Harlow Ranch and the Montana Tree Farm

9/26/26    Montana Tree Farm Annual Meeting re-cap

The bison were in the trees this past Saturday when Harlow Ranch hosted the 2026 Montana Tree Farm Annual Meeting. 

The Montana Tree Farm System (MTFS) is a non-profit voluntary program affiliated with the American Tree Farm System and the American Forest Foundation. It brings together private forest landowners, resource professionals, community groups, and state agency partners across Montana to promote sustainable forest management. They provide private forest owners with professional guidance, stewardship plans, and resources to maintain healthy, resilient, and productive forestlands.

The Tree Farm Steering Committee put on a wonderful event and we were honored to be the host spot.  Bitchin Kitchn served up some great BBQ for lunch and my favorite part was a visit to the Allen Ranch on Blue Slide. The Allen Ranch won the 2025 MT Tree Farm of the year, and a visit to their place shows why. It's gorgeous.  Milner Brothers Logging, who worked out here for 6 years before retiring in December, was honored as the 2026 loggers of the year. It was a fun day with great people. 

Quite the opposite of that great Saturday, my first memory of Tree Farm is just horrible. There was screaming and yelling and tears. I cried myself to sleep after they all loaded into their trucks wearing fancy green Tree Farm windbreakers. They went off towards the creek to tour our forest.  My older sister got to go, but I was four. It was raining and it was nap time, so I had to stay with Grandma despite my extreme protest.

My Grandpa, Paul Harlow, joined Tree Farm in 1945. He had been logging this ranch since he was 16 years old and was interested in the timber industry and forestry. He was excited to be one of the first 50 to join the Montana Tree farm. Most of the other early members were industry and business. He was one of the first private forest owners.

My dad, Art Harlow, was about 10 when Grandpa joined the tree farm. He always thought it was a worthwhile organization, so he kept the ranch in the Tree Farm and expanded the acreage to include more forest. Together they set up a beautiful old growth legacy forest of approximately 1000 acres.

The entire ranch is about 2200 acres including the forest and the pasture. When Grandpa retired, dad ran cattle for several years and then leased the place to cattle ranchers. He always maintained control of the logging operations and the forest health. He focused predominantly on removing the “dead, dying, and white fir.” He also put a conservation easement on the ranch so that it cannot be subdivided or logged in a manner contrary to Tree Farm principles.

After my first Tree Farm experience, you can imagine my delight when my dad invited my husband Adam and me to the Tree Farm meeting in Thompson Falls in 2018. What a treat to be included in such a wonderful family tradition.

In 2019 we took the Forest Stewardship class, made a forest plan, and met with our service forester to do the Tree Farm inspection. We were hooked! After moving to the ranch in July of 2019, Adam started doing some logging. We started a logging business and took all the necessary classes to be a part of the Accredited Logger Program with the Montana Logging Association. Our goal is to have the healthiest forest possible while maintaining good wildlife habitat and promoting regeneration.

Right now, our forest is under attack from the Scolytus (Fir Engraver) beetle on the Grand Fir. The pine beetles have been ramping up and the Doug Fir beetle is coming in fast.

The wind storm of 2021 followed by the Thorne Creek fire really woke us up to forest health issues beyond the bugs. My dad survived the big pine beetle outbreak of the 90s and he learned to manage for insects and disease. In the 7 years we have been here we have had three major wind events taking down over 500 trees and three fires started by lightning. Now we are learning how to keep the forest of the 2020s healthy and to manage the multiple concerns.

We were thrilled for Trey and Maggie to go the Forest Stewardship classes this year and to be here at this meeting connecting with you amazing tree people and preparing for the forest management in their future.