How Deep Does It Go? Future of Area Water Monitoring in Question

March 21, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Robert Chaney

The future of Greater Yellowstone water monitoring USGS performs may be in jeopardy

With USGS offices in Greater Yellowstone among dozens of regional government buildings on the chopping block, DOGE savings efforts leave anglers wondering if streamflow monitors will survive.

If the Forest Falls

March 17, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Robert Chaney

Trump's March 1 executive order calls for "immediate expansion of timber production"

Timber industry analysts wonder if they can keep up with Trump logging orders.

Proper Protection or Perverse Incentive? Orgs Challenge ESA Process

March 14, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Robert Chaney

Centennial Valley, Montana, west of Yellowstone National Park

Two Montana nonprofits have filed suit against the Endangered Species Act’s ‘Blanket Rule.’

Labor Board Temporarily Reinstates Laid-off Forest Service Workers’ Employment

March 7, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Amanda Eggert

Hundreds of Forest Service and Park Service employees lost their jobs in a sweeping round of layoffs implemented at the behest of a Department of Government Efficiency

The order by the Merit Systems Protection Board gives USDA five days to comply with a stay on the workforce reduction.

Embracing ‘Salmon Weather’

March 4, 2025 // Book Review

by Alex Hargrave

Salmon weather: The South Fork of the Salmon River drainage

An Idaho author’s awe-inspiring personal narratives challenge our notions of the West.

Conservation Groups File Notice to Sue Feds Over New Gold Mine

February 26, 2025 // NEWS: Dispatch

by Madison Dapcevich

The South Fork of the Salmon River flows near the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

The Stibnite project site would be the fourth-largest gold operation in the U.S. by grade, and the only domestic source of mined antimony.

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.

‘A Cascading Effect’: Forest Service, Park Service Workers who Lost Jobs Amid Mass Layoffs Explain Rippling Fallout

February 20, 2025 // NEWS: Feature

by Joseph T. O'Connor and Amanda Eggert

In a lawsuit seeking to halt federal employee firings, the NFFE union said layoffs will threaten 500,000 federal employees

Five nationwide unions representing federal employees have gone to court in an attempt to stop workforce reductions.

The Fight For Wild Lands: Part 3

February 19, 2025 // MoJo Special Series

by Robert Chaney

A packed Capitol rotunda in Helena, Montana, for the February 19 Rally for Public Lands

The U.S. Constitution gives citizens the right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances.” As a blizzard of public lands change sweeps out of Washington, D.C., activists around Greater Yellowstone ponder tactics to help them keep what they hold dear.

The Fight for Wild Lands: Part 2

February 18, 2025 // MoJo Special Series

by Robert Chaney

The federal government employs as many as 10,000 wildland firefighters each year. With hiring freezes in place nationwide, fire season is in limbo

Executive orders coming from the White House could transform a range of core issues affecting Greater Yellowstone. From Forest Service and BLM priorities to national park staffing cuts, public lands advocates must brace for a long season of conflict.

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.