Drought and Tainted Creeks Plague Fort Belknap, Montana

Juanita Crasco faces a relentless drought at Fort Belknap. Despite losing crops to grasshoppers, she and her husband adapt.

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Juanita and Jake Crasco, ranchers on Montana’s Fort Belknap Reservation, have faced severe challenges due to historic droughts and environmental issues, leading to a drastic reduction in their cattle herd and significant financial strain from well development for water access. NASA-funded research has highlighted extensive environmental distress on the reservation, including deforestation, polluted streams from closed gold mines, and a drastic 60% reduction in surface water between 2017 and 2022. The Crascos, despite their struggles and advanced age, persist in their ranching operations, navigating complex bureaucratic hurdles and financial burdens while grappling with ongoing drought and environmental contamination from historical mining operations.


If you ask Juanita Crasco about the historic drought on the Fort Belknap Reservation, she’ll mention her apple tree.

“See here? I have a picture ready. You see how it’s just loaded with apples?” She took that photo on her iPad in 2021 and then drove roughly four hours to see her daughter in Browning, on the Blackfeet Reservation. When she returned two days later, all those apples were gone, decimated by grasshoppers. “They were so bad that year,” she says. “We lost a hundred percent of our hay crop. A hundred percent.”

Grasshoppers thrive in heat, and in 2021, they overran the Crasco Ranch. Jake Crasco, 70, an enrolled Assiniboine-Nakoda, is the third generation to ranch here. Juanita and Jake wanted to celebrate reaching 100 years on the original Crasco allotment, but lost their hay and were too busy dealing with everything,” says Juanita, who is Aaniih-Gros Ventre. Her family also ranched, but eventually quit after years of losses. The Crascos have had to reduce their cattle from 1,000 to about 150 due to water scarcity. “We’re still here. We’re not going anywhere,” Juanita says.

Fort Belknap spans about 675,000 acres in Philips and Blaine counties, home to Nakoda and Aaniih nations. Grant-funded imaging by NASA-focused environmental earth observation data on economically struggling areas like Fort Belknap. Findings included deforestation, polluted streams from off-reservation gold mines, degraded air quality from wildfire smoke, and reduced surface water. Nearly 60% of surface water dried up between 2017 and 2022.

Juanita Crasco says, “that seems low.” Drought effects have plagued the Crasco Ranch for decades. Jake says the drought that started in 2000 “got worse and worse. But in 2002, that’s the first time I’ve seen this creek dry up since I was a little kid.”

Despite surface water issues, the Crascos remain hopeful. Jake’s water lines from the creek feed Juanita’s gardens and greenhouse. But in the pastures, they rely on underground water.

Modern ranchers living in drought must develop wells, a costly and time-consuming process. The Crascos have developed wells on their property and their “summer grass” land, leased from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They applied for emergency funding to install three wells in 2022, costing about $40,000. Although initially denied reimbursement, they won on appeal at the state level and are awaiting funds.

John Grande, president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, notes the challenges. “I heard people had grazing land with grass but no water, so they had to drill wells or haul water, which is very expensive,” says Grande. He states Montana’s cattle herd is at its lowest since the 1950s, with a 20% decline.

“Usually, when there is drought and cattle numbers are way down, the prices go up and what that should mean is cattle numbers should go up,” Grande says. “That’s not what is happening.”

“Usually, when there is drought and cattle numbers are way down, the prices go up and what that should mean is cattle numbers should go up. That’s not what is happening.”

John Grande, president, Montana Stockgrowers Association

Ranchers need to recover from drought expenses before increasing stock. Buying hay from distant states is costly due to transportation.

The Crascos reduced their herd last year to keep cattle on their own land and water them with existing wells. Juanita has fibromyalgia, and Jake broke his back in an ATV accident in 2022. Despite challenges, they continue their work, hoping for better seasons.

Standing in his driveway, Jake says, “I’ll take a hard winter any day. At least you know it’ll end. With the drought, you’re just never sure.”

Poisoned Waters

NASA-funded research on “Environmental Injustice and Deaths of Despair: Lessons from Montana’s Tribal Lands” highlighted streams and creeks in Fort Belknap polluted by gold mines closed over 25 years ago.

The Zortman and Landusky mines used cyanide leaching to extract gold and closed in 1998 after Pegasus Gold declared bankruptcy. Since then, the state has operated four treatment plants costing taxpayers over $50 million to mitigate water damage.

Fort Belknap Indian Community Zortman-Landusky
According to the Fort Belknap Indian Community untreated waste from the former Zortman Landusky mine complex is flowing into the reservation in Montana <span class=image credit><span class=credit label wrapper>Credit<span> Courtesy of Fort Belknap Indian Community<span>

Mitchell Healy, a water quality specialist for the tribes, says untreated runoff from the mines leads to iron oxide staining, loss of aquatic life, and cultural impacts. Healy and others seek solutions, like treating water acidity levels, to drop out dissolved metals as sediment. However, the long-term effectiveness remains uncertain.

Hydrogeologist Wayne Jepson emphasizes the challenges of open-pit mining, saying, “You go from having a mountain to having a hole in the ground. The amount of rock removed and exposed is enormous.”


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