Female Red-winged Blackbird, Bison Range, Moiese, MT
A female Red-Winged Blackbird feeds on a dragonfly in the cattail marsh along Mission Creek, adjacent to the picnic area at what was then known as the The National Bison Range.
The Range was established in 1908 by the federal government in the middle of the Flathead Indian Reservation, on land taken without consent. The bison herd there descends from a free-ranging Reservation herd started by Tribal members in the 1800’s when Plains Bison were near extinction.
Through Public Law 116-260, signed by the President on December 27, 2020, Congress restored the Bison Range to federal trust ownership for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Tribal natural resource managers will take over management as stewards of the Range’s buffalo, wildlife and land.
Places That I Love
For the vast majority of my career, my own photography was an afterthought. Very soon after I started working professionally as a photojournalist, I became a full-time academic and for more than 40 years, my students came first. We traveled the world together, but my role was that of an editor and mentor, not a photographer. Rarely would I have time for my own work. Of course, that was of my choosing and it was a gift, not a burden.
Toward the end of my career, my teaching and advising focus shifted from undergraduate to graduate students, who were allowed to travel without a faculty escort. This allowed me time for some personal projects and assignments, and time to travel with family and friends, something I still do today.
This gallery has no thematic or geographic parameters, it’s just a grouping of photographs from places that I love, places that evoke special memories or moments that I enjoyed experiencing.
