From environmental policy and legislative hijinks, to cave exploring and wild horses – MTPR reporters were busy in 2025 covering Montana stories, large and small. Here is some of the reporting that made an impact on them.
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I cover state government and politics. More than a third of my year was consumed by the 2025 legislative session. The issues that warranted the most coverage were property taxes, mobile homeowners rights and political infighting.
Lawmakers warred over several proposals to lower property tax bills until the final days of the session.
The Legislature adjourned without passing any significant reforms requested by mobile home owners.
Factions in the Montana Senate drew ire and admiration in the upper chamber.
Bonus: I also got to visit Montana’s wild horse range, and it was a personal highlight of my year!
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I cover the environment. Which is a wildly amorphous term spanning everything from cave exploration to stream restoration – and beyond!
This year I wanted to better connect with our listeners in my reporting, so I created a survey where anyone could write in and tell me what they wanted to see/hear more of. That spurred some of my favorite pieces throughout the year:
Like climbing deep into caves under the Judith Mountains with an intrepid team of high school students, or surveying waterfalls for the elusive black swift
This year has also seen a lot of environmental policy changes at the state level in the 2025 session, and at the federal level with the Trump administration. I’ve worked to keep listeners informed about how those policies are playing out on the ground like,
How stream restoration work is changing after the loss of federal dollars
Mining projects across Montana that have been fast-tracked by the administration
What changes to timber policy mean for Montana mills.
Or how data center development could impact your monthly utility bill.
I’m honored to tell these stories and help Montanans be better informed about environmental issues. I love hearing from listeners, so drop me a line if you think there’s a story I should tell!
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So much good happens in Montana classrooms, and I’ve had the great privilege of telling many of those stories this year.
Missoula students are learning the ceramic arts thanks to a pottery studio outfitted in an old school bus. Pay for early-career teachers finally rose substantially across the state after bipartisan work in the state legislature. And Frenchtown High School graduated its first class of seniors who earned a year’s worth of college credits thanks to an innovative new program.
But the story that’s stuck with me most is one that perfectly captured the struggle so many schools across the state have faced over the last few years. Alberton school board members in March made the painful decision to cut the district’s music and award-winning technology programs. The school was staring down a fiscal cliff caused in part by its last remaining pandemic funds drying up.
Alberton was hardly the first district to make this unenviable choice — schools large and small across Montana have tightened their belts in recent years. Administrators often tell me rising costs, failing levies and stagnating state funding became the perfect storm that’s forced these budget cuts. And, when push comes to shove, art and music programs are often the first to go.
Though cuts regularly make headlines, I hadn’t had the opportunity to watch one of the meetings where these decisions are made. I left Alberton that night in March determined to capture the human element of a budget cut — the intense emotion felt both by parents, students and teachers, and the board members who felt backed into a corner by forces outside their control.
Montana schools are celebrating big investments by the state legislature this year that have largely helped them catch up with inflation. But most agree those investments won’t be enough to overcome crumbling infrastructure, chronically underpaid teachers and declining enrollment.
A commission of lawmakers and education advocates meeting right now is examining all of these issues, and I’ll be watching and reporting to see what solutions they may come up with.
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I’ve loved working on almost every story so far this year. My favorite, though, was about this season’s Flathead Cherry crop.
I reported a year ago about an early freeze that killed most of 2024’s crop. This year, the cherries were healthy and harvestable. It was not only a positive update, but a satisfying resolution to one of my first MTPR assignments. Plus, cherries have always been my favorite fruit!