This is the last weekend to get involved in a photo competition designed to encourage Montanans to explore the wilderness with their pets. There are 30 million acres of publicly owned land in Montana - nearly a third of the state. As part of an effort designed to get people in touch with public lands, conservation groups are holding a photo contest that encourages people to enter photos of themselves with their dogs in the great outdoors and post them to the competition website. .
Three conservation groups have sued to stop a large logging project near Yellowstone National Park they say threatens endangered species in Montana. The South Plateau Project would clear-cut 5,500 acres of trees, burn more than 16,000 acres, and carve 56 miles of logging roads into the Custer-Gallatin National Forest near Yellowstone Park, close to the Continental Divide. Mike Garrity, executive director of the Helena-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies, which worked with the Center for Biological Diversity to file the suit, said the logging project would be genetically devastating for grizzlies near Yellowstone, because it proposes to slice through a corridor which allows Yellowstone grizzlies to mix with bears further north as they work their way back from the endangered list. .
Imagine reaching your favorite Grand Teton National Park trail in half the time because of new pull-outs that clear traffic on arterial roads. Or driving into Moose Junction, parking your car, and hopping on an electric-assisted bicycle to explore the park on a dedicated path that connects with a ferry across Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls. These are the types of ideas that park Superintendent Chip Jenkins said he hopes to gather from visitors to help officials map out the iconic park s future. .
Grand Teton National Park visitation doubled during the last three decades, reaching 3.2 million in 2020. The trajectory is not quite as steep as the park’s eponymous mountains, but headed