Eastbound bear: Grizzly seen in Missouri Breaks, most east one has gone in century

In late October, what appears to be an adult male grizzly bear was captured on a game camera in the Missouri Breaks. Although tracks of grizzlies have been found farther east, in the Winifred area, this was the first photographic evidence of a grizzly so far from the Northern Continental Divide Ec…

Melting masses: Study demotes 52 glaciers to snowfields

It's no secret that glaciers in Montana and the world over are disappearing. But now a new study puts a number to the losses, at least for the Western U.S.  Of the West's 612 officially named glaciers, 52 no longer qualify as glaciers. That's according to a study released last month by Portland St…

Where should buffalo roam? Montana and Yellowstone clash over bison management

The Interagency Bison Management Program partners met at Chico Hot Springs Resort in early November. The partners include tribal representatives, state and federal officials.  When the Park Service attempted to change some language in the group’s adaptive management plan, the executive officer of …

Dead on the tracks: Train-related Grizzly mortalities rise as solutions stagnate

For decades, the freight trains trundling over Marias Pass toward Glacier National Park and the Great Bear Wilderness along a 206-mile stretch of tracks between Shelby and Trego have posed a threat to the grizzlies living in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzly bear recovery zone, part…

Dodging development: Why a conservation group wants to buy a mine

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition recently announced it had raised $6.25 million to buy out Crevice Mining Group’s 1,368 acres, claims and water rights just north of Yellowstone National Park’s border. Crevice came onto the scene in 2015 when it proposed mining on a mountainside above Gardiner. Th…

Dropped deal: Holland Lake Lodge owner nixes controversial expansion plans

On Oct. 13, news broke that the owner of Holland Lake Lodge has decided to cancel his controversial expansion and upgrade plans at the resort. He’s ending his partnership with a large Utah-based resort company called POWDR and is trying to sell the lodge. It’s huge news in Montana, as for the past…

Chuck Black becomes most recent Montanan to win Federal Duck Stamp Contest

It was a chance encounter with a northern pintail drake that made Chuck Black’s lifelong dream come true. That dream: to win the Federal Duck Stamp art contest and have his painting in the pocket of every waterfowl hunter in the country. Chuck’s interest in the Federal Duck Stamp started as a you…

Fear and intimidation: FWP wardens detail turmoil within agency

In late September the Legislative Audit Division released a report investigating Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Enforcement Division. The audit documented a division riddled with morale problems and distrust in management. What’s more, the report found FWP’s Human Resources Division – which is res…

12k acres in 12 hours: How the Paradise wildfire quickly grew to threaten the town

A little over a month ago, the world watched in horror as fast-moving flames leveled the idyllic oceanside town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The fire had started just that day but winds from a distant hurricane swept the flames into a firestorm that killed more than 100 people, making…

Has the battle been won? Final Badger Two-Medicine oil lease relinquished

On September 1, the U.S. Interior Department announced that the last energy lease in the Badger-Two Medicine area had been relinquished. This piece of ground surrounded by the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, was considered sacred to the Blackfee…