Drought conditions are getting worse across much of Montana and it’s going to take above-normal springtime snow and rain to break out of the spiral.
That’s what experts told members of the governor’s Drought and Water Supply Advisory Committee Thursday during their first meeting of the year.
Pockets of extreme drought have gripped the Lincoln area and the Blackfoot watershed.
Severe and moderate drought is reported across most of western, southern and northeast Montana. Abnormally dry conditions dominate almost all the state.
There are two noteworthy exceptions: areas of Glacier and Musselshell counties report no drought.
Experts are taking a wait-and-see stance before making any drought predictions this summer.
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A Montana man was attacked by a bear Monday morning while he was archery hunting near Augusta.
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Thousands more acres will now remain working forestland in northwest Montana, adding to the area’s network of conservation easements. The largest piece helps fill in a gap in a string of easements, securing public access to the eastern edge of the Cabinet Mountains.
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The National Museum of Forest Service History has a new center at its 31-acre campus in Missoula. It’s an immersive "forest of stories" honoring the legacy of conservation in the U.S..
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Rep. Ryan Zinke this week announced a proposal to conserve hundreds of thousands of acres in the Blackfoot Valley. The “A River Runs Through It Act” looks to bring together decades of local conservation work to shape the future of 430,000 acres.
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Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks released new details about a bear attack near Columbia Falls that left a woman with serious injuries. Evidence at the scene revealed the bear was a grizzly sow traveling with at least one cub-of-the-year.
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The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is opening up a public comment period as part of an environmental review for American Prairie’s proposal to change the class of livestock on one of its parcels from cattle to bison.