Environment

A pair of north-central Montana bighorn sheep have tested positive for pneumonia-causing bacteria; Montana wildlife officials are already intercepting boats fouled with invasive species.

State environmental regulators have denied a petition to list the Big Hole River as impaired. Water conservation groups worry this will continue to harm the river, and its aquatic life.

After 50 years of legal battles testing the limits of the Endangered Species Act, the snail darter is still making a big splash. New research argues it's not a separate species and was never endangered. What does that mean for the fish, and what does it say about the Endangered Species Act?

In 2023 the Blackfeet Nation released bison into the Chief Mountain area along the border of Glacier National Park. The release was part of a plan to build a free roaming herd in a place bison had been absent from for more than 100 years. One listener wants to know where those bison are now.

Tracy Stone-Manning was the Director of the Bureau of Land Management under President Biden, where she oversaw the agency’s 248 million acres. Her career began in Montana, running the Clark Fork Coalition in Missoula for almost a decade and heading up the state’s environmental quality agency under Gov. Steve Bullock. She is now the president of the Wilderness Society. She sat down with Montana Public Radio’s Ellis Juhlin to discuss what's happening and how land management has changed from her time directing the BLM, to now.

MTPR's Ellis Juhlin reached out to listeners to find out what environmental reporting they wanted to hear more about. She sat down with MTPR's Austin Amestoy to share what she learned.

In the '90s, whirling disease hit trout populations hard in Montana, at one point leading to a 95% decline in rainbow trout in the Madison River. It sparked concern among biologists, anger in tourist towns and even played a role in a murder mystery novel. It also inspired this week's question: What's happening with whirling disease and other threats to trout?

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service to reexamine how a cattle grazing plan for areas north of Yellowstone National Park could impact grizzly bears.

Montana has one of the highest rates of wildlife-vehicle collisions in the country. House Bill 855, carried by Billings Republican Representative Katie Zolnikov, creates a way to fund wildlife crossings to fix the problem.

A bill in the Montana Legislature that would limit state officials' ability to regulate air quality standards has advanced to the Senate floor. This comes amid ongoing changes at the federal level to loosen regulations.