Absaroka Range

In this episode, we will explore the stories of those who dedicated their lives to protecting America's wild places.

I'm Charity Parks, Public Affairs Specialist for the Custer-Gallatin National Forest, and today we're diving into the remarkable history of Harry S. Kaufman, a pioneering ranger in Montana's Absaroka Mountains and the historic Maine-Boulder Ranger Station, an enduring symbol of conservation and rugged frontier spirit.

In the early 1900s, Kaufman built the first ranger station in the region.

fought fires, protected wildlife, and faced the hardships of a remote life.

Turning the page to David Ginsberg, the scale shifts entirely.

Ginsberg takes you away from the dirt and drought of the Absaroka Range and into high-level United Nations policy meetings.

He asks the uncomfortable question that hangs over the missing ferrets.

When resources are limited, is pouring money into a single, highly vulnerable animal actually the right move? Ginsburg uses the California condor to show how bitter these fights get, especially when rural communities bear the cost of federal conservation rules.

Those are all really remote, the top remote units, obviously, are in the Bob.

And along the Bitterroot, um, wilderness areas there, and some of the way out east stuff, right? Some big, open BLM properties, right? And then this is Absarokas, or Ab- Sarokas, whatever, however you pronounce it, right down here.

So as you click up through or down through, you can change that heat map.

Can you see how live that data changes, how quick?