Losing the whitebark is more than losing a species by Jayden Skelly
As we approached 9000 feet on the third day of our first backpacking trip, we entered a new ecosystem unknown to our group. Forests dominated by spruce and firs ceded
Leaning In By Leeland Gentry
On WRFI’s 2021 Conservation Across Boundaries course, our first section of backcountry travel started in the Snowcrest Mountains of southwest Montana. Our trip started by following the East Fork of
“Hey Bear” by Grace Budd
“In the Western tradition there is a recognized hierarchy of beings, with, of course, the human being on top. But… we must look to our teachers among the other species
River of Eagles by Rainey Strippelhoff
I can’t get to my binoculars quickly enough. The dark shape soars above us in effortless circles. I can see the flash of white tail feathers in the sun. I
How My Perspective Changed by Kasei Lewis
A beautiful crest of the Rocky Mountains forms the background as I enter a handmade home on the Blackfeet Reservation in northern Montana. I enter and a warm woman greets
Polina Chizhov: So Many Sides to a Story
I was standing in a feedlot in Choteau, Montana with malt sprout dust and chopped-up hay blowing around me, as thousands of Charolais, Angus, and hybrid cattle were getting ready
Gianna Fisher: Talking to the Mountains
Prior to traveling with WRFI, I had never seen mountains in person. As I am writing this blog, I am sitting somewhere in Jumbo, surrounded completely by land structures that
Livia Arneson: The Evolving Concept of Home
The concept of home is innately complicated yet somehow simple. The word itself conjures up nostalgia and feelings of overwhelming warmth. The saying “home is where the heart is” is
Ernesta McIntosh: The Last Frontier
Beep! Beep! Beep! I wake up to the frenzied sound of alarms, and tiredly roll over in my damp sleeping bag. It is 4 a.m. and five of my Conservation
Samantha Packer: Does it scare you? Good.
Last October, a friend of a friend came up to me and said “Hey, you like camping right?!”The answer, yes, was followed by her shoving paperwork in my hand and