Montana Extension Service Program Helps 24 Towns The MSU Extension Service partnered with the Montana Community Foundation to help a number of Montana towns cope with specific challenges for rural areas. Montana State University picked 24 areas in the state for inclusion in the "Reimagining Rural" program. Tara Mastel, the Extension's community development program leader, said in a recent news release that the program included virtual community gatherings that included both town leaders and rural experts. She said, "The sessions helped show the potential of reviving rural Montana. As a participant commented, rural American is not dying. It is changing, and much of the perceived narrative regarding the decay of our rural areas is simply wrong."