A mandatory evacuation order is in place for residents southwest of Helena on Holmes Gulch Road and Martinez Gulch Road. There’s also a pre-evacuation advisory for the South Hills area. There will be a community meeting at 8 tonight at the Montana City fire station number 1.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke today recommended boundary revisions for some national monuments, after being directed to review them by President Donald Trump in April. He gave those recommendations to the President, but did not release details.
Two cabinet secretaries and the Republicans in Montana’s congressional delegation visited the command post for the Lolo Peak Fire outside Florence today. At a press conference afterwards, they said, quote, “radical environmentalists” are to blame for catastrophic wildfires.
The University of Montana’s faculty union is accusing UM’s administration of violating its own policies regarding hiring contracts for campus lecturers.
A fire that started near Dillon on Wednesday is more than 50 percent contained. The 3,000 acre Maurer Mountain Fire was ignited after an ATV driven by a Department of Natural Resources and Conservation employee caught on fire.
Governor Steve Bullock has removed the chairman of the State Parks and Recreation Board, asked the vice chairwoman to resign and is directing the new board to focus on the long-term sustainability of the state park system.
The director of Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation says he has dismissed Bob Harrington as state forester.
A Madison County ranch was placed under quarantine by the Montana Department of Livestock earlier this month after an infected cow was discovered during a voluntary blood test.