Conservation & Partnerships
 When it comes to defining his family legacy, Dale Veseth is unwavering: Veseth Cattle Co. will remain a working ranch that strengthens opportunities for local ranchers, champions education and community-led conservation, and upholds Montana’s ranching heritage. To ensure that legacy endures beyond their lifetimes, Dale and his wife, Janet, have announced that they will gift their 38,300-acre ranch to the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA), a rancher-founded and rancher-led nonprofit Dale has helped build for more than 20 years. The gift, valued at $21.6 million, represents the largest recorded working ranch donation in Montana history. While the Veseths will continue to manage the ranch throughout their lives, this commitment ensures a thoughtful transition to RSA when the time comes. “We’ve watched RSA grow into something pretty special,” said Dale. “It’s brought people together with a shared purpose and opened eyes to the positive impact ranchers have on the ground. We’re proud to know the ranch will be part of that.
RSA Training & Education Opportunities to Strengthen Rural Communities
The Rancher's Stewardship Alliance has jam-packed the next few months with meet and greets, trainings, online learning sessions and their annual banquet! Check out all of the events they have going on through the link below!
WorkFit blends deep clinical expertise with real-world experience to deliver hands-on, engaging workshops that reduce injuries, build strength, and shift workplace culture from burnout to resilience. Trusted by crews, coaches, and companies alike, our trainings are grounded in science, built for the real world, and designed to create lasting impact.
This 8-week wellness series is designed for Montana’s agricultural community — ranchers, farmers, and producers who face the physical and mental demands of working the land. Join a supportive community of producers to learn simple tools to prevent injuries, ease pain, and build lasting health.
Our passion is teaching practical strategies to build resilience to the physical and mental demands of ranching and farming. Regardless of where you start, small changes can have a big impact on your health, your wellness and your resiliency.
This series is at NO COST to participants as it is fully funded and supported by LOR Foundation's investment in rural health. The blended format combines online learning, in-person practice, and community connection: 2 Zoom sessions, 1 in-person workshop, & ongoing community connection via Signal chat.
 Looking to buy or sell hay or straw? Need to lease pasture or have some available? Mountain West Grazing is here to help! With the launch of the grazing connection, you can easily post listings FOR FREE to connect with others in the ag community - this is your go-to resource.
 Overview of the Public Lands Rule Rescission:
BLM is asking for public comment on its proposed rescission of the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, issued in 2024 under the Biden Administration. This rule established conservation as a defined “use” of Federal Lands. Other uses already established include grazing, mining, and energy development. The rescission aligns with the current administration's public land priorities and allows for fewer regulations when establishing multiple-use management practices.
Agency Updates
Funding Available Now!
Multiple Grant Opportunities
DNRC administers a wide range of grants and loans for Montana, assisting cities and towns, conservation districts, private landowners, and other groups in managing natural resource issues at the local level.
 MDA Confirms New Rush Skeletonweed Sites in Western Montana
The Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) confirmed rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea) in recent weeks at several sites outside its historic invaded range in the state.
These include two plants in the I-90 median west of Three Forks, a few plants at two locations south of Dillon on I-15, and individual plants located where recent forest fires occurred near Wise River and Wisdom.
BLM timber sales bring in over $7.5 million
The Bureau of Land Management sold nearly 47 million board feet of timber across 5,542 public acres during 12 timber sales held in in four states, for a total of $7,555,225; more than $946,545 above the total appraised values. Each year, the BLM forestry program's sales support approximately 2,000 jobs nationally and generate more than $1 billion for local economies.
 PROTECTING AND IMPROVING THE BUSINESS OF RANCHING: Strengthen U.S. cattle production through endangered species reforms, enhanced
disaster relief, increased grazing access, increased access to capital, and affordable
risk management tools.
Grazing and rangeland management are central to the multiple-use missions of both the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Together, the agencies administer approximately 240 million acres of rangelands across 28 states, supporting over 23,000 permittees and lessees. There are roughly 29,000 grazing allotments nationwide—about 10% (24 million acres) are currently vacant. Grazing on federal lands sustains rural economies, supporting 14,200 jobs and $645 million in GDP on USFS lands, and 35,000 jobs and $2.7 billion in output on BLM lands.
Montana State offers reference sheets to calculate fertilizer rates from soil tests
At the closing of each growing season, growers start thinking about the next year, and soil testing is an important part of that planning. The Montana State University Extension Soil Fertility Program recently released two online reference sheets to help growers interpret soil test reports and calculate fertilizer rates.
Celebrate Ag Events at MSU
November is Celebrate Ag month at Montana State University! Checkout the calendar of events below to participate and click on the link below to learn more about Celebrate Ag at MSU!
 FWP Public Notices & Opportunity for Comment
FWP needs your help in detecting and managing CWD
Hunters are Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ strongest asset in managing chronic wasting disease (CWD). We need your help in gathering information about the disease in Montana and we need your help in managing the disease to ensure we keep its prevalence low where it’s possible.
An important way hunters can help with CWD management is by submitting samples from deer and elk. Your sample helps provide FWP with the information about where CWD is around the state, how it may be spreading, and what the prevalence, or infection rates, are where the disease exists. FWP is committed to the long-term management of CWD to ensure we have healthy herd numbers and abundant hunting opportunities for decades to come.
Podcast Corner
AoR 163: Stockwater Monitoring Technologies and Natural Capital with Andrew Coppin, RanchBot
Andrew Coppin is the co-founder and CEO of RanchBot, a company aiming to reduce the cost and stress of managing stockwatering supplies in the large percentage of the world's surface where water really matters to grazing operations of all sizes. But as a former investment banker in corporate finance, Andrew has broader socioecological goals: "Ranchers are the largest custodians of natural capital on the planet outside of governments, and 98% of ranchers I know are trying to respect the land and work in sympathy with nature, and they're trying to leave the planet better than they found it for their children and their children's children.
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Aging farmer demographics, rising land values and farm stress are creating a challenging environment for the successful transfer of farms and ranches to the next generation. Behind the legal, financial and familial considerations of farm and ranch transition, lay a wellspring of stories that do not often surface in conventional planning discussions.
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Research Center
To make the 406 Rangelands newsletter more reader friendly, the "Research Center" section has been permanently moved to the Rangeland Resources Program website. You can access it here.
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