SuzAnne Miller is the owner of Dunrovin Ranch. A fourth-generation Montanan, SuzAnne grew up roaming the mountains and fishing the streams of western Montana. Fresh out of high school, SuzAnne became one of the first women to “man” a Forest Service fire lookout by herself.

Some people have special and unusual gifts that defy description. Hobie Hare is one such person. It is almost impossible to categorize what and how Hobie does what he does. His gentle spirit, deep love of nature, poetic command of our language, and mesmerizing voice literally pull you away from your current circumstances and take into nature’s healing embrace.

Hobie’s byline under his email signature best captures his gift:

Connecting people with nature, no matter where their feet are…

Dunrovin has come to know Hobie over the last year or so. Introduced by a mutual friend, I (SuzAnne) was at first unclear about what he did and how we might collaborate on our mutual love of nature. I simply didn’t understand the full breadth and depth of his talents. He is more than a nature photographer; he is more than a nature guide who takes clients from across the globe on trips through Yellowstone National Park; he is more that a writer and a curator of information about nature; he is more than a personal coach.

To better understand and actually experience his work, I decided to participate in one of Hobie’s “nature connection sit spot activities” last February 2014. It was a telephone conference conversation. We dialed a specific number at a specific time. I was, to say the very least, skeptical. How could a conference call connect me to nature?

Hobie greeted each caller as they joined the teleconference. As soon as everyone was “present”, Hobie asked us to sit quietly and listen. He then used his calm soft voice and his ability to capture images in words to take us all on a fifteen minute journey into our own special nature place to replenish our souls.

I was amazed. Even me, with my rather cynical “show me attitude” was completely drawn in. This was something that never would have occurred to me. I personally need only step outside my door to experience nature’s healing touch with all of my senses – but my life is unusual and my physical connection to nature is the exception, not the rule for much of humanity. To witness Hobie’s ability to emotionally and spiritually connect people with nature in the absence of nature’s physical presence, or even of a visual focal point, made me see – or should I say hear – things differently. It made me want to get Hobie involved with our internet community.

When life’s circumstances deny us the personal joys and enrichment that being in nature bestows, would it not be wonderful to let someone like Hobie help guide us back mentally and emotionally – no matter where are feet are? In that spirit, Dunrovin begins a collaboration with Hobie Hare.

Let him tell you about it in his own words.

Why I Do What I Do:

I’ve always had a strong calling to help others learn and be more confident and competent in nature and in outdoor settings, from when I served as an international educator to my time as a National Park Service ranger in Yellowstone. I also care deeply about preservation and stewardship, and helping others understand the need to take action to preserve remaining wild places for future generations.

I am also a lifelong learner, and realize how crucial a deeper, consistent connection with nature helps everyone successfully navigate life challenges and changes through their new-found relationship with nature. This really hit home when I worked as a YNP interpretive ranger over eight seasons, and when I worked as a naturalist guide with the Yellowstone Association Institute for six seasons.

Today I help people connect with the natural world, no matter where their feet are, through private mentoring and coaching, guided tours of Yellowstone and other national parks, speaking, and photography, and you can learn and explore more at my website, Your Life Nature.

A Little More About Our Collaboration:

SuzAnne and I intend to bring multiple perspectives and viewpoints toward the natural world from Dunrovin Ranch through connecting over the spring and fall equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices.

We intend to help people watching and listening from afar to heighten their senses and appreciation for the cycles, seasons, rhythms and the unexpected at Dunrovin and in this part of the world, so they can in turn do the same wherever their feet might be. We recognize that not everyone is able to afford to visit or travel away from home to be with us in person, and that we can bring a collective shared experience and community to those who may only be able to connect with us electronically.

We intend to bring nature home to people, regardless of income, mobility or any other limitation. In this we realize that the future of our natural world that sustains us all is also deeply connected to the future of human generations, and we all have a role to play to help make sure this happens.

The Montana Tax Appeal Board has rejected a Flathead Lake mansion owner’s claim that the house he’s trying to sell for almost $45 million is only worth $9.8 million.

Don Abbey of La Mirada, Calif., wanted his 2014 property tax bill of $367,696 reduced by two-thirds or more. The tax appeal board hearing in Helena last November involved at least a dozen attorneys and expert witnesses, and took three days.

“Ultimately, we find the (Department of Revenue’s) assessment of Abbey’s improvements is based on accepted valuation methodologies, and reflects fair market value as of the lien date,” the two-member board wrote in its decision Friday.

Lake County officials based their property taxes on an assessed value of $41.8 million.

Abbey built the 24,000-square-foot house and 5,000-square-foot boathouse in 2011. He once listed it for sale for $78 million. The price included most of Shelter Island, which sits along the western shore of Flathead Lake near Rollins.

A luxury real estate website now lists the home as “currently the largest private home in Montana,” and posted a price of $44.8 million. But a Missoula appraiser hired by Abbey put the value at $9.8 million.

Abbey’s attorneys argued the home was “functionally obsolete” because it was overbuilt with features such as 2-foot-thick walls. Such amenities didn’t add value to the house and should be discounted, they claimed.

State revenue officials responded that the quality of the construction was part of the house’s value and no reduction in assessment was justified.

Abbey has been paying the property taxes under protest since 2012.

MORE>>>Billings Gazette

Here’s some sweet news for Montana beekeepers: As honey prices hit record highs in 2014, Montana ranked second for honey production.

Treasure State beekeepers produced 14.26 million pounds of commercial honey in 2014, second only to North Dakota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday.

The state had 162,000 honey-producing bee colonies. The value of the state’s honey crop was $29.23 million.

“It was a pretty good year. We made probably a million and a half pounds,” said Dean Egebakken of Harlowton’s Steve E Park Apiaries.

Egebakken and a truckload of Harlowton honeybees were working apple orchards Friday near Othello, Wash. Several apiaries in Montana work the pollination circuit, starting with almonds in California and working their way home via the fruit orchards of the Pacific Northwest.

The honey-making doesn’t really begin until they return home. Park’s bees produce honey from Montana clover and alfalfa.

MORE>>>Billings Gazette