Don Gittleson woke up Wednesday morning to a sight that’s starting to feel common on his North Park ranch: a cow torn up by wolves, the third attack on his livestock since a few days before Christmas. If this were Montana, Wyoming or Idaho, Gittleson could pull out a gun and shoot the predator dead. […]
montana
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Wildfire
Gaps in U.S. wildfire smoke warning network leave many exposed
By Matthew Brown and Padmananda Rama, The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — Huge gaps between air quality sensors in the western U.S. have created blind spots in the warning system for wildfire smoke plumes sweeping North America this summer, amid growing concern over potential health impacts to millions of people exposed to the pollution. Government […]
Posted inBusiness, Education, Health, News
Two new medical schools are opening in Montana. But does the western U.S. really need them?
By Andrea Halland, Kaiser Health News Opening two new medical schools in Montana would stretch and possibly overwhelm the state’s physicians who provide the clinical training that students need to become doctors, according to leaders of a University of Washington medical school program that relies on those teaching physicians. The University of Washington School of Medicine’s […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors
Wolf reintroduction happened so fast in Montana and Idaho, the states are expanding hunting. Here’s what Colorado can learn.
KALISPELL, Montana — The gray wolf population is robust enough in Montana that officials are preparing to extend hunting season on the state’s most controversial animals and allow snare traps that grab them by the neck. And in next-door Idaho, where hunting and trapping season is pretty much year-round, hunters can use night-vision goggles and […]
Posted inHealth, News
Rural ambulance services in mountain communities are in jeopardy as volunteers age and expenses mount
By Aaron Bolton, Kaiser Health News DUTTON, Mont. — Vern Greyn was standing in the raised bucket of a tractor, trimming dead branches off a tree, when he lost his balance. He fell 12 feet and struck his head on the concrete patio outside his house in this small farming town on the central Montana […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Oil companies lock in drilling on western public lands, challenging Joe Biden on climate
By Matthew Brown and Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — In the closing months of the Trump administration, energy companies stockpiled enough drilling permits for western public lands to keep pumping oil for years and undercut President-elect Joe Biden’s plans to curb new drilling because of climate change, according to public records and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Democrats keep focus on public lands in Colorado, Montana Senate races despite GOP legislative win
BILLINGS, Mont. — Democrats seeking to pick up U.S. Senate seats in Montana and Colorado are falling back on a party playbook now familiar for the U.S. West: Paint their opponents as a threat to the public lands the two sprawling Rocky Mountain states are known for. The Republican incumbents appeared to have inoculated themselves […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Montana governor asks court to block actions by Trump’s land boss, William Perry Pendley
By Matthew Brown, The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — The governor of Montana on Monday asked a judge to block three sweeping land use plans that would open most U.S.-owned lands in the state to energy development, saying the documents were invalidated when the Trump administration’s public lands boss was removed for being in the […]
Posted inElection 2020, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Judge removes Trump’s public lands boss, William Perry Pendley, after governor sued
By Matthew Brown, The Associated Press A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s leading steward of public lands has been serving unlawfully, blocking him from continuing in the position in the latest pushback against the administration’s practice of filling key positions without U.S. Senate approval. U.S. Interior Department Bureau of Land Management acting […]
Posted inColoradans, News
Announcement of Forrest Fenn’s found treasure doesn’t stop speculation
BILLINGS, Mont. — Forrest Fenn’s hidden treasure may have been discovered in early June, but that hasn’t stopped fortune hunters from speculating about where it was hidden. When Fenn, a former art dealer from Santa Fe, New Mexico, announced the discovery he did not say who found his cache worth more than $1 million, or […]