To save America's most iconic wildlife ecosystem, two prominent conservationists say in this op-ed that today's epic challenges must be met with grander bolder thinking. If not this, then what?. EDITOR'S NOTE: No one argues that many corners of Greater Yellowstone, especially those in closer proximity to Yellowstone and Grand...

One of the arguments states use in pushing for grizzly delisting is bringing back a trophy season to help them recoup money they've spent on bear recovery. Does the premise add up?. Cattle and sheep losses are real for livestock producers. They have an impact on the bottom line, they...

In this guest essay, the writer suggests that protecting old growth trees in the Kootenai could establish Montana as a national reference in confronting climate change. Far back in the high elevation wetlands of northwest Montana’s Yaak Valley — hidden away on the Kootenai National Forest — is a vast and ancient forest referred to as Black Ram, named for the logging project scheduled to clearcut it. The giant trees include cedar, hemlock, subalpine fir, 315-year old spruce, 600 to 800 year old larch. The region is home to fully 25 percent of all the species of concern in the entire state. Light filters down through the canopy like notes of music; the forest floor is clad in emerald moss and sea-blue lichen.

For decades, hunters and anglers have claimed they're the economic bulwarks for protecting species. But is it true? Also: Is it time that outdoor recreation users be asked to pay taxes on gear?. Who foots the bill for wildlife conservation in America—especially the public-land-rich West which gives large charismatic mammal...

Citing the state constitution, young people in Montana sued the state over climate change. Win or lose, wildlife conservation would strengthen their case with the public. "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something,. build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." —Buckminster Fuller...

EDITOR'S NOTE: In a time of deep polarization in the American West, author Betsy Gaines Quammen took to the streets to talk with folks of all ilks, listen and convey in her latest book that we must look beyond the myths clouding our collective vision and dividing us along a terrifying fault line. What she's come up with in True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America, is a clear examination of our history and a debunking of Western myths, "misperceptions," reads a statement by publisher Torrey House Press, "about land, politics, liberty, and self-determination [that] threaten the wellbeing of western communities overrun by newcomers seeking a dream—and the country unless America recognizes the dangers of building a national identity on illusion." This book may just allow us to see that we have much more in common than that which pits us against one another.

What's happening near Gallatin Gateway, Montana is indicative, Robert Sisson says, of how developers are making profits but externalizing their costs on citizens and nature. EDITOR'S NOTE: The following op-ed is written by Rob Sisson who lives near Gallatin Gateway west of Bozeman and for years served as president of the national non-profit ConservAmerica which previously was known as Republicans for Environmental Protection. A former small-town mayor, he has held a number of important policy positions, including serving as a US Commissioner on the International Joint Commission which addresses environmental issues found along the northern US border with Canada. Also click here to watch a local TV report on the proposed gravel pit featuring an interview with longtime Gallatin Gateway denizen John Baden, a well known libertarian who founded the organization, FREE—Foundation on Research on Economics and the Environment. Sisson believes that the proposed gravel pit is yet another example of how sprawl and unplanned growth are rapidly eroding the fabric of rural Montana and natural landscapes in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. —Mountain Journal.

In June 2021, headlines appeared in Idaho newspapers announcing that, in a couple of fell swoops, predators had killed 54 sheep on a farm in the Magic Valley near Twin Falls. The reports echoed of a familiar narrative and might otherwise have pointed in the direction of usual suspects. Journalist...

How much is a grizzly bear really worth? Or, for that matter, a gray wolf or bobcat? Apart from individual bruins, lobos and wildcats, what does it mean to have a sustainable, viable population of animals and what is the true meaning of biological recovery?. Maybe you’re familiar with the...

Confirmed in new landscapes, bears on exploratory sojourns show how they can wander. Preventing conflict and being safe requires humans being aware and living smartly. Lone grizzly bears are again showing up in places where they haven’t been in a long time—or at least confirming a presence presumed but not verified.

As many as 500 pronghorn once migrated along the famed "Path of the Pronghorn." In 2023, biologists counted 25. An exquisite ecotype and one that’s often overlooked dominates landscapes in Greater Yellowstone: the sagebrush-bunchgrass steppe. From a speeding automobile it may appear as a featureless expanse of gray brush, but a closer look reveals many hidden ecological gems. In Jackson Hole there are at least four species/subspecies of sagebrush and several herbaceous species of Artemesia, along with grasses and wildflowers.

Is there any rural place in America that, amid intense development pressure, has managed to hold onto its special character in the absence of foresighted zoning?. Certainly, it could be argued, none with the pastoral grandeur of Paradise Valley and Park County, Montana—scenic historic gateway to the front doorstep of this country’s first national park. Besides that, Park County has more biological diversity, in the form of native large mammals, than 99 percent of the other counties in the Lower 48. The roster ranges from wild, free-ranging elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, moose, two species of deer and bison to grizzly and black bears, wolves, mountain lions, wolverines, and Canada lynx.

For years Headwaters Economics has been at the forefront of charting—and touting—a profound shift in the American West. Happening for decades, the transition has involved a move away from traditional natural resource extraction industries which have been pre-eminent economic pillars—logging, mining, energy development and agriculture—toward a different set of drivers presumed to be more sustainable, less consumptive and better suited to conservation.

Lee Nellis, a longtime planning guru in Greater Yellowstone, responds to Lori Ryker's call for a new blueprint in thinking about development. Reading Lori Ryker’s column, Mapping Nature to Build a Smarter Human Footprint, in Mountain Journal took me, as they say, down memory lane. I found myself back...

GALLATIN GATEWAY, Montana – This small town sits astride one of the most celebrated stretches of water in the country—not far from where A River Runs Through It was filmed and where wildlife watchers, fly-fishing anglers, kayakers and rafters bask in the glory of this blue-ribbon stream. The...

People flee to the wilds seeking solitude and yet there's a crisis of human disconnection now gripping America. Therapist Timothy Tate explores what's behind it. There are inescapable certainties in this life, and one of them is that most of us, at some point, will feel lonely and depressed. It's hard not to when you care about things so much.

EDITOR'S NOTE: If individual citizens or companies make unwise investment decisions that result in disastrous consequences, should other citizens, society or government bail them out for their losses? Similarly, if an individual builds a home on private land in the flood plain or lowland coastal area and then sees the structure get washed away or damaged in a flood, who is at fault? In the American West, if homeowners build structures in the wildland-urban interface where they know there is a higher risk of losing their domicile to wildfire, who, if anyone, should be paying for firefighting to protect their homes or compensating them for their losses when their homes burn down? This is a topic that figures prominently in a new Mountain Journal series on risks of building in the wildland-urban interface. In the last part, MoJo managing editor Joseph T. O'Connor highlighted the substantial, multi-billion-dollar real estate values at risk in the destination resort community of Big Sky where developers continue to aggressively push for more construction in wildlife-prone areas. This story below, published recently in the journal, The Conversation, explores a hot-button issue: whether insurance companies should provide coverage to homeowners in high-risk areas. In the wake of O'Connor's piece appearing, meetings have been held in Big Sky about some insurance carriers potentially no longer providing coverage and/or implementing new rules in order for policy owners to qualify. The Conversation is a journal that features analysis by leading policy experts in academia and science. —Todd Wilkinson, MoJo founder.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The landmark Wilderness Act of 1964 established wilderness areas across the country, protecting more than 9 million acres of pristine public land. "In order to assure that an increasing population," the Act reads, "accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness."

Returning to ‘Magic Ridge,’ Susan Marsh rediscovers the many faces of Nature’s splendor. After writing about a nameless ridge in the foothills of the Gros Ventre Range, which I christened “Magic Ridge,” I realized I had been there only once, nearly a year ago. So I decided to pay it another visit, approaching from the opposite direction than the way I went before.

In new, long-awaited book, Montana photographer writes how wandering through grizzly and wolf country has helped him recover from young daughter's tragic death. EDITOR'S NOTE: The piece below is an adapted excerpt from Bradley Orsted's new memoir Through the Wilderness: My Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American West (St. Martin's Press). Also read a conversation between Mountain Journal and Orsted that explored how coming to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has helped him on a perpetual, never-ending journey of trying to cope with the loss of his daughter, his subsequent struggle with alcoholism and his work today as nature photographer and cinematographer. —Todd Wilkinson.