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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Tuesday that the whitebark pine tree, which faces threats from invasive species, climate change and wildfires, be protected with a "threatened" designation under the Endangered Species Act. The whitebark pine, which grows in higher elevations, poor soil, and other places inhospitable to many trees, is a keystone species across 80 million acres of western North America, including seven states in the U.S. The tree is critical to forest landscapes, popping up as quickly as two years after major fires,...
At Billings Clinic, the emergency room is turning away ambulances. In Bozeman, health care workers who are supposed to be quarantined because of exposure to COVID-19 are having to work. Ravalli County emergency room doctors say the community is "on the brink of disaster." As COVID-19 continues to spread uncontrolled across Montana, four hospitals are operating beyond their capacity, schools and businesses are closing and officials are pleading for people to follow public health guidance. "The alarm is undoubtedly ringing loud. It will be a...
Montana has set multiple new records for COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the past week, and now ranks among the top states in the nation in daily new cases per capita. Hospitals in some of Montana's largest cities are at or near capacity, while health care providers are pleading with people to heed public health advice. Public health departments say they aren't able to keep up with contact tracing and feel powerless in the face of politically charged resistance to masks and social distanc...
The construction site of a $400 million luxury resort in Big Sky has led to at least 116 COVID-19 cases in July, public health officials confirmed to Montana Free Press. The outbreak is one of the largest in the state. It is also unique in that the outbreak affects workers traveling to work in the community from outside of Gallatin and Madison counties, where Big Sky is located. "This has been a big concern for us because of the number of positives," said Gallatin City-County public health officer Matt Kelley in an email Wednesday. Gallatin...
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Montana has been the safest state in the Lower 48. Despite early projections of hundreds of deaths and a shortage of ICU beds, the state's initial outbreak peaked with a daily caseload of 23 on April 1. The state was able to not only flatten the curve, but also go farther than any other state in stalling the virus's spread, with new cases zeroing out in late May. But over the past week, Montana has seen its largest surge of cases. On Thursday, the state reported 37 positive cases, the most in a...
Montana will lift its 14-day quarantine for out-of-state travelers as the state transitions to phase two of the Reopening the Big Sky plan on June 1, Gov. Steve Bullock announced Tuesday. Lifting the quarantine will coincide with a likely June 1 opening of Montana's gates to Yellowstone National Park in West Yellowstone, Gardiner and Cooke City, Bullock said. Yellowstone's Wyoming gates opened to travelers on Monday, May 18. The lifting of the quarantine was not initially considered part of...
The beef supply chain in the United States typically starts on a ranch like Marty Malone's, in Paradise Valley, with the birth of calves. After a summer of grazing, a cow reaches about 500 to 700 pounds. Then the cow is sold to a feedlot in the Midwest or Great Plains, where it eats feed like corn and barley to fatten up. At about 1,200 pounds and 18 months of age, it's slaughtered at a nearby packing plant. Then it's shipped to a wholesaler, who sells the meat to a restaurant or grocery store,...
