Teton County

Teton County territory springs from the foothills of the Rocky Mountain Front and extends eastward onto the plains of North Central Montana. With just over 6,000 residents in 2,272 square miles (2.7 persons/square mile), an authentic, rural way of life is alive and well here. As further proof, Teton’s 6,100 people are outnumbered by 6,300 sheep and 40,000 cattle. Ranching and farming remain the lifeblood of our community, with winter and spring wheat, barley, peas, chickpeas, and lentils as the major crop commodities. Additionally, we are the gateway community to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and a hospitable stop on the road to Glacier National Park and other jewels in the region known as the Crown of the Continent. Teton County MSU Extension has four staff members offering a wide array of programs to support residents, including a 4-H program with more than 160 members.

Agricultural programs in high demand in Teton County include weed-seed free forage certification, forage nitrate testing, water quality testing, and field visits to assess crop and horticultural pests and pathogens. The agricultural/natural resources agent emphasizes local collaborations for invasive plants and pests to prevent, mitigate, and manage economic and ecologic losses. Additional educational programs include caring for the urban forest, shelterbelt development, and revegetation of disturbed or eroded sites.

New Family and Consumer Science (FCS) Agent and 4-H Youth Development Coordinator Shelby Jones-Dozier joined the team in Teton County. She is excited to continue successful FCS programs such as Strong People, Strong Bodies, and Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM). Educational programs in FCS focused on physical activity and healthy eating. Stretch Into Health is a 12-week exercise program that utilizes elastic resistance bands and gentle exercises for older adults. To encourage healthy and local eating, a program was developed and delivered in local schools to introduce the fundamentals of food safety and basics of water bath canning.

Free community exercise classes expand

In collaboration with the Teton County Health Department’s Diabetes Prevention Program, Strong People, Strong Bodies was offered throughout the spring, meeting twice weekly for eight weeks. Participants reported an improvement in strength, flexibility, and balance. New FCS Agent Shelby Jones-Dozier developed and facilitated Stretch Into Health, an elastic band exercise class. The class was based on MSU Extension Specialist Michelle Grocke-Dewey’s elastic band resistance workout and adapted for older adults. In the summer 12-week class, participants reported increased gains in grip strength, overall strength, improved flexibility, and mental health benefits from group exercise.

Caption: FCS Extension Agent Shelby Jones-Dozier demonstrates one of the popular class exercises.

Credit: Shelby Jones-Dozier

Connecting Teton County youth to local foods

The apple trees in Choteau have produced a bumper crop. Many residents reported they have not experienced such an abundance in at least 15 years. Programming was developed to introduce food safety, water bath canning, and jelly-making to help solve the challenge of what to do with all the apples before they attract bears into town. In collaboration with local schools, 30 youth successfully prepared and tasted the sweet success of homemade jelly from homegrown apples. Food preservation classes have not been offered in Teton County for more than five years. The apple-preserving programs have inspired a new generation to learn more about food preservation and eating locally.

Caption: Choteau Middle School students enjoy the fruits of their labor, sampling fresh apple jelly.

Credit: Samantha Garner

4-H Grows in Teton County

The Teton County MSU Extension staff all team up to organize and implement a successful 4-H Fair and 4-H Camp experience for local youth. Participation increased by eight this year for a total of 111 youth involved. Many 4-H families commented on a festive atmosphere and smooth flow of events. The summer camp theme, Medieval Madness, introduced 35 campers to skills in archery, catapult building, and foam sword fighting at Camp Rotary in Neihart. Although our delegation to state 4-H Congress was small, a member placed third in the Stir-Ups competition and another placed first in Demonstrations, and will travel to the National 4-H Congress.

Caption: 2023 Camp group photo at Camp Rotary in Neihart.

Credit: Shelby Jones-Dozier

Extension wraps its limbs around trees

“What’s wrong with my tree?” is among the most frequent questions posed to MSU Extension in Teton County. Drought, wind, and alkaline soil are just a few of the challenges that face trees in north-central Montana. Extension hosted a tree care workshop and a pruning practicum aimed at preserving one of our county’s most valued legacies, our shade trees. Participants took a walking tour to see what was going well and not so well in our urban forest in terms of tree selection, planting technique, tree care, and maintenance. The best part - community members wielded hand tools and power tools to learn and correctly prune several city park and boulevard trees in Choteau, the county seat.

Caption: Teton County residents learn more about tree care.

Credit: Jenn Swanson

Contact

1 Main Avenue, PO Box 101
Choteau, MT 59422
406-466-2491
https://www.montana.edu/extension/teton/