5 days Ago By Lilly Keller Chronicle Staff Writer
Barbed and woven wire fencing may soon be a thing of the past after the launch of a new initiative by the Property and Environment Research Center. Announced by the Bozeman-based group earlier this week, the virtual fence conservation fund is a $250,000 program designed to help ranchers and conservationists adopt virtual fencing technology on public and private lands. “We're always looking at these market-based innovative solutions for conservation,” said Brian Yablonski, PERC’s chief executive officer.
“Virtual fencing has the potential to revolutionize not just ranching but how ranching and conservation intersect in a way that's good for both.” The new technology idea emerged from discussions with a rancher near the Crazy Mountains, aiming to balance ranch and agricultural productivity with broader conservation goals. Virtual fencing technology uses GPS-enabled collars on livestock and base station towers to create invisible boundaries, enabling flexible, wildlife-friendly land management that benefits both agriculture wildlife and conservation, Yablonski said.
The technology is similar to invisible fencing for dogs. Data from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks indicates that, on average, one ungulate per year is found tangled for every 2.5 miles of fence, with most fatalities (69% of juveniles and 77% of adults) occurring when animals get caught in the top two wires while attempting to jump.
In addition to its environmental advantages, Yablonski said the technology reduces the physical and financial strain on ranchers by eliminating the need to repair, replace and maintain traditional barbed-wire fences. “Barbed-wire fence, more than 100 years ago, really revolutionized the West and then there’s been nothing since barbed-wire fence for 120, 130 years. This comes along and has the potential to revolutionize the West,” he said.
Though still in its early stages, Yablonski said ranchers have been receptive to the technology. “Change can be scary, technology can be scary but we are seeing a lot of interest in ranchers,” he said. “I think there’s going to be two types of ranchers.
There's going to be first-generation ranchers who are more willing to embrace technology and take the risk that goes with trying something new. Then there will be second-generation ranchers that will let the first-generation ranchers get the kinks out of the system and see how this works and then they'll be the later adopters of this.” According to Yablonski, this grant marks PERC's latest advancement in fencing technology.
Earlier this year, the Bozeman-based nonprofit, dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets, hosted a virtual fencing workshop that brought together experts from technology, agriculture, government and conservation to explore how the technology can support wildlife conservation. Building on these efforts, the nonprofit will also release a report later this week, produced with Beyond Yellowstone, that analyzes the effectiveness of virtual fencing and offers policy recommendations for integrating it as a conservation tool. “PERC has been one of the, I wouldn’t even say, just a local leader, but a national one in advancing virtual fence technology,” Yablonski said.
Still, the initiative hasn’t been without challenges, including cost, reducing the technology’s reliance on cell towers in rural areas, and developing an accessible in-person customer service system tailored for ranchers. However, Yablonski said that as with any new technology, time and testing will be crucial in addressing these issues and refining virtual fencing to maximize its precision and benefits. The fund is currently accepting applications from ranchers, landowners, Indigenous communities and conservation organizations aiming to implement the technology for land, water or wildlife conservation.
According to PERC, examples include conserving key wildlife migration corridors, managing predator risk and protecting regrowth areas after wildfires. Successful applications, according to the nonprofit, include a sustainable plan for long-term use, a clear conservation benefit and a commitment to monitoring and sharing results. Grants, ranging from $10,000 to $75,000, will be based on conservation impact and project size, totaling $250,000.
Applications are due by Feb. 1 2025. “I think the exciting part is how willing all these diverse conservation organizations, all these diverse ranchers, all these diverse companies are all coming together in a unified fund to figure out, like, what's the best way to accelerate this.
Everybody's got their turf, but what I see here is sort of this commonality of purpose that is inspiring,” Yablonski said. Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more..
