Grazing Districts Hold Annual Meeting, Podcast with Public Lands Council
The Montana Association of State Grazing Districts (MASGD) held their annual meeting on June 17th at Fort Keogh in Miles City. The meeting started with a joint Board of Directors meeting with the MASGD and the PLC, followed by a Grazing District Secretary appreciation lunch.
During the lunch, the Board recognized the secretaries for their valuable service to the districts. The Board also had a special recognition to Jennifer Cole, who is now retired, but was instrumental in the formation of the Missouri River Basin Grazing District in Alzada.
For the general business meeting, there were over thirty-five members in attendance. Informational updates were provided by Dustin Van Liew, Executive Director for the National Public Lands Council; Mark Petersen, Research Leader for Fort Keogh; Lila Taylor, Board of Livestock; Fred Wacker for MSGA, Richard Stuker, MT Fish and Wildlife Commission and Floyd Thompson, and Todd Yeager from the Bureau of Land Management.
The Grazing District members also received congressional updates from Jesse Anderson with Senator Tester’s office and Alex Sterhan with Congressman Zinke. Larry Ahlgren of Winnett and Dan Kluck of Malta were elected for a second term on the Board of Directors.
The 2016 annual meeting is tentatively scheduled for June in Malta, MT.
After the Grazing Districts meeting, we had the opportunity to sit down with Dustin Van Liew to learn more about the work Public Lands Council does in Washington D.C. as well as here in Montana.