Trump Budget Proposal Portends Deep Cuts to Public Lands

May 5, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Robert Chaney

President Donald Trump's budget proposal includes allocating $1.1 trillion to defense spending while reducing non-defense federal spending by $163 billion

Recommendations include new consolidated wildfire service, more tasks in state hands, less science.

Forest Service Braces for Restructuring as Timber Orders Add to Workload

April 25, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Robert Chaney

A Forest Service memo calls for a 25 percent increase in timber production by July 4

Feds look to consolidate regional offices while planning to roll out new strategies over the next two months.

Draft National Wildfire Plan Under White House Consideration Returns Firefighting ‘to the 1930s,’ Experts Say

April 18, 2025 // NEWS: Feature

by Robert Chaney

Looking back at the "10 a.m. rule," a 1930s wildfire policy to suppress all fires by 10 a.m. the morning after they are discovered

On the cusp of wildfire season, a new proposal recommends consolidating all federal firefighting resources, calls for immediate fire suppression.

How Wyoming Sought to Stave off Wolf Torture

April 15, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Claire Cella

Our Lady of The Forest: Alpha female of Yellowstone's Wapiti Lake Pack

Two bills in the 2025 Legislature were introduced in response to the torture and killing of a wolf in Daniel, Wyoming.

'Tools to Save Our Home Planet'

April 4, 2025 // Book Review

by Katie Hill

A new book from Patagonia offers time-tested guidance on grassroots environmental activism. Here’s how it could benefit rural communities.

Montana Updates Wolf Management Playbook as Hunting Bills Advance

April 3, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Sophie Tsairis

Wolves on the move in Yellowstone National Park

Wildlife managers release first wolf management plan in 22 years, set minimum baseline population to 450.

Yellowstone Gateway Town Fears for Future amid Trump Funding Cuts

April 1, 2025

Protesters stake their claim at the North Entrance to Yellowstone in Gardiner

Shutting down federal funding through the Park Service could cripple Gardiner, Montana.

Crazy Talk

March 27, 2025 // Book

by Robert Chaney

The Crazy Mountains from Paradise Valley, Montana

In her new book on Crazy Mountain property battles, journalist Amy Gamerman explores the contrasting values of cattle, renewable energy and wilderness altering an ancient landscape.

Will Federal Freeze Stymie Wildland Fire Fights?

March 4, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Robert Chaney

Firefighters hold the line at the September 2018 Roosevelt Fire near Bondurant, Wyoming

Delays in hiring crews and funding hazardous fuels projects worry officials as the 2025 fire season approaches.

Ranchers Weigh Shorter Leases Against Permanent Easements

February 28, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Sophie Tsairis

Conservation easement or conservation lease? FWP looks to incentivize landowners in different ways

Amid concerns over the long-term value of Montana's conservation leases, FWP program races toward 500,000-acre goal.

Grizzlies: Double Vision

February 25, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Robert Chaney

Approximately 2,100 grizzlies currently inhabit the Lower 48

With the Endangered Species Act comment period ending March 17, states and advocates are at odds over the future of grizzly bears.

The Fight for Wild Lands: Part 1

February 17, 2025 // MoJo Special Series

by Robert Chaney

Axolotl Lakes southwest of Ennis, Montana, in the foothills of the Gravelly Range

As organizers prepare for the biennial Rally for Public Lands, the conservation world faces down a changing climate, an administration determined to dismantle environmental protections, and its own internal contradictions.