Guest Profile - Montana Wildlife Federation

Values of the Breaks: Celebrating One of Montana’s Most Cherished Landscapes

October 21, 2025January 17, 2023 by Guest Profile

Designated on January 17th, 2001 by President Clinton, the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument is a place revered by hunters, anglers, and recreationists alike. On the 22nd anniversary of the designation, the Montana Wildlife Federation has released a new video documenting the value of the special landscape.

Featuring diverse viewpoints including a local farmer and rancher, a small business owner and a hunter, the video explores how the national monument designation has enhanced the landscape, increased access, improved ranching, hunting, and outdoor recreation opportunities in the Upper Missouri River Breaks.

Originally deployed by conservation champion, President Teddy Roosevelt, The Antiquities Act has been used by presidents of both parties as a bipartisan tool for protecting precious American landscapes. A recent University of Montana poll showed strong bipartisan support among Montana voters for the use of the Antiquities Act in preserving our public lands.

“Montana’s national monuments are a cornerstone of our outdoor way of life,” said Frank Szollosi, Montana Wildlife Federation executive director. “On the anniversary of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument designation, it’s worth pausing to recognize and celebrate what a great tool the Antiquities Act has been for protecting Montana’s special places for future generations.”

Rick Anderson, a local farmer and rancher says the national monument designation has been integral to his operation.

“The Breaks are important to me because this is where I’ve lived my whole life,” Anderson said. “It’s the backbone of our farm and ranch. Without the river, our ranch would have no water. Prior to the designation, we had more trespass problems. Because of the monument, people are better informed.”

Small business owner, Haley Miller of Upper Missouri River Guides, is also featured in the film explaining how the national monument designation for the area is crucial to her business and way of life.

“The Missouri Breaks is an amazing landscape because of everything it has to offer: hunting, wildlife viewing, recreation,” Miller said. “The hiking is incredible, it’s a very family-friendly adventure. Whether you are a rancher, a canoer, a hunter, we can all only benefit from making sure this landscape only gets healthier. What makes it so important to us is that it’s public lands.”

Garrett Titus, Helena bird hunter, noted how Montana’s rapid population growth adds to the urgency of protecting places like the Upper Missouri River Breaks.

“Once our public lands are gone, they don’t come back,” Titus said. “Montana is growing extremely fast. We need to find a way to identify and protect places like the Missouri River Breaks because it allows us to experience wide open spaces and we need that and our future generations need that.”

Montana Wildlife Federation Comments on Montana Statewide Grizzly Bear Management Plan

January 26, 2023January 12, 2023 by Guest Profile

The Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) values Montana’s grizzly bears as a unique and valuable resource, and we are dedicated to assuring that grizzly bears remain healthy and well-distributed in Montana. MWF has long supported conservation and management actions that would lead to healthy and robust grizzly bear populations and the delisting of the grizzly bear, a return of grizzly bear management to the state, and the potential of limited fair chase hunting. Unfortunately, MWF believes that the draft FWP grizzly bear management plan does not adequately address the issues facing Montana’s grizzly bear populations and submitted detailed written comments addressing our concerns in a letter that can be viewed HERE.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is extending the public comment deadline on the draft grizzly bear management plan and associated draft environmental impact statement (EIS) to Feb. 4. The purpose of the draft plan and draft EIS is to guide the long-term management and conservation of grizzly bears across the state.

The new plan would replace two existing plans – those for western Montana and for southwest Montana. The statewide plan will serve as a framework for the management of grizzly bears now and into the future. The draft plan will guide management statewide, with particular focus on areas with documented grizzly bear presence, as well as in those places where they are expected to expand. The draft plan addresses how bears will be managed outside of federal recovery zones, including connectivity areas between the zones. The draft EIS addresses potential environmental impacts of implementing the plan.

To review the plan and comment, go online to https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/public-comment-opportunities/grizzly-bear-management-plan. To comment by mail, send to Wildlife Division, Grizzly Bear Plan and EIS, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620. Comments can also be emailed to fwpwld@mt.gov.

If you’d like support with writing a comment and your messaging, please contact North-Central/Eastern Montana Field Coordinator Morgan Marks at morgan@mtwf.org.

Embracing and celebrating the Winter Solstice

January 3, 2023December 21, 2022 by Guest Profile

Written by Morgan Marks

Photos by Ilona Wilde

Dear Friend,

With magic and mysticism in our hearts, we’re thinking about the meaning of the Winter Solstice in regard to wildlife, habitat, public access, and our work in advocacy.

There are two solstices, winter and summer, and both yield beautiful opportunities to reflect, get outside and think about how the sun “stands still” on these two days of our annual calendar. Each solstice occurs on days that the sun seemingly stalls in its progression around the earth, a movement the sun has been taking since the dawn of our species, since time immemorial.

The light will return as it always does, but only after it becomes the darkest it’s been all year. While the day itself is short and often cold here in Montana, it can be an excellent time of year for wildlife. While all may appear dark and seemingly silent, we’d urge you to get outside and see what creatures are stirring, what noises you hear and what wildlife still abound because of their urgency to feed before deep winter sets in.

The point of Winter Solstice is to celebrate the rebirth of sunlight after the darkest period of the year. What better way to celebrate than to get outside and immerse yourself in the outdoors?

Here are a few ideas to get your mind thinking about celebrating this important day and getting outside:

First and foremost, prepare for dangerous and extreme cold – dress in layers, bring extra water, bring snacks, put blankets in your car, know where you’re going, and make sure someone else knows, too!
Take a local adventure, and put on your winter boots with great traction or fit your Yak-Trax to your sneakers and take a walk around your neighborhood. Check the temperature ahead of time and prepare for a short time outside this week!
Choose an even more local adventure and step barefoot in your own backyard to connect to the earth by grounding through your feet in your own space.
Seek out a new place to access public land or go to your well-trodden stomping grounds and take a hike, check out wildlife tracks and try to identify them. Or, simply stand and witness what you can feel, see, hear, and touch by experiencing a new place for the first time or an old place with new eyes.

No matter what you choose, even if it’s kicking back indoors with a hot beverage of your choice and slippers on, know that we’re rooting for you and celebrating with you.

Stay well and safe, and we’ll see you outside,

The MWF Team

Winnett ACES, Habitat Restoration and Heart Work

December 15, 2022December 14, 2022 by Guest Profile

LTPBR or Low-Technology Process Based Restoration and the potential benefits cannot be understated. MWF is grateful to be apart of LTPBR work and have staff that can lend capacity support to the work through our partnership with National Wildlife Federation that yields support for landowner groups like Winnett ACES.

Check out the blog written by our Field Representative, Morgan Marks.

“We often don’t realize how much a landscape has changed over time unless we’ve witnessed it. Jay King, a local landowner and rancher who has benefitted from LTPBR work, expressed his sentiments about LTPBR when he shared the following:

“I like water and there’s a creek on the property that has seen dry years with no water – 6 years of drought. Moisture matters. When we irrigate even a half-acre, it’s more productive.”

Jay explained how his family ranch has experienced flooding some years, such as 2011, 2013, 2014, 2018 and his goal is to keep the water on the land for as long as possible. When the water table is higher, green patches occur which means the habitat and land are healthy. This process benefits Jay’s livestock and in turn, wildlife on his property.

Another local landowner and rancher, Brenda Brady, agreed with Jay, stressing that ranchers want to keep water on the land for as long as possible. More water means more forage, more forage means sustaining their way of life on the land.

Brenda said, “We want to preserve what we have and work to restore streams to what they once were.”

By MWF Field Representative, Morgan Marks.

Deep Gratitude this Thanksgiving

December 8, 2022November 23, 2022 by Guest Profile

Everyone at Montana Wildlife Federation is taking time to reflect and recognize that this Thanksgiving holiday has many meanings, and that we must take action to not only give thanks, but remember and continue to learn. We hope you get to spend meaningful time with family and friends, travel safely, perhaps engage in acts of service, take a pause to rest and get out into the wilds of Montana.

MWF staff wanted to share what we are grateful for at this time of year, as well as recognize that the Thanksgiving holiday is known by some of our valued partners in advocating for wildlife, habitat and access as a National Day of Mourning. Out of respect for Indigenous people in Montana and across North America, we believe the day can serve as a reminder of our nation’s difficult history of injustices. We commit to finding ways to right wrongs and do meaningful, informed and positive work by building bridges, trust and relations – to move forward in good ways, and move forward together.

This November we’re reflecting on, recognizing and celebrating Native American Heritage Month and we’re feeling gratitude for the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded and cared for the lands now called Montana, the same lands that we all work, play, hunt and fish on, and advocate for.

From filling our freezers with wild game to accessing public lands to hunt and the memories made and shared in the in-between moments, our gratitude runs deep. Practicing gratitude isn’t just an action to take this week, the week of Thanksgiving, or only in the weeks following, but an action we highly recommend taking the whole year through.

Every time we pull a package of wild game from the freezer, we remember that animal, that hunt, the people we shared the experience with and perhaps even sweat, bled and cried with, and we give thanks, over and over again. That is the beauty of hunting – the experience stays on and sustains us, and our hearts and minds.

We’re hoping you and yours have a wonderful week and however you’re celebrating and remembering, that you enjoy the time. We’re grateful for you and thank you for being a part of the work and advocacy of the Montana Wildlife Federation.

A few reflections on gratitude from our staff:

Sonya Smith, our Communications Director, shared that she’s “thankful for hunting with my family and raising our girls to know they are capable of anything.”

Morgan Marks, our North-Central Field Representative, shared that she’s “thankful to have gone out on her first solo hunts this season, remembering the hunters in her life who can no longer get out – those walks with her rifle greeting the sunrise were for them.”

Ilona Wilde, our South-Central Field Representative, shared that she’s “so thankful for the opportunity to spend time outdoors and enjoy the change of the seasons with the ones I love.”

Garrett Titus, our Data Manager, shared that he’s “thankful to have the opportunity to come full circle to take my grandpa and dad hunting with my dog.”

As the father of an active duty service member, Executive Director, Frank Szollosi, is grateful for the dedication earlier this month of the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. “I look forward to visiting and reflecting upon the sacrifices made by Indigenous men and women in military service, defending freedom.”