Rancher Tells His Side of Story for Gallatin Gateway Gravel Pit

A 5th generation Montana ranch family against an environmental group started by a woman from San Francisco. To hear Bayard Black tell his side of the story, this battle is like something straight out of the TV show Yellowstone.

(Update added Dec 18th: Tracie Gibbons with the Gateway Conservation Alliance responded to Mr. Black's comments and says she is not from and never lived in California. She says she grew up in a small town in rural Maryland)

Here's the message I got from Bayard Black before he joined us on the radio:

My name is Bayard Black and I'm a 5th generation rancher in Gallatin Gateway.
My family has been defamed and my community has been manipulated by the Gateway Conservation Alliance , a non-profit, that is now suing the Gallatin County and the State of Montana, since our gravel pit was approved. Their actions have the potential to shut down hundreds of projects and cost the state millions of dollars. They are already causing great financial stress on TMC Inc and my family by stalling the project. They have admitted to me that they are Hypocrites and NIMBYs. The Montana media has overwhelmingly misrepresented the story.

 

Here's part of what he told us on the radio.

Bayard Black: "We've been here for 153 years, so since before Montana was a state, and it's been cattle. We run about 500 head of cattle, and we have a very small farm, so about 140 acres that is farmed. And what's happened over time is the cost of all our inputs continues to rise. So inflation is a huge factor, as well as property taxes continue to go up. So someone arbitrarily tells me my property is worth more, and then they raise my taxes. And so to battle those combined factors, I have to be creative about generating income."

Our full chat with Bayard Black can be found in the podcast below: