Close watchers of the legislative process probably knew this already, but I have only just been made aware that Montana now has an official state soil. Scobey soil, the Bozeman Chronicle informs us, is “a deep clay loam that holds water well” and “was selected because of its importance to the state’s wheat production in the Golden Triangle region of north-central Montana.” The dirt on this bill is that it was conceived by fourth-grade students at Longfellow Elementary School in Bozeman. Kristin Sigler, one of the Longfellow teachers who helped prepare the legislation and lobby for its passage, said the fight wasn’t easy. “We had an uphill battle when lawmakers thought this might be a trivial effort,” she said. Continue Reading →
