Mountain Journal

09/15/2025

In a presentation to Montana State University students on September 9, Ted Roosevelt IV, the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, focused on the conservation movement, the GOP and the importance of talking through differences.

Read more about Roosevelt IV's take in Robert Chaney's Dispatch below.

In presentation to MSU students, great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt focuses on GOP, conservation movement and importance of talking through differences

09/12/2025

A presidential proposal for consolidating federal wildland firefighting services failed to appear by its September 10 deadline.

How it might combine U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department firefighting resources after Congress rejected Trump administration spending requests remains unclear. But fixing the way the federal government combats wildfire on public land was the topic of several congressional hearings earlier in the week. It also drew anticipation from advocates who have called for the restructuring of wildfire response.

Departments of Interior and Agriculture miss Trump deadline for submitting plan to consolidate wildland firefighting service

09/12/2025

Scientists with the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team have resumed grizzly bear capture and monitoring operations in Yellowstone National Park as part of long-term efforts to track the species’ recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Fieldwork began September 1 and will continue through October 15, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and park officials. The work supports population monitoring and habitat research critical to managing grizzly bears under the Endangered Species Act.

Biologists tracking GYE grizzly population urge public to heed warning signs near active sites

09/04/2025

Explaining the shifting nature of fire science isn’t getting any easier. Just ask Liz Davy. “A lot of this is hard to explain,” said Davy, who spent 40 years as a silviculturist and forest ecologist in the U.S. Forest Service. “People smell smoke and they automatically ask ‘Why don’t you just put it out?’ We’ve found if people feel more prepared, they’re far more accepting of fire as something that belongs out there.”

Read Robert Chaney's feature on how experts are pushing for year-round wildfire preparedness.

As fire season cools, misinformation, health risks drive outreach efforts

09/03/2025

Near mountaintops across the West on a late summer day, a bird with distinct black and white wings swoops from tree to tree foraging for seeds. It may not look like it, but this Steller’s jay-sized bird is doing more than gathering food for winter — it’s supporting an entire ecosystem with every peck of its beak.

The bird is the Clark’s nutcracker. Shaped like a crow with a long, sharp bill, it’s named for renowned explorer and ornithologist William Clark, who first saw and documented it near the Columbia River during his famed expedition with Meriwether Lewis in the early 1800s. Clark named the bird Nucifraga columbiana, meaning “nutcracker of the Columbia.”

This article is part of a new MoJo series that goes beyond bison, bears and wolves to spotlight Yellowstone’s often-overlooked wildlife.

The sharp-billed mountain birds that support an entire alpine ecosystem

09/02/2025

While humans have long known the park’s wildlife herds depend on its grasslands, a new study has discovered that the grasses themselves also benefit from the relationship.

The 26-year study, among the longest that accounts for the amount of grass eaten by grazers, found that bison, elk and pronghorn grazing increases the annual growth rate of grass in the park by 20 percent.

Hungry elk, bison and pronghorn boost plant growth in Yellowstone’s grasslands by as much as 20 percent, new study finds.

09/01/2025

Grand Prismatic Spring is among more than 10,000 geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park. While national parks are off limits for domestic energy production, geothermal energy abounds in the West, including the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, writes MoJo contributor Madison Dapcevich.

Read Part 1 in our series on geothermal energy, its availability in the West and the implications in Greater Yellowstone.

The Rocky Mountains are a hotbed of geothermal power. Why isn’t the US tapping into it?

08/29/2025

The U.S. Forest Service formally began rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule on August 29.

More exactly, the agency is “publishing a notice seeking public comment on its intention to develop an environmental impact statement for the proposed rescission of the rule,” according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture statement.

Critics say Trump administration’s attempt at ‘commonsense management of our national forests’ jeopardizes 58 million acres of public lands.

Critics say Trump administration’s attempt at ‘commonsense management of our national forests’ jeopardizes 58 million acres of public lands

08/28/2025

For eight years, Mountain Journal has kept a steady watch on the wildlife, land use and decision-making that shape the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem — all without a paywall. As we close out 2025's 8 for 8 birthday campaign, we’re asking for your help in two simple ways: join for $8/month (matched), and share MoJo with someone who should be reading us.

Join here! https://bit.ly/4nahxUh

08/28/2025

Wolves have been the topic of a heated debate in Greater Yellowstone for years. At its August 21 meeting, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission decided on a quota for the numbers that can be killed in the 2025-26 season.

Read Robert Chaney’s in-depth analysis below digging into what this decision means for Montana and Greater Yellowstone.

Marathon FWP commission meeting reveals complexities of managing wolves in Montana and across Greater Yellowstone

08/26/2025

Harmful algae blooms are cropping up across Montana and Greater Yellowstone. HABs produce toxins that can sicken people, pets and wildlife, and have been confirmed in at least four lakes in Montana so far this month.

Click to read more.

Officials urge caution as late summer heats up and harmful algal blooms return