Lacey Middlestead is a Montana native and freelance writer currently living in Helena, Mont. She loves meeting new people and helping share their stories. When she’s not busy writing articles for newspapers like the Independent Record and Helena Vigilante, she can usually be found indulging in her second greatest passion–playing in the Montana wilderness. She loves skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and four wheeling, hiking, boating, and riding dirt bikes in the summer.

A few weeks ago I wore flip flops outside for the first time this year. Freeing my toes from the confines of my Smart Wool socks is a pretty sound indication for me that summer is just around the corner. It also means it’s time to switch gears and transition from my winter sports over to my summer ones. With only the faintest bit of reluctance, I neatly packed away my snowmobile gear in my bag and hung my hockey sticks back up in the garage. I smiled knowing they would be back out again before I knew it, but for now, it was time to dust off my Trek cross-training bike and oil the chain on my new Honda dirt bike.

With the hectic chaos that usually defines my life, I have only made it out for one bicycle ride so far. I felt instantaneous elation upon first clipping into my bike pedals. There’s just a special kind of freedom one feels when biking along an open stretch of road with nothing but the sound of a headwind and the bike gears cranking to fill the empty spaces around you.

I headed west out of town along Birdseye road as it’s only a few miles from my house. I took spinning classes at the gym all winter long, but regardless of their intensity, my muscles always recognize when I start turning pedals on the real thing. I felt my quadriceps and hamstrings burning after only a few miles. But it was a good pain. I rode about 10 miles along the road before turning around to head home. I underestimated how quickly the sun still sets in early spring though and how the temperatures outside drop just as steadily. By the time I swung into my driveway, my hands and feet were numb with cold. I clunked awkwardly into my house with my feet still velcroed into my biking shoes. I cussed the whole way about how I shouldn’t have stayed out biking so long. But once I felt warmth flood back into my extremities I was reminded that, regardless of the cold, that first ride out was still worth it.

While I love the quiet and leisure nature of road biking, I also have a desperate need for speed at times. That’s where my dirt bike came into play a few weeks later. I had yet to try out my new Honda and was anxious to see how it felt.

One Wednesday night my dad and I loaded our dirt bikes into the back of his truck and headed toward Sheep Mountain in Clancy to do a little trail riding. It was a slow night of riding for me…..slower than usual anyways. My new bike is bigger and faster than my other one and I could tell instantly that it would take some time for us to get to know each other. But I sure loved the feeling of twisting the throttle and feeling the engine rev to life.

Although not quite as simple as riding a bicycle, I don’t think you ever forget how to ride a dirt bike either. Instinctively, my left foot clicked the gears up and down depending on my speed while my right foot found its way to the back break lever. A bigger bike means I’ve got a little more weight to throw around when taking sharp corners and rounding berms. But little by little that night, I began feeling my confidence come back and the bike started to feel like part of me. We rode for about two hours before calling it quits. The sound of the motor kept roaring in my head the rest of the night though.

On the drive back into town, I felt a sense of renewal having returned to two of my favorite activities. I also felt excitement build in me as I thought about all of the longer and warmer summer nights to come where I would find myself either pounding it out on the pavement with my bicycle or tearing up the mountain trails and motocross track on my dirt bike. There is so much good riding ahead…..some of it slow and steady…..some of it fast and furious. But either way, I will be shifting gears under the Big Sky of Montana where I can truly exist and feel alive.

Gov. Steve Bullock's office says more tourists visited and spent money in Montana last year than ever before.

The governor's office cited data Tuesday from the University of Montana's Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research.

About 11 million people visited the state in 2013, spending more than $3.6 billion.

That is compared to 10.8 million visitors who spent $3.27 billion in 2012. That also was a record year for tourism in the state.

The governor's office says the tourism industry directly employs 44,000 people in Montana.

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In about 40 years, the Yellowstone grizzly population has gone from less than 200, to more than 700. "Don't feed the bears" signs have been replaced by bear-proof garbage cans and the grizzly bears have adapted.

"Diets over time as things change in the ecosystem," said Frank Van Manen, IGBC Study Team Member. "A good example of that is once anthropogenic foods were not really available to bears anymore, after the dump closures, after all the work agencies put in to preventing bears getting access to anthropogenic foods, you see that reflected."
Individual bear's diets adapted. Those near lake, eating fish - those up higher, White Bark Pine. Flowers and grasses and ants remain fairly constant. Researchers also point to new cubs being born to show that Yellowstone's grizzlies are finding things to eat.

"Not really many single cub litters, which we typically see after a good food year," said Mark Haroldson, another IGBC STudy Team Member. "We get a lot of twins a lot of triplets and we had evidence of three 4-cub litters last year."
Right now the U-S Fish and Wildlife service is looking at that success, and considering delisting the yellowstone grizzly as a threatened or endangered species.

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Angela Jamison is a native Montanan and she grew up in beautiful Bozeman. I'm the mother of two girls and write a blog about our life here and taking in the simple pleasures of family and food.

The days are getting longer and warmer. I find myself extra chipper, maybe even annoyingly so. Eyes closed, face up to the sky with a silly smile while feeling the sun kiss my cheeks. I can’t pinpoint what my favorite part of spring is, there is so much about it that makes me happy. To name a few…

 The Return of Color

After the white of snow begins to melt away we are met with grays and browns. Slowly, as spring continues, color begins to pop up. When I see the first tulips making their appearance I know the end of winter is in sight. It only grows from there, first flowers and then the grass starts to green and finally the trees show their first buds. A gradual process, giving hope of a colorful summer. Everything slowly waking up after a long hibernation. I even love when dandelions show up in yards. Thought of by most as a weed, I see a sign of spring and summer. And how can you not love a bouquet of dandelions given to you by a child?

 Longer Days

No longer are we eating dinner in the dark and staying tucked inside after. In spring after dinner trips to the park become the norm. Meals are eaten outside and in my opinion food simply tastes better when you are sitting in the fresh air. In the morning, rather than waking to an alarm in a dark house, I hear birds chirping and sunlight peaking through the windows long before it is time to get up. Early morning runs bring opportunity to watch the sun rise above the Bridgers and welcome the day.

 The Beginning of Garden Season

I have always been told you never plant anything in Montana until after Memorial Day. We follow this, but that only gives three short months for growing. Because of this, each year my husband begins some seeds inside in hopes of getting beautiful tomatoes by August. It wasn’t until I had my own children that I cleaned up our eating. Took more time to think about what we were feeding them. I thought eating fresh, local produce would be difficult. It turns out between farmer’s markets and CSA’s, Bozeman is a fantastic place for this. When garden plans get started I start dreaming of salads all made from garden spinach, kids eating tomatoes like an apple straight off the vine and coming up with new ways to eat the dozens of zucchinis popping up each week. And it’s not only vegetables. Our strawberries and raspberries always come early and with them the first taste of summer.

 Happy Folks

All it takes is a day that creeps into the 60’s and the entire town cheers up. Smiles are bigger and I find that I’m not alone in my annoyingly chipper attitude. It must be the mix of the fresh air and warm temperatures after living under a blanket of snow. Spring brings that rare time when everyone is happy about the weather. The time between complaining about the bitter cold and then the heat.

 Wardrobe Change

Nothing thrills me more than trading the snow boots for flip flops. By April I am sick of layers and scarves and ready for the simplicity of shorts and tees. No more bundling my daughters up in full snow gear before school or stuffing it in their backpacks. Spring time dressing is easy. We do of course, make sure the snow gear isn’t tucked too far into the closet…you just never know around here.

 Spring is a re-birth and you can see it all around you. As much as I dislike the winter months, I love how they make us truly appreciate the spring. Not all places get this. Even the occasional spring snow can’t bring you down once you’ve had a taste of what is to come.

A foundation ranks Montana as the top state for entrepreneurs.

The number of start-ups in Montana increased in 2013. The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity reports Montana leads the nation in new business creation with 610 entrepreneurs for every 100,000 adults. Black Knight Security based in Missoula is opening a new store in the Magic City.

"Billings is still growing business-wise and there's a lot of opportunity for us," said Wade Herbert, Black Knight Security owner. "The Bakken is part of that, but I think Billings itself is just getting more business in it. They can spread out. There's a diverse community so we just felt like we needed to be part of that."

Other businesses already established in Billings say they continue to grow. Paula's Edibles owner Karen Kennedy-Senn said they have created new product lines and started partnerships with some hotel chains. With their new website, Kennedy-Senn says they are getting orders from locals and out-of-staters too.

"The western-themed, made in Montana, made local, people actually search them out and that's what they're looking for," Kennedy-Senn said. "So I think it says that there is room for growth. I think it says that we have quality."

MORE>>>KULR8

Bill Muhlenfeld is owner and publisher of Distinctly Montana magazine and other publications. He lives in Bozeman with his partner, Anthea, and always finds time to enjoy the great outdoors, when he is not writing about it....

Well I, for one, had no idea that Al Feldstein was living just "over the hill" from here, retired in Livingston.  If I had known, I would have made a trip to visit the funny-bone guru of my adolescent and teenage years, the editor of MAD Magazine for 28 years.  Really, the humor was brilliant--witty, sardonic and sometimes downright shameful.  I loved it (!) and rushed to get every issue as soon as it hit the newsstand (nope, no technology in those days!). 

If you are of a generation not familiar with MAD, do yourself and search for one of the earliest copies--from the '50s through the 70's.  Feldstein set the tone and pace for what was to come in terms of irreverent humor and a healthy disregard for "toeing the line" of the"acceptable" and politically correct.

Thanks, Al, for all those great years.

Al Feldstein, whose 28 years at the helm of Mad magazine transformed the satirical publication into a pop culture institution, has died. He was 88.

 Feldstein died Tuesday at his home in Livingston, according to the Franzen-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory. No cause of death was released.

 In 1956, publisher William M. Gaines put Feldstein in charge of the magazine, which gleefully parodied politicians and mocked traditional morality.

 Feldstein and Gaines assembled a pool of artists and writers who turned out such enduring features as "Spy vs. Spy," ''The Lighter Side of..." and "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions."

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