Most years, the tallest Christmas tree harvested in Montana, as far as the Daily Montanan is aware, takes up residence under the Capitol rotunda in Helena for the holiday season, towering nearly three stories tall and adorned with more than 3,500 lights.

On Monday, as Gov. Greg Gianforte looked on, foresters felled this year’s Capitol Christmas tree in the Lolo National Forest.

Near Seeley Lake, a Good Neighbor Authority project between the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the U.S. Forest Service provided an active forest management site to harvest the Douglas Fir that will serve as the state’s Christmas tree, all while contributing to the health of the forest.

“Each year, it’s a privilege to bring a tree from our public lands into the state capitol for all to enjoy,” Gianforte said in a statement. “Through the Good Neighbor Authority, the State of Montana and the Forest Service work together to actively manage our forests and improve their health. This year’s tree is an example of the good work happening to reduce fire risk in Montana.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office said they didn’t know how tall the Douglas Fir was, but will have a better idea once it’s installed in the rotunda.

The Capitol Christmas tree is selected from a different parcel of public land around the state each year. Similarly, the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., displays a Christmas tree harvested from a different National Forest each year. The last tree from Montana — a 79-foot tall Engelmann Spruce from the Kootenai National Forest — was selected in 2017.

This year, a 53-foot red fir named Silver Belle all the way from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada arrived in D.C. over the weekend to become the nation’s Capitol Christmas Tree.

Montana has a long history of producing commercial Christmas trees.

At its height in the middle of the last century, northwest Montana was shipping more than 4 million trees to homes around the country, earning the town of Eureka the nickname “Christmas Tree Capital of the World.”

Now, Montana doesn’t rank in the top 20 states for growing commercial trees, with just 6,338 cultivated trees harvested in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

However, following the governor’s lead, Montanans are able to harvest trees from the state’s vast public lands — data that is not available from state or federal agencies — creating a tradition for many Montana families.

The 2025 State Capitol Christmas tree will displayed in the Capitol rotunda throughout the holiday season. The governor and first lady invite Montanans to join them at the Capitol for a tree lighting ceremony on Monday, Dec. 1, at 5 p.m.

The governor encourages Montanans to participate in the unique tradition of harvesting Christmas trees from public lands to benefit forest health and resiliency as well as improve wildlife habitat.

Cutting any trees on state trust land requires a permit from the local DNRC field office. The cost is $10 per tree. To find a local DNRC field office to secure a permit in person to harvest a Christmas tree, see the map here.

Montanans can also harvest trees from National Forest land with a $5 permit, though some restrictions on height and species apply to trees from federal land.

Forest Service permits can be obtained online by visiting recreation.gov and searching “Christmas tree” and the forest you plan to cut it from, i.e. “Flathead National Forest, Lolo National Forest.”

Wednesday’s loss, a 70-69 defeat at the hands of now 5-0 BYU, will keep first-year Lady Griz coach Nate Harris up into the wee hours, but when he wakes up on Thursday morning, he’ll likely do so with a noticeable hop in his step.
 
Showing a heightened tenacity on the defensive end and a depth of 3-point shooting that will create problems for every opponent Montana faces this season, Harris’s Lady Griz had the Cougars right where they wanted them in the closing minutes at Dahlberg Arena.
 
Montana led 69-64 with just over three minutes remaining but BYU made the winning plays down the stretch, a pull-up jumper in the lane, a 3-pointer with 2:03 that tied it and a game-winning free throw with 1:13 left that proved to be the final point of the game.
 
After the teams traded possessions in the final minute, Montana had the ball, down one, the shot clock turned off and shooters that had made 14 3-pointers on the night spaced around the arc.
 
But potential 3-pointer No. 15 was off the mark and the buzzer sounded before anyone could do anything with the rebound. It was a hard-to-take result on a night that left fans looking at the months ahead and thinking, okay, this team could be really good.
 
“A step in the right direction,” said an understandably disappointed Harris after the game. “I told the team, the easy thing to do is to focus on the result, which I’ll try my hardest not to do as well.
 
“We had a Big 12 team on the ropes and had some great looks down the stretch. Did enough defensively. Really disappointed for our kids. I felt like this could have been a great opportunity to taste victory.”
 
It was a match-up that was hard to make heads or tails of before tip, BYU racing out to a 4-0 start to the season, all the wins coming at home against a lineup of mid- to low-packers, Montana opening 1-3 but facing a brutal stretch of games against Oregon, Washington and South Dakota State.
 
BYU’s largest lead on Wednesday was seven, in the opening period. Montana’s was five, in the final period. In between was Montana’s 3-point shooting going back and forth with BYU’s stronger inside presence in a game full of drama and emotion. November basketball at its best.
 
Playing without last season’s Big 12 Freshman of the Year and this year’s leading scorer, Delaney Gibb, BYU still looked like it might run away with the game in the first quarter, getting out to leads of 16-9 and 18-11.
 
That’s when Montana seemed to draw a line in the sand, its on-ball defense, in particular, going from being there to straight-up disruptive.
 
The Lady Griz scored 10 points over the final 2:40 of the first quarter, highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from freshman Rae Ehrman, and ended the period down just one, 20-19.
 
BYU would not shoot as well in any of the final three periods as the Cougars did in the first.
 
“We need to focus on the growth and what we got out of today, which was learning that when you guard, good things happen,” said Harris.
 
“I thought we guarded with a lot more intensity than we’ve shown all year. Were there mistakes? Sure, but I thought the effort and the intensity were there in a big way.”
 
The Cougars led 38-34 at the half, 55-54 after three quarters, setting up the dramatic final period.
 
Had Montana won, the hero would have been Mack Konig, who was special even without the W. She scored 19 points and added four assists, scoring six in the fourth quarter on strong drives through the gaping holes in the Cougar defense, Harris’s game plan for his program coming to life in real time.
 
A Macy Donarski 3-pointer gave Montana a 62-59 lead and an advantage it would hold for more than five minutes, a Konig finish at the basket making it 64-61, an Ehrman three making it 67-62, another Konig left-handed finish at the rim making it 69-64.
 
There were only three-some minutes to go and BYU had no answer for Montana’s spread offense. But Konig’s basket at 3:37 would be the final points of the game for the Lady Griz.
 
Marya Hudgins, who scored a game-high 23 points, breathed life into the Cougars when her pull-up made it a three-point game, 69-66.
 
The game flipped in a span of nine seconds, a Montana three from the corner missing with 2:12 to go and BYU hitting its own corner three with 2:03 left that tied it. What could have been a six-point lead was now a game deadlocked.
 
Neither team would score a basket the rest of the way, a free throw by Hudgins with 73 seconds left the final point.
 
After taking possession with 20 seconds left, Konig played the clock down to 10 seconds before initiating what Montana hoped was the game-winning sequence.
 
She drove, kicked it to Donarski, who drove and passed back to Konig, who got the ball of Jocelyn Land just to the side of the top of the key, the player who made eight threes on Saturday against South Dakota State.
 
It was an open but contested look, Hudgins doing her best to disrupt Land’s focus with a no-foul fly-by. The stroke was pure, the shot a bit to the right. Ball game. Heartbreak.
 
“We were right there with a fantastic look that I’d take 10 times out of 10 to win the game,” said Harris. “We have to keep plugging. We cannot let the results slow down or stunt the growth that we made tonight.”
 
Montana had its best offensive balance of the season, with Konig finishing with 19, her fifth time this season with 11 or more points, Ehrman adding 12 off the bench on four 3-pointers, and Waddington scoring 10 points, matching a career high with 13 rebounds and blocking a career-high four shots.
 
Donarski scored eight, Kennedy Gillette eight off the bench, Land six.
 
Montana has now made 13, 16 and 14 3-pointers the last three games on better-than-solid 36.4 percent shooting from the arc. The Lady Griz entered the night one of 15 teams in the nation averaging 10 or more threes made, a number that will only tick up after Wednesday.
 
Montana will go Big Ten to Big Ten to the nation’s top-ranked mid-major team to Big 12 to Big 12 when the Lady Griz host Utah (3-1) on Saturday, Nov. 29.

DEER LODGE — Just under a dozen inmates at the Montana State Prison spend their days working on the Pheasant Ranch, combining two Montana traditions: agriculture and hunting.

The program offers well-behaved inmates the opportunity to raise pheasants from hatchery to release, providing both valuable life skills and a sense of accomplishment that’s often missing behind bars.

(WATCH: Montana Ag: Pheasant Program at State Prison Creates Unique Opportunities)

Montana Ag: Pheasant Program at State Prison Creates Unique Opportunities

“Feels good to have done a hard day’s work and actually be able to feel like you’ve accomplished something instead of just sitting in a cell day long,” said Mark McGuire.

MTN News

The work provides more than just a daily routine. It offers a chance to contribute something meaningful to the community.

“Gives you a sense of pride, especially when you see the birds going out for other people to enjoy,” said Bill Dunmire.

The Montana Correctional Enterprises programs provide jobs like the ones in the pheasant operation. Other opportunities include range cattle, dairy and dairy processing, irrigation, and fire crew. Altogether, up to 85 inmates can work while serving time.

MTN News

Nicholas McMaster, a ranch supervisor, said he finds it rewarding to watch the personal growth of the men in the program.

“Well, some of it is just learning how to get along with each other, you know? A lot of guys are here because maybe they couldn’t get along on the outside. I really try to work on them with that, and I’ve got a really good crew right now. They have fun and they work hard and they do what’s needed and then some,” McMaster said.

The inmates told MTN that prison can be a lonely place, but the pheasant program provides opportunities to care for the birds from the hatchery, all the way to their eventual release into Montana’s wild areas.

For some inmates, the experience is training them for goals beyond their sentence.

“For someone that aspires to open up his own dog rescue someday, it’s really been an experience on learning how to raise these animals,” McGuire said.

The pheasants are raised in collaboration with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks in their “Roosters for Recruitment” initiative to provide hunting opportunities for hunters, especially youth hunters. Thousands were transported from the prison and released this fall to about 30 different sites across the Treasure State.

Montana Department of Corrections

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The prison ranch operates year-round, even after hunting season begins. Workers learn additional life skills, including maintenance, carpentry and welding.

National studies show a 7% reduction in recidivism for those who learn a new skill, and a 14% reduction when applying that skill to a job while in prison.

“It makes a world of difference to our morale and how we affect each other,” said Thomas Williams.

Strict biosecurity measures are in place to protect the flock from diseases like avian flu, limiting access to authorized personnel only.

Feeding, watering and preventing disease are among the daily requirements for maintaining a healthy pheasant flock. Some inmates had no prior knowledge of caring for the birds, but now they know better than just about anyone else in the state.

Montana Department of Corrections

Since pheasants started hatching in Deer Lodge, there have been 85,000 birds released across the state, with an estimated 60,000 set to be released next year, along with the addition of the flight pens at Pine Hills

With the program continuing to expand each year, more opportunities for incarcerated individuals will be created, while also furthering support for Montana’s hunting community.

Inmates said they take satisfaction in knowing their work benefits others.

“When I hear about people hunting the pheasants we raise. It just puts joy into my heart,” Williams said.