By Laura Lundquist - September 16, 2020 - Originally published in the Missoula Current    The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act has finally gotten a committee hearing, although not much testimony was heard other than a few reasons to oppose it. On Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Jon Tester’s Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act was one of 15 bills considered by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. But between the large raft of bills slated for the ...

By Laura Lundquist - June 17, 2020 - Originally published in the Missoula Current  An appeals court added one more chapter to a 38-year struggle when it ruled against an oil company that’s demanding to drill in the Badger-Two Medicine, an area along the Northern Continental Divide that is sacred to the Blackfeet Nation. On Tuesday, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals overturned a federal district judge who ruled in September 2018 that Louisiana-based Solonex LLC should be allowed to ...

By Laura Lundquist - January 6, 2020 - Originally published in the Missoula Current Locals on fishing rafts, kayaks and inner tubes won’t have to dodge hovercraft on the Bitterroot River and a short stretch of the Clark Fork River below Kelly Island. On Monday, the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission denied James Crews’ petition to make rule changes that would allow hovercraft to cruise up and down the Bitterroot and Clark Fork rivers. Crews, a Bitterroot Valley resident of 20 years, tried to ...

By Laura Lundquist - July 26th, 2019 - Originally published in the Missoula Current  More structures like the Animals Bridge on Highway 93 north of Missoula are needed to help wildlife safely cross Montana roadways. But hunters and wildlife advocates say federal funding is needed to overcome high construction costs. As the U.S. Senate considers the budget for the 2020 Highway Bill, conservation and sportsmen’s groups are lobbying hard for a small pot of money to be set aside just for ...

By Laura Lundquist - April 22, 2019 - Originally published in the Missoula Current   Controversy continues to hound Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ management of the Spotted Dog Wildlife Management Area, only this time hunters are the ones who feel slighted. At the end of February, FWP Region 2 in Missoula published a draft environmental assessment of a plan to allow limited livestock grazing on the Spotted Dog WMA. Sportsmen’s groups were surprised by the announcement and scurried to ...