Park County

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, with a 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.

Park County 4-H: Empower Youth with Skills to Lead for a Lifetime

Over 130 youth are involved in traditional 4-H club project work and are supported by 57 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. Another 75 youth are involved in short-term, in-school programming focused on mental health and food safety. 4-H Teen Leader Development Teen Leaders in Park County play a vital role as they represent the voice of their peers in much of the planning behind 4-H events. During the past 4-H year more Park County teens were involved in statewide programs such as the Fall Leadership Training, and participation in 4-H Congress and National Congress is up as well. The teen leaders planned and executed our yearly 4-H camp in June. 45 members spent 4 days and 3 nights actively engaged in team building, outdoor skills, and project exploration under the guidance of the teen leaders. Youth Aware of Mental Health Mental health in our youth continues to be a topic of concern county wide. We are continuing to utilize the YAM program with the freshmen classes in Shields Valley and Gardiner during the fall of 2023. This research based program assists youth in building an understanding of what mental health is as well as how to handle stress and crisis situations.

Caption: Park County Teen Leaders Attend Statewide Fall Training

Credit: Jackie Pondolfino

A Year in Review: Park County Agricultural Agent

The agriculture agent responded to over 250 inquiries relating to home gardening, pest management, forages, re-vegetation, and soil health. Her programming included topics relating to native plants, pollinators, integrated pest management, livestock quality assurance, and home gardening with over 360 youth and adult attendees. Classes offered this year provided a total of seven pesticide applicator CEUs. Highlights in this agent’s first year included meeting producers over coffee and donuts, helping a nursery install a high tunnel, a crowd of 80 at Weed Fair, and observing pure magic when attendees asked Stephen Vantassel to stay another hour to talk about pocket gophers. After celebrating a year on the job, Jackie is looking forward to helping with a native plant demonstration garden at Livingston’s public library. She is grateful for the endless professional development opportunities she’s enjoyed, ranging from the NACAA AM/PIC in Iowa to working within the Department of Animal and Range Science toward her master’s degree.

Caption: Weed fair attendees listening to Tim Seipel talk about weed management in forages.

Credit: Jackie Pondolfino

Cooke City Silver Gate Community Development and Visioning Meeting

“I can’t believe that you held a meeting that didn’t end with people screaming at each other. This is the first meeting in Cooke City that I have actually stayed for the entire thing and came back another time.” -Cooke City resident 69 participants from Cooke City, Silver Gate, and surrounding areas came together to discuss three questions in two separate Community Visioning Meetings. MSU Extension Park County presented the questions “What do you want to preserve?”, “What do you want to create?”, and “What do you want to change?” about the area. The community is polarized on a variety of issues including “The Plug”, a stretch highway 212 that remains unplowed for the winter, and the planning and building of a sewer system for Cooke City. The Visioning Meeting facilitated by MSU Park County Extension Agents Mary Anne Keyes and Trent Balestri and MSU Local Government Center Director Dan Clark gave the communities an opportunity to come together and have these difficult conversations in a productive way. The first Visioning Meeting held on September 8th, 2023, was attended by 69 people located in the Range Rider’s Lodge in Silver Gate. This meeting brought the community together and highlighted the commonality and appreciation of the area they live in. One participant said, “I never realized how many things we all have in common, all you ever hear about is people fighting.” This event also narrowed down the topics which would be discussed in the following visioning meeting held on September 14th, 2023. During the 2nd visioning meeting, over 35 participants with input from other residents who could not be there due to hunting season, started to outline next steps to help build consensus around the issues of affordable housing, “The Plug”, the sewer system and sewer board, and zoning. People were split into four groups based on their interest levels in the four issues. Each group prepared the next steps to help create community consensus and move towards sustainable solutions.

Caption: Cooke City Search and Rescue discusses winter emergency rescue challenges with tour

Credit: Katie Weaver

Park Local Creates Emergency and Disaster Microloan Program to Help Flood Victims

On June 13, 2022, spring rains high in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness triggered historic flooding that caused catastrophic damage to Park County roadways, bridges, and businesses. River levels crested at 500- and 1000-year flood levels. As waters receded, communities were left to put the pieces together. Park Local, a local non-profit economic development organization, and MSU Park County Extension stepped in to offer streamlined microloans for any business affected. The loans of $20,000 per business were used for working capital to bridge income gaps and cover immediate expenses. While FEMA and SBA provided larger funding amounts, Park Local was able to offer bridge funding to help businesses get to larger amounts. Two loans were awarded allowing two businesses to stay open, a total of thirteen employees retained, and one additional contractor was added.

Caption: Yellowstone River waters threaten a the Highway 89 bridge

Credit: Theresa Pospichal

Contact

119 S. 3rd Street
Livingston, MT 59047
406-222-4156
https://www.montana.edu/extension/park/