Environment

On a party-line vote, the 2021 Legislature passed HB599, which eliminated several environmental safeguards and most public input on any new gravel pit. Since then, Montanans around the state have learned how damaging the bill was.

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.

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.

While funding further improvements to the fairgrounds will be up to voters in November, Missoula County plans to explore the possibility of powering the facility with solar, with or without passage of the bond.

A federal judge in Montana has halted two large coal mining projects in Wyoming and Montana for the second time after he ruled the Bureau of Land Management has continued to disregard environmental impacts.

The Interior Department asked states Wednesday to apply for $725 million made available this year to clean up abandoned mine sites as part of the 2021 infrastructure bill.

While much of the attention in western Montana remains focused on the high-profile Elmo fire near Flathead Lake, fire officials in Missoula County have been busy as well.

Officials have confirmed that several structures have been lost to the Elmo Fire burning in Lake County.

As rivers warm up, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has restricted fishing to the morning hours on several rivers to go easy on trout.

A wildfire near Elmo west of Flathead Lake grew to nearly 11,000 acres over the weekend, and Missoula logged its third consecutive day with 100-degree temperatures.