Tough Choices

When Lauren, over at Montana Stock Growers Association, announced "...a photo contest that would showcase the Montana ranching community...", I immediately fired off one of my most recent photos, that to me, is at the very heart of Montana's ranching heritage: a multi-generational ranching family working together. Isn't that where ranch communities start? Well, maybe. Maybe not. I'm glad she didn't put a limit on entries!


I've been mulling that question over. And really, that's a pretty narrow definition. Communities are based on shared interest, whether it's a particular locale, a particular industry, passion, or hobby; particular beliefs, or even race or species. It has a very loose, broad connotation where a large community, such as the "white community", can be broken down into many smaller "communities" within the larger one.

1986 Branding Crew

So, I guess within Montana's broad ranching community, we'd have everything from working ranches, both family and corporate, families, cowboys, buckaroos, farmers, animals-- both domestic and wild; land, suppliers, local businesses, 4-H and FFA, local associations, small towns, local schools and churches, county government, NRCS, the Fed, and even celebrities. The people would be involved in everything from day-to-day ranch work, farming, off-ranch jobs, public and government relations; and volunteering. For fun there would be county fairs, local history events, gymkahanas, ranch rodeos, team-roping, and rodeo--as well as the outdoor recreation Montana is so well-known for--provided in large part through Montana ranchers' stewardship of open space.

Lauren's got the right idea. By having a contest within the larger ranching community, a variety of perspectives will be showcased. The hard part is choosing photos. The most dramatic photos normally focus on a main subject. To incorporate a sense of community requires...well, people. And in the independent world of ranching, in this wide open state, most "community"  photos will either come from community events, or from annual ranch events such as branding or weaning. During crisis situations such as fire, chances are, people are too busy fighting fire to take pictures.

The day in, day out, working ranch community will seldom be found in groups aside from annual events that require a whole crew. They will be spread out over thousands of acres, yet working efficiently together to accomplish a common goal. Increasingly, they can also be found in meetings, working to find solutions to problems threatening their livelihood. Problems and issues their predecessors likely never even imagined were coming down the pike. Not exactly contest photo material.

My personal favorites go back to the family. Children learning from parents and grandparents. I also love the interactions between cattlemen and the horses and livestock under their stewardship. A husband and wife in their cowboy grubbies working as a team, and the dramatic vistas we, as native Montana ranchers often take for granted. I guess that's why the first photo that came to mind illustrating "Montana's ranching community", was the one of the grandmother with her 2-yr old grandson, talking over the fence to her 7-year old grandson who was preparing to ride out with his dad, mom, and grandpa, and the rest of the crew to finish a 2-day traildrive.

The difference is commitment. It's the families that have the commitment to the land and to the livestock. For many, (not all) cowboying is just a job. Yes, they probably love it, and can be very good at it. But when it's quitting time, or vacation, or the weekend, what happens on the ranch is not always a real concern. And, understandably so. There's no ownership.

The core foundation of a healthy ranch and ranch community, is a dedicated, committed family, with morals, values, character, and integrity. They know that the better job they do of taking care of the resources under their stewardship, the more successful the ranch will be.

In the end, when all the battles have been fought, and most of the hired help has come and gone, it will be a family that's trying to keep the ranch together.

It's pretty hard to have a ranch community without ranches.

Check out the MSGA Ranch Community photo contest, and be sure to "like" your favorites. New photos will be added until August 15.

 Montana Stockgrowers "Ranch Community Photo Contest"

"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." Jn 10:9-13