Wake-Up Time: First Grizzly Of 2023 Spotted In Yellowstone

March 7, 2023

by Mountain Journal

A male grizzly wandering the still-wintry interior of Yellowstone

Bears are coming of their dens in Greater Yellowstone and given the tough winter we've had there are a lot of carcasses awaiting them. Be aware and be careful

In Jackson Hole, Good News About CWD—For Now

March 5, 2023

by Todd Wilkinson

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

Checkerboard: Do Laws In Greater Yellowstone Favor Private Rights Over Public Interest?

March 3, 2023

by Susan Marsh

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

Mayor Ghosts Nature In Bozeman's Annual State Of The City Address

March 1, 2023

by Todd Wilkinson

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

Montana, In The Wake Of 'Yellowstone' and 'A River Runs Through It'

February 27, 2023

by Todd Wilkinson

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

Kissing The 'Quieter Side' Of The Tetons Goodbye?

February 27, 2023

by Cindy Riegel

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

If Jackson Hole Is On Wrong Path, Then What Is The Right One?

February 26, 2023

by Jonathan Schechter

Development is squeezing out people and wildlife in Jackson Hole

In this opinion essay, Jonathan Schechter, a member of the Jackson town council, explains why he voted against an affordable housing project

It's Too Soon To Delist Grizzly Bears

February 21, 2023

by Lance Olsen

Grizzlies facing massive threats to secure habitat in Northern Rockies

In this op-ed, longtime grizzly bear conservationist Lance Olsen notes how threats to the bear's fragile ecological recovery are expanding and intensifying

How Did They Do It? Zooming in on the First Geological Map of Yellowstone

February 21, 2023

by Michael Poland

Swans and geese in the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley, named for 1871 expedition leader Ferdinand Vanderveer Hayden

In 1871, a federal expedition led by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden conducted a detailed geological survey of the Yellowstone area leading to the first geological map and convincing Congress to establish Yellowstone as America's first national park.

It's Now Do Or Die For The Great Salt Lake

February 20, 2023

by Stephen Trimble

Will Utahns rise to save the Great Salt Lake?

Will Utahns take action to rescue their famous lake or will it be sacrificed to a false notion of prosperity? Stephen Trimble weighs in for Writers on the Range

The Big Picture: Pondering Greater Yellowstone's 'Elephants In The Room'

February 17, 2023

by Todd Wilkinson

A coyote and griz in wild northwest Wyoming

Test your ability to detect subtle changes that often seem invisible. Then apply your newfound insight to thinking about Greater Yellowstone's rapid transformation