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Ranchers donate 38,000 acres to preserve local voices, stewardship legacy

Dale Veseth during a tour of the his ranch for Rancher Stewardship Alliance staff.
Courtesy of Rancher Stewardship Alliance
Dale Veseth during a tour of the his ranch for Rancher Stewardship Alliance staff.

Away from the mountain valleys of western Montana sits a vast and critical ecosystem: grassland

In southern Phillips County, the amber grasses of the prairie flitter in the breeze alongside cottonwood trees and sagebrush. This biome matters to many Montana creatures, like deer, birds, cattle – and people, too. Especially Dale Veseth.

"One person's lifetime on the landscape is probably more like an eye blink in the time of things, than anything else. That being said, a lot can be accomplished in a lifetime," Veseth says.

Dale and his wife Janet run Veseth Cattle Company. The ranch is their business, but it also hosts research and education centered on a philosophy of prairie stewardship.

But 63-year-old Veseth is nearing the end of his ranching career. He and his wife have no children. For a long time, they considered the options before them: sell, or try something new.

They chose to donate all 38,000 acres of their ranch to a nonprofit they believe will continue their legacy. It’s the largest working ranch donation in state history.

A gateway marks the entrance to “Old Veseth Ranch” on Nov. 13, 2025. It's part of the Veseth property where some members of his family reside. It’s just one piece of the 38,000-acre property south of Malta, MT.
Victoria Traxler
A gateway marks the entrance to “Old Veseth Ranch” on Nov. 13, 2025. It's part of the Veseth property where some members of his family reside. It’s just one piece of the 38,000-acre property south of Malta, MT.

"It will continue to be a food source," Veseth says. "It will continue to improve in the quality of range management and that we will have this done by local community members."

The land will go to the Rancher Stewardship Alliance. It’s a group co-founded by the Veseths to empower local ranching communities as they navigate growing outside pressures for Montana land.

South of Malta, a little black bird rustles through thick grass near the Veseths’ home. It was birds that first brought major attention to this corner of the state.

In the early 2000s, avian scientists identified parts of North America where threatened grassland birds were found. Phillips County, where Veseth lives, contains some of the best remaining habitat for these species.

A fortified drainage on the Veseth Ranch south of Malta, MT to hold water for longer periods of time, supporting more biodiversity and slowing erosion.
Victoria Traxler
A fortified drainage on the Veseth Ranch south of Malta, MT to hold water for longer periods of time, supporting more biodiversity and slowing erosion.

"There were models out there that thought, to save this, we needed to buy the ranchers up and make them leave as quickly as possible," Veseth says. "My comment to that is, you might be throwing the baby out with the bath water."

Veseth says cattle grazing done right keeps these species in Montana. He employs regenerative or conservation-based ranching, which prioritizes the whole ecosystem, rather than just the cows.

It's one of several reasons the Veseths didn't want to sell.

The state has lost over 1.5 million acres in permanent rangeland since 2007. Demand comes from all angles: development, recreation, and conservation. Property values have tripled over the last two decades, often pricing out local buyers.

The Alliance works to keep the land in the hands of those who work it, and help them lead these conservation efforts in the region.

Martin Townsend drives down a gravel road for about an hour, flat prairie around him divided by winding coulees.

"We're driving from Malta out to Dale Veseth’s Ranch," he explains.

Sagebrush on the Veseth Ranch property facing an island mountain range near Malta, Montana on Nov. 13, 2025.
Victoria Traxler
Sagebrush on the Veseth Ranch property facing an island mountain range near Malta, Montana on Nov. 13, 2025.

Townsend is the Rancher Stewardship Alliance’s Conservation Director. He knows this route like the back of his hand. He meets with local landowners to discuss what changes they could benefit from.

"On the way, we're gonna go by probably a little over a dozen different ranches, and we've done projects with, I think, all of them," Townsend notes.

He’ll connect them with private, state or federal partners that offer funding to make those changes. Like, paying for wildlife-friendly cattle fencing in a key migration corridor.

Townsend says all projects benefit the rancher’s business, or they’d never agree to do them. They can help cut operation costs for things like fertilizers or feed.

But the work goes beyond profit margins.

"We're finding that every time we increase the grazability of an acre, it's showing an increase in abundance of key declining grassland bird species," Townsend says.

Martin Townsend, Rancher Stewardship Alliance conservation director, and Angle DeVries, executive director of Rancher Stewardship Alliance, walk through a field on the Veseth Ranch property south of Malta, MT on Nov. 13, 2025.
Victoria Traxler
Martin Townsend, Rancher Stewardship Alliance conservation director, and Angle DeVries, executive director of Rancher Stewardship Alliance, walk through a field on the Veseth Ranch property south of Malta, MT on Nov. 13, 2025.

News of the Veseth Ranch donation surprised him. He’s hopeful it will set a precedent for the future.

"I don't think anybody actually knows what the future looks like of ranchlands 20, 30 years out, but just making sure that ranchers are involved as it moves forward, I think is big for the organization and big for ranching," Townsend says.

The donation surprised more than just Townsend. So, the Alliance held information sessions in hubs along the Hi-Line, like the Busted Knuckle Brewery in Glasgow.

Rancher Jeff Sather runs cattle just north of town. He’s worked with the Alliance before on a project to get electric collars for his cows.

"I really appreciate what they did. And my first thought was, oh geez, Dale, you beat me to it," Sather jokes.

In fact, many at the brewery said the donation was a gift to their communities. Veseth hopes it provides an alternative for other ranchers in shoes like his.

"I think agriculture's at a crossroads," Veseth says. "We can either go on and hope that our production keeps improving, or we can learn how to live in our environment with all the other factors out there."

The donation will take effect after the Veseths retire. Alliance officials say they will carry on Veseth’s legacy of prairie stewardship.

Victoria Traxler is MTPR's Rural Policy Reporter.
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