Ranch­ers have been liv­ing and work­ing along the Rocky Moun­tain Front in Mon­tana for well over a cen­tu­ry. It’s a rugged land­scape where the North­ern Plains meet the Rock­ies. Griz­zly bears still wan­der out onto the prairie. Wolves still howl along the ridges at night. Ranch­ers and small towns still stake their claims in this wild landscape. 

Com­mon Ground, the beau­ti­ful short doc­u­men­tary from the tal­ent­ed film­mak­er Alexan­dria Bom­bach takes a close look at the per­son­al­i­ties grab­bling with mod­ern issues in this stun­ning land­scape. Through inter­views with ranch­ers and out­fit­ters, Bom­bach pro­vides a uni­fied voice for the rur­al peo­ple who live along the Rocky Moun­tain Front and how they feel about the 400,000 acres of pub­lic land that is unpro­tect­ed and faces the threat of development. 

Local ranch­ers, sports­men, and con­ser­va­tion lead­ers have teamed up with state politi­cians to pro­tect the wide-open spaces, mas­sive moun­tains, and abun­dant wildlife along with the her­itage of the work­ing com­mu­ni­ties that live with­in this land­scape. The leg­is­la­tion is known as the Rocky Moun­tain Front Her­itage Act, and it’s in Con­gress now. 

Com­mon Ground is one of this year’s select­ed films at the Moun­tain Film Fes­ti­val & Tour, is sure to win the minds and hearts of peo­ple who advo­cate for wilder­ness preservation. 

By: Tim Gib­bins