Wildlife and Parks
U.S. House passes Wounded Knee memorial bill
The U.S. House approved by voice vote Wednesday a bill that would help protect land at the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota, where an estimated 350 Lakota were killed by U.S. soldiers. The site is within the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River […]
Updated: Yellowstone extends comment period for bison management plan after high volume of comments
Given the volume of comments, Yellowstone National Park has extended the public comment period for its draft Bison Management Environmental Impact Statement until Oct. 10. “We’ve received nearly 2,000 comments so far,” a park spokesperson said Thursday in an email. “At the end of the 60-day public comment period, we’ll analyze and consider all of […]
Conservation groups sue federal government for logging proposal near Yellowstone National Park
Three conservation groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a United States Forest Service plan for a large logging project near Yellowstone National Park that they say puts several threatened or endangered species in even more danger. The groups had previously filed a letter of intent to sue, and on Wednesday filed the lawsuit. […]
Feds drop plan for pipeline in Upper Red Rocks Lake
A controversial pipeline proposal that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service would have placed in a designated wilderness area in southwestern Montana has been withdrawn by the federal agency. A pipeline to deliver oxygenated water to Upper Red Rock Lake at the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge was officially scrapped on Sept. 13 […]
Hunter shoots, injures grizzly near Fairfield
A hunter shot and injured a grizzly bear near Fairfield in the Freezeout Lake Wildlife Management Area on Tuesday. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is still looking for the bear. According to a FWP press release Wednesday, the hunter was hunting for upland birds on private lands when he was charged by the grizzly, believed […]
Grizzly attack leaves hunter severely injured near Big Sky
A grizzly attacked a hunter just outside Big Sky on Friday, leaving them injured enough to need a helicopter transport and leading to trail closures in the area. According to Gallatin County Search and Rescue, a hunting party called for medical treatment after someone in their party was attacked by a grizzly bear while tracking […]
Grizzly that killed woman near West Yellowstone euthanized after breaking into home
The grizzly bear that killed a woman near West Yellowstone earlier this summer was killed over the weekend after it broke through the kitchen window of a house and took dog food from inside. The 10-year-old female grizzly was captured Saturday evening after it and its cub broke into the home near West Yellowstone that […]
Don’t poo-poo these states’ pleas to keep the parks pristine
DENVER — Earlier this summer, Adam Ducharme made an unpleasant discovery while helping volunteers install signs telling visitors where to camp, park or launch boats near Leadville, a mountain town surrounded by 14,000-foot peaks in central Colorado. “We were digging holes, putting in signs, and then backfilling the holes with rocks and sort of compounding […]
Fires in northwest Montana pick back up during triple-digit weather
With the rising temperatures across Montana and some areas in the state reaching triple digits, seven new fires broke out in Montana the last 24 hours, and several others grew by hundreds of acres. Wednesday, 39 active fires burned across the state, according to Montana Wildland Fire Information. Jacque Lavelle, a spokesperson for the team […]
Arizona gets a new national monument as Biden designates Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni
After months of advocating from several tribal nations, Arizona is home to a new national monument, as President Joe Biden officially designated Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni on Tuesday, effectively barring mining on roughly a million acres of land near Grand Canyon National Park. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to honoring and respecting Tribal sovereignty, protecting […]
Recent otter attack in Montana (almost) unheard of
The three women who were recently attacked by an otter while floating on the Jefferson River near Three Forks stood about a near-equal chance of being charged by an angry unicorn. Otter attacks with injuries or fatalities are so rare that biologists have tracked a very specific number: There have only been 59 documented attacks […]
Glacier National Park proposes campground fee increases
Glacier National Park is proposing campground fee increases from 30% to 67% for front country sites, the park announced Wednesday in a news release. For example, as proposed, a standard tent reservation in peak season for Apgar, Fish Creek, Many Glacier, and some other campgrounds would go from $23 a night to $30, according to […]