Blackfoot River Brewing Company is giving back to the land

For nearly as long as it’s been in business, Blackfoot River Brewing Company http://www.blackfootriverbrewing.com/ has been in the business of trying to help the cause of conservation.

The downtown microbrewery recently announced a donation of $1,709 to the Prickly Pear Land Trust — a buck for every barrel of beer sold in 2004. Last year was the second year for the Blackfoot-Prickly Pear relationship, and co-owner Greg Wermers said the company plans to continue its donations.

"We began this conservation program with the idea that we’d like to give something back to the environment," said Wermers, who opened the brewery with Brian Smith and Brad Simshaw in 1998. The first few years the company worked with the Montana Land Reliance on easements along its namesake river on the other side of the Divide, but attention soon turned to the Prickly Pear Valley.

"This was a perfect fit with what we were trying to do, and it brought it a little more local," Wermers said.

By John Harrington – Open for business

Full Story: http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/03/06/business/e01030605_02.txt