Big Sky Lede

A recent lawsuit in Montana District Court has brought confusion and now hopefully some clarity on what is and is not allowed for hunting wolves.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks in response to a lawsuit from two wildlife advocacy groups argues that its removal of language from Montana’s wolf hunting regulations prohibiting hunting wolves from aircraft was justified because state law does not specifically bar hunting wolves from the air.

But according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and subsequently acknowledged by FWP, a federal law prohibits shooting wildlife from aircraft, although comes with some exceptions.

On this episode, Tom Kuglin walks us through the lead up to a consensus among both federal and state officials that wolves may not be hunted from aircraft for recreational purposes.

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Republican lawmakers are talking seriously about a possible special legislative session in the coming weeks, and that the governor has indicated a willingness to call lawmakers into session if certain conditions are met.

The goal: preempt a court from redrawing the state’s Public Service Commission districts.

On this episode, Sam Wilson and Holly Michels of the Montana State News Bureau talk about a recent article from Wilson on the rumblings of a special session and the story's fallout.

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Weighing the benefits of technology with the principles of fair chase has long been a difficult balance in hunting in Montana and across the West.

Photographing wildlife with remote trail cameras has grown in popularity over the last 20 years, whether as a noninvasive tool for research or a fun form of recreation. But in the hunting world, trail camera use has never been more hotly debated.

On this episode, Tom Kuglin of the Montana State New Bureau, fleshes out the debate and tells us where Montana lands in it.

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As the grizzly population has grown, so too has the political divide in the country and Montana. How will polarization shape the future of grizzlies, a species that can be both revered and divisive.

Tom Kuglin joins us to talk about his reporting around the political divide over grizzly bears and how wide-ranging it is.

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Bear management in Indian Country looks very different from the mainstream public lands approach. For one thing, there’s a strong religious component.

This episode contains a reading by Robert Chaney, author and long-time reporter for the Missoulian, from his book “The Grizzly in the Driveway: The Return of Bears to a Crowded American West.”

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A radio-collared grizzly trekked 2,800 miles through Montana and Idaho. Her trail shows the many places bears may soon inhabit as the species recovers - areas that haven’t had grizzlies for a century. 

This episode contains a reading by Robert Chaney, author and long-time reporter for the Missoulian, from his book “The Grizzly in the Driveway: The Return of Bears to a Crowded American West.”

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Grizzly bears don’t attend policy meetings. Our reactions to their activity may be rooted in economics, fear, adoration or politics. A comprehensive survey of Montana grizzly attitudes found that we love having the great bear on the landscape, and we think hunting them would be a good idea. Current science indicates those two opinions will conflict, as people assume hunting bears will solve problems when instead it may push grizzly populations back into endangered status. Can both humans and grizzly bears adapt to share the landscape they both claim?

Kia Gardner sits down with Rob Chaney from the Missoulian newspaper to introduce the second week of a two-week series where the many issues around the uneasy coexistence of grizzlies and humans are examined in full. Produced over the past year by some of the country’s foremost outdoor reporters and photojournalists, the series is publishing in Lee newspapers across Wyoming and Montana.

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Black bears used to cause havoc in Virginia City, but efforts to neutralize attractants changed that. Now, residents hope those efforts have prepared them for their next likely visitors - grizzlies.

Kia Gardner sits down with Michael Cast, formerly of the Montana Standard newspaper, and talks about Virginia City, located between both grizzly recovery areas, and how the community has gotten "bear smart."

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Brad Treat’s fatal bike collision with a grizzly illustrates the challenge of recreating in bear country. With both bear populations and human activity on the upswing, conflicts will grow accordingly.

This episode contains a reading by Robert Chaney, author and long-time reporter for the Missoulian, from his book “The Grizzly in the Driveway: The Return of Bears to a Crowded American West.”

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two hundred years ago, grizzly bears ruled the West. 

Today, people have taken that throne and relegated Ursus arctos horribilis to a fraction of its former range. But the bears — backed by legal protection and decades of recovery efforts – have begun reasserting themselves, in some cases appearing in areas where they hadn’t been seen for nearly a century. The slow but steady expansion has led to an increase in bear-human conflicts that run the gamut from minor to deadly – trash-can rummages, chicken-coop break-ins, livestock depredation, fatal human maulings. As both bear and human populations grow in the region, experts say the number of conflicts will grow as well. That leaves stakeholders to grapple with how people should react when grizzlies eventually meander through their properties, and whether the bears will adapt to the limits we impose on them.

Kia Gardner sits down with Rob Chaney from the Missoulian newspaper to introduce the first week of a two-week series where the many issues around the uneasy coexistence of grizzlies and humans are examined in full. Produced over the past year by some of the country’s foremost outdoor reporters and photojournalists, the series is publishing in Lee newspapers across Wyoming and Montana.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.