A proposal written by researchers at Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute has resulted in a $10.3 million federal grant for improving safety and traffic flow on the road leading to the Big Sky community.
 
The funding comes from one of the most highly coveted and competitive sources of federal transportation dollars: the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, known as TIGER.
 
“I think everyone in Big Sky is thrilled, because everyone knows the issues on that road and the need for improvements,” said David Kack, a program manager at WTI who played a leading role in drafting the grant proposal.
 
The TIGER grant will be used for a variety of roadway improvements as well as expanded public transportation, all with an aim to alleviate the stresses that have been placed on Montana Highway 64 — also called Lone Mountain Trail — as Big Sky has grown around the major mountain resort, Kack said. The funding, which will be awarded to Gallatin County, lasts until 2025 but it is anticipated that the project will be completed as quickly as possible, he said.

 
The project will install seven left-turn lanes, expand the existing pedestrian trail system, build a pedestrian underpass and add four buses and six vans to the existing Skyline public transportation system that runs within Big Sky and between Big Sky and the greater Bozeman area.
 
Without the grant, Kack said, it would be difficult to fund such an ambitious package of improvements because the 9-mile-long stretch of Highway 64 straddles two counties and primarily serves Big Sky, which is an unincorporated community that can’t levy taxes.

“This is a great way to get all these things done and not have to figure out which county or other entity is going to pony up the money,” Kack said.
 
Fewer than 6 percent of applicants receive TIGER funding, Kack noted. He said WTI’s proposal was an outgrowth of a long partnership with the Big Sky community.
 
In 2002, the Big Sky Transportation District asked Kack and other WTI researchers to provide guidance about operating and expanding public transportation. That grew into regular consultations. In 2015, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce hired WTI to conduct a series of listening sessions about the community’s transportation needs and draft a report, which outlined some of the improvements in the TIGER project.

 
That report became the basis for a more detailed study conducted by Sanderson Stewart, a major engineering firm founded by MSU alumnus Robert Sanderson. Kack collaborated with Sanderson Stewart and had hard numbers to back up his recommendations in the grant proposal, which Gallatin County submitted on behalf of the Big Sky community, he said.

 
“It was kind of a perfect timing, getting these things done in succession and ultimately getting the funding,” Kack said.
 
There is no direct gain to WTI or himself for getting the grant, Kack said. When he read the call for grant applications, his and WTI’s longtime work with Big Sky seemed like a natural fit, he said.
 
“We think this really highlights that part of the land-grant mission at MSU — to improve the community and the state that we work in,” Kack said.

Three Park County men were sentenced Tuesday in Justice Court for the illegal hunting and wasting of three bull bison in the Gardiner area on February 28.

Jesse Darr, Ryley Heidt, and Peyton Simmons pled guilty to unlawful possession, waste, and hunting during a closed season.
The dead bison were discovered March 2 by agency personnel in Beattie Gulch, an area of U.S. Forest Service land near the border of Yellowstone National Park. All three bison had their heads removed and all usable meat was left to waste. The bison skulls had been skinned and hidden nearby.

Solving the case was a matter of a collaborative enforcement effort. U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service (NPS) officers aided FWP game wardens in the identification of the suspects.

“We’re thankful for the help of our enforcement partners,” said Warden Sgt. Coy Kline. “The value of extra sets of eyes and ears on the ground can’t be overstated.”

Also significant in this case, was the use of FWP canine, Kikka, who was integral in the discovery of evidence linking the men responsible to the case.

The FWP enforcement division is currently engaged in a research and trial period using trained canines in very limited applications. FWP currently only has two canine teams as part of this statewide trial program.

Enforcement Chief Dave Loewen said using canines to detect critical evidence at wildlife crime scenes is an incredible tool that can greatly reduce staff time and increase the chances of locating evidence.

“It is doubtful the evidence in this case would have been detected and located without the canine.”

The judge in this case ordered each of the men to pay $2,605 in fines and restitution with a 18-month suspended jail sentence. The men also lost their fishing, hunting and trapping privileges for 54 months with the added restriction of not being able to apply for permits for an additional five years after their privileges are reinstated. Remedial hunter education was also ordered.   

Today, the Montana Mint announced the 2018 Montana Brewery Championship Bracket.

The Bracket features 60 breweries from 44 Montana cities and towns (and unincorporated areas!).  The bracket also features a write-in spot for the first round of voting. The brewery with the most write-in votes will secure a spot in the Sweet 16. 

The first round of voting will take place March 12-18.  Voting for the the Sweet 16 round will take place March 19-25.  And the voting for the Final Four will take place March 26-April 1.  We will crown Montana’s favorite brewery on Monday, April 2.

As in year’s past, there will be three ways for Montanans to vote: (1) via www.montana-mint.com; (2) via twitter poll; and (3) and on the Montana Mint’s Facebook Page. That means you can vote THREE times for your favorite spot.  Voting ends at 8pm Sunday.

“We all agree that Montana brewers make great beer.  But which brewery makes the greatest beer and provides the best atmosphere?  That’s what we are trying to determine. Success in this tournament will require a loyal fan base and some darn good beer” said Bear Tycoon, the editor of the Montana Mint.

The Montana Mint hosted brackets in 2015 and 2016 to name the best pizza place in the state.  After tens of thousands of votes were cast, Eugene’s Pizza in Glasgow won both competitions. 

The full list of breweries in the bracket can be found below.

Montana State University Extension is seeking host families for 25 Japanese youth and two adult chaperones from July 22 - Aug. 17. The youth and their chaperones are part of an international exchange program with the Labo Language and Cultural Institute and with LEX, or Language Experience, Experiment and Exchange.

Host families can be located anywhere in Montana and should have a child at home who is between the ages of 9 and 18. Families hosting chaperones do not need to have children in the home or may have children of any age.

The Japanese youth will know some English, but are not fluent. The purpose of the program is for both the family and their guest to enjoy cultural immersion while learning from one another, according to Stephanie Davison, citizenship, sustainable communities and international programs coordinator with MSU Extension and Montana 4-H.

“In general, the youth who come to Montana as part of this exchange are 12-16 years old, though they may be slightly younger or older,” Davison said. “Their families usually start saving for an exchange trip when the children are quite young. The students study English in school, but are not yet fluent. These parents want their children to have the opportunity to be immersed in American culture and language to help them learn.”

Davison said that the American host families also benefit from the program.

“When we have asked host families about the best part of their experience as hosts, most have a similar reaction,” Davison said. “They cite examples such as learning about another culture while having fun; bonding with someone from another country; experiencing our own culture from a different perspective; and simply seeing the guest student smiling and having fun.”

The MSU exchange program is organized by Montana 4-H, the youth development program of MSU Extension, and has been active in Montana since 1972.

The application deadline for host families is May 15. To apply, go to https://www.states4hexchange.org/apply/host/ or contact Stephanie Davison at 406-994-3502 or sdavison@montana.edu.

A Montana State University librarian is collecting the stories of anglers from across the world and making those stories available for anyone, anywhere in the world to watch for free.

Special Collections Librarian James Thull said he was inspired to launch the MSU Angling Oral History Project after a “cool” story he heard from the legendary fly-fisherman Bud Lilly.

Lilly told Thull that one day when he was working as a guide, Lilly took an elderly man fishing. The man could no longer see well, but he could still fish.

Lilly directed him to where he could cast, and the man landed a nice brown trout. Then he started to put his rod away.

“The fish are still rising,” Lilly told him. “You can keep fishing.”

“No,” the man responded. “That’s the last fish I will ever catch.”

Thull was honored to hear Lilly recount the story, he said, and the exchange prompted Thull to launch, in 2014, a project dedicated to capturing the culture, history and significance of angling. The result is the MSU Angling Oral History Project, which collects, preserves and shares the histories, opinions and stories of politicians, artists, guides, authors and anglers from all walks of life and from all parts of the world. The video-recorded interviews are freely available and searchable to anyone online through the MSU-created database.

In each history that Thull collects, he asks the angler the same set of questions to collect baseline data. Then he asks questions aimed at the angler’s area of expertise. For example, he said, he asks artists what inspires them and their views of the relationship between art and fishing.

A common theme Thull explores with each person he interviews for the project is the person’s motivation for fishing.

“What is it people love about fishing? Why do people do it? Why is it tied to human culture? This is the question of fishing for reasons beyond sustenance,” he said.

For many anglers he interviewed, Thull said, a theme in the answers to those questions include a desire to connect with nature, as well as an appreciation for the beauty of the places where trout and salmon live.

Thull said the project also explores a number of topics that are important to anglers, including climate change and stream access laws.  

To date, Thull has recorded more than 150 oral histories for the project. Those oral histories – which range in length from roughly 10 minutes to about two hours – come from men and women from approximately 40 countries, including Iceland, India, Japan, Nepal, Russia, the U.S. and South Africa. Thull said he often travels specifically to conduct interviews for the project, but if he is traveling for other reasons and has an opportunity for an interview, he will conduct it then, as well.

Notable individuals who have provided oral histories for the project include Lilly; the writer Thomas McGuane; author and publisher Nick Lyons; Leigh Perkins, president of Orvis; Nathaniel Reed, a former undersecretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Jeremy Wade, a writer and TV personality; and Dan Wenk, superintendent of Yellowstone National Park.

When the histories are given by people who speak another language, they are usually translated, Thull said. In the future, he would like to create transcripts of the interviews in both the native language in which the interviews were given and in English. Thull plans to continue collecting anglers’ oral histories for the foreseeable future.

The project has been supported by MSU and by a three-year, $90,000 grant from the Willow Springs Foundation, Thull said.
Paul Schullery, an author, co-author and editor of more than 30 books, including "American Fly Fishing: A History," said that Thull has taken the concept of meaningful oral history “to a level I’ve not encountered before, especially in a socially significant but specialized subject like angling.

“MSU’s Trout and Salmonid Collection has emerged as one of the premier such collections in the country in part because it is dynamic enough to recognize the value of new media beyond the traditional print literature,” Schullery said. “The MSU Angling Oral History Project adds just such a dimension to the collection, preserving and celebrating the individual voices of anglers, businesspeople, scientists, conservationists, landowners, resource managers and all the other folks who make up the rich character of this ancient sport that has now become such an important part of the culture of the American West.”

One particularly nice byproduct of the project is that a number of anglers who have provided oral histories for the project have also chosen to donate their papers to MSU’s Special Collections, according to Kenning Arlitsch, dean of the MSU Library.

The MSU Library’s Special Collections and Archives has more than 800 active collections, including its Trout and Salmonid Collection, which is one of the areas for which it is best known. Special Collections also specializes in collections related to Montana agriculture and ranching, Montana engineering and architecture, Montana history, MSU history, Native Americans in Montana, prominent Montanans such as Ivan Doig, U.S. Sen. Burton K. Wheeler, and Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone ecosystem.

Thull said it’s important to collect and preserve the oral histories.

“As humans, if we don’t actively collect, preserve and disseminate things they can be lost,” he said. “What was once common knowledge becomes lost if it’s not documented and preserved.”

To view oral histories that are part of the Angling Oral History Project, visit lib.montana.edu/trout/oral-histories/.

Tap into Montana craft beer week and brew fest is back and better than ever. Combining Montana craft beer with live music and local food, the community event continues to grow into its fourth year. “It’s a fun and really well put together event, “ said Jon Berens, owner of Neptune’s Brewery. “We are proud that it’s a hometown event for us. And the breweries love it because it is put together from the perspective of a brewer. It’s definitely one of the top brew fests that we attend.”

 
Tap into Montana was founded by LaNette Jones, co-owner of Katabatic Brewing Company and Rachel Anderson, owner of Markouture. “Our initial goal was to both celebrate Montana craft beer and to create a community-based event that brings people to Livingston during the shoulder season. It’s really taken off and become one of the staple annual events in Livingston and one of the premier brew fests in the state,“ said Anderson.

 

Touting a new location along the Yellowstone River at Miles Park, this year’s brew fest is sure to deliver a truly authentic Livingston experience. “We’ve had to move the event to a new location every year to accommodate our growth in both attendance and the number of breweries,” Anderson said. “The inaugural event took place at the Livingston Civic Center, year two at the Park County Fairgrounds and last year under a giant tent in the Livingston Depot parking lot. It was a tight fit! Attendance has nearly doubled every year and we’ve had to get creative with our venue selections. We are super excited to have the brew fest along the Yellowstone River and hope to make that our permanent home for the brew fest. It’s a cornerstone of this community and we want to show off our beautiful little mountain town and the river that plays such a predominant role in our community.”

 
The celebration kicks off with a week of craft beer related events throughout Livingston April 2-7th and culminates with the brew fest on April 7th from 2-7pm.
 
This year’s brewery line up includes 29 Montana breweries from all around the state. Big Sky Brewing Co (Missoula), Bitterroot Brewery (Hamilton), Black Eagle Brewery (Black Eagle), Blacksmith Brewing (Stevensville), Bozeman Brewing Co (Bozeman), Bridger Brewing (Bozeman), Butte Brewing Company (Butte), Cabinet Mountain Brewing Co (Libby), Canyon Creek Brewing (Billings), Dean’s Zesty Booch (Bozeman), Draught Works (Missoula), Flathead Lake Brewing (Big Fork), Gally’s Brewing (Harlowton), Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Co (Great Falls), Kalispell Brewing Co (Kalispell), Katabatic Brewing Co (Livingston), Lewis & Clark Brewing Co (Helena), Lone Peak Brewery (Big Sky), Madison River Brewing Company (Belgrade), MAP Brewing (Bozeman), Mighty Mo Brew Co (Great Falls), Mountains Walking Brewery (Bozeman), Muddy Creek Brewery (Butte), Neptune’s Brewery (Livingston), Outlaw Brewing (Bozeman), Philipsburg Brewing Co (Philipsburg), Ten Mile Creek Brewery (Helena), Triple Dog Brewing Co (Havre), and White Dog Brewing Co (Bozeman).

 
The music lineup at the bandshell includes Ouray, Colorado based husband and wife indie folk rock duo, You Knew Me When (2:30pm) and the recently reunited Bozeman favorite outlaw country band, The Dirty Shame (5pm). Local food from Farmgirl Pizzeria and Bakery and Rancho Picante Bison Hut will be available as well cocktails, wine and non-alcoholic drinks from The Office Lounge for those non-beer drinkers who want to come down and enjoy the music.

 
WindRider Shuttle will be providing a free shuttle service to the brew fest from several locations around town between 1:30 and 8pm. Stops at The Buckhorn, The Livingston Depot, Neptune’s Brewery, The Office Lounge will run on a loop all afternoon.
 
Craft Beer Week Events will be happening throughout Livingston and include beer and sushi pairings, beer trivia, a print making and beer class, the beer mile, and the 2nd Annual Creek to Peak Soap Box derby. A full list of events is available at www.tapintomt.com/events.           
 
 “It truly takes a village to put this event on and we’ve been fortunate to have the wide-spread support from the community on all levels: our planning committee members, our sponsors and partners, the businesses that host events during the week, the volunteers, and of course everyone that comes out to support the event. “ Anderson noted.

 
To purchase tickets or for more information, visit tapintomt.com.