conservation · community · commitment

Kalsta RanchKalsta RanchBIG HOLE VALLEY · MONTANABIG HOLE VALLEY · MONTANA

“We look from the open door

to the west as I have mentioned before,

the lawn, the river, meadow and mountain

with cloud-filled gulches and cloud-capped

summits: to the south we catch a glimpse

of the river and railroad lined with willows

and cotton-wood trees. We may continue

our walk for nearly two miles along the

riverbank on our ranch and still the stream

dashes on. We seem to have seen it all for

there surely the valley ends where those

lofty snow-covered mountain ridges seem

to cross the way. Yes, but they are miles and

miles away, but seem near to us in the clear

atmosphere. let us face to the east and look

at mcCarty mt. less than a mile away and

which limits our vision by its rugged green

slopes and wooded gulches. It is a grand old

spur-mountain around which our Bighole

river cuts its channel. It is a glorious sight

to watch the sun as it rises each morning

in regal splendor above this summit. on

this mountain with its foot-hills and benches

the cattle of the various ranchers graze. The

inexhaustible verdure, and the running waters

make it a valuable range for our home cattle.”

francis Adelia reynolds, The Home Garden, 1886

Co-owner of present-day Kalsta Ranch from 1885 – 1886

KALSTA RANCH 2 BeArIngs & WIldlIfe

3 Big Sky Birds

5 Prime Hunting Ground

6 fAmIlY hIstorY

8 ConservAtIon

11 Big Hole Fishing

13 Stormwater Management

14 Baseline Bat Data

19 people & plACe

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Bearings & WildlifeKalsta Ranch sits squarely within one of the most ecologically valuable territories in the continental United States. While many know by name Greater Yellowstone, the Crown of the Continent, and the Salmon-Selway of Idaho, fewer are familiar with the High Divide region — the vast and important area that connects the three notable wildlife sanctuaries.

The High Divide is a series of small mountain ranges within northern Idaho and southwest Montana. A patchwork of sagebrush steppe, expansive grassland, fertile valleys, and pristine rivers, this region is inherently important to wildlife that rely on moving through large tracts of public and private land to forage and maintain viable populations. A crucial artery for healthy wildlife flow, conservation of the High Divide is vital to protecting the integrity of the Northern Rockies.

The Kalstas bear witness to the awe-inspiring natural ceremonies of this valuable landscape every day. Located forty miles south of Butte, MT on four miles of the pristine Big Hole River, the riverbanks of Kalsta Ranch provide prime viewing areas for watching bald eagles hunt for fish or scour the surrounding wetlands for carrion. Looking out towards the prickly pear-spotted prairie, it’s not uncommon to spot a herd of pronghorns (colloquially known as antelope), North America’s fastest land mammal, grazing grassy ridges and gullies.

Beneath the cottonwood tree galleries that line the streambed, everything from white-tailed deer, moose, porcupines, and wild turkeys find refuge. Even mountain lions have been known to stalk these areas during winter when water is harder to find at higher elevations. North America’s largest rodent, the beaver, is no stranger to setting up residence on the ranch either, and is oftentimes referenced as “the force that is beaver” due to its incredible ability to dam streams and irrigation ditches within hours.

Wolf prInt on kAlstA rAnCh

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While a wooded riparian band forms the ranch’s western perimeter, its north and south points stretch into grassland benches and arid prairie foothills that sustain resident populations of elk and mule deer.

To the east is McCartney Mountain, an extinct volcano that takes the shape of a heart from aerial view. At its tallest, McCartney stands just over 8,300 feet above sea level, and disperses night-wandering animals into lower elevations after dark. It’s not uncommon for a cascading barrage of coyote yips to echo throughout the valley following dusk’s descent or immediately preceding dawn.

Big-horned sheep skuttle between McCartney’s dynamic rock outcroppings, and bobcats frequent the deep coulees that funnel down from its peaks. While not often spotted by humans, Kalsta Ranch is included within the threatened Canada lynx’s natural rangeland, and evidence of its presence has been occasionally observed. The elusive wolverine has also made an appearance from time-to-time.

Because the ranch is part of a corridor that acts as a pathway between various protected territories of wilderness, large predators — grizzly bears, black bears, wolves — move through the area as part of their expansive home range, sometimes at uncomfortably close proximity.

BIG SKY BIRDSWhether year-round or

seasonally, montana is home

to an impressive array of

raptors (birds of prey). eagles,

hawks, falcons, harriers, ospreys,

owls, and vultures dominate the

Big sky with their impressive wing

spans, masterful mid-air movements,

and piercing calls. situated within

a raptor migration corridor key to

nesting and hunting, the kalsta ranch

area is heavily frequented by all above-

mentioned raptor species including

the golden eagle, American kestrel,

and red-tailed hawk.

KevIn BalleRIK KalSTa

Imagery ©2015 Google, Map data ©2015 Google 2 mi

Traf<c, Bicycling, Directions

GO

OG

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aPS

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Small mammals — cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits, squirrels, gophers — pepper the landscape with alert movements while their flighted counterpart, the bat, lays claim over the air along with an incredibly diverse assortment of birds.

Black-billed magpies, ravens, and northern flickers call the ranch home year-round while neotropical migrants like western tanagers and lazuli buntings, and water birds like curlews and sandhill cranes stop to forage or breed.

Kalsta Ranch is conservationally inclined; its operational structure acknowledges the sacredness of the land’s processes and the importance of biodiversity and natural resources. The family believes that what you take care of, will take care of you. Honoring their position as stewards of the land means sustaining a relationship with the environment based on coexistence, preservation, and protection.

Privately owned and environmentally aware operations like Kalsta Ranch are important to preventing the harmful fragmentation of wildlife corridors caused by subdivision or changes in land use. Maintaining an interconnectedness between the individually impressive ecosystems of Yellowstone, the Crown of the Continent, and Selway-Salmon is crucial to protecting wildlife populations native to the Northern Rockies.

In this way, the importance of the High Divide region cannot be understated or ignored. As bridge-building between people is an important part of ensuring progress towards any goal, strengthening and protecting the High Divide as a bridge between ecosystems is inherently tied to the goal of preserving the integrity of the American West. The Kalstas understand their integral role in this context, and through conscientious decision-making, contribute to advancing wildlife conservation successes, small and large.

Kalsta Ranch

WIlDlIfe caPTuReD vIa GaMe caMeRaS On KalSTa Ranch

PRIMe hunTInG GROunDmontana is divided into seven regions overseen by montana fish, Wildlife, & parks (fWp), the state agency tasked with hunting and fishing management. southwest montana is encapsulated within region 3, a 18,089 square-mile area that makes up over 12 percent of the state and includes the counties of Beaverhead, Broadwater, gallatin, Jefferson, lewis and Clark, madison, silverbow, and a section of deer lodge.

It’s a well known fact that southwest montana is a hunter’s holy land, especially if you’re looking for elk — about 50 percent of the state’s annual elk harvest occurs in region 3, which is also ripe with other big game.

kalsta ranch sustains resident ungulate populations that make possible exciting and successful hunting excursions for various skill levels. The low snowfall in this regional pocket allows elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and pronghorns to graze the forested peaks, grassy slopes, and rangeland benches of mcCartney mountain year-round. The lowland riparian areas that hug either side of the Big hole river attract a fair share of game as well, particularly moose and waterfowl.

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Before the arrival of white settlers, the region that today’s Kalsta Ranch sits within was once known as

“place of the ground squirrel” by Salish (Flathead) Indians. Nomadic Shoshone bands were most prevalent in the area, and drifted through following large roaming bison herds that historically ranged the Great Plains.

By 1875, government officials had begun surveying the area and cataloging segments of land and their possible uses with the goals of stretching frontier boundaries and attracting more settlers with promises of prospect and purpose. The surveys succeeded in setting the stage for an official period of settlement and by 1880, the land that is now Kalsta Ranch was purchased by its first owner: Mr. George G. Earle.

In 1918, Horace and Maggie Hand (Erik Kalsta’s great-grandparents) purchased the ranch. A year later, they sold it to two brothers who inevitably couldn’t make the payments. The Hands repossessed the ranch in 1921, which began the long stretch of one family’s guardianship over the land, and leads us to the owners of present day

— the Kalstas.

Horace and Maggie Hand had six children, one of whom was Thelma, an avid record-keeper who, from 1936 to 1994, diligently chronicled her life in journals. Forty-one of the weathered diaries are still intact and laden with facts, patterns, and logistics related to weather, wildlife, and the daily ins and outs of agricultural grind.

In 1927, when Thelma was eighteen years old, a dam north of the ranch broke sending a flood downstream that washed out the railroad bridge straddling the Big Hole River a few hundred yards from the ranch house. A young Lars Kalsta, recently immigrated from Norway, was on the crew tasked with rebuilding the bridge. One day, Thelma was crossing the river in a small boat when Lars laid eyes on her from the new bridge’s anchorings. She was the first woman he’d seen in a boat since leaving the “old country,” a sight that evoked feelings of home and comfort. Thelma saw Lars, too, and was taken by his 6-foot-4 frame.

Family History

mAggIe hAnd, 1918

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ThelMa K al STa , June 8, 1941

“McCarty Mountain is so green. Makes us think of a story Grandpa Hand used to tell us of grass in the early

days. This grass means everything to us. Peas and pod. A promise. Spuds blooming. Made ice cream and butter. Men finished haying 10 acres on Marlow pasture. Lars went to the

hills today to salt cattle. Says grass was knee-high and more everywhere. A peach of a rain came this p.m. Gee, this makes one feel good to know it can rain.”

Lars and Thelma married in 1929 and four years later, purchased the ranch from Horace and Maggie who continued to live on the ranch until their deaths. In 1936, Thelma gave birth to Gunnar Kalsta, who would be as fiercely dedicated to the ranch as his parents. As some people orient their lives around the rise and fall of the sun, Gunnar did so around the needs of his cattle, and is credited with coining the term “cow time,” a colloquialism still used on the ranch today.

When Gunnar married Elaine (Evans) Kalsta in 1963, another strand of Montanan authenticity was woven into the ranch’s story. Elaine, a fourth-generation Montana cowgirl who’d just finished nursing school, grew up on a remote ranch in the substantially less populated eastern half of the state.

Gunnar and Elaine’s son, Erik, was born in 1966, followed by daughters Shannon in 1969 and Shari in 1972. As a freshman attending Montana State University, Erik met Jami Murdoch, the daughter of a union representative who advocated for smelter workers’ rights in Great Falls during the early eighties. Married in 1989, Erik and Jami have been running Kalsta Ranch since 2002, and have two children, Rhiannon and Lars.

Historically a commercial cattle operation, the family business recently expanded to include sheep rearing. Grass-fed beef and grass-fed lamb are the primary products produced, with wool akin to coarse silk distributed to Duckworth, a Montana-based source-verified wool company recently noted as using “the best wool in the world” for its durable, high-performance products.

erIk, lArs, JAmI, & rhIAnnon kAlstA, 2015

lArs, thelmA, gUnnAr kAlstA, UnknoWn, & torfIn kAlstA, 1941

gUnnAr & lArs kAlstA,1960

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ConservAtIon on

Kalsta Ranch

aRchIval PhOTOS cOuRTeSY Of KalSTa faMIlY

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for decades, Kalsta Ranch has not only been in the business of livestock, but also in the business of transcending age- old cliches that often cloak imaginations of ranches in the rural American West.

While not outwardly advertising it, the ranch’s operation is supported by a long history of progressive decision-making. Erik, the latest in the long line of those decision-makers, is unabashedly outspoken about things like range restoration, climate change, and human-wildlife coexistence — conversation pieces that don’t wash over every ranch family’s dinner table. Eco-friendly agricultural adaptations motivated by cultural and environmental changes have been made not only in the best interest of the ranch, but also in the spirit of preserving biodiversity and natural resources. A determining factor of a ranch’s survivability is how sustainably it interacts with the surrounding environment over short and long periods of time. Livelihood is linked to conservation — the Kalstas have always understood that. Cultivating and sustaining partnerships with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions has been central to Kalsta Ranch’s conservationist platform, and has allowed the family business to access resources that ensure tangible returns on conservation projects. Partnerships, though, aren’t always forged with external entities. On Kalsta Ranch, they started at home between family generations. From a very young age, Erik was encouraged to pay close attention to detail. His grandmother, Thelma, made sure of that. Her observations of the natural environment didn’t stop at the pages of her journals, but were exchanged in daily conversations with Erik over her county-famous sourdough waffles or English tea custom. It wasn’t officially spring at Kalsta Ranch until Thelma first spotted the blue birds flitting through the sagebrush, or the cottonwood branches tipped by new crimson buds — subtleties the Kalstas still use to gauge seasonal shifts.

aRchIval PhOTOS cOuRTeSY Of KalSTa faMIlY

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The Big Hole River also became one of Erik’s favorite ways to watch the seasons replace each other. If paid close attention to, it never failed to reveal the story of the landscape.

“You start thinking about winter the first day the river gets ice on it,” Erik says. “When the ice begins to leave, you start thinking about spring. Spring is when our high water run-off occurs. Everything is defrosting and the river gets a strong pulse. You can hear it rushing by day and night. When it starts to slow, that’s when you know you’re full tilt into summer.” These indicators mean more to the family than fixed calendar seasons in a climate that’s only predictability is its unpredictability. The family tradition of devout recordkeeping has benefited the U.S. Geological Service (USGS), which has a stream gauge on the Big Hole River fifty yards from the ranch house. Installed in 1923, it’s the oldest gauge on the Big Hole River. Initially, it monitored river height and volume during high water periods but eventually data collection was extended nearly year-round. Maggie Hand (Erik’s great-grandmother) took the measurements manually in the twenties, as did Thelma, Gunnar, and Erik after her until the system was computerized in the nineties. The National Weather Service also had a data collection station on the ranch from 1960 to 2011; each Kalsta generation took those readings by hand, too.

thelmA & lArs kAlstA, 1929

fIShInG The BIG hOletwisting itself against four miles of the ranch’s western perimeter, the Big hole river, world-renowned especially amongst fly fisherman, is known as an exceedingly high quality natural trout stream. The 153-mile long river is also the last remaining native habitat in the lower forty-eight for the endangered fluvial Arctic grayling, a freshwater fish noted for its pronounced fanned dorsal fin that radiates iridescent hues.

There are five game species of fish in the Big hole — rainbow trout (montana’s number one game fish), westslope cutthroat trout (montana’s state fish), brown trout, brook trout, and the grayling (catch-and-release only). twenty-six percent of the state’s fishing happens in the southwest region, which has ninety-five fishing access sites to accommodate anglers — one just across the river from the ranch and appropriately named the kalsta Bridge fishing Access site.

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MIKe DvORaK MIKe DvORaK MIKe DvORaK

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“Flood irrigation is an art … There’s a sound plants make when water washes over them. It’s like the land is letting out a sigh.”

— Erik

WaTeR anD e aRTh

Erik’s upbringing combined with more hours of the day spent outside than not, manifested in an appreciation of the ways natural elements interact with one another over a landscape as dynamic as it is austere.

It was in high school that Erik began to intentionally build upon his knowledge of resource management — water being the first focus. During the summers, one of

eRIK KalSTa

irrigation of the ranch’s low-lying pasture. This made for long days of walking irrigation ditches that spread through the ranch like veins, and damming them to create water overflow that spills into thirsty meadow.

“Flood irrigation is an art,” Erik says. “There’s a sound plants make when water washes over them. It’s like the land is letting out a sigh.”

Countless hours studying the movement of water resulted in an appreciation of the invaluable resource at a young age, especially in a climate that maxes at 7.5 inches of precipitation annually — that’s dry.

The coupling of water and earth is an interaction many ranchers contemplate; Erik’s father, Gunnar, being one of them. In the mid-1950s, Gunnar began thinking about ways to compensate for the lack of moisture in the ground, which inevitably contributes to the low growth volumes of

dryland grasses. Changing grazing techniques, he thought, could help improve grass growth, and grass growth is good for cows.

In 1957, Gunnar partnered with Montana State University to initiate a project that leveraged science to maximize grazing potential while preserving rangeland resilience. They created exclusion plots (fenced-off segments of land that go without grazing) to monitor the impact of grazing versus non-grazing on grassland growth volumes.

As Gunnar got older, Erik’s responsibilities extended to overseeing cattle management and grazing techniques. Continuing in Gunnar’s footsteps, Erik instituted a technique in the nineties called flash grazing (also known as the Savory Grazing Method) — not a new concept to the agricultural world, but not widely practiced in Montana either.

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STORMWaTeR M anaGe MenT most recently, erik’s forward-thinking zeal has resulted in stormwater management projects. When kalsta ranch and the surrounding area get rain, it’s usually in the form of a “gully washer” or “cloud burst,” which means a heavy downpour occurs within a short period of time. Because the ground can’t absorb the water fast enough, it washes over the land taking with it large amounts of sediment that end up in the river.

“The high velocity of the water causes the soil to degrade and erode,” erik says. “If you can slow the water down, you can keep the soil, the water sinks into the subsoil aquifer, and gets used by plants. When plant volume increases, plant litter on the ground increases, organic matter increases, and our ability to hold more water increases. so, we started with building contour ditches.”

By digging contour ditches with a tractor on the sloped areas of his property, he’s slowed down water as it travels downhill. less soil is disturbed and new vegetation has cropped up where the moisture is able to settle longer.

“during a 45-second cloudburst last spring, three tenths of an inch of rain came down,” erik says. “In the area where I dug the contour ditches, the water didn’t transport soil because it didn’t have the distance to build velocity, while the untreated areas of my property experienced lots of soil movement.”

taking the project further, erik researched stormwater management techniques in other parts of the world. Applying a technique used in nigeria, he built structures called “rock weirs” or “stone gabions”

— rock walls built across water drainage zones. The walls slowed down water run-off, trapped soil and other organic debris, and have also contributed to revegetation.

KevIn Ball

eRIK KalSTaeRIK KalSTa

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Most ranchers in the region make sure they have “a good scatter” on their cattle. That means spreading cattle out over large tracts of rangeland; there’s plenty of space between cows, and enough room for them to select the feed they want.

“It also means the land is being grazed unevenly,” Erik says, “and certain plants are being overgrazed. If you’re a cow, you’re out there eating all the cookies until the cookies are gone. Then you’re going to move to the crackers on your way to the broccoli.”

Conversely, flash grazing involves breaking up expansive pasture spreads into smaller pastures and rotating animals through at a high density for short periods of time.

“This high-density grazing is likened to the way buffalo grazed the area,” Erik says.

“They kept a tight group for protection from predators. It’s also similar to wildebeests in Africa. In this way, you get a trampling effect on the ground, everything is eaten equally, and the plants have evolved to sustain this disturbance. But if your cows are out there,

year after year, eating only the cookie plants, then all you get is broccoli — which is the opposite of biodiversity.”

In addition to biodiversity restoration, flash grazing has contributed to healthier soils. Concentrated grazing means concentrated manures, which not only saves Erik the cost of applying chemical fertilizers, but creates the conditions whereby the soil can sufficiently sustain plant growth by itself.

“And,” Erik says, “the more organic matter in the soil, or, the more dirt in your dirt, the more water you can trap per cubic foot of soil.”

It’s no surprise, then, that when Erik and Jami took over the ranch in 2002, their primary focus would be rejuvenating the landscape through the maximization of water.

“That’s the holy grail for me,” Erik says. “My grandmother spoke of ‘grass belly-high to a mule.’ Restoring the ground to that condition, bringing it back from the impact of early white settlers, is what we’re trying to do.”

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Improved water flow and decreased water temperature also contribute to the prevention of whirling disease, a parasitic infection of freshwater fish like salmon and trout. Whirling disease has been known to devastate fish populations especially in the Rocky Mountain region. The elimination of bodies of stagnant or slow-moving water means the elimination of optimal breeding conditions for the disease-causing parasite. To finalize the project, protective cattle-proof fencing went up around the restored area, and a new well was installed further inland to provide an alternative off-stream water source for livestock. Because the restoration of this area on Kalsta Ranch was so successful, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) showed interest in placing the ground under a conservation easement — a legally binding agreement between a private landowner and private organization or public agency intended to protect a piece of property with high ecological or open-space value.

K al STa SPRInG cReeKThis two-pronged approach of restoration and conservation has led to a variety of multifaceted projects over the years, one of the largest being the Kalsta Spring Creek and Slough Restoration Project, which took thirteen years from start to finish. The Big Hole Watershed Committee, a multi-stake organization that addresses local community concerns around water use and management (for which Erik is a governing board member), partnered with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to initiate a pond project on Kalsta Ranch in 1997. The project’s primary goal was to restore and enhance the spring creek to conditions comparable to those before channel migration occurred. Channel migration is the lateral movement of a river across its floodplain. It’s a natural river process but in this case, left the Kalsta Ranch project area bereft of water movement which caused sediment buildup, and water quality and temperature issues.After thirteen years of meticulous planning, arduous fund sourcing, and heavy construction, the pond project was completed in 2010. Streambanks were reconstructed, sediment buildup was dredged, new water channels were built, and culverts were installed to improve water connectivity. Today, the success of the project is gauged by how well it supports the natural processes central to healthy riparian zones. And a success, indeed, it has been. The restored area now maintains the cool water temperatures necessary for trout spawning, provides habitat for waterfowl, and sustains a robust vegetation cover heavily utilized by other wildlife not previously seen there. Wood ducks and cinnamon teals frequent the pond, hooded mergansers and sandhill cranes nest there, otters are seen during fall months, and the spring after construction was finalized, Erik and his daughter, Rhiannon, saw a wolverine.

eRIK KalSTa

eRIK KalSTa

revegetAtIon of exCAvAted AreAs At pond proJeCt sIte

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kalsta ranch, with its variety of ecosystems, has provided a locale for a

number of scientific studies conducted in partnership with educational institutions.

Currently, montana tech professor of biological sciences, Amy kuenzi, is overseeing a bat study within the restored pond area. At various locations, she’s placed ultrasound detectors to record the high frequency echolocation calls bats make when they’re foraging at night. The recordings can then provide insight into baseline bat activity patterns.

“The other thing you can do with ultrasound data,” professor kuenzi says, “is identify different bat species. There are fifteen in montana. White-nose syndrome is another reason we’re collecting data. It’s a fungus that’s been affecting bat populations in the east, and has been marching its way out West.”

dr. AmY kUenZI At pond sIte

ABove: hoArY BAt Courtesy of Amy kuenzi

originally from eurasia, white-nose syndrome is a fungal disease contracted through the skin of hibernating bats. once infected, a bat’s hibernation cycle is interrupted causing it to wake. It ultimately loses its fat stores and doesn’t survive the winter.

“There are certain species that are projected to go extinct on the east Coast,” professor kuenzi says. “to have baseline data in place, we can look at change and activity, and draw correlations between declining populations.”

professor kuenzi thinks it’s highly likely that the pond’s restoration increased bat activity within the project area. The habitat’s not only been expanded, she says, but enhanced, too.

With the help of her staff, professor kuenzi is currently analyzing the first collection of recorded bat calls.

Ba seline Bat Data · In Partnership with Montana Tech

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Because private land isn’t bound by the same restrictions and processes as public land, conservation easements can expedite the implementation of restoration projects, and allow the landscape to be managed more readily without public resources. All conservation easements are subject to individual tailoring that meets localized conservation goals and the needs of the landowner. In most cases (including Erik’s), a landowner sells or donates certain rights to the property — namely subdivision, even if sold or inherited — and the partner entity holds the landowner accountable to that agreement. Easements protect wildlife migration routes and habitat, water quality, and landscape integrity. They allow land to stay in private hands, preserving its agricultural uses, while also safeguarding its ecological future.

“As a rancher, that’s always been my vision for this land anyway,” Erik says. “Easements help preserve the functions of lands that could be damaged by changes in use, like subdivision. That kind of development causes habitat fragmentation, which is one of the biggest threats to wildlife, large and small, in the West. I’ve always felt that, with the brief time I have on this land, I should do what I can to preserve it, both for my family and prosperity.”To date, Erik has two conservation easements in place at Kalsta Ranch. Both were made possible in partnership with NRCS. With these high-value zones protected in perpetuity, wildlife can thrive without human threat.

“… STIll The STRe a M Da She S On …”Most recently, Erik partnered with the Big Hole Watershed Committee, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Montana Department of Environmental Quality, NRCS, the Gainey Foundation, and Future West, a conservation consulting group (for which Erik and Jami are governing board members), to initiate the Corder Ditch Abandonment Project.The Corder ditch is part of a larger irrigation system nearly five miles long, and runs through Kalsta Ranch and the adjoining ranch to the south. Use of the 2.5 mile-long Corder ditch for flood irrigation caused heavy water losses and high temperature returns to the Big Hole River.

“Easements help

preserve the functions

of lands that could

be damaged by

changes in use, like

subdivision. That

kind of development

causes habitat

fragmentation, which

is one of the biggest

threats to wildlife … ”

— Erik

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According to Future West, “by abandoning this portion of the current ditch and replacing the existing irrigation infrastructure on two ranches with more efficient systems, water savings in the Big Hole River were likely realized and warm water returns to the river were eliminated.”The project started in 2011 and by mid-2013, the ditch abandonment was complete. Updated irrigation infrastructure has had positive effects on other parts of the ranch, too. Between 2006 and 2010, Erik installed center pivot irrigation systems.The pivots were put on pastures historically only flood irrigated. By hybridizing the two systems, Erik has been able to address, again, issues of water conservation and resource management.

“During the spring, we use surplus water from the river to flood irrigate,” Erik says.

“The flood irrigation soaks the field, getting into the subsoil aquifer, and creates a savings of water in the soil. During the summertime, we combine that water savings with the much more efficient pivot irrigation, which provides just enough hydration the plants need throughout the summer.”And, as that groundwater slowly works its way back to the river through the subsoil aquifer, it re-enters the stream at about 51 °F. Surface water run-off caused by flood irrigation re-enters at around 75 °F — not a healthy temperature, especially during summer months.

It’s no secret that many of these projects benefit Erik’s pocketbook. Through forming partnerships with outside entities, he’s been able to streamline agricultural practices towards greater cost-effectiveness.It’s also no secret that every penny is reinvested back into the family business whereby it can continue to support a methodology that values the natural environment. For Erik, a conservation focused mentality secures the ranch’s longevity and his livelihood. Logically, financially, it makes sense. But, he says, it goes far beyond that. Habitat restoration and protection, biodiversity, and a dynamic between humans and wildlife based on co-existence, not competition, are things he holds close to his chest.

“It’s easy to say you own the land,” he says, “but if you’re honest and committed, the land owns you. You are responsible for what you leave behind. That’s the simplest way to put it.”

“It’s easy to say you own the land , but if you’re honest and committed, the land owns you. You are responsible for what you leave behind.”

— Erik

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People & PlaceRanching isn’t just an occupation, it’s a way of life. The Kalstas believe it’s also a privilege that comes with the responsibility to create meaningful opportunities for others to engage with and connect to the natural environment. Sharing the ranch with the surrounding community has taken multiple forms. Erik has established a commitment to extending outdoor access to hunters and anglers, particularly disabled youth.

“For the handicapped, we set up blinds made out of hay bales for hunting deer and elk,” Erik says. “We also make places along the river accessible; one kid with spina bifida can get down there in a wheelchair to hunt and fish.”Access to private property improves a sportsman’s chances of success. Public land use means increased hunter competition, and more skittish wildlife caused by heavier visitation to the area.

“I want handicapped youth to be successful,” Erik says. “It’s much easier for them to do that here than on public lands. I want the animals harvested sometimes; that’s part of my management plan. But what’s also important is giving someone that opportunity. There’s joy in that.”

The nexT GeneRaTIOnJami uses this quote from a 2003 UnICef report to frame the goal of the place-based field days.

“If children are to grow up in a world that maximizes their life opportunities, that recognizes their capacities as active citizens, and nurtures hope, peace, equity and sustainability, adults cannot do ‘business as usual’ and simply pass the problems of unsustainable living on to the next generation.”

Engaging with the next generation is also important to Jami, who has dedicated countless hours to organizing annual place-based watershed youth education field days hosted at the ranch. In partnership with the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program (CFWEP), an environmental education program provider, Jami’s youth field day curriculum combines science and history with hands-on activities for K-8 students attending rural schools in the Big Hole River watershed.

“Our family has always been very closely connected to water and water quality,” Jami says. “Those things affect our livelihood. Our place-based learning programs share with students not only what we have, but provide them with opportunities to engage with their environment, learn how its health is integral to our community, and become invested in its preservation.”Various community members — college professors, state agency employees, resource management advocates — collectively pool their resources to facilitate an impressive sampling of activities. On any given field day, 80 to 140 students participate in water quality studies, plant and insect collection, cattle branding, rock weir building, and more.

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eRIK KalSTa

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“We started in 2009 and had our last field day in 2014,” Jami says. “It’s contingent upon funding which is unfortunate because the impact on kids is clear. They leave bright- eyed after experiencing meaningful learning within a culturally relevant setting.”Teachers of participating schools agree. In a 2011 post-field day survey, one teacher wrote, “[The students] loved all of it. It’s a great outreach for the rural schools. It’s so important for them to take ownership/stewardship of their river because so many of them depend on it.”

SecuRInG a SuSTaInaBle fuTuRe As Erik says, “ranching is about having a plan but staying flexible; you survive because of that flexibility.” In effect, there’s never a day where the Kalstas aren’t thinking about the trajectory of the ranch. Conservation of natural resources, biodiversity, and the environment are mainstays within the family’s business model, as are habitat restoration and preservation. Finding creative ways to combine conservation ethic with agricultural tradition while adapting to climate and economic change is a challenging space, one the Kalstas intend to succeed in.

“We’re in a constant state of finding that sweet spot,” Erik says. “We’re not just trying to secure today’s ecological and financial health of the ranch, but tomorrow’s, too.” And, he emphasizes, an essential part of a sustainable future is the rejuvenation of the landscape’s dryland.

“It’s the ignored part of the watershed,” he adds. “I’m interested in creating a system that’s hydrologically dynamic, holds water, creates more plant life, and broadens grazing area. It means both a healthier landscape and sustainable business.”That, coupled with protecting the ranch’s unfragmented state, maintaining the application of conservation principles, and continuing to facilitate learning opportunities for the next generation, are the Kalstas’ commitments.

“That’s what stewardship means,” Erik says. “It’s being responsibility for what you leave behind. Helping to create and protect something to be enjoyed by those that follow in your footsteps is a great privilege.”

“… water and water quality … affect our livelihood. … [We] provide [students] with opportunities to engage with their environment, learn how its health is integral to our community, and become invested in its preservation.” — Jami

“When the sun hugs the horizon in winter,

it casts a dramatic light all day in the

rocky mountain states. long shadows

lead your eye to whitetail deer emerging

from a cottonwood forest. As darkness

blankets light, the deer move into the

alfalfa field to graze. my father, my brother,

and I spent many memorable hunting

seasons on the old kalsta ranch near

melrose, montana, searching the Big hole

river bottom for bucks like these. I miss

those days.”

Winter Shadows, 1999, oil on belgian linen, 20” x 48”

Winter Whitetails, 1996, oil on belgian linen, 14” x 11”

J O H N B A N O V I c H a world-renowned wildlife artist and dedicated conservationist,

was born forty miles north of kalsta ranch in Butte, montana. The award-winning painter has over

850 original works under his belt, two of which were directly inspired by the golden-hour serenity

he experienced while hunting on kalsta ranch in the late nineties.

In BEAST: The Collected Works of John Banovich (2009), a book chronicling the evolution of his career,

Banovich shared this place-specific memory:

kAlstA rAnCh CompAnY kalstaranch@3rivers.net

p.o. Box 320047, glen, mt 59732

pUBlIshed for kAlstA rAnCh CompAnY Writing & photography by elliot owen © 2015 | www.elliotowen.com

design & layout by dorothy mak © 2015 | All rights reserved

ThelM a K al STa , aPRIl 2 , 1936

“The day came in like a lamb. Cold but

blue sky and sunshine. Two beautiful sun

dogs appeared in the sky this morning.

What will they mean?

Meadowlarks have been singing great.

Blackbirds arrived. I thought I heard

their cheerful chirp some days ago but

then I saw them this morning. Pa says

it’s all over now, meaning winter.

River is up as high as it was any time last

year. The snow on the lake mountains is

going fast. The grass will have a chance

to get started on the hills, our cattle will

have a chance for life. They look awful

good to me, wintered well.

We have a new crop of calves running

in the fields. The mild weather has

helped both man and beast. Ranching

is a gamble — yet, we are still at it, and

solving problems as they arise.”