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The primary election had few surprises — but laid the groundwork for some bruising general election races. New ads in the Senate and gubernatorial races come out swinging. Campaign Beat will return in September.

The National Park Service Thursday released a final management plan for bison in Yellowstone National Park. The new plan would allow for bigger herds and emphasize transfer to tribal nations.

An independent candidate for the Public Service Commission’s northwestern district says she has gathered enough signatures to get herself on the ballot, pending verification by elections officials.

Montana's A.G. threatens to sue Walgreens over the abortion pill. The 2024 ballot could include a slew of proposed constitutional changes. Gov. Gianforte celebrates a major legislative win. And some Republican lawmakers propose a definition of sex.

As a teenage boy on the farm in Iowa, I experienced a horde of grasshoppers while unloading a wagon of oats. The surface was covered with grasshoppers! It was not difficult to grab one, and when I did, it would “spit tobacco.” I have since learned that spitting a dark liquid is a defense mechanism. Memories like this one have stuck with me, and in part fueled my interest in the mass of grasshoppers that somehow ended up in Rocky Mountain glaciers.

In early March, a mini episode with writer, instructor, and landscape designer and historian Kathryn Aalto aired on MTPR. This week, we return to women nature writers: this is the full, extended conversation with Kathryn, author of ‘Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World.’

Then, it happens. A pine squirrel wakes up. First one, then another, then three hundred, then five thousand, and before long the evergreen canopy is buzzing with their banter. From that moment forward, my pre-dawn slyness is a distant memory. There is no unwatched, uncriticized movement in these woods anymore. Any step I take is met with angry feedback from above.

There aren't many Democratic fingerprints on the budget passed by the House. Montana's Legislature is just one of several targeting transgender issues. And state Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen gets an earful on a statewide tour. Is she aiming for higher office?

I love paddling my kayak, to get away even for just an hour or two. Sitting in my kayak one morning on a detention pond close to home, I watched a small, tan spider hopping on my paddle. I quickly took a picture, hoping to identify it later. Before I could enjoy watching this new-to-me spider too much, however, another spider—large, black, and hairy—emerged from under my paddle, ran up to the smaller spider, bit it, and started dragging it off!

I noticed a wide flat tail propelling the shadowy animal forward, and suddenly its head popped up above the water. Two large black eyes considered its surroundings as it meandered upstream. I watched excitedly through my binoculars as it dove smoothly under willow roots and resurfaced near a boulder. After two years of living along this creek, I had finally seen the ever-elusive beaver! I hadn’t really known what beaver signs to look for though as just a novice beaver enthusiast.