Recent studies found that attitudes toward wolves became more polarized when people’s political identities were activated.
Montana
Posted inJanuary 2026: Deep Time in the West
How plate tectonics revolutionized our understanding of Earth
And how scientist Tanya Atwater was at the center of it all.
Posted inArticles
‘We’re basically slitting our own throat’: Montana rolls back water-quality standards
The EPA approved Montana’s weaker standards for nutrient pollution during the government shutdown.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
How ranchers accused of breaking the rules dodge oversight
Elected officials interfere with agency efforts to protect the land.
Posted inArticles
The big data center buildup
An AI server farm tsunami threatens to overwhelm the West’s power grid and water supplies.
Posted inArticles
Yellowstone protects wolves. What happens when they leave the park?
Crossing what’s an arbitrary boundary for wildlife, an apex predator becomes prey.
Posted inArticles
How I found hope while reporting on a metal fest
Peek behind the scenes at the challenges and joy of covering Fire in the Mountains.
Posted inNovember 2025: Precious Metalheads
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
Posted inArticles
The nation’s energy dominance falters
Trump is killing clean energy, and it’s not even helping fossil fuels.
Posted inArticles
Montana’s Chinese past isn’t past
A forgotten Chinese cemetery reveals how Missoula buries its past — and why the present is so familiar.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
What’s it like to be a cow?
A cattle rancher reflects on her occupation and the growing movement to understand how other animals see the world.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
The ‘bear’ necessities of good sign design
Researchers study the principles that promote bear-safety behavior.
Posted inArticles
Decades of public-lands planning, overturned in a day
The House voted to nullify three Bureau of Land Management plans, and critics fear many more could follow.
Posted inArticles
The invisible ‘giant nets’ that catch the smallest songbirds
Collaboration and tiny technology are revolutionizing the study of migration.
Posted inArticles
Public lands and wildlife turn to stopgap solutions
In the face of federal cuts, volunteers, businesses and others help keep programs afloat.
Posted inArticles
The national parks are not OK
A former national park supervisor explains how toilets may be clean this summer, but the parks themselves are actually ‘hollowed out.’
Posted inArticles
A new Montana majority defangs the far right
Disaffected Republicans and resurgent Democrats just took over the Montana Legislature and spent big on education and health care.
Posted inArticles
Our public lands must not be sold
Former BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning warns of the very real threat to the nation’s common ground.
Posted inMay 2025: The Art of the Cruise
The toll of Bozeman’s housing crisis
At the small city’s only emergency shelter, demand is higher and the work is harder than ever.