By Jessianne CastleEBS ENVIRONMENTAL & OUTDOORS EDITOR
BOZEMAN – When
snow falls in Montana the clouds draw in from the sky. They huddle close
against mountain peaks and spread across the valleys, blanketing the sagey
plains in snowflake wonder. Crystalline white drops of snow sail to the ground
and gather there, smoothing cracks and ravines. When snowfall stops in Montana,
the sky smiles, clouds part and sunshine dances with the glistening snow.
The
experience of place, the way a landscape immerses the senses, mind, body and
spirit, is widely appreciated in Montana. It’s why people come here, why they
stay, why they live as they do.
A new
literary anthology celebrates this Montana sense of place, featuring 20 of the state’s
contemporary writers, including Rick Bass, Maile Meloy and Carrie La Seur, as
well as 28 bright color landscape photographs by Alexis Bonogofsky.
Titled “A
Million Acres,” this new release is sponsored by the Montana Land Reliance and
specifically commemorates the land trust’s protection of 1 million acres of
Montana open spaces, which was achieved at the end of 2017.
As the
largest state-based land trust in the U.S., Montana Land Reliance has worked
with more than 800 landowners—many of whom are working farmers and ranchers—in
a partnership that permanently protects private land from development while
maintaining private ownership of the land. This keeps agricultural land in
production and preserves fish and wildlife habitat in perpetuity.
“It requires a willing landowner who has a conservation ethos or who’s really interested in stewarding the land,” said MLR southwest manager and Big Sky resident Jessie Wiese. “It leads to really meaningful conservation.”
West Rosebud Creek in Stillwater County. PHOTO BY ALEXIS BONOGOFSKY
Wiese said that
beyond serving in tribute to open land conservation, the book also honors those
willing landowners who have been partners in conservation. “It’s been working
with landowners of all walks of life,” she said. “I think the writers did well
showcasing that.”
She added
that she hopes “A Million Acres” inspires its readers, whether they live in
Montana, visit Montana or have only heard of Montana from afar.
“Hopefully
it does connect more people with Montana,” she said. “It’s an important place
to preserve.”
Editor Keir
Graff, a Chicago resident who was born and raised in Montana, echoed Wiese. In
the national scene, he said, “’Montana’ is like a magical word, an association
with the mythic West. Montana will always fascinate people.”
Recognizing
both his own and many a Montanan’s desire to keep the bounty of the Treasure
State a closely kept secret, Graff offered one perspective.
“We really
need to be less possessive of it and more encouraging of people to really know
what it is,” he said. “Really this isn’t just about Montana. This is about land
and open space everywhere.”
Ultimately,
the book considers how the landscape touches those who set foot in Montana
through the lens of multi-generational Montanans as well as out-of-state
transplants. In essays, memoirs and short stories, the writers tell their tales
of the rivers, mountains and plains from across the state.
“It’s such a
Montana thing to do, to celebrate that,” Graff said. “We need everybody to
visit Montana at least once in their life not only to experience the beauty,
but to understand it and know why it’s worth preserving.”