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ecology

Eat, Bleat, Repeat: Montana goat company helps landowners reduce wildfire fuels

Eat, Bleat, Repeat: Montana goat company helps landowners reduce wildfire fuels

SHERIDAN, Mont. — As wildfire season approaches, a local business is offering landowners another way to clear grass and weeds from their property. Goats can offer an eco-friendly way to manage land, whether it be regular real estate property, agricultural land or grazing land for other livestock, explained Ohana Goats

Fort Missoula garden volunteers help native plants thrive

MISSOULA, Mont. — Volunteers head to the Fort Missoula Native Plant Garden most Sundays during the summer to help care for the space and spend time outdoors. Elena Ulev manages the garden for the Montana Natural History Center. She said the work also gives people a chance to learn more about

Conservation group sues over ESA protections for pygmy rabbit

Two conservation organizations filed suit in federal district court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over a delayed decision about whether the world’s smallest rabbit species qualifies for Endangered Species Act protections. Just days before the 21st annual Endangered Species Day — celebrated nationwide on May 15 to

PERC report says investment in forest fuel treatments leads to decreased wildfire costs

A new report says prescribed burns and thinning projects save money, longterm, highlighting new peer-reviewed economic research on wildfires. The report, released by Bozeman-based Property and Environment Research Center, a “free market environmentalism” nonprofit think-tank, draws heavily on two economics papers looking at fire suppression costs and

Bitterroot Front project approved to cut wildfire risk

Bitterroot Front project approved to cut wildfire risk

RAVALLI COUNTY, Mont. — A major wildfire reduction project in the Bitterroot Valley got final approval on May 12, 2026. According to a press release, the Bitterroot Front Project was designed to reduce wildfire risk for communities in the Bitterroot Valley. More than 800,000 acres had burned since 1999 and

A deep-ocean climate plan wins rare EPA approval, but is sinking plants in the sea the answer?

A deep-ocean climate plan wins rare EPA approval, but is sinking plants in the sea the answer?

Innovators who are working on ways to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to fight climate change are having a tough time lately. Their biggest supporter, Microsoft, recently began telling partners that it is pausing its carbon removal purchases. To get a sense of how big of a deal

Can matchmaking save dormice from extinction?

Can matchmaking save dormice from extinction?

By Isobel Williams Conservationists have set up a dating agency for dormice to try and help the vulnerable species survive. The U.K.-based Wildwood Trust is gearing up to send 37 of the rodents back into the wild after a successful breeding season. Conservation officer Suzanne Kynaston says she