Russell’s Substack
The State of Montana
Episode Twenty-One - Laura Nowlin and Bill Milton
0:00
Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -59:00
-59:00

Episode Twenty-One - Laura Nowlin and Bill Milton

Founding Members of Winnett ACES, Agricultural Community Enhancement and Sustainability, an organization devoted to improving the lives of people in the Winnett community

Laura Nowlin was raised on a ranch just outside of Winnett, and still lives in the area with her husband and two children, although they are now on a different ranch. Laura was one of the founding members and is the current executive director of Winnett ACES, which stands for Agricultural Community Enhancement and Sustainability. The organization was founded in 2017, with the idea of creating more of a community environment in Winnett, so that people would be inspired to stay, or even move back. Bill Milton was also a founding member, although his own ranch is in Roundup, but he has been a pioneer in Montana for many community based organizations that promote various forms of alternative ranching and farming methods, as well as organizations that address the growing issues of how to better utilize our water resources. Milton and his wife Dana have been the recipients of many awards for their environmental work, including the Montana Land Reliance Conservation Award in 1993.

Discussion about this podcast

Russell’s Substack
The State of Montana
Montana has a long history of very complicated politics, often influenced by major corporations, as with the Copper Kings in our early history, or oil money. But we also have a strong track record of very progressive milestones, the most significant of which was the election of the first woman to ever serve in Congress, Jeanette Rankin. We also have what most constitutional historians consider one of the strongest state constitutions in the country. We have always boasted a very significant balance of power as well, but recently that has changed, and I want to understand why, and what can be done about it. So I'm going to interview some of our more high-profile citizens, not necessarily politicians, to explore this issue. My first guest will be Dorothy Bradley, who was the first woman to run for governor of the state. Dorothy just barely lost to Marc Racicot in 1992.