Public access to private timber land

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks is again asking for public comments on the second phase of a conservation easement project with the Green Diamond Company, a timber company.

Montana land should belong to Montanans, not foreign entities

Montana’s land is more than just acres on a map; it’s our heritage, our livelihood, and our future. Yet, for too long, our tax deed process has left the door wide open for foreign entities to scoop up property at the expense of Montanans.

Appeals court sides with corner-crossing hunters in Wyoming dispute

A federal three-judge panel has sided with a group of hunters who faced civil trespassing charges stemming from elk-hunting excursions into “checkerboard” land in Carbon County, Wyoming.

Next phase of large conservation easement up for review

The new easement would encompass forestlands in the Cabinet Mountains between Kalispell and Libby.

Letters to the editor March 9

Letters to the editor March 9

Kalispell City Hall kicks off land use plan education campaign with open house

City planners and poster boards were staked out at Bias Brewery in downtown Kalispell on Wednesday evening for the municipality’s first open house in its effort to draft a new land use plan.

This is what we stand to lose

With eyes wide open, the American people watch President Donald Trump and Elon Musk pillage the American Dream in real time. Under the guise of saving taxpayer money, the Trump-Musk administration’s attack on our public lands is misguided whitewash at best. I believe that their ultimate goal is to eliminate federal public lands. This gift, that we call public lands, was given to us and future generations by our predecessors and we have a duty to protect it.

Public engagement kicking off as Kalispell works on new land use plan

Efforts to stoke public involvement as the city drafts a new land use plan are kicking off, according to Colorado-based planning firm Logan Simpson.

Water isn’t free. Exempt well policy pretends it is

Last month, the senator from Martinsdale received harsh criticism from dozens of opponents on his bill to “revise exempt water rights laws.”

Residents endorse state plans to add acreage to conservation easement

The state completed the first phase of the plan in February by purchasing rights to 32,821 acres of land roughly north of the Thompson chain of lakes from Green Diamond Resource Company, creating the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement. Now, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking approval to add another 52,930 acres to the perpetual easement.

Southwest Airlines flight abruptly rises to avoid another plane crossing Chicago runway

Pilots on a Southwest Airlines flight attempting to land at Chicago's Midway Airport were forced to climb back into the sky to avoid another aircraft crossing the runway.

Letters to the editor March 2

Letters to the editor March 2

Court upholds pro-construction housing laws; nixes NIMBY-focused public comment limits

A district court judge in Bozeman ruled Monday against most of the claims made by a homeowners group that sued to challenge four pro-construction housing laws passed by the 2023 Legislature.

Who will pay for Hertz’s TIF reform? You will.

Tax increment financing is a policy driver that incentivizes private developers to develop in areas they would not otherwise develop, e.g., 100-year-old vacant blighted structures full of contaminants on rural Main Streets.

Letters to the editor March 20

Letters to the editor March 20

They don’t know what they don’t know

Much has been written and broadcast recently regarding the impacts of the Trump administration and particularly the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce the size of the federal government workforce.

Legals for February, 25 2025

Flathead County Library looks to build new Kalispell branch on mall property

Flathead County Library officials signed a letter of intent Thursday to purchase several acres of property at the Kalispell Center Mall for a future branch for the municipality.

New high-density development proposed in North Kalispell

Named the Reserve at Johnson Ranch, the development would see 186 single-family lots and two multi-family lots, one of which contains 237 units.

Legals for February, 28 2025