Independently reported news stories of Montana's people, land, water and wildlife.
The Bureau of Land Management is proposing a record-high number of parcels to be opened up to oil and gas leases along the Hi-Line. The problem is that many sit along important waterways.
The Montana-Dakotas BLM office just released an environmental assessment of 87 federal parcels covering almost 18,000 acres from Cut Bank to Glasgow that could be leased to oil and gas development. None of the parcels previously had leases.
Read MoreOn Monday, a legislative committee heard testimony from several environmental professionals who, although frustrated, said it was better for Montana to defer to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when it comes to permitting projects that require construction work in or near streams or wetlands. Such projects include dam, levee, bridge or road construction, and they sometimes require wetlands or streams to be moved.
Read MoreWater has always been a precious commodity, but drought-caused shortages have made it even more so. And yet, a recent national report card shows that Americans sometimes don’t take care of what little fresh water they have.
On Oct. 9, America’s Watershed Initiative, a collaborative of more than 400 businesses, agencies and science groups, issued the first 31-state report card for the waters that feed the Mississippi River. It’s not the kind of report card you’d want to bring home.
Read MoreLOLO – Clark Fork Coalition project manager Jed Whiteley lives a mile away from Lolo Creek and has seen the lower stretch dry up before. The flows can vary from year to year, but this summer is like nothing he’s seen before.
“This year, it bottomed out earlier than it has since we started monitoring. It bottomed out way back in July,” Whiteley said. “We’re looking at a historic low year, and I think the smoke and everything else proves that.”
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