Park County
2024 MSU Extension Highlights
2024 MSU Extension Highlights
Park County, located just north of Yellowstone National Park, provides the only year-round gateway entrance. The county itself encompasses over 1.7 million acres, including 57% public lands and the highest peak in Montana – Granite Peak. Just over 17,000 residents enjoy the beautiful expanse of scenic mountains and river valleys the landscape offers. The largest employment categories are typical of a tourism-based economy: accommodations, service, retail, then construction, healthcare, and social assistance. Nine communities are spread throughout the county beginning with Wilsall in the north and ending with Cooke City in the far southeast. Livingston, population of approximately 8,000 being the largest, is centrally located. The Park County MSU Extension office has four staff members who provide research-based, non-biased information to county clientele.
Agriculture & Natural Resources
Native Landscapes in Livingston, Pollinators in Paradise Valley, and Sanctuaries in the Shields
Based on requests from local non-profit organizations, business owners, property owners, and a pre-survey of 2024 Master Gardeners, there was great demand for MSU Extension in Park County to provide education on promoting desirable landscapes. Individual land management goals ranged from promoting wildlife habitat, noxious weed management, pollinator conservation, to productivity and increasing effectiveness of pesticides. MSU Extension delivered on these requests by educating 18 new Master Gardeners who toured local farms meanwhile alumni volunteered at a local native plant sale and installed a Native Plant Demonstration Garden at Livingston’s Carnegie Library. MSU Extension partnered with local organizations to offer five weed management classes and field days – providing a total of 9 continuing education credits to pesticide applicators, reaching a total audience of who learned best practices for weed management. Finally, the agriculture extension agent conducted over 230 individual consultations with land managers/owners relating to plant selection, installation, plant health and weed management.
Caption: Pesticide Applicator Training in Emigrant.
Credit: Theresa Pospichal
Community Vitality
Connecting Communities
Sitting on the edge of Yellowstone Park, Soda Butte Creed, and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wildness, the community of Cooke City struggles to dispose of human waste effectively. A patchwork of private drain fields, trenches, and buried tank cess pools, many of which don’t meet Department of Environmental Quality requirements or at various stages of failure, serve the community of 77 year-round residents. It’s not uncommon for the only public bathroom to have to close early because the septic system cannot treat the volume of effluent and raw sewage surfaces in town. Enter Deb Purvis, Bill Grover, Gary Brown, Beth Woodson, and Jenny Heckathorn, the Cooke Pass, Cooke City, Silver Gate Sewer District Board. This board, with the guidance from Triple Tree Engineering; Mary Anne Keyes and Trent Balestri, MSU Extension Park County Community and Economic Development Agents; is moving a community septic solution forward. Through a mixture of state, federal, and local resort tax funds, the Board anticipates funding the $20 million community wastewater system with a completion date of 2030. From providing board member training, to assisting with public engagement, to connecting with potential funding partners, local Extension agents work with the all-volunteer Board to keep the project moving forward. When asked about Extension’s contribution to the project, Board chair Deb Purvis says, “It’s invaluable. The whole project would not have happened with Extension, not to mention the vision for the community that helps guide our board decisions. I would have been completely overwhelmed and so much in the weeds trying to identify resources, complete applications, and even write agendas in the beginning, that nothing of substance would have gotten done. Moreover, I would have resigned after the first eight months if it had not been for Mary Anne and Trent.” A community septic system will provide reliable bathrooms for the more than 250,000 visitors that pass through the northeast entrance into Yellowstone and the many more visitors that recreate in this area. It will ensure the community’s continued survival and responsibly care for the environment for years to come.
Caption: Caption: The Community Center, green roof, houses the only public bathrooms in Cooke City.
Credit: Katie Weaver
4-H & Youth Development
Park County 4-H: Empower Youth with Skills to Lead for a Lifetime
Over 150 youth are involved in traditional 4-H club project work and are supported by 45 volunteer leaders. These clubs are spread across the county from Wilsall to Gardiner. They provide youth with the opportunity to learn leadership, parliamentary procedure, and public speaking skills. Over the past 4-H year the enrollment in our Cloverbud program increase dramatically; parents of 5–7-year-olds are eager to have their children involved in Park County 4-H. We see this as great growth potential for 4-H in Park County- keeping the Ag traditional strong! Participation in statewide 4-H events also saw an increase over the 2023-24 4-H year: four members attended Rec Lab in Boulder and five teens participated in 4-H Congress. Our Teen Leaders Club had another successful year helping to plan events and assist with workshops. These Teen Leaders are taking on new leadership opportunities: Park County 4-H now has 4 county ambassadors, and a newly elected State Ambassador. 4-H Agents Jackie Pondolfino and Veronica Baca used 4-H curriculum in partnership with many groups throughout the county including teaching animal care to students at Arrowhead School and Camp Runnamucka (in partnership with Montana Army National Guard), weed science/ pollinator behavior to Eastside Elementary students, sewing with Arrowhead students, and Farm 2 School lessons with students in Gardiner.
Caption: Middle school students at Arrowhead were able to use sewing machines and hand sewing skills to create chicken doorstops.
Credit: Veronica Baca
Family & Consumer Science
Community Connections Combat Social Isolation
In addition to teaching Food Safety classes throughout the year, this year FCS expanded to include opportunities such as Charcuterie Basics, Cooking with Local Foods, and Silent Book Club. These offerings incorporate necessary skills but also focus on combating social isolation. We know that the winter months can be especially tough in Park County, and these interactive classes give residents an opportunity to engage with new skills as well as time to connect with others. Charcuterie classes have been a huge success- monthly classes filled quickly and more classes in additional locations are planned. Silent Book Club has seen a steady increase in participants and may soon expand to a second monthly meeting.
Caption: Participants worked together during a December charcuterie class to create a seasonal board.
Credit: Veronica Baca
Contact
119 S. 3rd St.
Livingston, MT 59047
406-222-4156
https://www.montana.edu/extension/park/
Montana State University Extension is an ADA/EO/AA Veteran’s Preference Employer and provider of educational outreach.