park for generations to come.

“Yellowstone is one of the last truly wild places in America, but preserving a park of this scale and significance requires long-term vision and legacy funding that extends far beyond what most people realize,” added Quayle. “If this film inspires people to not only experience Yellowstone differently, but also invest in its future through organizations like Yellowstone Forever, then it has accomplished something meaningful. This park changed my life, and I believe we all have a responsibility to help protect it for generations to come.

”Yellowstone: Above and Below is now available on DVD and video-on-demand platforms.For more information or to purchase the film, visit GenSix Productions.

ABOUT STEVE QUAYLE
Steve Quayle is a Bozeman, Montana-based photographer, documentary filmmaker, adventurer, and lifelong Yellowstone explorer whose passion for the park has fueled more than five decades of exploration, storytelling, and visual documentation. A larger-than-life creative spirit known for his relentless curiosity and deep emotional connection to Yellowstone, Quayle has spent much of his life pursuing the park’s most remote landscapes, dramatic light, geothermal wonders, and untold perspectives both on the ground and from the air. Quayle began photographing Yellowstone in 1972 and later earned a degree in Motion Picture Production and Still Photography from Montana State University. Since then, he has built an extensive body of work dedicated to capturing the scale, mystery, color, and raw power of the American West. His photography and aerial cinematography reveal Yellowstone’s landscapes, wildlife, geothermal activity, and rugged backcountry terrain from perspectives rarely experienced by the public. Over the course of his career, Quayle has produced 12 documentary films and logged extensive hours filming Yellowstone from helicopters using some of the most advanced aerial camera technology in the world. His work is driven not only by technical precision, but by a profound reverence for the park itself and a desire to preserve its wonder for future generations. Through his films and photography, Quayle continues to inspire audiences to see Yellowstone not simply as a destination, but as one of Earth’s greatest natural masterpieces.

BOZEMAN – What started as one resident’s vocal desire to be able to enjoy the Summer Farmer’s Market in Lindley Park in her wheelchair is now starting to become a reality. Ability Montana and the City of Bozeman have teamed up on a project to construct accessible trails in Lindley Park, allowing people with disabilities to be able to safely maneuver independently around the park. Construction on the trails has recently started and is expected to be completed in time for the First Annual Bozeman ADA Celebration, held on Saturday, July 25, to celebrate ADA month and the anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Celebration starts with a 5K and Fun Run, with registration for the run available on the website.  
Prior to the start of the trail improvements, people with disabilities, seniors with mobility challenges, parents with strollers, and more had to navigate an uneven mulch surface that had steep grades in certain sections, making it challenging to maneuver without assistance from another person. 

“Projects like this one that increase someone’s access to the park are good for everyone, as they increase everyone’s ability to safely walk through a space,” explained Bozeman Mayor Joey Morrison. “We’re glad that Ability Montana and residents spoke out about the need for this improvement, and that we were able to find ways to make it work. Their input has resulted in a better space for everyone in our community.” 

Ability Montana applied for the City’s Community Grant program, winning $42,000 to complete the project. The final improvements will involve a gravel surface loop in the area close to the road where food trucks line up in the summer. 

“I’m thrilled to see that this part of the park is going to become more accessible to all of us with compromised mobility and also make the park more accessible and easier for all able bodies and vendors as well,” said Liz Ann Kudrna, the resident who first vocalized concerns about the park. “We will all be able to enjoy the many events in the park or just sitting in the trees there if we wish!” 

More information on the Community Grant program is available at https://www.bozemanmt.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks/planning-and-development. 

BOZEMAN – Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University announced today that its executive director for nearly eight years, Christopher Dobbs, will step down to lead a history museum in upstate New York.

Dobbs has led the internationally recognized Museum of the Rockies since 2018, guiding the institution through a period of significant growth, expanded community engagement, and transformational investments in exhibitions, facilities, collections and long-term strategic planning.

“It has been an incredible privilege to serve Museum of the Rockies,” said Dobbs, who will become executive director of the Adirondack Experience, The Museum at Blue Mountain Lake in New York. “Together, we expanded research initiatives, strengthened and grew the collections, developed groundbreaking exhibitions and educational programs, and deepened the museum’s connection to our community.

“I am deeply proud of what our team has accomplished and confident the museum is exceptionally well positioned for the future.”

During Dobbs’ tenure, MOR’s annual visitation and program participation increased to more than 250,000 from 189,000, and the museum is on pace to set record attendance records in 2026. He also successfully guided the museum through the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining financial stability, organizational momentum and continued public engagement.

Under his leadership, the museum launched a comprehensive 20-year master planning effort; earned reaccreditation through the American Alliance of Museums, a distinction achieved by only approximately 3% of museums nationwide; and made substantial investments in the experience for visitors.

Major accomplishments include upgrades to the museum’s primary galleries, lobby and the Taylor Planetarium; improvements to the paleontology laboratories; the establishment of an exhibits endowment; and the launch of a museum café.

“Chris and the MOR team have demonstrated exceptional leadership and fiscal stewardship during a time when many museums across the country faced significant operational and financial challenges,” said Stephanie Dickson, chair of the MOR Board of Trustees. “Because of that leadership, the museum has been able to reinvest in facilities, expand staffing, strengthen programming and continue growing its impact across the region.”

“Chris’ leadership has put the Museum of the Rockies in a strong and healthy position that it will be able to

Tessman has appointed the museum’s senior director of exhibitions and planetarium, Scott Williams, to serve as interim executive director while a committee is formed to lead a national search for the next permanent executive director.

“I want to thank Scott for his willingness to serve in this interim role,” the president said. “I know he’ll do an outstanding job and keep the momentum going for the museum.”

Williams, who has been a fan of fossils since his youth, has over 23 years of museum experience. He served as fossil lab and field manager and as collections and exhibitions director for the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois, and he led important dinosaur digs in the Hell Creek and Morrison formations. He has an Associate of Science from Rock Valley College, studied geology at Northern Illinois University and is a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. He has been with MOR since 2017.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity and honored to serve in this role. I look forward to continuing the work that Museum of the Rockies does to bring the history and paleontology of our region alive for our visitors,” Williams said.

Dobbs’ final day with the museum will be June 30.

There's a particular kind of care that goes into preparing your home for someone you love. You think about what they'll want for breakfast. You clear a drawer. You leave the hall light on. These are quiet expressions of “I'm glad you're here and want you to feel it”.Here’s how furniture communicates that to your guests. 

What Home Actually Gives People

Research in environmental psychology describes home as a place of refuge, acceptance, comfort, and renewal — a psychological sanctuary where people can let their guard down and simply rest. That need doesn't disappear when someone is sleeping under someone else's roof. If anything, it becomes more acute. Being a guest means being slightly out of place, slightly dependent, slightly at the mercy of a space that isn't shaped around you.

The host's job, at its core, is to close that distance and make a person feel that the space, for however long they're in it, has made room for them.

Neuroscience research shows that oxytocin — the hormone associated with calm and social bonding — is released not just by physical comfort, but by warm company. A home that genuinely tends to a guest's physical comfort doesn't just make the visit more pleasant — it deepens the connection between the people in it. Actions speak louder than words, and in this case, the action of implementing the right furniture is key to communicating.

The Gap Between Wanting to Host and Being Ready To

Most people who love hosting think about the table — the food, the drinks, the conversation that stretches past midnight. What gets less attention is what happens when the evening winds down and the guest needs somewhere to actually sleep.

An air mattress on a hardwood floor sends a message, even when nothing is said. So does a pull-out with a bar through the middle. These aren't failures of hospitality in spirit — they're gaps between intention and infrastructure. The host cares. The space just hasn't caught up.

A sofa bed closes that gap in the most practical way, living as a proper sofa, present and composed every day of the year, and converts into a proper sleeping surface when your guests need one. A sofa bed anticipates the needs of your guests with intentionality.

Why the Material Matters More Than You'd Think

Full-grain leather is warm without being heavy, structured without being stiff. The natural oils in the hide make it soft and pliable from the first sit, and it breathes in a way synthetic materials don't, staying comfortable through a long evening of conversation and a full night of sleep. Over time it softens further, developing the kind of worn-in character that makes a piece feel less like furniture and more like part of the house.

Environmental psychologists note that the objects we choose for our homes act as extensions of identity — signals of safety and belonging that say, in effect, you're welcome in this space. A leather sofa bed isn't just a practical solution. It's an intentional one — the kind that communicates, without any words, that the guest's comfort was thought about before they arrived.

The Morning After

There's a particular warmth in the morning after a good night's sleep at someone's home. The guest comes to the kitchen unhurried, without the particular exhaustion that comes from a bad night on a thin mattress.