Sharing stories of Montanans' lived experiences with climate change
Can sharing personal stories help Montanans come together to protect the health and safety of our communities?
Families for a Livable Climate (FLC) is on a mission to find out.
FLC launched the Montana Climate Stories project in 2021, a space dedicated to sharing personal stories about how Montanans are experiencing damage to the climate. It is a collaborative project hosted in partnership with Stories for Action and with support from Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, Mountain Mamas, Montana Environmental Information Center, Climate Smart Missoula, and Park County Environmental Council.
The team is expanding the project and looking for storytellers and artists to add to the growing collection of stories. Montanans can submit written, recorded, or visual stories here by February 27 for a special feature and a chance to receive $100.
Montana Climate Stories is a means to paint a more complete and human picture of climate change; to heal our increasingly disconnected communities with empathy, inspiration, connection, and resilience through our oldest form of community-building: stories.
“Climate doesn't care where you live, what you believe,” says Winona Bateman, Families for a Livable Climate Executive Director. “Rising temperatures are rising temperatures, it's going to dry out your crops, just like it's going to dry out your neighbors who you might not agree with politically, and we're going to have to work together to address the problem. We need a way to connect with each other, because we're going to need each other in our changing world.”
It’s one thing to hear about how Montana’s fire seasons are increasing in length and intensity, it’s another to listen to a friend describe not being able to leave their apartment during peak fire season due to severe asthma.
It’s one thing to discover that tribes across the U.S. are developing climate adaptation plans, it’s another to hear a neighbor describe a nearby successful restoration project for the culturally significant, keystone species, the whitebark pine.
It’s one thing to learn that we are experiencing record-breaking floods, it’s another to know someone who lost their home in the 2022 Yellowstone flood.
“I’m grateful for this effort. It’s important to give people the opportunity to share their stories. People in our community are still recovering from last summer’s floods and having important conversations about how, where and whether to rebuild, and how to give the river the room it needs,” said Michelle Uberuaga, Park County Environmental Council’s Executive Director. “We are just one community in Montana that has been impacted by a recent climate disaster. There are so many important stories to share so that we can learn from our neighbors and be ready to help one another when the next disaster comes.”
With a coalition of statewide partners including Missoula County, Climate Smart Missoula, All Nations Health Center, the Democracy Project, NCAT, Silver-Bow County, KBMF Radio, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), Jeannette Rankin Peace Center, Flathead Lakers, Stories for Action, Montana Interfaith Power & Light, Mountain Mamas, and Bitterroot Climate Action Group, FLC is planning a series of live storytelling events in five Montana communities beginning this spring - Missoula, Butte, Pablo, Bozeman, and Hamilton. The goal is to bring these stories to life and provide a physical space for people throughout the state to meet and share their lived experiences, values, and concerns and hopes for the future.
The project is part of a broad effort to encourage everyday climate conversations and provide support for talking about climate change across differences. These conversations are particularly important and impactful considering that the vast majority of Montanans are concerned about climate change and support climate policies, but most of us don’t realize this or talk about it.
FLC and their partners hope, through the Montana Climate Stories project, to provide the space and tools to break climate silence. Their goal is to empower individuals to connect with their communities and take action to protect our kids, families, and Montana home.
“I’ve witnessed and listened to stories of impact from around the state,” said Lara Tomov, Director of Stories for Action, “People are focusing on it in ways that are applicable to their individual communities, rather than being overwhelmed and frozen by the big picture. It’s important to embrace that we all have different ways of talking about it and relating to it. Climate change is complex and our individual voices and perspectives can reflect that. This prevents a narrative that climate change is black and white, which can lead to divisiveness. We will all be better off if our response is guided by listening and building community.”
For more information on the project, to keep up-to-date on storytelling events, and to submit your story for consideration, visit MTClimateStories.org.