When Bart and Wendy Morris began ranching a decade ago on the outskirts of Missoula the land was in bad shape. It had been overgrazed and a creek running through the property was eroded.
“Cows initially knocked it back but then it was just left idle, and it was in such a bad way that it couldn’t recover,” Bart Morris said.
The couple wanted to change that and started moving cows to different parts of the ranch, giving the land a seasonal break from the trampling herd. They installed fencing around sensitive places like the creek and parts of the property where soil had been depleted of nutrients.
Over time, more native flora, fauna and wildlife returned.
“We've had big flocks of Killdeer coming through, which is really cool. We saw our first mountain bluebirds, I think it was last week,” Morris said.
More than a quarter of birdlife in North America has been lost since 1970.Threats to habitat combined with changing climates have put many avian species at risk of disappearing altogether.
Grassland birds are among the most threatened, with 70 percent of species showing signs of decline. In Montana, birds make up a quarter of the state’s 226 species with declining populations. As populations decline, ranchers may play an important role in helping restore bird habitat.
In 2023, Montana Audubon bird surveyors identified 79 different avian species at the Morris’ ranch - one of the highest diversities of birds in the state. Surveyors said many species flock to the high “quality grassland and riparian habitat” on the property.
The Morris’ Oxbow Cattle Company is one of a growing number ranches in Montana combining livestock production and bird habitat conservation.
The Morris family entered ranching with environmental impact in mind. But some multi-generational ranchers are also thinking more about the health of the whole ranch ecosystem.
In 2000, Rodger and Betsy Indreland took over the Roger’s family Ranch in Big Timber. But it was a challenge and not very profitable. Then a presentation on soil-health changed their lives.
“That just really shifted our paradigm into looking at things in a whole new way and working with natural systems and resting ground and managing for abundance,” Betsy Indreland said.
They learned that by resting their fields and focusing on creating land where many things can grow, they could cut costs on feed, fertilizers and pesticides
The Indrelands know it can be intimidating for ranchers to change how they work when it can affect their livelihood.
“I think it's fear of the unknown, which could be whittled down to is fear of change,” Rodger Indreland said. “ But when you're familiar and comfortable with something, it becomes much easier to repeat that process.”
Their soil became full of natural nutrients again, diverse insects and spiders arrived, and in turn, new feathered friends frequent the ranch.
“We do have bird species around that we did not have before,” Rodger Indreland said.
And others have followed suit in the ranching mindset of growing soil health and livestock.
Western Sustainability Exchange, a non-profit based in Livingston, has been a part of this broader effort since the 1990s. Co-founder Lill Erickson said their goal is to incentivize livestock producers toward regenerative ranching - prioritizing the health of the whole ranch ecosystem.
“The practices that protect all those environmental aspects are also proving to be very good for a rancher's bottom line because they increase the productivity of the land,” Erickson said.
Erickson said more ranchers than ever are reaching out to learn about this kind of work.
And birds’ benefits may help ranchers market their livestock.
Audubon Society’s ‘Conservation Ranching Initiative’ allows qualifying ranchers to officially tout beef from “Bird Friendly Land.” Montana Audubon Policy & Conservation Ranching Specialist Peter Dudley says it’s a partnership imperative to recovering grassland bird populations because of who holds much of the habitat.
“If you look at a map of the US, the majority of grasslands are privately owned and managed,” Dudley said.
He says working with ranchers isn’t the only avenue for bird population recovery. But today, it's an important one.
“I really do believe that we're at a tipping point ecologically and if we don't protect these critical habitats, whether it's corridors or these large landscapes, we can't just get that back,” Dudley said.
Many bird species are still on track to continue losing population over the coming century and wildlife experts say landowners can play an important role in changing course.