Montana
Montana AG Network: Adaptive equipment for hunters with disabilities
BOZEMAN — In the snowy Bridger mountains, you’ll find Robert Enigl, a man who’s always on the move.
In his lifetime, Enigl has developed quite a lengthy resume, including participating in the2022 Beijing Paralympics, social media influencing, and outdoor recreation.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
Enigl loves to fish, ski, hunt, and anything else related to the outdoors.
On his property outside of Bozeman, he runs a strawberry farm and a golden retriever dog breeding business.
Justin McKinsey, MTN News
With an already successful resume, it’s even more impressive when you learn about the accident that literally turned his life upside down.
“I remember the front flip felt like slow motion. I remember rolling three and a half, four times, and I remember on the last roll I was holding the ceiling seeing dirt, sky, dirt, sky,” he said.
About 11 years ago, Enigl and his best friend Ben were in a traumatic car accident after hunting in the Gallatin Canyon.
“They said they were getting a helicopter, and I’m like, ‘Oh good, for my buddy,’ and they said, ‘No, the helicopter is for you.’ That’s when I realized I was pretty screwed up at the time,” he said.
Robert Enigl
Enigl suffered a spinal cord injury, partially paralyzing him from the waist down.
Instead of neglecting his passion for skiing, hunting, and fishing, Enigl adapted, as painful and frustrating as it was.
“At the end of the day, you can’t look at (paralysis) as ‘My life’s over.’ You got to learn how to adapt. And I think ‘adapt’ is probably the best way to describe someone in a wheelchair,” he said.
Now, Enigl happily lives on his farm with his wife and two children. He’s still pursuing his hobbies, in part, thanks to the Cutting Fences Foundation.
The non-profit organization, founded by Kendra Lewis, helps provide adaptive equipment to hunters, ranchers, and farmers with disabilities.
Justin McKinsey, MTN News
“That $20,000 off-road hunting vehicle, I wouldn’t ever have access to it,” said Enigl.
“There aren’t many organizations that specifically target farmers and ranchers with disabilities and try to meet their needs. So that’s where it all started,” Lewis said.
Lewis started the organization during the occupational therapy doctoral capstone.
For her project, she began a 10-episode podcast that featured members of the community impacted by their disabilities. The podcast is where Lewis met Enigl.
She then turned her project into a non-profit organization a year later, eventually providing adaptive equipment for hundreds of people.
Justin McKinsey, MTN News
“It was a moment to share hope for individuals and kind of create a network of resiliency as well,” Lewis said.
“I feel like I get to do more cool stuff now than I ever got to do before I got paralyzed,” Enigl said.
Enigl was able to adapt and do many “cool” things because of the foundation, and help from a friend.
“One powerful chair, one manual chair doesn’t always do the trick for living a full and functional life,” Lewis said.
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
Brian Miller won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the U.S. House seat in Montana’s eastern district.
The Associated Press called the race for Miller, an attorney in Helena, who fended off a challenge from state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, a longtime legislator from Box Elder, and Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls.
In the Republican and rural eastern district, any Democrat will be an underdog, and Miller will face off against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Libertarian Patrick McCracken is also running.
In the primary, Miller took 58% of the vote. Lux took 27% and Windy Boy took 16%, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website.
In April, Windy Boy paused his campaign amid “serious sexual abuse” allegations raised by the Montana Democratic Party — but Windy Boy restarted his campaign and later called the allegations “political attacks.”
Miller is representing the victim of the alleged abuse and her mother, although he said he didn’t take on the role until after Windy Boy initially suspended his campaign.
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