New series depicts 'off-grid' lifestyle

A new reality TV show titled “Building Off the Grid: Big Sky Ranch” aired Thursday on the DIY Network depicting two people preparing to take on the task of off-grid living.

The show follows a married couple, Jon and Etta Smith, who hope to establish a bison ranch in an undisclosed location in the remote corner of Northwest Montana.

Their task starts with building a house, corral, fence line and learning to live without normal modern amenities.

Neither had tried such a lifestyle before last fall, Jon said, and living off the grid was not part of the initial plan.

“We didn’t come out here to be disconnected. It was a necessity. It’s the most affordable and realistic way if you don’t inherit land and are not independently wealthy,” he said.

He and Etta both still have iPhones to communicate with the world and computers to operate the business side of the bison farm, although they have to drive a few miles for cell service and head into town to connect to the internet.

“For the most part, even in the most remote parts of the world, you’re generally going to stay connected in this day and age,” Jon said.

The Smiths run a generator by day and a battery bank by night. Jon and Etta traded services, such as moving cows, with their neighbors in exchange for some supplies and feed to get through winter.

The Smiths are the type of people to seek this life out, said Michelle McDonald, a producer for Dorsey Pictures, which shot the show. They operate on common sense rather than rash decisions and simultaneously lunged away from society to build their own lives.

“They’re incredibly down to earth,” McDonald said. “They live for adventure.”

McDonald said she believes viewers will be inspired by the Smiths to consider their own lives in a remote corner of one of the last few wild places.

“What they’re doing is so remarkable out there,” she said.

McDonald found Jon and Etta while casting a different reality show, “Living Big Sky,” a real estate show following prospective home buyers in search of a Montana getaway lodge near Flathead Lake or Whitefish. The Smiths approached the casting call with a completely different endeavor, though, purchasing undeveloped property that would be self-sustaining and still operate a bison farm.

 Last week, the producers of a separate reality TV show to be produced by the Discovery Channel began casting for their own twist on the same theme. The show is planned to parallel Discovery’s “Alaskan Bush People,” featuring off-grid residents of a remote landscape. The casting call for the Montana show seeks people living off the grid and off the land, a more reclusive version of the Smiths situation.

McDonald said the DIY Network show was drawn to Montana for its rugged terrain and scenic vistas.

“We love filming in Montana,” she said. Anywhere you point your camera it’s just so incredibly picturesque.”

Jon said the ranch challenge began with setting up corrals and laying out the rotation system where their 20 bison feed. The majority of construction on their home was done during the winter after a streak of bad weather plagued working conditions in the fall.

“Our goals were just how are we going to effectively change this bare piece of land in order to accommodate what we’re trying to do,” Jon said.

Jon was born in Colorado and grew up in Norway while his father was stationed there at an Air Force base. Etta was born in California and lived in different places around the world, including South Africa.

Jon said having a worldly perspective on life has helped his approach to the off-the-grid life. He served in the Air Force himself, so solution-based thinking takes control of his thoughts process when he’s working through new issues.

“You’ve got to have a good contingency planning to be self-reliant,” he said. “We needed to do that. We expected to have things. That’s why we started out on this journey; to have this adventure. The most exciting part is the improvisation you have to get through in the day-to-day activities.”

Their 20-bison herd just reached calving season. By fall, Jon said, he would like to be up to 30 bison and begin selling meat to restaurants and individual buyers in and out of state.

Jon is looking forward to the summer of work ahead, but he’s working and living on his terms. He urges anyone else who might have considered a life less connected to jump into the opportunity.

“I encourage people that have a mind to do something like this to give it a shot. Don’t just talk about it. If we can do it, I promise you, anyone else can do it,” he said.

The next episode of “Building Off the Grid: Big Sky Ranch” airs again at 11 p.m. Thursday on the DIY Network.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.