By Fischer Genau DIGITAL MEDIA LEAD
Editor’s note: The Community Support Group is featured in “Stay for the Season,” an EBS documentary about seasonal workers in Big Sky.
Big Sky’s Community Support Group announced their complete list of events for seasonal workers this summer, including discounted fly fishing lessons, whitewater rafting trips, horseback rides and tours through Yellowstone National Park.
The Community Support Group is an independent organization created in 2023 by Laura Seyfang to welcome the seasonal workforce in Big Sky to the area. The group organizes free and heavily discounted events and activities for those who travel to Big Sky to work for several months at places like the Montage, Big Sky Resort, and the Yellowstone Club. It also helps direct them to helpful resources like free shuttle services and the Big Sky Food Bank. This summer, the CSG is arranging in-home dinners with locals, morning hikes, bowling nights at the montage and other events for seasonal workers to enjoy.
“The whole goal is to create a welcoming environment and help really facilitate opportunities for connection between our local community and the seasonal employees that are here for the summer,” Anna Johnson, the director of community engagement for Lone Mountain Land Company and a volunteer in the CSG, told EBS.
About half of Big Sky’s seasonal workforce come from the U.S., while the other half travel here on J-1 or H-2B work visas. Johnson said that during the summer, workers tend to come from Eastern European countries like Bulgaria and Romania, Asian countries including the Philippines, China and Taiwan, and other regions like the Caribbean. This year, the multinational nature of Big Sky’s seasonal workforce posed an unforeseen difficulty for one of the CSG’s most popular summer events.
For the past two summers, the CSG has organized tours into Yellowstone for seasonal workers through Snow Country Limo. This year, however, the Trump administration instituted an additional $100 fee for admission to 11 of the country’s most popular national parks for non-U.S. residents, creating a financial hurdle for the CSG. The group relies on donations from Spanish Peaks Community Foundation, Moonlight Community Foundation, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce, Lone Mountain Land Company and the Rotary Club to operate and to help lower the costs of activities for seasonal workers. Because of the price hike, the CSG can only afford to host three tours into the national park this summer compared to last year’s 11. However, the group has compensated by adding brand new activities like fly fishing lessons through Gallatin River Guides and ziplining at Big Sky Resort.
“Businesses have just been so supportive by providing low-cost or free events for employees,” Johnson said.
The CSG’s founder Laura Seyfang told EBS that one of the group’s main challenges is spreading awareness about the events and activities they organize.
“We have a whole new bunch of people every season, so figuring out how you reach your demographics quickly is always our biggest challenge,” Seyfang said.
The group is also looking for more locals to host in-home dinners for seasonal workers, and Seyfang said that anyone can become a part of the group to volunteer at events or help organize them. The CSG will launch into their summer schedule this Sunday, June 28, with a welcome party at Fire Pit Park in Big Sky’s Town Center from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A complete list of summer events can be found on their website, along with a collection of resources like shuttle schedules and a seasonal worker welcome guide.
