The U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday that it has tentatively approved a land swap involving more than 15 square miles of land located in two Montana mountain ranges. The Custer Gallatin National Forest in an email announced that it is moving forward with a slightly modified version of the East Crazy Inspiration Divide Land Exchange, a proposal several years in the making. In the draft decision notice, the Forest Service landed on a modified version of the proposal that the agency ...

Late last week, news broke that the final remaining oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine was to be permanently retired! This area, US Forest Service lands adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Glacier National Park, and the Blackfeet Reservation, is home to some of the wildest country in Montana and provides valuable habitat for game species such as mule deer, elk, black bears, Westslope cutthroats, and more. It's also held sacred by the Blackfeet and is the place of many of their ...

Eleven conservation organizations vied for the privilege to auction off five Montana hunting licenses on Thursday, the most applications ever received by the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks for the tags. “Typically in the past it’s one organization, or one or two,” said Sarah Clerget, chief legal counsel for the department. “We’ve never seen this many proposals to choose from before.” When awarded, the tags are auctioned off at events, helping to increase interest in participation for ...

At the end of July, Montana BHA staff and volunteers spent three days with the Forest Service improving trails in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The work will benefit hunters, high-alpine anglers, backpackers, and backcountry horsemen alike.      After meeting at basecamp, the Bear Creek Bunkhouse, on Friday morning we hit the trail. Our first order of work: clearing old water bars. Water bars help divert water off the trail, keeping the trail dry and stable. Over time, dirt, ...

Nearly 20 years have passed since Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks last updated its Elk Management Plan (out for comment now). The new EMP has some good ideas, like reviewing the plan every five years, and raising elk herd objectives — now called goals — in many districts, then using three-year averages to determine if these goals are met. But some proposals are troubling. "Where (a hunting district) is chronically and significantly over the stated population size goal and is using limited ...