An Oregon State University Press book has been selected as a National Outdoor Book Award winner. “Saving the Big Sky: A Chronicle of Land Conservation in Montana” is the 2025 “Nature and Environment” category winner.
Over a 50-year period, six million acres of land in Montana have been conserved with the cooperative efforts of Native American tribes, nonprofit organizations, land trusts and government agencies. The tool central to those efforts was the ability to establish legally binding conservation easements on private land. “Saving the Big Sky” is the history of those efforts: how it was done and what was protected. The book was written by Bruce A. Bugbee, Robert J. Kiesling and John B. Wright, with photographs by Kevin League.
Illustrated with more than 90 color photographs and 30 detailed maps, “Saving the Big Sky” showcases land conservation achievements across eight regions of the state: the Rocky Mountain Front, the Blackfoot Valley, the Greater Yellowstone, the Missoula Region, the Helena Region, Northwest Montana, the Flathead Indian Reservation and the American Prairie.
A total of 17 books were honored by the organization this year in 10 categories. Sponsors of the program include the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation, Idaho State University and the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education.
By Theresa Hogue
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