Beavers, North America's largest rodent, have long been vilified as a nuisance and its pelts marketed as a luxury, but the aquatic mammal’s ecological benefits have become undeniable.

In the latest in our "Faces of Climate" series, Keely Larson profiles Jen Mohler who, after spending a career managing invasive species and weeds, found a way to connect those species to the wider world. She demonstrates their connection to everything from pollinators to red-tailed hawks.

With Congress at impasse, funding deadlines and work details get missed with winter coming. Yellowstone National Park’s gates remain open for tourists to drive through, but most National Park Service employees monitoring the geyser boardwalks or winterizing buildings have been ordered off the clock.

Yellowstone National Park is home to over 10,000 geothermal features, and many more exist outside its boundaries. Officials are interested in the extent to which these resources are connected, but questions abound. Read Part 2 of our three-part series on geothermal energy

Bozeman residents on November 4 will face housing and water issues head on when they’re asked to vote on the Water Adequacy and Residential Development Initiative. Known as WARD it's a citizen-led initiative that ties the city’s cash-in-lieu of water rights program to affordable-housing development.

Radiant Industries cited Wyoming's ban on spent nuclear fuel waste storage for withdrawing its plans to build near Bar Nunn in Natrona County. A company official said it will instead build a manufacturing plant in Tennessee. wyofile.com/radiant-scra...

Jane Goodall passed away peacefully in her sleep 10/1. One of her final acts was to record a video message for the Museum of the Rockies. In it, she welcomed visitors to the “Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Dr. Jane Goodall” exhibit which opened 10/3 running through 1/18/26.

As federal employees face furloughs amid congressional loggerheads over the federal budget, Yellowstone National Park employees, visitors and local businesses are navigating a series of uncertainties about operations at the destination that drew more than 4.7 million visitors last year.

MoJo columnist Susan Marsh reflects on the brightness and shadows in autumn, in cranes and in a unique time in our history.

Looming above the Yellowstone River and Highway 89, the Absaroka Range forms an intimidating eastern wall for the Paradise Valley. Despite their impenetrable appearance, those serrated peaks may hold the passage connecting the two largest concentrations of grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains.

In a presentation to Montana State University students on September 9, Ted Roosevelt IV, the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, focused on the conservation movement, the GOP, and the importance of talking through differences.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission voted on August 21 to unanimously adopt a statewide quota of 452 wolves as well as a 60-wolf quota for Region 3 in southwestern Montana, among other regulations. Originally published by Amanda Eggert at @montanafreepress.org

Recently appointed head of the Forest Service Tom Schultz says his “back to basics” approach will favor expedited review for natural resource management by overhauling agency guidance on NEPA and the ESA. That means more logging, mining and grazing and less wildfire.

Your support has powered reporting on wildlife habitat lost to unchecked development, the impacts of federal agency cuts on the GYE, and investigations into mental health crises on the fire lines. Just to name a few. All with no paywall. Help us celebrate 8 years by donating here: bit.ly/3JqYg2o

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission voted last month to increase wolf-hunting quotas, while also shifting direction on its earlier recommendation to increase limits for mountain lion quotas.

A BLM proposal announced in March envisions releasing about 535,000 acres of land situated within four miles of existing cities and towns with more than 5,000 residents. As of mid-August, no federal maps have been released.

At less than 8 inches long, pikas may be tiny, but don’t let their size fool you. These plump little mammals are having an outsized impact — especially when it comes to helping scientists understand the effects of a warming world.

A federal court in Missoula has sided with a coalition of environmental groups to block a ruling to remove Western gray wolves from protections warranted under the Endangered Species Act. “Ultimately, management of Canis lupus must not be by a political yo-yo process," Judge Donald Molloy wrote.

Need updates on active wildfires in Greater Yellowstone? Watch Duty is providing Mountain Journal with real-time fire info. Click here for more details: mountainjournal.org#wildfire-home

In a unanimous vote July 15 county commissioners approved a resolution to create the Suce Creek Planning and Zoning District. The commission’s vote puts the Suce Creek drainage south of Livingston on a path toward restricting high-impact commercial enterprises.

iNaturalist is a free nonprofit platform where users can upload “observations” consisting of photos of any living thing and add them to a global biodiversity database where other users and an in-app algorithm help identify what they have seen. Greater Yellowstone is home to a bustling base of users.

Montana Geology professor contrasts Archean-age rocks with Young Earth theory along the Yellowstone River. Read Robert Chaney's story below.

As Washington, D.C. continues slash-and-burn policies for federal agencies, the USDA plans to close the Forest Service's nine regional offices responsible for 193 million acres of public land. Robert Chaney looks at what it means for Greater Yellowstone and the Region 1 Headquarters in Missoula.

In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for a consolidation of wildland firefighting resources into one agency by 2026. The House Appropriations Committee has reservations and this week questioned how this would improve the way we currently fight fire. Robert Chaney reports

As grizzly bear populations increase and their range expands, Montana wildlife officials have launched a new online dashboard to help track bear-related incidents. It comes as lawmakers push to remove federal protections for the grizzlies, including a proposal that cleared a key vote last week.

With NPS staff employment down since January, land managers are finding it more difficult to educate parkgoers about the importance of human-wildlife interactions. The responsibility is increasingly falling on visitors.

A decade ago, Doctors Lori and Robert Byron had an epiphany: If humans don’t do something about climate change, what physicians do in exam rooms will be irrelevant. mountainjournal.org/normalizing-...

Nearly a dozen rivers in western Montana and a handful of rivers inside the borders of Yellowstone National Park are subject to ‘hoot owl’ restrictions on afternoon fishing or all-out closures as biologists grapple with warming rivers and meager streamflows.

Rangelands, those wide-open spaces dominated by grasses, shrubs and sagebrush are rapidly declining across the United States. Now, for the first time, researchers at MSU have created a comprehensive inventory of the wildlife that rely on these ecosystems, identifying a total of 1,066 species.

On July 3, the same day the Dept. of Agriculture removed large portions of the National Environmental Policy Act from its manual, President Donald Trump issued an executive order creating the Make America Beautiful Again Commission, which appears at odds with parts of his “Energy Dominance” agenda.

As President Trump rolls out new conservation policies, a recent PERC study suggests charging international tourists more to enter Yellowstone National Park would help allay its maintenance backlog. Would it also deter international travel? Robert Chaney has the story below.

In the parched summer of 1988, wildfires ripped through more than one-third of Yellowstone National Park during the most severe fire year in park history. Approximately 1.2 million acres were scorched. A study has identified 158 square miles of Yellowstone forests remain unforested.

In his new documentary, “Real Yellowstone,” director Tom Opre considers the interlocking challenges of raising crops and livestock on the same landscape that attracts elk, buffalo, hunters and tourists. Read more below.

Public lands are feeling the strain of dwindling federal funding and shrinking workforces, and the Bridger-Teton National Forest is no exception. As critical maintenance and trail work falls behind, a small but experienced crew dubbed the Forest Corps is stepping in to help fill the gap.

Conservation groups in federal district court last week alleged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by inadequately considering challenges faced by gray wolves.

As wildfires worsen across the U.S., job uncertainty is combining with a growing mental health crisis and threatening the lives of wildland firefighters. In her Mountain Journal debut, Rose Shimberg uncovers the mental health issues that can haunt wildland firefighters. Read her story below.

The Trump administration plans to roll back the 2001 “Roadless Rule,” which would revoke protection from 58 million acres of Forest Service land. Here’s what it means for Greater Yellowstone.

Our new site goes live tomorrow. Give it a look and let us know what you think! Photo by A. Falgoust/NPS

The countdown is on! Our new website is going live Monday and we're doing it for you: The site will offer an improved user experience to showcase our in-depth, original reporting and eye-catching photography. Photo by Ben Bluhm

In early May, President Donald Trump’s administration advanced a sweeping proposal to slash the National Park Service budget for fiscal year 2026. Just weeks later, Yellowstone National Park reported its busiest May on record.

To celebrate summer — and to give you, our readers, a better user experience and an eye-popping new look — we're launching our new website next week. And it's slick. Stay tuned!

BLM manages wild horses and burros in 175 herd management areas across 10 western states. The agency plans to cut Wyoming's 6,000 wild horses down to approximately 2,500.

In areas where columnist Susan Marsh often sees numerous spotted frogs, her friend saw just three last summer. Combined with dwindling numbers of whitebark pine and receding glaciers, this spotted-frog shortage should grab our collective attention. Read more below.

Federal budget documents confirm the Trump administration’s intention to strip U.S. Forest Service wildfire duties and transferring them to a centralized wildland fire service housed in the Department of Interior.

Wyoming’s top predators could be facing more pressure this fall. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is proposing to raise hunting quotas for both gray wolves and mountain lions, a move that would put more tags in hunters’ hands.

Across Greater Yellowstone and the West, bear managers are working to educate locals and visitors on the dangers of bears depending on human food. Read Robert Chaney's reporting below.

Will Canadian visitors to the U.S. avoid crossing the border this summer? February-April traffic across the U.S-Canada port of entry in Roosville was down 22 percent compared to last year, according to Diane Medler of Discover. Robert Chaney reports at the link below.

For the first time in the state’s recorded history, blacklegged ticks — the tiny, dark parasites known for spreading disease — are out for blood in Montana.

As interest and the market for antlers soars, elk, deer and moose ‘sheds’ are selling for $13 a pound, up nearly double over the past two decades. Read more of Madison Dapcevich's story. Photo by Tony Hough/USFWS