Justice, power and environment: The 2020 elections were defined by grassroots organizing and deep partisanship.
Montana
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
How fossil-fueled politics undermined a backcountry compromise
William Perry Pendley’s illegal stint as agency head undoes a first-of-its-kind land designation in Montana.
Posted inArticles
Montana’s new governor scares conservationists
Republican Greg Gianforte has a history of support for rolling back protections for public lands and waters.
Posted inArticles
How Indigenous voters swung the 2020 election
In Arizona and Wisconsin, Native turnout — which often leans liberal — made the difference in Biden’s slim but winning margin.
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Bracing for unlawful militias and vigilantes at the ballot box
Emboldened by Trump’s rhetoric, armed groups plan to post up near poll sites.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
Maskless in Montana; stuck in a rut; hot pronghorn
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Bullock, Daines and Montana’s growing pains
In a critical Senate race, the two Steves lay claim to the “Montana way of life.”
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
In the face of #MMIWG, Indigenous women fight back
On the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, girls and women box, march and continue searching for those lost.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
Hunting for myself in the high Montana sagebrush
A hunter celebrates a new vision of queerness and rural culture.
Posted inArticles
Wolverines denied endangered species protections
USFWS: ‘If wolverines need snow, we think that there’s going to be enough snow out there for them.’
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COVID-19 makes it harder to know when to harvest sugar beets
Decisions depend on the weather, but accurate long-term forecasts are another casualty of the pandemic.
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How anti-Indigeneity proliferates around the West and the world
Across the globe, anti-Indigenous organizations and sympathizers work to undermine the collective rights of Indigenous peoples.
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Wildish Podcast: When a horse goes ‘home’
Episode Six: In Montana, two ranchers adopted ‘Delilah.’ They’re among the growing number of people actually getting paid to adopt wild horses and burros.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
In a small Montana town, there’s a thing with feathers. Hope? Not so much.
Maxim Loskutoff’s debut novel explores the fraught history of the Bitterroot Valley.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
What sewage can tell us about the spread of COVID-19
More cities are testing wastewater, but a poor federal response keeps efforts scattered.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
Gone bitten; Target moms; celery phones
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Who’s minding Montana’s abandoned oil and gas wells?
Left-behind extraction wells pollute after drilling and pumping stops. One foundation gets proactive.
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Frustrated by delays, states are finding their own COVID-19 testing solutions
Montana struck a deal with a state university to get test results more quickly.
Posted inArticles
New bill would permanently protect 130,000 acres of Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine
President Trump proved monument designations can be easy to remove; a new piece of legislation seeks to change that.