CSKT’s push to protect Flathead Lake and its native trout
The Mack Days competition, gillnetting and a bustling fish-processing operation are part of a comprehensive strategy by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to protect native fish in Flathead Lake by reducing the number of non-native lake trout.
Latest Environmental Reporting
BLM rule proposes to put conservation on ‘equal footing’ with other uses
Gov. Gianforte signs MEPA bill into law
Environmentalists sue to protect Lake Koocanusa selenium rule
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MORE ENVIRONMENTAL COVERAGE
Bozeman nonprofit trying to purchase former mine site on Yellowstone NP’s northern border
To date, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition has raised $3.9 million to purchase the mineral rights and mining claims involving 1,368 acres near Gardiner. In addition to acquiring the mining claim from Crevice Mining Group, LLC, the group intends to buy the deed to a 300-acre parcel of land, which it would then transfer to the…
Gianforte signs bill banning state agencies from analyzing climate impacts
House Bill 971 bars state regulators like the Montana Department of Environmental Quality from including analyses of greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts, both within and outside Montana’s borders, when conducting comprehensive reviews of large projects.
Three takeaways from lawmakers’ approach to natural resources management
How proposals to change water rights, stream access and conservation funding were received by policymakers the past four months illuminates entrenched sources of tension — between developer and agricultural interests, between federal and state wildlife managers, and even between Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, and members of his own party.
Zinke introduces bill to improve collaboration between parks, gateway communities
The bill would create a pilot program to encourage people visiting more congested national parks to explore lesser-known and lesser-visited recreation sites on adjacent public land.
Bill banning greenhouse gas analysis from permitting decisions heads to governor
Lawmakers suspended their rules to allow for House Bill 971’s introduction and passed the measure along party lines. Republican lawmakers supported the bill, saying it will help unwind a recent court decision over a gas plant under construction. Democrats said it will weaken Montanans’ right to participate in government decisions.
House passes controversial, 11th-hour MEPA bill
House Bill 971 seeks to bar state agencies from analyzing greenhouse gas impacts in its environmental reviews of large projects. One of the most controversial and commented-upon environmental measures of the 2023 legislative session has been transmitted to the Senate following two key votes.
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MORE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING
DEQ classifies stretch of Gallatin River as ‘impaired’
Montana officials have moved to list the section of the Gallatin River from the Yellowstone National Park boundary downstream to the confluence with Spanish Creek as impaired following excessive pollution-induced algal blooms over the last few years.
Missoula’s Clark Fork: ‘It’s a ticking time bomb and the only way to defuse it is to clean it up’
Environmentalists are hoping that the 2023 America’s Most Endangered Rivers report will kick-start clean-up of a 1,000-acre former pulp mill site located along of western Montana’s largest rivers.
11th-hour bill seeking changes to environmental regs passes committee
On a party-line vote, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced a measure seeking to exempt mines and power plants from Montana Environmental Policy Act review and specify that the state cannot include greenhouse gasses in project analyses.
Zinke calls for changes to Glacier’s reservation system
Zinke attended a roundtable discussion in the Glacier gateway community of Columbia Falls where he called for major changes to the system that was first introduced a few years ago to handle the park’s skyrocketing visitation.
Montana Rail Link reopens rail line following derailment
Freight trains are once again moving along the Clark Fork River near Paradise, four days after a Montana Rail Link train derailed there.
Pair of bills seeking to restrict nonprofits’ access to legal remedies passes Senate
After passing through the Senate with heavy GOP support, Senate Bill 557 and Senate Bill 524 will go on to the House. The bills propose to tax the litigation activities of Montana nonprofits.
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