Big Sky Announces New “Re-Wilding” Initiative: More Barbed Wire Everywhere
New Fencing Initiative Launches, Purpose Remains Negotiable
BIG SKY- Big Sky residents woke up Thursday to discover a new conservation plan quietly passed overnight: barbed wire. Lots of it. Enough to wrap the entire town in what officials are describing as “a more authentic Montana ambiance.”
The initiative, called Re-Wild Montana: One Fence at a Time, aims to ring trailheads, parks, sidewalks, and scenic pullouts with fresh steel “to remind people they’re in the West, not a lifestyle catalog.”
The rollout began at Big Sky Community Park, where Ms. Wilson’s third-grade class was recruited to help install a “heritage perimeter” around the basketball court. Students wore comically oversized leather gloves and took turns pounding in fence posts while parents stood back filming and mouthing, why are they doing this?
“This is the kind of hands-on education kids need,” said Councilman Reed Waverly, who teared up watching the installation. “Real Montana skills. Craftsmanship. Callouses.”
When asked what problem the fence solved, Waverly paused, said something about elk, switched to property values, then conceded, “Honestly, I just think fences look official.”
Student Macy Eldridge, 9, said her teacher told the class they were “protecting wilderness.” Macy pointed to the concrete. “So the wilderness… is the court?”
Project coordinator Chad Danner said the fencing is “mostly symbolic,” adding, “People behave better when they see wire. Even if the wire doesn’t do anything.”
“People behave better when they see wire. Even if the wire doesn’t do anything.”
Each new segment includes a $5,000 sponsor plaque. Current buyers include a California hedge fund manager, an address-less LLC, and someone who simply wrote ANONYMOUS on the check.
Environmental groups warn the fencing will block migration corridors. Danner replied he “hadn’t heard that” but would “totally look into it
someday.”
Phase Two targets hiking trails, focusing on areas where residents “still enjoy unobstructed views.”
At the ribbon-cutting, Ms. Wilson’s class chanted the project motto:
“Leave No Trail Unfenced.”
No one could explain it.
