Get to Know Shannon Maness
From Shannon Maness’s point of view, some people are fortunate to have called Montana home because they were born and raised here; some get to call it home by choice. Shannon and his wife Krista fall into the latter camp. The couple chose to settle in Dillon after both had previously explored the state. Says Shannon, “After visiting a couple times to see a friend and do some hunting, I couldn’t get Montana out of my mind.”
Shannon was raised with his sister in north Georgia by hardworking conservative parents. He spent his youth hunting, fishing, and riding horses with his dad and cousins. Shannon graduated from the University of Georgia in 1999 with Bachelor’s degree in animal science, and a minor in agricultural economics. Before moving to Montana in the summer of 2010, Shannon wore several vocational hats, including cutting horse trainer, real estate agent, and UPS delivery driver. In Montana, Shannon has worked as hunting guide in several wilderness areas and has worked in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. Once kids came along, his priority to be an always-present dad took precedence over seasonal occupations, so Shannon worked as a manager on a local recreational ranch before starting his own business, Blacktail Appliance Repair, in 2018.
Since settling in Beaverhead County, the 48-year-old father of two has invested much of his energy in local community volunteer service. He is currently an elected trustee of the Dillon Elementary School Board, and finance chairman of the Beaverhead County Republican Central Committee, where he has also served as secretary/treasurer. As a life-long hunter, Shannon enjoys serving as youth hunt coordinator for the local chapter of Pheasants Forever. He is secretary of the Dillon/Butte Montana Landlords Association, and previously served four years as a church deacon.
Shannon’s faith is a guiding beacon for his work ethic and service mandate. He says, “Throughout my life of different careers and communities, a few things have always stayed the same. Foremost is a firm belief in God and his Son, Jesus. He is my moral compass, and from this perspective, conservative values and principles (also known as classical liberalism) are those that hone in best with this compass.”
“This country was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic, which has kept it prosperous and free for over 200 years. But freedoms without the boundaries of sound moral judgment are no freedoms at all.
One of the founding fathers of our constitutional democratic republic, John Adams, said, ‘Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.’
In our Western civilization, we have many guiding principles to inform us—from the philosophies and religion that shaped our Western cultural imagination to remarkable advances in science.
My objective as the Montana House District 70 representative will be to use these principles and collaborate with other legislators from across the state to establish, re-establish and keep laws that lead to a community, which both protects citizens and their families and offers them opportunities to thrive.”
Shannon and Krista are the proud parents of two youngsters, Lydia and Stuart. Krista is a licensed mental health therapist in a private practice in Dillon. The couple feels blessed to be able to raise their kids in a rural Montana community.
