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Good All the Way Around

How Grunenfelder Ranch is Taking the Seeds of the Past into the Future
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Bridge repairs, riparian fencing, and controlled access to the stream by livestock have contributed to the health of the creek at Grunenfelder Ranch.

The Grunenfelder Ranch near Helena, Montana, is being kept in operation, building a sustainable landscape and showing how ranching still has a place in an area that is rapidly becoming more developed.

Fly over the country just outside Helena, Montana and you’ll get a bird’s eye view of expanding subdivisions and developments, pushing up against, and often taking over what used to be ranch and farmland. 

Some of this growth is inevitable and beneficial, but unchecked encroachment can be dangerous for animals, ecosystems, and—here in wildfire country—the occupants of those new houses. But look closer amidst those new buildings, and you’ll see an expanse of open land called Grunenfelder Ranch where the owners, their land managers, and their partnerships are finding a different path forward.

Watch their story on YouTube: Conservation for the Future: Planting Seeds from the Past, Lewis & Clark County, Montana.


Deep Roots

The story of that growth starts years ago, where the picture at the ranch was less sunny than it is today.

“There’s a lot of history on this ranch. It’s been in the same family for over a hundred years,” says Dennis Meyer, one of the land managers at Grunenfelder Ranch. Meyer has been on the ranch for 25 years, and he knows the land’s previous condition. “Over the years there’s just been processions of different lessees and of course it got run down and overgrazed and never got sprayed for weeds.”

Jay Smith joined Meyer as land manager in 2014, but though he hasn’t clocked as many years on Grunenfelder Ranch, he’s just as passionate about the land, its history, and its possibilities. “For me, it’s great,” Smith says. “I come out here probably four or five times a week after work, do chores, work on things. I love it. I stay out here on weekends quite a bit.”

Grunenfelder Ranch has been in the same family for multiple generations, and currently is in the hands of Susan Hundley (née Grunenfelder) and her husband Brad. Susan’s grandfather originally immigrated from Switzerland, and the ranch has had some uniquely Swiss features over the years.

“Originally there was a lot of mining on the ranch,” Meyer says. “Old Joe Grunenfelder raised cabbage in the pastures and where we’re sitting right now, in this dugout, is where he stored his sauerkraut, and he sold it to the local miners.”

A Family Operation

In moving back to the ranch, the Hundley’s, along with Meyer and Smith, are again taking an active, enthusiastic role on conserving the land, both for their own use as pasture, and for the protection and enjoyment of their community. 

Also deeply involved in the operations at Grunenfelder Ranch is Meyer’s wife, Shannon. Her father, Sonny Bright, was the person who initially introduced Meyer and Smith to the Hundley’s. Shannon works with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) in the area and her efforts have been key in funding and understanding program assistance opportunities that have transformed the landscape at the ranch.

Shannon’s knowledge and work have helped Grunenfelder Ranch install new and updated irrigation systems that responsibly manage the ranch’s water supply. She’s also been closely involved in making improvements to riparian areas on the ranch, creating hospitable ecosystems for native fish and plant life. 

But nothing would be possible without the Hundley’s love of conservation and their permission to move forward on these projects. 

“Brad and Susan have been great to work with,” says Becky Ayre, District Conservationist for the Helena field office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). “They’re always upbeat, they’re always energetic and enthusiastic about doing some sort of conservation project, gaining knowledge from us, and we gain knowledge from them too.”

Dennis Meyer, one of the land managers at Grunenfelder Ranch.
Dennis Meyer

Ayre’s admiration also extends to the hard work and commitment of Meyer and Smith. “Dennis and Jay have been real good to work with, they’re on the ground day-to-day and anytime we’ve ever wanted or needed to do anything out there, they’ve always been super accepting and willing to work with us.”

Building Partnerships

For many of the solutions Meyer, Smith, and the Hundley’s wanted to implement on the ranch, they relied on the financial and technical assistance of Becky and the local NRCS office.

“There’s a good part of the ranch that the cows really didn’t graze because it was so far from water,” Meyer explains. “The only water they could get at that side of the road was way down in the creek.”

Jay Smith, one of the land managers at Grunenfelder Ranch.
Jay Smith

“We reached out to NRCS in about 2015 looking for help, if we could get an EQIP program for the stock tank.” NRCS provided them with financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Programs (EQIP) that enabled them to purchase and install a solar stock tank which has allowed the cattle water access at a more central point in the pasture, so they no longer need to reach the creek and cause erosion into the creek bed. 

This also keeps the cattle in newer areas to graze, that were originally too far from a water source, so it was constantly ignored. “Since we put the tank in, it’s really let us utilize a lot more grass on the ranch,” said Meyer.

Meyer and Smith are both enthusiastic about the results they’ve seen. “With the NRCS, these projects, the water project,” Smith says, “we’ve seen huge gains from the grazing that goes on up there and just keeping the cows up there for longer.”

“They’ve been more than helpful,” says Meyer. “Kind of beyond my wildest dreams.”

The aid of NRCS has gone beyond one stock tank. “In that same contract, we did a grazing plan, where we assessed the grass and how much it could handle,” Ayre says. “Over the years between the mitigation and the grazing, they have been able to increase the stocking rate a little bit. We also helped with some cross-fencing to help utilize the area and implement that grazing plan.” 

Community Benefits

The benefits of the work being done on Grunenfelder Ranch extend far beyond its property line. They’re also making sure that the homes or businesses in the area are better protected from the growing threat of wildfire.

“The fuel mitigation work, that was a lot of thinning and removing of the cut trees,” says Ayre. “That helps with wildfires when they come through to help hopefully reduce the severity of that fire and also kind of be a barrier for the town to help slow that fire down.”

“This whole area is a mess with bug kill,” Meyer says. “We had to do something or else it was just gonna go up in flames.”

“I have some good friends who are in the fire department, so I know they’re pretty happy with what we’re doing out here,” Smith says.

The partnership with the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks has yielded some of the most dramatic changes to the ecosystem at Grunenfelder Ranch.

“We basically let them fence the creek off and, in exchange, they bought us all the equipment: the gated pipe, the pump, they repaired our bridge,” says Meyer. “It’s really improved the area around the creek. We have a lot more fish, a lot bigger fish, a better whitetail habitat, it’s just good all the way around.”  

They also participated in a community day where they teamed up with local Boy Scouts who planted young trees along the creek to help with erosion control.

These changes are showing benefits in the present, but seeds are also being sown for the future. “In the last two years,” Smith says, “I took part in the pollinator project with the conservation district in which I got bags of seed and went out in certain areas and got the seed down according to their prep plans. I used some area that had been broken open by the logging going on.”

“Hopefully, we’ll see the fruits of that coming up here by the end of this year and as we move forward, I’ll probably keep going with the pollinator program and trying to get different areas of the place taken care of. There’s already an abundance of wildflowers on this ranch, but it would be nice to see a better selection.”

The Grunenfelder Legacy

That the family is planning on keeping the ranch in operation is important in this area, when they could easily sell to developers. Instead, they’re building a sustainable landscape and showing how ranching still has a place in an area that is rapidly becoming more developed. 

“It’s very important for the families on ranches like this to keep it in the family,” says Meyer. “There’s a lot of pressure to subdivide and stuff like that. A ranch like this is nice to be at because it’s a legacy ranch.”

Being able to live and work on a legacy ranch is something that appeals to producers across the country. It’s one of the main reasons people work so hard to conserve the land they work.

“The main thing I would like people to know about farmers and ranchers is first and foremost they are stewards of the land,” Ayre concludes. “While, yes, they are making a living off the land, their main goals are to help preserve the resources for future generations.”

Every aspect of that preservation work can be seen on Grunenfelder Ranch, with a legacy that is being carried on in a changing landscape.

More Information

To learn more about NRCS conservation assistance, please visit your local service center or NRCS - Montana.

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