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Big Sky, Montana: A New West Mountain Town Primed For Its Own 'Big Burn'?

April 19, 2023

Where there's smoke there's a big fire brewing
This high-profile resort community is at 'very high risk to wildfire' and an emblem for the dangers of building in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Part 3 in MoJo's ongoing series
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Homing Instinct: Sandhills' Return A Marvel To Behold

April 18, 2023

A pair of sandhills return to their northern haunt
In Greater Yellowstone, America's cradle of wildlife conservation, writer Earle Layser offers this primer on sandhill cranes—another inspirational part of an ecosystem still intact
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Meet Jessica Wiese, Mountain Journal's New Executive Director

April 7, 2023

Jessie brings dynamic combo of love for outdoors, wild places and rural Westerners
With a background in science and private land conservation, Wiese says the time is now to rally for Greater Yellowstone as the region comes under increasing human pressure
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'Huge Mortality': Winterkill Hitting Wildlife In Northern Rockies Hard

April 7, 2023

A bull elk in Yellowstone left haggard by the winter
Grizzlies are out and wildlife is severely stressed. States issue warnings that recreationists need to be smart and, most importantly, respect space of animals or they could perish
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People Beat Machines In Ability To Identify Wildlife

April 5, 2023

A big wildcat on the run: could you ID it in a line up?
Although AI is frighteningly on the rise, study finds human eyesight and brains still hold advantage in recognizing subtle differences between pumas
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The Gray Ghosts Of Change: Can The Grizzly 'Bear Tree' Be Saved?

April 3, 2023

A grizzly on the hunt for food moves through a Northern Rockies forest
The whitebark pine tree is receiving federal protection at same time states are pushing to remove grizzlies from imperiled list. A story about how fate of trees and bears is intertwined 
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Are Western Mountain Towns Ready For The Coming Flames?

March 21, 2023

Can't happen here? The Bridger Foothills Fire was Bozeman's WUI wake-up call
Rural sprawl is expanding the "wildland-urban interface." It is elevating the costs and perils of dealing with wildfire, and taxpayers are footing the bill. Part 2 in our ongoing series


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The Usual Suspects: In Colorado, Wolves Blamed For Losses They Didn't Cause

March 13, 2023

Experts say wolves have a rap sheet they don't deserve
Story Warren, in this personal essay for Writers on the Range, notes how an investigation shows 40 recent cattle deaths can't be pinned on lobos 
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Wolverines: Barometers For Pondering Impacts Of The Anthropocene

March 12, 2023

Plight of wolverines a test of human willingness to give them protected space
Changes in habitat and rising human pressures leave many wondering how long just 300 or so wolverines can persist in the West
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In Jackson Hole, Good News About CWD—For Now

March 5, 2023

Thousands of elk bunched up over artificial feed at the National Elk Refuge
Senior biologist with National Elk Refuge says Chronic Wasting Disease hasn't shown up there yet. But any sense of solace is probably short lived
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Checkerboard: Do Laws In Greater Yellowstone Favor Private Rights Over Public Interest?

March 3, 2023

The Hoback River flows toward the Gros Ventre Range
Award-winning writer and longtime Forest Service veteran Susan Marsh writes a parable for our time that underscores how we must take action to save our fragile ecosystem
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Mayor Ghosts Nature In Bozeman's Annual State Of The City Address

March 1, 2023

Elk find solitude on an undeveloped hillside in the Gallatin Valley outside Bozeman
It's strange how so few elected officials in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are willing to speak out for our world-class wildlife. And that does not bode well
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Montana, In The Wake Of 'Yellowstone' and 'A River Runs Through It'

February 27, 2023

Is all the attention destroying last, best places?
Thirty years after Norman Maclean's novella was brought to big screen, many are lamenting how it, and the TV melodrama 'Yellowstone' have fueled an inundation of western Montana
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Kissing The 'Quieter Side' Of The Tetons Goodbye?

February 27, 2023

Sunset, amid moonrise, brings alpenglow to the west side of the Tetons above Teton Valley, Idaho
Will Grand Targhee Resort expansion put Teton Valley, Idaho on course to become a doppelgänger of Big Sky? A county commissioner voices her concerns
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