U.S. Forest Service

The Congressional Western Caucus met with federal and state officials at a conference in the Flathead this week. They called for more aggressive natural resource management, more state control and less federal bureaucracy.

A U.S. Forest Service office in Missoula will close as part of President Donald Trump’s push for consolidation. A department memo says all nine regional offices will be phased out over the next year.

Montana officials and the federal government have agreed to co-manage a section of national forest lands.

After a rash of federal job cuts earlier this year, the U.S. Forest Service is reversing course and asking people qualified to fight fires to come back to work. Missoulian outdoors reporter Sam Wilson sat down with MTPR’s Austin Amestoy with more.

The U.S. Forest Service will be allowed to use fire retardant this summer despite ongoing litigation; The head of Montana’s Department of Military Affairs is retiring.

As summer fire season approaches, planes will soon be dropping red retardant to try to stifle the fire's spread. A new lawsuit says the Forest Service’s use of that retardant violates federal wildlife protections.

It's week 12 for the 69th Legislature. Lawmakers are considering policy related to the Montana State Hospital and health and welfare in Indian Country.This is The Session, a look at the policy and politics inside the Montana State House.

The 69th legislature is starting Week 11. Today, Democratic House Minority Leader Katie Sullivan joins the podcast to share her thoughts on the first half of the session, the policy advancing through the statehouse and what she expects in the second half.

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 U.S. Forest Service announced a leadership change this week. The agency is the largest land manager in Montana, and has been rocked by budget cuts and layoffs.