Benjamin Polley

Nov 8, 2024 | explorebigsky.com | Benjamin Polley

By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS COLUMNIST Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recently sued the Bureau of Land Management to turn over 18.5 million acres of federal public land to the state. He prefers the state to control and manage that land how it sees fit, specifically to open it to extractive industries or development. Utah filed its lawsuit with the Supreme Court in August, arguing that the BLM can’t hold onto land in perpetuity without designating it as a national forest, monument, park or wilderness area.

Oct 28, 2024 | explorebigsky.com | Benjamin Polley

By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS CONTRIBUTOROn the night of Tuesday, Oct. 22, grizzly 399, known as the matriarch of the northern Rockies, Queen of the Tetons, was fatally struck by a vehicle along Highway 26/89 in the Snake River Canyon. “I was devastated as many people are, and upset,” filmmaker and photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen told EBS in a phone call.

Oct 24, 2024 | explorebigsky.com | Benjamin Polley

By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS COLUMNIST Each year, about this time, we bowhunters head out to the woods and mountains, some searching for food to put in the freezer, while others want trophies to hang on the walls. Bowhunters and other hunters have the most significant risk of bear encounters. We go out when bears are in hyperphagia, trying to put on as many calories as possible before six months without eating. We are trying to fool an elk, deer or moose.

Oct 14, 2024 | explorebigsky.com | Benjamin Polley

By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS COLUMNIST Oh, to be spotted knapweed. I don’t know about you, but I am in awe of invasive spotted knapweed.  I wish you were more ubiquitous than you already are. I love how competitive you are and how you send your toxic herbicide into the soil, poisoning other native and non-native plants by monopolizing the soil near your giant taproot. How amazing that each plant has millions of tiny seeds to help you germinate and colonize the world, one plant at a time.

Sep 27, 2024 | explorebigsky.com | Benjamin Polley

By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS COLUMNIST Montana, with its breathtaking landscapes and diverse wildlife, is a place of unparalleled beauty that seems to invite us to play outside. Abundant animal life, skyscraping peaks, alpine cerulean lakes, towering forests, windswept grasslands, wild rivers, and open space combine to provide ample recreation opportunities on public and some private lands. Many current locals moved to Montana to enjoy our public lands.