Environment
After 3 bear encounters, Yellowstone is urging folks to be more ‘bear aware’
Summertime for national parks in Montana means millions of tourists — and for locals, the beginning of a stream of stories chronicling unaware tourists’ encounters with wildlife, ranging from clueless to dangerous. In the roughly month or so since visitations have begun a steep increase, Yellowstone National Park has had three documented close encounters of […]
Frustrated local leaders want Congress to do more to protect drinking water
WASHINGTON—Local officials and community leaders on Wednesday pushed Congress to designate toxic chemicals that are contaminating drinking water as hazardous materials, which would trigger federal cleanup standards. In addition, two Democratic senators from Michigan, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, introduced legislation that would put additional obligations on the Pentagon to initiate cleanup at military bases. […]
Glacier: Prepare for crowds in 2021; some campsites still closed
More locations and services in Glacier National Park are gradually opening as summer gets closer, the park said in a news release Tuesday. Glacier National Park said it is offering additional services and visitor opportunities as the summer season approaches. The new Going-to-the-Sun Road Ticketed Entry reservation system took effect May 28, 2021. Entry reservation […]
Public lands pick Stone-Manning fends off objections from Senate Republicans
Republicans on the U.S. Senate Energy Committee on Tuesday grilled public lands nominee Tracy Stone-Manning of Montana about her past opposition to an “energy dominance” agenda, as well as her 2020 support for the Democratic challenger to a GOP senator from her home state who sits on the committee. The sometimes rancorous hearing previewed a […]
Yellowstone National Park sees big uptick during Memorial Day weekend
If Memorial Day Weekend is any indicator, Yellowstone National Park could be in for a record-setting year. Park officials report an overall 50 percent increase in number of vehicles in 2021 for the four-day period. Officials in the park released the statistics, comparing them with in 2019 – skipping 2020 because Montana entrances were close […]
Montana’s Stone-Manning wins backing of environmental groups before hearing
Environmental groups are lining up behind President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management prior to her Tuesday confirmation hearing. More than 100 organizations wrote to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, Monday asking that the Senate confirm Tracy Stone-Manning, a Montanan who led conservation and […]
A Yellowstone pioneer who also became a noted conservationist — Henry Wood Elliott
Henry Wood Elliott was a dedicated conservationist and explorer who, in 1871, helped create the first bathymetric map of Yellowstone Lake. Unlike many of his contemporaries, however, he declined to leave his name on any feature in Yellowstone. Geologists now honor Elliott’s legacy by referring to a very large explosion crater beneath Yellowstone Lake as […]
Montana trying to prevent Canadian bacon invasion
If you make a living off the land in Montana and a line of wild hogs ever comes trotting over a nearby ridge, your next gig could very well be in a Billings supermarket or auctioning horses in Missoula. In the the twisted name of survival, those porcine Hell’s Angels of the animal kingdom will […]
Plowing snow (in June) — the opening of Glacier National Park
Indian Paintbrush popped their red blooms along Going-to-the-Sun Road, the Weeping Wall cried buckets, and a bighorn sheep munched above a ravine on the way toward Logan Pass. Later in the season, columbine will join the wildflower chorus, and cars and motorcycles and RVs – and yes, more cars – will jockey to fill the […]
National parks struggling with maintenance would get a boost under Biden budget request
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to correctly reflect a quotation by John Garder which was not properly transcribed. Basic needs at the largest U.S. national parks top the Biden administration’s first proposed lists of projects to receive funding through public lands trust funds, showing how much maintenance is needed even as parks […]
Yellowstone National Park reminds visitors of boating guidelines
Yellowstone National Park encourages the public to get ready for boating and fishing season, which begins May 29. Boaters and anglers should clean, drain and dry all boats and equipment prior to arriving in the park to minimize the risk of introducing aquatic invasive species into Yellowstone’s waters. Watercraft equipped with sealed internal ballast tanks […]
Hiker injured by grizzly in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park reported that a solo hiker was injured by a grizzly bear while hiking on the Beaver Ponds Trail at Mammoth Hot Springs on Friday. He sustained injuries, mostly to the lower parts of his body, although he was able to hike out of the area on his own, authorities said. The 39-year-old […]