The Madisonian

Hey, what’s all the buzz about? By 8 a.m. on an early August morning honeybees were in full force at the Jeffers Community Garden, alighting upon poppies, cosmos, tomato blossoms – if it’s blooming, those bees were pollenating.

Harrison area rancher and angus cow breeder Bob Sitz hadn’t bought hay since his father passed away in 1989. Typically, his 40,000-acre operation produces enough hay to feed 1,400 cows with enough excess to sell about 3,000 tons of it each year.

Following suit with other agencies, Madison County Commissioners approved a Stage 2 burn ban for the county, effective as of July 27, 2021.

The ban includes most the items listed below, as well as a ban on tiki torches, and a ban from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. on construction site activities, not including utility and emergency construction.

The November municipal general elections may seem far off, but preparations are underway and the candidates slated for the official ballots have been announced. Here’s a breakdown of which Madison County communities will be included in the Nov. 2 election.

Ennis

Approximately 1,500 to 2,000 pronghorn live in the Madison Valley. How do we know? Because the Montana Dept. of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) conducts regular surveys of wildlife. Last week FWP wildlife biologist Julie Cunningham surveyed three pronghorn herds on the west side of the Madison River.

Two weeks ago, the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association (SWMMBA) helped clear the Gazelle Creek trail because “once a trail disappears, it’s gone forever.”

The grizzly attack-related deaths of a woman in Ovando this month and a man in West Yellowstone earlier this summer have brought the unfortunate reality of the increasingly common encounter between human and grizzly into the news as of recent.

Something seemed weird. The Western Meadowlark perched atop a small aspen outside the window for a long time, looking around and clucking. Most Meadowlarks are skittish, keeping their distance from people and dogs. This one wasn’t. And the clucking noise sounded odd.