Aaron Bolton

A new citizen-science project is attempting to help Montana transportation and wildlife officials gain a better understanding of hotspots for wildlife crossings and fatal collisions with vehicles along state highways. The project is calling on bicyclists to survey over 130,000 miles of road for roadkill over the next three years.

After a late-September snowstorm closed most roadways in Glacier National Park, including Going-to-the-Sun Road, the U.S. Park Service officially deemed alpine sections of the road closed for the season Friday.

The late September snowstorm that shattered snowfall records east of the continental divide brought plenty of snow in Glacier National Park as well.

Democrats in the Flathead Valley will select three candidates next week to replace House Rep. Zac Perry, who resigned in September. Flathead County Commissioners will select the new House District 3 representative early next month.

The Montana Governor’s Office is searching for new ways to tap into the state’s outdoor economy — an economic engine already fueled by more than $7 billion spent in the state each year. The Office of Outdoor Recreation hosted what it billed as its first innovation lab in Whitefish, Thursday.

State and tribal officials announced Thursday that a boat carrying invasive zebra mussels slipped through two Montana inspection stations, but inspectors in Ravalli found the mussels and decontaminated the vessel.

The number of white-tailed deer infected with Chronic Wasting Disease continues to climb in Libby. Eighteen white-tailed deer have now tested positive since the count started this spring.

Hunter-harvested deer are expected to shed more light on the spread of the disease when general rifle season starts later this month.

A lawsuit filed Monday alleges a child at a private therapeutic home that was closed this summer amid abuse allegations was also forced to work on employees’ personal property. 

State wildlife officials euthanized a grizzly bear that was suffering from a gunshot wound late last month. State and federal officials are now asking for information on who shot the bear near Whitefish.

Native advocates and the Blackfeet Nation late last week held what is being called the first-ever Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Tribunal in the U.S. The testimony from the families of missing and murdered Native people will be delivered to Congressional lawmakers in a push for policy change. Most family members focused on their frustrations with law enforcement.

U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt paid a visit to the Rocky Mountain Front Saturday to hear about conflicts with grizzly bears. The secretary heard numerous calls for delisting grizzlies from their threatened species status in and around Glacier National Park, but he says changes may be able to be made prior to delisting.