The Big Why

A wildfire burned through the small town of Denton, MT in December of 2021. It burned more than 10,000 acres and destroyed 25 homes. So how is the town of Denton rebuilding, and what does wildfire resilient construction look like?

One listener wants to know why non-Natives make up a majority of the population on the Flathead Reservation. Another listener asks how much land Montana’s reservations lost to White settlement. The answer goes back to an 1887 law that ramped-up the federal government's efforts to assimilate Native people and erase their cultures.

Following a lot of news about climate change, protests, presidential directives and court cases, a listener wants to know what Montana is doing to address climate change. It's a big question, so the answer will come in three parts. Here's part 1.

A listener is curious about how glaciers are faring in the south end of the Mission Mountains, those big peaks you can see from Highway 93 on the Flathead Reservation. Learn more about them now, on The Big Why.

Montanans hate it. Politicians fear it. Supporters discuss it in hushed tones after the blinds are closed and the kids are tucked safely into bed. Yet, It doesn't exist in Montana. What is it? Today we’re talking about the sales tax. Wait, don't go! The tax debate is actually pretty hot right now, and a listener wants to know why Montana remains one of the few states without a sales tax.

A Helena listener had a long-simmering curiosity about a relic of Montana history that still sits just across the Beaverhead River from Twin Bridges: The old Montana State Orphanage built in 1894. We took a look around with one of the previous residents. Join us for the tour, on this episode of The Big Why.

You may know Montana has an official state animal, a state bird, a state gemstone and a state fruit. But did you know we have a state lullaby? Neither did we. Here's what we learned.

The Ringing Rocks is a roadside attraction people have been visiting for a long time. It's a big heap of boulders that give off a resonant bell-like ringing sound when struck with metal; at least theoretically. A listener wants to know what makes these rocks ring.

The Yellowstone area got more snowfall this winter than any time in the past 23 years. Listeners want to know, how did the extreme winter affect animals like deer, elk and bison?

In Montana, we're used to hitting the water in our tubes, rafts or waders and going wherever the river takes us. Anyone can recreate on streams in the state below the high-water mark — no matter who owns the land beneath them. This isn't possible in most of the country. How did we end up with such strong stream access protections, and what does the law's future look like?