The Documentary Podcast The real ‘Yellowstone’: A battle for the cowboy way of life
Nov 4, 2025
Brudd Smith, a fifth-generation Montana rancher, shares insights about ranch life and the importance of federal grazing permits for his family business. Tracy Stone Manning, former head of the Bureau of Land Management, discusses the risks of public land sell-offs for housing and highlights the cultural significance of keeping these lands accessible. Together, they explore a remarkable coalition forming between ranchers and environmentalists against the backdrop of a heated debate over land ownership and the essence of Western identity.
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Life On A Five-Generation Ranch
- Brudd Smith shows life on a five-generation Montana ranch, from saddles to mountain summer grazing.
- He explains traditional ranch rhythms and the reliance on seasonal public-land grazing that sustain their operation.
Public Land Underpins Ranch Viability
- About 30% of Montana is federal land and ranchers lease summer grazing on it for very low fees.
- That access is essential to keep ranch operations viable given high private-lease costs and tight margins.
Sell-Off Framed As Slippery Slope
- Senator Mike Lee proposed selling up to 3 million acres of public land for housing as part of a major spending bill.
- Critics saw this as a slippery slope that threatened the long-term existence of public lands as a shared American resource.