News

Lost in the maelstrom of federal firings and funding freezes is the trickle-down effect these policies will have on conservation and stewardship in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. As devastating—and confusing—as the mass layoffs have already been, their broader...

The Lower Shields River Watershed is set to receive approximately $1.5 million over the next three years as the next Non-point Source Focus Watershed selected by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). In December 2024, the Livingston-based nonprofit...

Riverfront property is great until a house falls into the water. Preventing such catastrophes is among the goals of a recent study aimed at predicting how the banks of the Yellowstone River are likely to change over the next 100 years. The 2024 Yellowstone River...

Imagine what your favorite local river or stream might have looked like 200 years ago. There were no railroads, no cars whizzing by; the river may have sprawled across a wide area, with branching channels weaving in every direction. Cottonwoods and willows likely...

Livingston-based nonprofit Montana Freshwater Partners was awarded nearly $300,000 from the Bureau of Reclamation this month to help enhance wetland and stream health in Park County. The $299,533 grant, to be distributed over three years, will go toward the Park Co....

Montana Freshwater Partners (MFP) works to restore and preserve healthy rivers, streams, and wetlands by applying science-based practices to complex problems impacting water resources and communities throughout Montana. Considering that 80 percent of all life is...

The machines are hard at work, kicking up clouds of dust on the dried gravel and sediment as they play pick-up-sticks. They’re compacting the earth, hauling out literal tons of logs and other wood on the banks of the Yellowstone River, swept to the shore by the...

REED POINT, Mont. (AP) — Two months after a railroad bridge collapse sent carloads of hazardous oil products plunging into Montana’s Yellowstone River, the cleanup workers are gone and a mess remains. Thick mats of tarry petroleum asphalt cover portions of sandbars....

On June 24, a train carrying molten asphalt derailed as a result of a bridge collapse plunging 10 loaded cars into the Yellowstone River near Columbus, Montana.   As much as 500,000 pounds of liquid asphalt was spilled, contaminating the Yellowstone River for...

In emails to state and federal officials, conservation organizations and individuals have outlined several concerns about long-term impacts to and monitoring of the Yellowstone River following a June 2023 train derailment that resulted in a toxic spill. “We deserve to...

In May, the Supreme Court voted to obliterate one of the most important rules that helps keep our aquatic ecosystems clean and thriving. Montana needs to step up and show leadership to fill that gap. The decision in that case, called Sackett vs. EPA, is weedy but...

No matter where you are reading these words, walk over to the faucet, pour yourself a glass of water, set it down on the table and let its translucent swirl settle into clarity, then consider the origin of this essential medium—the most important substance for life on...

Protecting 107 acres of land may not seem like a big deal in the capacious panorama of the American West. But when preservation takes the form of two islands in the wild and free-flowing Yellowstone River, it’s something that warrants public attention—for it’s the...

Teller Wildlife Refuge is wrapping up a wetlands restoration project this week that aims to transform approximately 9 acres of cheatgrass meadow back into wetlands.   Maps from the 1950s show braided channels of the Bitterroot River weaving through the project...

A conservation-oriented real estate group has sold two 50-acre islands in the Yellowstone River to the state of Montana, with the aim of preserving the riparian habitat and enhancing public access opportunities.   Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks acquired 107...

Protecting 107 acres of land may not seem like a big deal in the capacious panorama of the American West. But when preservation takes the form of two islands in the wild and free-flowing Yellowstone River, it’s something that warrants public attention—for it’s the...

In the business of real estate, Beartooth Group may have redefined a liquid asset.   The Bozeman-based investment company buys ranches, fixes up the buildings, restores waterways, irrigation ditches and upland habitat before selling the properties at a profit....

Not long after the City of Livingston began soliciting bids to repair the levee protecting Sacajawea Park, a local civil engineer commented that she believed “it was a miracle” the levee held under last summer's severe flood.   “The dike and levee aren’t...

Officials with 4 Ranges Community Recreation Foundation Inc. say they’ve obtained philanthropic commitments of $18.7 million from donors and anticipate $4.5 million in other funding to go toward the construction of a new recreation center in Livingston, which would...

A fishing apparel manufacturer in Four Corners is releasing a new wader that will benefit conservation and restoration efforts along the Yellowstone River, several months after severe floods damaged homes and infrastructure around southwest Montana.   Simms...

Many folks look outside on cool, rainy spring days and see flooded rivers and streams, green grass and cool temperatures and assume we are safe from drought. Yet climate change is wildly unpredictable, lulling us into false security with wet, cool, spring days, while...

A 30-acre conservation easement was placed on land in the Swan Valley last week with the intention of securing grizzly bear habitat and forested wetlands. The sizable wetland will now be protected after the Vital Ground Foundation completed the conservation easement...

The historic June 13th flood on the Yellowstone has a lot of us thinking about what will happen when the next major flood event hits Park County. I imagine the next time the Yellowstone lets loose, recovery will look a lot like it has in the past, with the community...

In association with Montana Freshwater Partners, Simms Fishing Products, preeminent manufacturer of waders, outerwear, footwear, and technical apparel in fishing prepare to launch the all-new Simms Watershed Stockingfoot Wader, a wader designed to lend financial aid...

IT’S LATE IN THE SUMMER OF 2021, and I’m midway through day two of our four-day trip down the Yellowstone River. There isn’t another boat in sight. It’s calm enough to ride a stand-up paddle board, and the waters’ glassy surface bounces a reflection of our rafts up...

The June flood, which destroyed roads and homes across a huge swath of south-central Montana, created new channels on formerly dry land. The water gnawed at riverbanks that had been stable for decades.