Garry King fell in love with Montana following a fishing trip to the Bozeman area.  Garry dreamed of buying a small ranch in Montana and develop its bird and wildlife habitat.  In 1992, Garry King permanently moved to Montana from Louisiana after a successful career in the food industry business including 10 years as President of the Standard Coffee Company headquartered in New Orleans.   After retiring from the coffee business, Garry spent nine years visiting every county in Montana while living in Gallatin County.  While fishing, hunting and visiting with landowners, he was basically learning about wildlife habitat in Big Sky Country.

In 2000, King purchased a small farm operation six miles from Denton in Central Montana. His goal was to enjoy the country life style and fishing and to undertake a modest pheasant habitat project similar to the ones he had seen in the surrounding area. He had the vision of “Build It and the Birds Will Come”.

The most impressive habitat projects that King has seen had either been undertaken or inspired by the Pheasants Forever organization, specifically the Central Montana Chapter headquartered in Lewistown. Craig Roberts, it's president and founder, and Larry Schwietzer, its vice president coached and mentored King on the new habitat improvement project. The two helped in the layout of the shelterbelts, windbreaks, food plots and nesting areas, as well as the particular species of trees, shrubs and grasses that would be most likely survive in the harsh climate of Central Montana.

“Without their enormous help and encouragement in the beginning, I could not have undertaken my project," King says, "and if I had undertaken it without their help, I am sure I would have abandoned the whole thing and gone fishing.”

Once into the project, King discovered a vast number of helpful sources regarding the dos and don’ts of habitat development. Montana State University Extension has an extensive list of bulletins geared for those interested in establishing shelterbelts, windbreaks, and new grass cover development.  King emphatically states “Must reading is Extension Bulletin No. EB0157, Growing Trees on Montana’s Prairies, Shelterbelt Weed Management", and "Selecting Species for Revegetation of disturbed sites."

“There are many more, but these are excellent starting places,” King says.

He also recommends a Pheasants Forever booklet titled "Essential Habitat Guide," which he says is "specific and helpful" for those wanting improve their land for upland birds, songbirds and pheasants." In addition, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota University's have useful web sites, with reams of info on field studies of habitat, with most emphasis on trees and shelterbelts.

While there are perhaps 10 to 15 species of trees and shrubs which will grown in Montana, and be part of a shelterbelt, King says that through trial and much error he narrowed his selection to what he refers to as the "trinity:" caragana, Russian olive and silver sage.

“If you plant any one of these three species into ground which has been remotely prepared by removing the existing weeds, you WILL HAVE SUCCESS," King says. "All the others will make it, but they will require diligent weed control.”

“I envy those with quality irrigation water," King says, adding that he does not have the luxury of irrigation water and relies on Mother Nature for moisture. He said that if you have an irrigation source, you could grow almost any hardy tree or shrub selected for our climate zone.

King has many suggestions for the grass and nesting cover areas. Alfalfa is the key component, providing perfect height, flowers for insects and good growth. He selects tall wheat grass as the number two cover. Its tall heavy stalk offers winter cover and is a bunch grass, providing a site where birds can escape predators. He calls Flax "the perfect forb," and yellow sweet clover is his choice for the initial planting cover.

In his grass and nesting area mixtures, he includes some thickspike wheat grass, orchard grass, and slender wheat grass.

"Grass improvement or establishment is the quickest and most effective investment of time and money for any habitat project hoping to attack upland birds," he said. "Trees take years, grass takes months!"

To date, King has planted some 70,000 trees, 30 acres of food plots and 220 acres of grass for nesting cover.

As they say, build it and they will come, and the pheasants have arrived. In 2000, King and his friends harvested 18 pheasant roosters from his property. In 2007, eighty-five hunters harvested over 200 roosters. King said he expects that, as the trees and cover mature, the wildlife population will continue to grow, due to better winter survival and increased chick survival in the spring.

King welcomes questions are offers his help. Landowners can benefit from his experience, however, he is convinced that landowners can only make progress by actually becoming involved in their own land, asking questions and, above all, having patience.