EPA and Montana Resources promise action after InvestigateWest report exposes public health concerns
Following revelations about the Environmental Protection Agency’s cozy relationship with a mining company in Butte, the EPA this week announced a series of steps meant to “increase transparency” and engagement with the local community.
Latest Environmental Reporting
Legislature wades into exempt-well debate
Program helps Montana landowners abate abandoned mines
How environmental policy proposals are faring at the Legislature’s halfway mark
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MORE ENVIRONMENTAL COVERAGE
Newly revealed records show how the EPA sided with polluters in Butte
Thousands of pages of documents detail how the EPA coordinated with the very companies they’re supposed to be regulating to attack researchers and smear peer-reviewed science that has raised alarms over current mining practices in Butte.
Committee votes on four wolf bills as legislative deadline nears
Two wolf-related bills will advance to the full House for a vote, while two others are likely dead in process following votes cast by the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee on Feb. 28
BLM explores utility-scale solar in Montana
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking input on its plan to bring solar energy development to Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. If all goes as planned, the federal government will have enough renewable energy in the pipeline by 2025 to power five million homes, per a target President Joe Biden unveiled in 2020.
Fish and Wildlife Commission gains two new members
The Senate has confirmed four nominees to the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, the seven-member body charged with setting hunting and angling regulations and reviewing Montana Fish, WIldlife and Parks land acquisitions.
Forever no more? Bill seeks to restrict state’s access to perpetual conservation easements
A bill that would roll back the state’s ability to purchase permanent conservation easements garnered opposition from an unlikely collection of opponents. Logging and agricultural groups were joined by conservation organizations and hunting and fishing groups in their request that the Senate FIsh and Game Committee table Senate Bill 357.
As ski area celebrates 75 years, Whitefish looks to future amid changing climate
According to a 2017 study, most ski areas in the United States will see the number of days they are able to operate reduced by 50% by 2050 and by 80% by 2090. At Whitefish Mountain, which currently is open an average of 120 days every winter, that would mean being open for 56 days…
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