BOZEMAN — It’s no secret that it’s been a warmer than usual winter in Montana.
That’s why on Saturday, local community members – and snowmen – gathered to protest the unusual weather and its impacts.
“This isn’t just a normal, mild winter,” said Paige Frumkes.
Frumkes is a sophomore at MSU studying environmental science.
“I’ve been interested in environmental science since fifth grade,” said Frumkes.
Frumkes, a born and raised Montanan:
“I’ve never seen a winter like this,” she said. “Our continuous snow pack, like, it’s been getting later and later every year I’ve noticed, never this late, never this little though.”
As Frumkes explains her biggest concern is drinking water.
“Bozeman has a limited amount of water we can’t get new water rights,” she said.
Protest organizer Kristen Walser shared the same sentiment.
“It was nice having that nice warm weather in January and February this year, but then you have to think ahead and think what’s going to happen in the summer?” said Walser.
“What are the fish going to have and the cows and the crops?”
She also cited the NCAA moving their Collegiate Ski Championships from Bozeman to Utah, which we previously reported.
“It’s a big hit on our economy,” said Walser.
WATCH: Bozeman Citizen's Climate Lobby chapter hosts "Snowman Protest"
That’s why Walser, who is with the Bozeman chapter of Citizen’s Climate Lobby, a non-profit focused on federal climate solutions, organized Saturday’s snowman protest at Soroptimistist Park.
“It’s basically to say snowmen don’t really have a voice, and they have a lot to lose with the warming winters,” said Walser.
“We have the snowmen melting in the winter, but we’re going to be melting in the summer when it’s so hot,” she added.
As Walser explains, this is the first year the event is on Main Street “to get more visibility.”
In addition to snowmen, the event also included a station to write to Montana Congress members in support of policies reducing heat-trapping emissions and more.
As for what Walser would say to the community:
“The best way to work on any problem is to work together.”
