The Trees With Orange Rings (2022)

The Trees With Orange Rings tells the story of a family of great gray owls in the Bridger Mountains of Montana whose habitat is threatened by a logging project. A beautiful, old-growth Douglas fir forest marked by the U.S. Forest Service with orange rings painted on trees provides a backdrop to this tale of passion, natural history and environmental issues. A project that began as an effort to inform friends of the logging occurring in the nearby mountains quickly developed into an all-hands-on-deck effort to save owls. After two years of documenting the owls and pleading to local contacts in the Gallatin National Forest to spare some trees, conservation photographer Kyle Dudgeon with the help of wildlife biologist Steve Hoffman managed to do just that. Although the long-term nesting success of these great gray owls remains to be seen, the additional trees that the loggers let stand provide a sliver of hope. The story aims to inspire others to get outside, find the issues worth talking about and make their voices heard.

Directed by: Kyle Dudgeon

Editor: Jake Hewitt

Cinematography: Kyle Dudgeon, Ronan Donovan, Jake Hewitt

Cast: Kyle Dudgeon, Steve Hoffman

Music: Jesse Gallagher