Officials with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks still don’t know how a nonnative brown trout ended up in the Flathead River upstream of Pressentine Fishing Access last month. But given the river system’s history of circumventing brown trout invasions, they say the recent detection was most likely the result of an illegal […]| Flathead Beacon
When U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced last month that the administration was taking steps to rescind a decades-old policy to restrict road building and timber harvests on 58.5 million acres of national forest lands, she justified it as another step by the Trump administration to remove “absurd obstacles” that have stymied forest […]| Flathead Beacon
Kalispell city officials are gathering residents’ thoughts on a new land use plan that will determine how city land is developed over the next 20 years, a change to growth policy mandated by the Montana Land Use Plan Act (MLUPA) that lawmakers passed during the 2023 legislative session. Land use policies dictate how land can […]| Flathead Beacon
The budget reconciliation bill is a sweeping piece of legislation, part of which aims to reduce or increase spending for several federal programs. Federal programs affected, should the bill pass, include Medicaid.| Flathead Beacon
It’s been a busy year for the Piikani artist Terran Last Gun, but he’s excited to be back in Montana showcasing his work at Good Luck Gallery in downtown Kalispell, where a new solo exhibition of ink and colored pencil ledger drawings will run through mid-August. Originally from Browning, but based now out of Santa […]| Flathead Beacon
Glacier National Park officials announced Thursday that the entire 50-mile length of the Going-to-the-Sun Road is slated to open to motorized traffic between West Glacier and St. Mary on Monday, June 16. In advance of the road’s full opening, park officials will open the alpine highway’s eastern half on Saturday, June 14, allowing motorized access […]| Flathead Beacon
BILLINGS – More than 2 million acres of federal lands would be sold or transferred to states or other entities under a budget proposal from Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, reviving a longtime ambition of Western conservatives to cede lands to local control after a similar proposal failed in the House. Lee, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources […]| Flathead Beacon
Stream gage data is already registering temperatures and flows that normally don’t bedevil Montana’s rivers and tributaries until mid-July, prompting state fisheries managers to issue early warning signals on Wednesday that anglers should anticipate restrictions and closures this summer. From the Rocky Mountain Front to the Flathead River Basin, the high-elevation snowpack that nourishes rivers […]| Flathead Beacon
For more than 30 years, a small arts nonprofit in Missoula has connected elementary school kids with professional writers to create and perform poetry. Residency Coordinator Emily Walter says after 28 years of teaching, she still finds open-hearted creativity in every generation. “It’s a 12-week program and at the end, kids choose two of their […]| Flathead Beacon
Prior to May 10, 1910, the 1 million acres that are now part of Glacier National Park were part of the Flathead Forest Reserve. Although the glacier-capped mountains and deep blue lakes were just as beautiful before President William Howard Taft signed the legislation creating Glacier as they were afterward, the designation of this area […]| Flathead Beacon
The issue of Flathead Lake’s water levels has entered the state legislature with a resolution to treat recreation on par with the rest of the water’s various uses. Senate Joint Resolution 18 requests that decision-making bodies who oversee the lake’s water levels “ensure that recreation needs be measured fairly compared to hydropower, fish, and irrigation […]| Flathead Beacon
My workshop for Free the Seeds last weekend focused on seeds as spices. I strongly encourage you to buy spices whole and grind them in small batches at home. Whole spices last longer, and freshly ground ones have superb flavor. You also save money, primarily because you’re not throwing out half-used jars that have gone […]| Flathead Beacon
In 2015, nearly a century after the Montana Power Company (MPC) began operating what was then called Kerr Dam on ancestral land to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CKST), the tribes acquired the hydroelectric project as independent operators, having acted as co-licensee with MPC since 1985. Tribal leaders changed the name to the Se̓liš […]| Flathead Beacon
For George Ostrom, the word “bored” didn’t exist. Between smoke jumping into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, greeting the Flathead Valley every morning as a KOFI radio announcer, starring as Richard Widmark’s stuntman in adventure film “Red Skies of Montana,” erecting the largest weekly newspaper in Montana, chasing down grizzly bear stories, helping compose the Wilderness […]| Flathead Beacon
The Glacier Range Riders have started to build out their roster for the 2025 season, beginning last week with resigning three players from last year’s team, and the organization expects to announce more signings in the coming weeks. The first trio of signees, announced in a press release Tuesday, is made up of infielder Gabe […]| Flathead Beacon
Following a decennial redistricting process that reshaped Montana’s legislative districts, Democrats picked up an additional state legislative seat in Flathead County, which remains deeply Republican. Republicans won two of three state Senate races and ten of 11 state House races in Flathead County, according to preliminary results from Flathead County. Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, was […]| Flathead Beacon