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Subscribe to RSSPeople sometimes talk about armchair travel. In my case, it was desk chair travel as I opened up a link photojournalist Ami Vitale sent me to her latest project -- documenting the ranching community near her new home in Montana. Suddenly I was in a world where nature takes priority over smart phones, where a person's identity is not formed predominantly by their tweets. Sure, it was some romanticism on my part, but the scenes of neighbors coming together to herd cattle in the beautiful valleys of Montana seem timeless and a world away.
Ami Vitale
Barb Pearson's horse takes her hat off as they relax during the annual spring cattle drive in the Centennial Valley. Pearson was helping out the Ruby Dell Ranch, where she's good friends with owners Jim and John Anderson.
As Vitale got to know the ranchers, she found that some were returning to traditional cattle drives, forgoing trucking their cows in favor of moving them from horseback, and frequently changing their grazing location to try to minimize the cattle's impact on the land. One of the ranch managers, Bryan Uhrling of J Bar L, says it helps to think of cattle as "...mobile composting machines. Their hooves plant seeds, their urine moves moisture from watering sites to arid grounds, and their manure is a natural fertilizer. They are the perfect all-in-one farming machinery."
I've long been an admirer of Vitale's work, from her early days in Kashmir, to more recent work on maternal health in Sierra Leone and on biologists trying to save rhinos from the brink of extinction. As Vitale shares below, today she is finding inspiration closer to home.
Aspiring photographers often ask me where they might go to find the best stories. My answer is always the same - get to know your own backyard, what's close at hand, rather than traveling around the world just to capture images of something foreign or exotic. My rationale is that if you can tell these stories of every day life and focus on what we have in common rather than the obvious differences, then you will succeed as a storyteller.
Ironically, I have rarely listened to my own advice and the past dozen years has seen me crisscross the globe playing witness to civil unrest, turmoil, and violence in over 80 countries. I broke my pattern in 2010 when I moved to Montana and have tried to base myself in this beautiful but austere landscape.
The images I am now able to create tell the story about our deep connection to land, the importance we place in stewardship, and a vanishing way of life in the American West. The folks whom I have got to know are remarkable in their fortitude, work ethics, and the neighborliness they exhibit everyday. It is not an easy story but one that requires patience and persistence to birth - and yet I believe it is as rewarding in the telling as the more sensational events I have had the opportunity to cover.
Some Montana cattle ranchers are returning to traditional grazing methods by mimicking how bison used to roam.
Leave a Comment:
I would certainly love to leave all the crap behind and go do this for the rest of my days .....
Wow, I think you people are awesome. I grew up on a farm; and I miss it every day. I believe your family is happy and healthy and prosperous for the way you live your lives. Im sure you have your hard ships like any family does but
I commend you all. I pray I can live this way again someday.
PValdes...you can, just go on out there. They'll teach you how. It's hard work, but the people are friendly.
I may retire and try to get a job at one of these ranches! Working 40+ hours to pay for my current 'horse habit' is what puts the stress in my life. And this kind of ranching was recommended 40 years ago in my Range Management class in college. About time someone listened.
This is a way of life worth preserving if only I could get away with it!!
My family has been trailing our cattle from our ranch in the valley to our summer grass on top of the Big Horn Mountains for over 120 years and are still doing it. Not only is grazing good for public lands but it also allows us to stay in the cow business as we take people on a week long 50 mile trip. Our way of life is fast dissapearing and this allows us to show people from all over the world a first hand look at history. It also gives those of us in agriculture to show a side of the business that no one understands unless you experience it. People who join us love the fact that they get the chance to leave their reality behind for a week.
With transportation cost being so high more ranchers are trailing cattle to their summer pastures instead of trucking them. My family has been trailing our cattle to our summer grass on top of the Big Horn Mountains for over 120 years. In order to stay in the cow business, 18 years ago we started offering the week long experience to the public. It is a great way to show a side of the business that people no nothing about and a way of life that is turning into just a piece of long lost history. For an entire week people get a chance to move back in time. People get completely lost in what they are doing and forget about the real world out there and the problems they encounter daily. It is a great way to educate people about the livestock business, the grazing of public lands and the importance of cloven hooves to the ecology of the landscape! What the cowboy actually stands for is desperately needed today.
I commend all of you that live off the land and raise your livestock. I was raised on a farm; but we did not raise a large amount of cattle. I think what ya'll do in educating the public is wonderful. I wish I could live like that again. It is such a peaceful, loving way. I miss it. I wish all of you prosperity and longevity in your lives. I envy you. Hope to do it one day.