Together we knelt inspecting the grasses that to me blurred into a uniform mass of browns and greens, but to Steve Charter were unique. A tiny microcosm of life that sustained both his land and livelihood. As a third generation rancher in southern Montana he had developed an understanding of the complex ecosystem covering his 8,000 acres where cattle graze and subsist on these plants. He explained to us the symbiotic relationship between the cows, grasses, and soil, and how precarious this balance was. The trampling of the land by the cows promotes healthy soil, he explained, but too much too often damages the earth and discourages new growth. It is this delicate system that Steve and other regenerative ranchers across the state navigate and that I began to understand as we sat there amongst the yucca and bluegrass.
Over centuries, a relationship was formed between grazing animals and the grasslands that blanket Montana’s landscape. Herds of bison once moved across the prairie in rhythms that allowed grasses to recover before they returned, a cycle that regenerative ranchers like Steve now aim to recreate with their cattle. In the Bull Mountains, however, that relationship has been severed. Hills that once supported generations of ranching families now bear the scars of coal extraction. Roads have been cut through the prairie and beneath them mining tunnels have destabilized the ground itself. Both the land and the trust that sustained it have been altered by large corporations and governmental inaction eroding the trust of many across the state.
Later that day, after having met with Steve, we learned about the injustices his family faced when they were ultimately forced from their ranch in the Bull Mountains by the Signal Peak Coal Mine – both by necessity and through legal recourse. The extraction of coal from under their property led to subsidence and a contaminated water supply making it unsafe for both the people and cattle that inhabited the land. At the same time, Signal Peak Energy terminated their allotment, making it impossible for them to stay even if they had wanted to. Regulatory protections failed, the earth was marred and generations of ranching terminated by a corporation that prioritized shareholders over the people who called Bull Mountain home.
In Montana, trust is eroding in both the natural world and in the institutions once designed to protect the interests of the people and land. Plants can no longer count on enough moisture or the right amount of grazing to sustain their growth, cattle can’t rely on adequate grasses to maintain their diet, and citizens can’t trust the government or companies to protect their interests and safety even when they pledge to do so. Nationally, our natural environments are being degraded by myopic perspectives focused on profit over people and short term gains over a sustainable future. Despite this, there is a growing minority, many of whom we are meeting on our journey across Montana, attempting to rebuild both our environment and society through regenerative practices that don’t just reap the benefits now, but will provide for generations to come.
It will take concerted collective action to steer the cargo ship of monied interests away from our current trajectory of a fossil fuel powered future, environmental degradation, and a society run by self interested elites. But it’s people like Steve who remind me that change begins with the quiet, deliberate work of stewardship. Each day he rotates his cattle to mimic the movement of the bison that once shaped these grasslands, nurturing healthier soils, restoring native grasslands and leaving the land more resilient than he found it. He is working to rebuild bonds and make public institutions more responsive at all levels – it’s people like Steve Charter fighting endlessly for the public good through regenerative practices and public advocacy that make me hopeful in a world where so little trust remains.