Life in the Land: The Big Hole Valley

The Big Hole Watershed in Southwest Montana is an expanse of intact grasslands, sage steppe, and forested mountains that host a diversity of wildlife, from sage grouse to pronghorn, and waterways that are key fish habitat. A large portion of the Big Hole River runs through working rangelands, and the fly fishing on this river attracts people from all over the world, making agriculture and recreation the driving forces of the local communities here.

Find out how people representing a diversity of needs within a watershed are coming together to benefit all life here within the land, water, and communities, and how this is building resiliency throughout droughts and other pressures. This content is centered around the work of the Big Hole Watershed Committee (BHWC). You can learn more about BHWC at https://bhwc.org.

This film is part of the Life in the Land project, which shares perspectives from across Montana, providing global inspiration for healthy relationships between people and the land through holistic approaches and leadership from local communities. Find the entirety of the Life in the Land project at https://www.lifeintheland.org, including podcasts featuring each of the interviews in their entirety. The podcast can also be found on the Stories for Action series on the Apple or Spotify apps. The content of Life in the Land is free and available to the public to use for educational and outreach purposes, so please feel free to use the films to kick off workshops, community discussions, as part of curriculum, and more.