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A U.S. Forest Service budget shortfall appears likely to force some of the centers that produce the avalanche forecasts relied upon by Montana's backcountry skiers and snowmobilers to scale back their operations this winter. The possibility has drawn concern from a coalition of recreation-oriented groups, which sent a letter earlier this month urging the agency to fully staff the 14 avalanche centers USFS administers across the nation, three of which serve portions of Montana. The group wrote...
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has finalized its plan for managing grizzly bears, described by the agency as among Montana’s most “conservation-reliant” and “conflict-prone” species. Late last month, FWP Director Dustin Temple formally adopted a 326-page outline for how the state will address conflicts between bears and people, approach an eventual trophy hunt and respond to the state’s growing — and dispersing — grizzly population. The Statewide Grizzly Bear Management Plan represents the agency’s attempt to thread a narrow needle. Wi...
A state district court judge has issued a final order in a dispute over Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks' approach to elk management. Tenth Judicial District Court Judge Gregory Todd ruled Friday that FWP and the Fish and Wildlife Commission have considered the concerns of private landowners and managed for a sustainable elk population. The order dispenses with the last remaining claim United Property Owners of Montana raised in a lawsuit it filed against the state in 2022. UPOM, a membership-ba...
Grassy, sagebrushy and only occasionally interrupted by sandstone buttes or clumps of pine trees, southeastern Montana has long drawn mule deer hunters from across the state and region. As recently as 2017, Hunters have harvested more than 17,000 mule deer from this region per year, filling their freezers with venison and adding to the tills of local businesses that guide, feed and lodge them. These days, though, it's almost easier to find elk on public land than it is to spot a mule deer in...
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is asserting the water rights it holds in 10 Montana rivers to keep more water in cold-water fisheries facing low flows wrought by this winter's meager snowpack. FWP water rights and instream flow specialist Stephen Begley told Montana Free Press that the department has used its fishery- and recreation-oriented water rights to bolster flows in the Blackfoot, Missouri, Jefferson, Boulder, Beaverhead, Smith, Shields, Tobacco and Gallatin rivers. The agency also thi...
For the second time in as many months, a state district court judge has sided with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and hunting groups in a lawsuit over elk management. The dispute relates to a 2003 law directing Fish, Wildlife and Parks to manage elk “at or below” the sustainable populations established in the state’s elk management plan. Two years ago, the United Property Owners of Montana, a membership-based nonprofit that promotes its members’ business interests, sued FWP, arguing that swelling elk populations have damaged its members...
Two years ago when Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks quietly unveiled a proposal to put Habitat Montana funds toward 30- and 40-year conservation leases, proponents described it as a “new conservation planning tool” while opponents warned of a “sea change” that could weaken one of the state’s most popular habitat protection programs. Now, with Fish and Wildlife Commission approval secured for the first round of Habitat Conservation Leases and another set of agreements open for public comment, Montanans are learning how the program works: An...
After a nearly 21-year career with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the agency's lead fisheries expert has resigned. Eileen Ryce, a fisheries biologist with a PhD, said inadequate support from her superiors while she ran a division that touches on two areas of critical interest in Montana - water and wildlife management - led her to resign. In a letter dated Aug. 1, 2024, Ryce briefly referenced what she called "baseless allegations" that purportedly motivated department leaders to put Ryce on... Full story
A state district court judge on Monday sided with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and a coalition of hunting groups in key aspects of a lawsuit where property owners had sought to compel the state to aggressively reduce elk populations. In a trio of rulings, Judge Gregory Todd found that the arguments made by the state and hunting groups that joined the lawsuit were more compelling than those brought by the plaintiff, United Property Owners of Montana. UPOM, a membership-based nonprofit that exists to promote its members’ business interests, h...
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has implemented fishing restrictions on 13 western Montana rivers that are exceeding temperature thresholds following an underwhelming snowpack and a heat spell last week that broke records in some parts of the state. The list includes both low-flow rivers that see hoot owl restrictions more years than not, such as the Big Hole, Beaverhead and Jefferson rivers, and other, higher-volume rivers that typically hold onto enough water to stay open for afternoon anglin...
Longtime Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks employee Michael Volesky, of Helena, is alleging that the department's recent decision to fire him is politically motivated. Volesky, who most recently served as chief of operations for FWP, told Montana Free Press the department had no defensible cause for terminating his employment last week, especially after a county attorney dropped the hunting-without-permission charge that purportedly led the department to place Volesky on extended administrative... Full story
Montanans can anticipate a generally normal fire season this summer, a regional fire weather forecaster reported at a briefing last week in Bozeman. Dan Borsum, a Missoula-based forecaster with the Northern Rockies Coordinating Center, said springtime moisture has mitigated the impacts of a generally dismal winter snowpack in Montana. (Water supply forecasters noted in early January that half of their monitoring stations were reporting record-low accumulations due to an exceptionally dry... Full story
Project developers, policymakers and think tanks working in the capital-intensive arena of energy development say a new Montana-North Dakota high-voltage transmission line could be a game changer for an area of the American West that's seen limited expansion to its power grid in four decades. The North Plains Connector Line would be the region's first major grid expansion since the construction of a 500-kilovolt line that carries power from the Colstrip coal-fired power plant to population...
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with the Forest Service in a five-year-old dispute about its management of a contested trail in the Crazy Mountains. In a five-page opinion issued last month that was first reported by the Billings Gazette, a three-judge panel affirmed a lower court's ruling in its finding that the Custer Gallatin National Forest adequately studied the impacts of a trail the agency rerouted to limit public passage through private land in the west side of the...
Last week's widespread, wet storm has brought a measure of relief to parts of Montana reeling from one of the driest winters on record, but water managers say it's too early to tell how much of that water will stick around to sustain streams, crops and forests through the hottest months of the year. "I think it's fair to say that despite the pins and needles we've been on after that dry November and December, conditions this May are greatly improved from the last three [Mays]," said Michael...
The Montana Supreme Court has sided with the state's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in a dispute involving a 64-year-old water right that's used to irrigate both private and public land. In a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Beth Baker, the court ruled that the state retains an ownership interest in a water right first claimed in 1960 by John Schutter of Gallatin County. The water right is somewhat unique in that it's supported by a well that was drilled on private land,... Full story
A Chicago-to-Seattle passenger rail route that passes through some of Montana's most populous counties has been included in a list of 15 long-distance routes tapped for restoration by the federal government. The development marks the second time federal regulators have spotlighted the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority's efforts to bring additional passenger train service to Montana. During a meeting on Feb. 8, the Federal Railroad Administration also provided a bit more detail on where the North...
Mid-January and early February storms brought some much-needed snow to the region, but a third of Montana’s basins continued to post record-low snowpacks as of Feb. 7, a situation likely to produce low summer streamflows and uncomfortably dry forests heading into fire season. The deficit is most pronounced east of the Continental Divide, according to data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Sun-Teton-Marias, Upper Missouri, Gallatin, Upper Yellowstone and Powder basins all saw lower-than-average precipitation during the month o...
A Broadwater County judge ruled last week in favor of a small coalition of landowners and water rights holders who challenged a subdivision proposed for an area already grappling with water supply and quality issues. In a sprawling, 85-page order, Broadwater County District Court Judge Michael McMahon chastised the Broadwater County Commission for authorizing preliminary plat approval of the Horse Creek Hills subdivision near Canyon Ferry, despite an “abjectly deficient” environmental assessment that failed to take into account impacts to wat... Full story
Less than a week after the federal government announced it would not add Northern Rockies gray wolves back onto the list of endangered species, more than a dozen conservation groups on Wednesday forecasted their intention to sue over the decision. Conservation groups argue that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency charged with oversight of species protected under the Endangered Species Act, used flawed population estimates and overestimated the population's genetic diversity... Full story
Have you ever looked at your power bill and struggled to understand the various rates and charges that dictate how much you owe your utility company? If yes, you're not alone - even energy professionals can find their bills befuddling. To bridge that knowledge gap, we dug into the nearly 20 rates and charges that are factored into monthly residential bills for the state's largest utility company, NorthWestern Energy. NorthWestern supplies electricity or natural gas to approximately two-thirds...
A ballot initiative seeking to allow landowners to hunt elk, deer and black bears on their property hit a setback last Wednesday when the Environmental Quality Council voted not to support the measure. At issue is Initiative I-193, which aims to “increase landowner hunting opportunity.” It would allow a landowner to hunt for deer, elk and black bear on their property during the general hunting season so long as the landowner is licensed and follows “all hunting laws and regulations pertaining to means of take and bag limits.” It also include... Full story
Yellowstone National Park announced this week that a mule deer buck inside the park’s borders has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The detection is a first for the park, which has previously managed to dodge the always-fatal disease despite its presence in the three states that neighbor Yellowstone. In a Tuesday press release, the park said that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department tested the carcass of a radio-collared mule deer that died in the southeastern section of the park near Yellowstone Lake. The release notes that t... Full story
Montana's utility regulation commission has come under criticism recently for an agreement that lets the state's largest power company, NorthWestern Energy, implement a substantial residential electric rate increase. With some help from retired MTN News reporter (and occasional MTFP contributor) Mike Dennison, we've compiled a comparison of the residential electricity rates charged by different utilities around the region, estimating the typical monthly electric bills paid by residential... Full story
After at least 20 commenters urged the Public Service Commission to deny an electricity and natural gas rate increase for Montana consumers, commissioners Wednesday approved a new NorthWestern Energy rate structure that will go into effect next month. Residential customers will see a 28% increase in bills as compared to August 2022, or an 8% increase since the all-Republican commission approved an interim rate increase for Montana's largest monopoly utility last fall. The new rate structure was...
