Independently reported news stories of Montana's people, land, water and wildlife.
Montana is falling behind when it comes to energy efficiency, according to a national energy organization. With energy sources in flux, that puts Montanans at a disadvantage.
In its ninth annual evaluation released last week, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy placed Montana in the bottom third of the nation in 2015 based upon the minimal policies and programs implemented by the state.
Read MoreWhile some continue to push for state control of federal land, Chinese control of U.S. oil and gas illustrates why it might be better for Americans to keep public lands in public hands.
On Friday, a Chinese company, Yantai Xinchao Industry Co. Ltd., said it would pay $1.3 billion for oil fields in Howard and Borden counties in Texas, according to the Associated Press.
Read MoreWith persistent suburban and industrial development, wetlands continue to disappear across the nation. But thanks to a relatively new program, they’re starting to come back to the Swan Valley.
After a year as conservation director for the Swan Ecosystem Center in Condon, Luke Lamar has his first wetland restoration project under his belt.
Read MoreSen. Jon Tester tried to reach out to Montanans regarding Congressional issues affecting public lands and conservation in Montana. But some callers preferred to make their own points or raise questions on unrelated issues.
Tester started off the Wednesday evening call going over the main issues he wanted to address: preserving public land, reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund, improving forest management by removing wildfire suppression costs from the Forest Service budget and the Congressional brinksmanship related to raising the federal debt ceiling.
Read MoreMontana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is expected to soon release its draft environmental impact statement on the possibility of developing a state bison herd. While some doubt the state’s ability to establish such a herd, the American Prairie Reserve is already well on its way toward returning large herds to Montana’s plains.
In its recently released annual bison report, the American Prairie Reserve predicts that its herd should grow to more than 1,000 animals by 2018, based on the more than 600 bison now roaming 31,000 acres of the 305,000-acre reserve.
Read MoreDaytime high temperatures are finally settling into the 50s and not a moment too soon for rifle hunters in Montana who are eagerly awaiting Saturday's opening of the general season.
While the golden leaves and larch and cooler temperatures help the pulse race a bit, it's still fairly warm so hunters should keep a couple thoughts in mind, even though most are already well informed.
Read MoreWith two supervisor positions finally filled, all seven regions of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks have leaders at the helm. However, four of those supervisors are basically rookies on a team that’s young to begin with.
On Thursday, FWP announced that Barb Beck would replace retiring Region 5 Supervisor Gary Hammond, who had been in the job almost 10 years.
Read MoreThe 2015 water year has ended, and the next has begun, but neither look good for Montana’s water supply.
On Thursday, the Governor’s Drought and Water Supply Advisory Council heard the details of the toll that this hot summer took on water in most of the state. The implications for next year are bad, because the forecast is for a hot, dry winter.
Read MoreWater has always been a precious commodity, but drought-caused shortages have made it even more so. And yet, a recent national report card shows that Americans sometimes don’t take care of what little fresh water they have.
On Oct. 9, America’s Watershed Initiative, a collaborative of more than 400 businesses, agencies and science groups, issued the first 31-state report card for the waters that feed the Mississippi River. It’s not the kind of report card you’d want to bring home.
Read MoreThe Department of the Interior would ban new mining operations to save the sage grouse on public land, but the public will be allowed to weigh in.
On Sept. 24, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service announced the temporary ban on new mining claims on lands critical to sage grouse survival in six Western states.
Read MoreMontana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has stepped back a decade in its management of elk populations.
On Thursday, the FWP commission reluctantly voted to approve FWP’s plan to reinstate shoulder seasons for elk. Then FWP sidestepped some of the new guidelines when it proposed pilot shoulder seasons to begin in December.
Read MoreAt the urging of both trappers and wolf advocates, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission has killed a proposal to allow FWP to put its wolf-trapping course online.
FWP Big Game chief John Vore asked the commissioners to approve the online course Thursday mainly to save FWP time and effort.
Read MoreThursday’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission meeting promises to be lively as commissioners take up the elk-shoulder season proposal among other things, and FWP may reveal its final decision on the game-damage rule.
Sportsmen are anticipating a struggle with a few landowners who are pushing FWP to give landowners more control over hunts on their land. Even though sportsmen fund most of FWP's budget, a few state legislators have tried to manipulate FWP rules in landowners' favor.
Read MoreThe Republican members of a Senate subcommittee are looking to Western governors to give them fodder to limit the protections of the Endangered Species Act.
On Tuesday, three Republican members of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works held a hearing that they titled “Improving the Endangered Species Act.”
The hearing coincided with a Washington, D.C., meeting of the Western Governor’s Association, and WGA chairman Gov. Matt Mead, Wyo., has made the ESA the focus of this year’s WGA initiative.
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Dear readers,
Please forgive the somewhat spotty news postings of late. I have been working on other stories to sell so I can support my news habit. Unfortunately, it takes away from Montana On The Ground.
Now I am headed out to help scientists collect data on the Wilderness Study Areas in the Upper Missouri Breaks Monument and won't return until Sept. 26. I won't be far from the Bullwacker area so I wouldn't be surprised if we see some bow hunters.
Once I return, I should be able to support myself long enough to keep you reading steadily for a while. In the meantime, please be patient and thanks for reading.
Home to diverse groups of people and wildlife, Montana's mountains must be conserved carefully. But the mountains don’t stop at the Canadian border, and one country's actions can affect the other. So a growing collective of conservation, industry, education and cultural leaders are working together to preserve the land and lifestyles on both sides of the border.
Now in its sixth year, the Roundtable On the Crown of the Continent met this week in Missoula, bringing together about 200 people who live and work in the northern Rocky Mountains to identify challenges and celebrate a few successes.
Read MoreA legislative committee may have the final say on whether Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks changes its rule related to game damage hunts.
After hearing an hour’s worth of public comment during Thursday’s Environmental Quality Council hearing, legislators decided to schedule a committee conference call before FWP publishes any changes to the game-damage hunt rule. If the committee decides to object to the final rule, it would postpone implementation of the rule for six months.
Read MoreMontana is following Wyoming’s lead when it comes to sage grouse conservation, as evidenced by a new executive order from Gov. Steve Bullock.
At Wednesday’s Environmental Quality Council meeting, legislative research analyst Hope Stockwell explained to legislators the various amendments that the governor signed Tuesday night to bolster Montana’s sage grouse conservation strategy.
Read MoreThe debate that occurred during a Legislative hearing is probably a microcosm of the Congressional struggle taking place over the re-authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
On Thursday, the members of the Water Policy Interim Committee argued about whether they should send a letter supporting Sen. Richard Burr’s (R-N.C,) bill to permanently reauthorize the 50-year-old Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Read More“The places that matter are not always made of brick and mortar.”
Amy Sakariassen’s comment was the essence of the testimony heard by a federal advisory council that is deciding whether drilling for oil and gas would degrade historic sites in the Badger-Two Medicine area of the Rocky Mountain Front.
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