Environment
Gray wolf population in WA surges to highest recorded level
Washington’s gray wolf population is at its highest count since the state began monitoring in 2008. State and tribal officials counted a minimum of 270 wolves and 49 packs, including 23 breeding pairs at the end 2025, according to a new report from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The numbers are estimates from […]
Flint sells populist view during GOP debate, Olszewski says federal government the issue
BOZEMAN — For an hour-and-a-half during a Tuesday night Republican primary debate, Aaron Flint, a former talk show radio host running for the state’s Western Congressional district, sounded like he was back on the air. Flint debated Dr. Al Olszewski, the only other Republican running for the seat who participated at the Calvary Chapel in […]
Survey: Montanans increasingly concerned over public land access, sales
Montana voters are increasingly concerned over access to public lands, and a vast majority – 84% — support banning the sale or transfer of public lands. That’s according to the 2026 Voter Survey on Public Lands commissioned by the University of Montana’s Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone Initiative and released on April 22. […]
Forest Service shake-up will boost states’ role — but even supporters have concerns
A sweeping reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service signals that the agency is planning to lean heavily on states to help manage millions of acres of federal land, foresters across the West say. State officials and timber industry leaders say they’ve been given scant details about the plan, which will move the agency’s headquarters from […]
‘God Squad’ withdrawal of protection for Gulf species draws another challenge
Environmental groups are joining an effort to block rules from President Donald Trump’s administration exempting energy companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from legal protections for endangered species. Last month, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth asked for an exemption to the Endangered Species Act, on the basis of national security, to drill for oil […]
State, UM, MHSA build extensive air quality monitoring system
Across the state of Montana, there have been wide gaps in the state’s wildfire smoke detection safety net. PurpleAirs in Schools — a Department of Environmental Quality program now in its third year — seeks to close the net with hundreds of low-cost, but effective, air quality sensors installed at high schools across the state. […]
Montana youth argue for 9th Circuit court to allow climate change case to proceed
Attorneys for a coalition of youth who challenged a series of President Donald Trump’s executive orders related to energy and climate change last year argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow their case to move forward. The U.S. District Court in Montana, which dismissed the claims in Lighthiser v. Trump, erred by […]
Court upholds stricter selenium standards for Lake Koocanusa
A Montana District Court this week upheld a 2020 state water quality standard for selenium in Lake Koocanusa, dismissing a rule enacted by the state Board of Environmental Review that sought to weaken the standard in 2022. In the order, Lewis and Clark District Judge Kathy Seeley found that the board no longer has rulemaking […]
Judge halts major logging project near Whitefish
A federal judge in Missoula has stopped a logging project on 28,000 acres of Flathead National Forest land near Whitefish, agreeing with a coalition of conservation organizations the federal government had neglected to consider risks to critical lynx habitat and consider cumulative effects of a nearby project. “There is one primary reason we took the […]
Forest Service headquarters to relocate to Salt Lake City in major restructuring plan
The headquarters of the U.S. Forest Service will move from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday, a move the agency described as a “common-sense approach to improve mission delivery.” Noting that the lands, partners and operational challenges it serves are overwhelmingly in the West, the agency said in […]
Protesters back at the Capitol, while other Montana ‘No King’ rallies double prior attendance
Following weeks of uncertainty as to whether the state would allow another large No Kings rally on the state Capitol steps, more than 1,000 people stood on the lawn as they protested what they said is creeping authoritarianism in the United States. Montana poet and author Chris La Tray, along with former Gov. Steve Bullock […]
Conservation groups to sue feds over Flathead National Forest timber project
Two Western Montana conservation organizations announced this week they intend to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service alleging that a recently approved timber project in the Flathead violates the Endangered Species Act. Swan View Coalition and Friends of the Wild Swan filed their notice of intent to sue on Tuesday over a 130,000 […]