U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Briefs: Polson medical center expansion will double primary care services; Montana launches teacher apprenticeship program; Public comment opens on proposed BLM oil and gas leases; FWP urges anglers to kill and report brown trout caught on the Flathead River.

BLM to begin speedy review of central Montana gas pipeline plan. Flathead Lake dam operators aim to preserve water levels. Ag irrigation ends early on the Milk River.

General Electric is spending $2 million to modernize a manufacturing facility in Butte. BLM’s Butte Field Office has opened a 14 day public comment period for the Big Hole West Forest Management Project. A former Montana U.S. Attorney will temporarily return to lead the post until a permanent replacement can be confirmed.

A thousand people walked along the Clark Fork River in Missoula over the weekend to rally support for public lands. It was also a protest of the Trump administration's cuts to staff at federal land management agencies.

The Bureau of Land Management’s proposal would make over 31 million acres of federal public land available for solar development applications. It identifies areas where large, utility-scale, solar installations could be built. The lands span across 11 western states, including Montana.

The federal government is reviewing a plan to capture 150 million tons of carbon dioxide in Wyoming and store it underground in eastern Montana. The project, aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, is raising objections from local ranchers.

The Bureau of Land Management is sending nearly $4 million to Montana for ecosystem restoration.

$28 million in federal funding has been designated to support restoration and conservation projects on public lands across the West.

Federal environmental officials released their proposed plan to clean up a defunct aluminum smelter in Columbia Falls. Officials announced that they’re going to spend close to $27 million on three habitat restoration projects across Montana. A Wyoming district court has ruled in favor of hunters who crossed corners between public and private lands.

Our question this week comes from a listener in Helena named Bob Flipovich, who wants to know who owns the most water rights in Montana. Water rights determine who can take water out of our lakes and streams, and how much they can take.