BROWNING — Cattle ranching is one of the top economic drivers on the Blackfeet Nation, with hundreds of ranches, some vast and some small, dotting the windy prairies just east of Glacier National Park.

Ranchers on the Blackfeet Nation grapple with worst drought in generations

Agriculture takes up over 60% of the land and generates $1 million a year in Glacier County. But the five-year drought afflicting the area, drying up watering holes and impeding the growth of grass hay, is causing financial harm and stress.

June was especially concerning this year, according to Verna Billedeaux, the extension educator with the Blackfeet Nation Tribal Extension office.

"Earlier on we had no grass and all the ponds out in the fields were drying up or dried up and we couldn't use them," she said.

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