Laura Lundquist
BLM proposes restrictions for Blackfoot River, Garnet Ghost Town
For the area around Garnet Ghost Town, the rules would prohibit metal detectors, camping and campfires, smoking or shooting, and all pets must be on a leash.
Natural Heritage programs, database drives species conservation
Its flower may be minute, but the Howellia is a poster child for a huge but relatively unknown national scientific network that that helps find, protect and recover endangered species.
Warming rivers prompt fishing restrictions
As rivers warm up, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has restricted fishing to the morning hours on several rivers to go easy on trout.
Problems with gravel pit leniency attracts legislative attention
The Environmental Quality Council dedicated almost two hours last week to a review of gravel pits and the new law that applies to all gravel pits proposed since May 2021.
Montana rail authority leads push for new passenger service
The Rail Authority serves as an arm of the state that can advocate and raise funds for restoring the passenger rail and act as a liaison between state and federal agencies, corporations, and local governments.
FWP permit drawings, smartphone app plagued by problems and duplications
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks sent the equivalent of two permits to thousands of deer and elk hunters, thanks to a glitch in its new computer system. But it’s not the first problem the agency has had with issuing licenses this year.
Aerial images help state agency discover illegal mining of Superfund site
After capitalizing on a two-day lapse in a federal mining ban at Montana’s beleaguered Zortman-Landusky mines in 2020, a small mining company appears to have been developing its claims without the authorization of the state environmental agency.
Sapphire fire grows, Grant Creek fire culprit sought
The Missoula Rural Fire Department is asking for any information on the people who were lighting fireworks or any camera footage of the vehicle that sped down Glen Eagle Way at about 10:40 p.m.
Land Board stalls Mount Haggin land addition
The Montana Land Board has put a possible acquisition of state land on hold, adding at least another month to the multi-year process of expanding a wildlife management area near Anaconda.
Large swath of Weyerhaueser land in western Montana to be protected as wildlife refuge
Another 60 square-miles of former Weyerhaeuser timberland halfway between Kalispell and Libby has been saved from development, thanks to a land trust and federal funding.