Becky Garland grew up in the long shadow of the Scapegoat Wilderness, watching her father, Cecil Garland, fight for the land that shaped their family and their way of life. His leadership in the first citizen-driven Wilderness initiative in the nation didn’t just protect the Scapegoat from timber and logging threats. Becky came to embody what courage looks like in small towns where everyone knows your name, and where taking a stand can come at a cost. She learned early that defending a place you love sometimes means absorbing criticism, enduring strained relationships, and even weathering economic uncertainty as they fought to maintain her family’s own store, Garland Town and Country.

But Becky stayed. She stayed when it was easier to leave. She stayed because Lincoln was home and because she believed the Blackfoot Valley was worth fighting for.

Over the years, Becky’s grit became its own kind of landmark. She ran her family’s retail business for two decades, co-owned a heavy-equipment stream restoration company focused on repairing damaged habitat, and later became a trusted local realtor, always with an eye on what strengthened the rural fabric of her community. Her neighbors know her not just as an advocate but as someone who shows up, remembers your story, and calls you by name.

Becky’s leadership helped launch the Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited, which rallied the region against two major gold-mine proposals and restored more than 120 miles of riparian habitat and 3,000 acres of wetlands. When the Seven-Up-Pete Joint Venture threatened to become the largest open-pit gold mine in North America, Becky was instrumental in helping the community organize, persist, and win. Their work fueled the passage of Initiative 137 in 1998, banning cyanide heap-leach mining in Montana and protecting the Blackfoot watershed for future generations. She later helped spark and is credited for the naming of the Blackfoot Challenge, a groundbreaking collaborative effort that continues to unite ranchers, conservationists, landowners, and agencies in common purpose. Her role in this work was featured in the 2009 documentary The Blackfoot Challenge: Rescuing a River.

Because Becky knows that the health of the valley and the community are intertwined, she also helped launch a new creative asset. In 2014, she spearheaded Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild, an internationally renowned outdoor sculpture park and artist residency that celebrates both the land and the people who call it home. Sculpture in the Wild is a driving economic and cultural force in Lincoln today with a promise to continue to serve the community for generations to come. Today she serves as President of its Board of Directors, guiding a place that inspires visitors from around the world and makes Lincoln’s kids feel proud of their own backyard.

Becky’s dedication earned her the Don Aldrich Award in 2006, but the recognition only hints at her impact. Her real legacy is quieter and more enduring: the steady presence, the deep knowledge of this landscape, the fierce love for her community, and the way she continues to be a bright light to Lincoln, for old-timers, newcomers, and kids growing up just as she once did, surrounded by the wild.

By Kalle Fox and Becky Garland