HELENA – Kenton Rowe of Helena has been all over the world as a photographer, capturing scenes that most people only dream about, and his latest accomplishment was landing the cover of the Russian edition of National Geographic magazine, and an article in the American edition.

The photograph shows a mother mountain lion and her cub; he titled it “Proud Mama.”

Rowe recalled, “It was about 1,500 feet up this mountain, and I was exhausted and I was carrying 60 or 70 pounds of gear and we were going almost straight up. And I just kept telling myself that if I get to the top, I might get to see a mountain lion, I might get to see a mountain lion. It was pretty exhausting and I really had to use that to drive myself to get myself to the top.”

For the past five years Rowe has teamed up with Florence Crittenton and donated some of his pictures to the annual Paint The Town Pink fundraiser and this year is no exception; his National Geographic cover picture will be an auction item.

Elizabeth Flynn, marketing director for Florence Crittenton, said of the unique photo, “I think that any mother can relate to this mountain lion’s feelings right now. I think anyone who has little children, just has this kind of ‘mama lion’ instinct sometimes and whether you’re 15 or 14, I think it’s just a natural thing for any mother to want to protect her babies.”

Flynn added, “We definitely see that in the young moms at Florence crittenton. They want to protect their babies, and do the best for them and you know we just want to help them, and be successful and be the great parents that they all want to be.”

Rowe’s website states: “My image entitled ‘Proud Mama’ placed second in National Wildlife Federation’s international photo contest from among 70,000 entries.”

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