News you can use
News you can use
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Deputies with the Phillips County Sheriff's began evacuating residents out of Landusky this morning as a large fire that sparked to life July 3 southwest of Zortman spread through the region. Type-2 Incident Management Team Fire Information Officer Kathy Russell said this morning that Landusky residents were warned to be prepared to evacuate due to the forecast of west winds. At 9:15 this morning, a representative with the Phillips County Sheriff's Office said the evacuation...
Today's dry and windy weather is expected to give firefighters battling the 1,669-acre fire southwest of Zortman a tough go, Bureau of Land Management Public Information Officer Jonathan Moor said this morning. "The wind might help spread the fire," he said. So far, since the fire started Monday, the terrain and the wind allowed firefighters to keep the fire from encroaching close enough to the town so an evacuation has not been ordered, Moor said. But if the fire gets too...
Though locals and travelers are drawn to the Upper Missouri River Breaks national monument's abundance of wildlife and history, Winifred-area rancher Trevis Butcher said he and other locals call it "the bloated guppy" because the way it is drawn on a map it looks like a dead fish. "All it was was Bill Clinton's administration outlined the known natural gas reserves and declared it a monument," said Butcher, who added that he was "overwhelmingly opposed" to the establishment...
Montana counties will receive a total of $31.8 million in Payment in Lieu of Taxes or PILT payments from the U.S. Department of the Interior for 2017, including more than a million for Blaine County, a press release from the Department of the Interior said Monday. “As a kid who grew up in northwest Montana and whose sons graduated from the same high school as I did, I know how important PILT payments are to local communities that have federal lands,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a Whitefish native, said in a press rel...
Public lands have become a major issue in this campaign, and for good reason. Whomever Montanans elects as their next congressman, he will have the opportunity to vote on congressional budgets that will have an enormous impact on our public lands. Budgets are more than numbers; they’re also value statements. And the budget President Trump recently proposed makes clear that he does not value our public lands the same way Montanans do. His budget would cut the Department of the Interior’s budget by 12 percent, representing a d...
By Hugo Tureck, Susan Barrow, and Shane Doyle Last week, President Trump signed an executive order instructing Secretary Ryan Zinke to review dozens of national monuments with an eye towards either shrinking the monuments or eliminating them altogether. The order involves all monuments designated in the last 21 years that are larger than 100,000 acres or those that Sec. Zinke decides were designated without enough local input. Designated in 2001, the 377,000-acre Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument is subject to...
From Montana Stockgrowers Association Montana's ranchers, conservationists, wildlife biologists, water quality experts, range scientists and hunting advocates share an incredible common bond: They each love the land and care about the animals and natural resources that depend on it. "There's no doubt we have more in common than most of us think," said Jesse Tufte, the program officer for World Wildlife Fund's Sustainable Ranching Initiative. Tufte said she's especially keen...
Press release With the summer recreation season drawing near, the Bureau of Land Management has reopened the James Kipp and Coal Banks Landing Recreation Areas. These popular recreational areas are available for the American public to enjoy throughout the prime outdoor recreation months. Coal Banks Landing Recreation Area is near Virgelle, 12 mi. southwest of Big Sandy. James Kipp Recreation Area is located where U.S. Highway 191 crosses the Missouri River on the Fred Robinson Bridge, approximately 20 miles north of Bohemian...
From Bureau of Land Manamagement BLAINE COUNTY - The Ervin Homestead/Gist Bottom Historic District lies within the vast and isolated, but breathtakingly beautiful Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. In 1997 Zane Fulbright was sent on a work detail from the U.S. Forest Service to record homesteads within the Bureau of Land Management Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River area. Twenty years later, on Jan. 20, 2017, he accepted the certificate recognizing the...
UM News MISSOULA – Montana landowners across the state now have access to hourly reports of soil moisture, temperature, soil quality, rainfall and more. The Montana Climate Office launched the Montana Mesonet information network this past summer, installing wireless weather stations at 13 sites across Big Sky Country. Based at the University of Montana, the climate office uses a cooperative approach that addresses a diverse set of information needs. The expansion of Montana Mesonet will provide information to landowners, w...
Montana is blessed with vast landscapes of public lands. Our great outdoors attracts millions of visitors each year and is part of why I love Montana so much. And in Montana, conversations about our public land often go hand in hand with talking about the federal government. The federal government owns 28.9 percent of Montana. A robust public discourse about access to our public lands is healthy and more important than ever. There exist serious concerns that I would like to share with you. The Property and Environment...
From Fish, Wildlife and Parks Landowners have until March 30 to submit applications to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for enrollment in a new program called Unlocking Public Lands that may qualify a landowner for up to $3,000 in annual tax credits. Through this program, a landowner who enters into a contractual agreement with FWP to allow public recreational access across private land to reach a parcel of otherwise inaccessible state or federal Bureau of Land Management or United States Forest Service land is entitled to re...
Jan. 30, more than 1,000 Montanans squeezed into the Capitol building to tell our elected officials in Helena and Washington, D.C., "Keep public lands in public hands." Sportsmen and women, conservationists, outdoor recreationists, kids and families traveled from as far as Fort Peck, Miles City and Thompson Falls. We blew the roof off the Capitol in defense of our shared outdoor heritage, making clear that we won’t stand for any legislation that even considers transferring, selling or otherwise divesting citizens of our publi...
Press release It was 2012, and the Dusenberry family was frustrated. Across their 600-acre farm and livestock operation in the Helena Valley, years of sound stewardship and management practices didn't seem to be making any real difference. " "We were disappointed in the output of our land," Tim Dusenberry said. "We were using more and more fertilizer, the cost was up to 75 to 80 dollars an acre, and the returns were still low. "It was time to look at a new way of doing things,...
Press release The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold a regular meeting Friday, Feb. 10, at 10:30 a.m. at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Headquarters in Helena. The commission will look at a variety of issues and make final decisions on Future Fisheries Projects, a rule allowing lighted nocks on arrows, and 2017 spring turkey license quotas. Also on the agenda for a final decision from the commission are the approval of waters for commercial bait seining annual rule and the wildlife management area biennial...
Press release The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold a regular meeting Friday, Feb. 10, at 10:30 a.m. at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Headquarters in Helena. The commission will look at a variety of issues and make final decisions on Future Fisheries Projects, a rule allowing lighted nocks on arrows, and 2017 spring turkey license quotas. Also on the agenda for a final decision from the commission are the approval of waters for commercial bait seining annual rule and the wildlife management area biennial...
We talked a lot about Montana’s No. 1 industry in Gov. Steve Bullock’s office this week. On Wednesday, a table full of Young Farmers and Ranchers in our Calling on the Capitol event sat down with the governor and talking about value-added ag opportunities, the impact of international trade, sage grouse and more. Bullock also shared a personal story about his first taste of the policy process as a legislative intern, saying, “It didn’t change the world, but it did show that one person with a passion could make a differe...
Press release The Bureau of Land Management issued a call Tuesday for public nominations to fill three positions on its national Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. To be considered for selection, nominations must be received via email by Feb. 10 or postmarked by that date. The BLM published its request for nominations in the Federal Register. Nominations are for a term of three years and are needed to represent the following categories of interest: public interest, equine behavior; wild horse and burro research; and...
Press release To continue protections for the Sweet Grass Hills, the Department of Interior through the Bureau of Land Management has extended the existing mineral withdrawal in Toole and Liberty counties for 20 more years. The “Hills” rise 3,000 feet above the surrounding prairie and have both spiritual and historical associations to many Northern Plains Indian tribes. This island mountain range surrounded by a sea of prairie is also known for its abundant wildlife and as a source of water for area residents. “Pr...
MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS — U.S. government official finalized Thursday an overhaul of how they plan for oil and gas drilling, mining, grazing and other activities across public lands in the West. The move by the Bureau of Land Management aims to address longstanding criticism of an often-cumbersome process that dictates development across almost 250 million acres of federal lands, primarily in 12 Western states and the Dakotas. Administration officials said the changes would improve public involvement and g...
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A draft plan unveiled Monday for two recently created Idaho wilderness areas prohibits campfires at high elevations to protect whitebark pine and eliminates horses and other recreational stock in some areas to protect alpine soils. The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the availability of the 67-page document intended to guide management of the 138-square-mile Hemingway-Boulders Wilderness and the 142-square-mile White Clouds Wilderness, both in central Idaho. The agencies s...
Bureau of Land Management officials will host an open house at their Havre field office Wednesday night to discuss the possible transfer of 16,000 acres of federal land to state control, including 2,560 acres in Hill and Chouteau counties. “It is really just an open house to provide information to the public and seeking comment about what they see as issues with this project or this undertaking,” said Stanley Jaynes, field manager of the Havre field office. The state has tentatively identified 2,400 acres in Chouteau County a...
STEVEN DuBOIS, GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. — A jury delivered an extraordinary blow to the government in a long-running battle over the use of public lands when it acquitted all seven defendants involved in the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in rural southeastern Oregon. Tumult erupted in the courtroom Thursday after the verdicts were read when an attorney for group leader Ammon Bundy demanded his client be immediately released and repeatedly yelled at the judge. U.S. marshals tackled a...
Farmers, ranchers, political figures and others attended the Hill County Conservation District’s annual legislative dinner Wednesday night in Montana State University-Northern’s Student Union Building Ballroom. The dinner served as a venue for discussion about the district’s activities and projects this year as well as a chance for local officials and candidates for political office to introduce themselves to the agriculture community. For $25, attendees dined on prime rib and salad, as they listened to members of the board...
The Hill County Conservation District will hold its annual legislative dinner Wednesday at the Montana State University-Northern Student Union Building Ballroom. The event will kick off at 5:30 p.m. with a no-host social that will preface the prime rib dinner that starts at 6:30. District administrator Emily Mayer said that a speaker with the district then will give a PowerPoint presentation about the district’s accomplishments this year. Those accomplishments include taking part in the revamped Milk River Watershed alliance,...
