Environment
Vilsack faces criticism ahead of confirmation hearing
WASHINGTON—Tom Vilsack, the president’s pick to lead the Agriculture Department, will likely face questions about his treatment of Black farmers and his record on civil rights at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday. President Joe Biden’s decision to tap the former Iowa governor, who also served as USDA chief during the […]
Fox: American Prairie and Phillips County find common ground
Last week, Phillips County officials unanimously voted to approve a new bison grazing and disease management agreement with American Prairie Reserve. This agreement resolves American Prairie’s long-standing variance request to the County’s Bison Grazing Ordinance. It is the hard-won result of constructive talks with our team, the Phillips County Conservation District, and livestock industry representatives. […]
American Prairie Reserve resolves long-standing dispute
A dispute between the American Prairie Reserve and officials in Phillips County has been resolved after more than four years of legal wrangling. The conflict began when the American Prairie Reserve announced controversial plans for a 3.5-million acre complex in the northern Montana county that would allow free-roaming bison to be reintroduced. In the end, […]
Buttigieg puts greenhouse gas reduction at center of Biden transportation policy
Former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg offered an unapologetic defense of President Joe Biden’s vision for improved transportation and greenhouse gas reductions during a Senate hearing to consider Buttigieg’s nomination for U.S. transportation secretary on Thursday. “We need to build our economy back, better than ever, and the Department of Transportation can play a central […]
Biden nixes Keystone XL Pipeline
In one of his first official acts after taking office, President Joe Biden revoked the federal permit for the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline that would have traversed eastern Montana on its way from the Alberta oilfields to the Gulf of Mexico. The Wednesday move at least temporarily halts the construction on the highly contentious […]
A meteor, aliens or just a magnificent view?
CADOTTE PASS – This is big country up here on the Continental Divide, even bigger if you’re searching for the skid marks of an 1865 UFO. Whether or not James Lumley, “an old Rocky Mountain trapper,” was telling a tall tale when he got back to St. Louis, his story thrust this low crossing over […]
Colorado sues BLM over resource management plans, citing Montana case
Colorado has challenged a federal Bureau of Land Management plan for the southwestern part of the state, arguing the plan was invalid because the Trump administration leader of the agency was illegally holding the office. The state’s Department of Natural Resources filed the suit in federal court on Friday, seeking to overturn a resource management […]
Gov. Greg Gianforte announces board appointments
In a news release sent out Wednesday evening, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced appointments to the Board Environmental Review, the Transportation Commission, the Fish and Wildlife Commission and the State Parks and Recreation Board. Below are the following appointments provided by Gianforte’s office: Board of Environmental Review Steven P. Ruffatto, Columbus. Qualification: Hydrology. Ruffatto has been an […]
Glacier Park sees record October, spike in November
Everybody wants to be first in line to make a reservation for the historic Granite Park Chalet or Sperry Chalet inside Glacier National Park. That was one observation Monday from Kevin Warrington, chalet coordinator, the day the backcountry lodges opened for reservations for the 2021 season. “So it’s not unusual for there to be thousands […]
‘Millions of birds will die’
In July 2011, a pipeline owned by ExxonMobil burst near Laurel, Mont., dumping 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the nearby Yellowstone River. As federal officials reported the damage for weeks afterward, they found American white pelicans, owls and other bird species covered in oil, injured or dead. ExxonMobil agreed to pay $12 million to […]
Bipartisan members of Congress launch ‘Wildfire Caucus’
Congressional Republicans and Democrats from the West are banding together with a common interest in mitigating and responding to the increasing intensity and frequency of wildfires. In a sign of the rising danger wildfires pose, Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, a Democrat, and Rep. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, announced plans to launch the Bipartisan […]