Mason Nussbaum (related story) spent two weeks of her Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation internship — June 3 to June 14 — at XC Ranch south of Boulder, where she helped change water lines, participated in “Range Day” on June 10 and “set a high bar for interns in the future,” according to host Steve Carey.
“Mason was a hell of a worker,” Carey said. “She asked lots of relevant and smart questions … [and] strived to learn everything she could. [She] got to see a heated discussion at a Forest Service meeting that she said gave her a lot of insight to the real issues the producers face.
Carey’s father Tom Carey had a similar impression of Nussbaum.
“We really enjoyed Mason,” he said. “She was very capable and would do any work that we had. We had her do all kinds of ranch work from stuff around the house to working cattle. She even run the excavator and dump truck.”
The elder Carey said this was his ranch’s first time participating with the two-year-old program, and that he has been involved in “other types of work and learning programs.”
“We had 4-H exchange, which wasn’t as much about work but they still helped out a lot and maybe only a few days long,” he explained. “We also did a work program with young men from Denmark [who] would be here most of the summer and would do all kinds of work.”
“For sure we would participate in this [DNRC] program again,” he concluded. “I just wish we could of had Mason all summer.”
Steve Carey said he, too, was eager to host again.
“Stacey Barta created a great program that I think needs to expand so the younger generation has the opportunity to get involved in agriculture before liberal-leaning professors skew their way of thinking,” he said.
