Arts-Entertainment
On Friday, July 25th, the 4th Art Walk of the season, from 5 to 8 pm at Wheatgrass Books, located at 120 N. Main Street in Livingston, there will be a book signing with three authors Bruce A. Bugbee, Robert J. Kiesling, and John B. Wright. They will be signing copies of Saving the Big Sky: A Chronicle of Land Conservation in Montana with photographs by Kevin League; contributions from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Shane Doyle (Apsáalooke), Steve Running, and Todd Wilkinson and maps supervised by Kevin McManigal and Hannah Shafer published by Oregon State University Press.
The essential purpose of Saving the Big Sky is to inspire the reader to help conserve even more of Montana,” writes the authors in this compelling study of how six million acres of biodiverse land were conserved in Montana over the past fifty years. Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge about land stewardship has evolved and since the 1970s tribes, nonprofit organizations, land trusts, and government agencies have conserved land in many creative ways. Beautifully illustrated with more than ninety color photographs and thirty detailed maps, Saving the Big Sky showcases land conservation achievements across eight regions of the state: the Rocky Mountain Front, the Blackfoot Valley, the Greater Yellowstone, the Missoula Region, the Helena Region, Northwest Montana, the Flathead Indian Reservation, and the American Prairie.
Land protection is shown to work best when large, intact, connected landscapes can be conserved, rather than small, fragmented, isolated parcels. Conservationists have found that landowners in Montana more widely accept conservation easements and other voluntary, financially compensating tools that respect private property rights. The brilliant images and striking before-and-after maps featured here celebrate the ranches, farms, wildlife habitats, and scenic open spaces that are forever safeguarded.
In documenting conservation accomplishments and suggesting what more can be done, Saving the Big Sky invites readers to participate in conserving Montana—or whatever cherished landscape they call home.
Conjured from afar, the name Montana rings in the mind like a bell, romantic apotheosis of all that’s wild and fresh about the American West. But those of us who know the state personally understand the enormous effort required to keep Montana the inspirational place it’s been for so long. In 'Saving the Big Sky' readers from the far away to the nearby now have a superb volume in hand to teach us all just how to keep Montana magical.—Dan Flores, New York Times bestselling author of Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History and Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals and People in America.
Montana is robust and precious. Hereabouts we treasure what’s natural and wild. At a time when so many Americans get their notions of the state from a cheesy horse opera titled 'Yellowstone', it couldn’t be more important to present certain realities—about what’s worth conserving, and how best to conserve that—in a tapestry made vivid not by fantasy but by fact. Bugbee, Kiesling, and Wright do that superbly (with a bit of crucial help from Shane Doyle) in this deeply informed, loving book. —David Quammen, New York Times bestselling author of The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions.
About the Authors
Bruce A. Bugbee is a land conservation consultant and founder of American Public Land Exchange.
John B. Wright has completed over one hundred conservation easements in Montana and the Rocky Mountain West and is professor emeritus of geography and environmental studies at New Mexico State University.
Robert J. Kiesling is a real estate broker, conservation consultant, and former executive director of the Montana Environmental Information Center and the Big Sky (Montana/Wyoming) office of The Nature Conservancy.