Montana
Montana says it doesn't have enough resources to help Colorado's wolf re-introduction – Daily Montanan

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department says that hunting and trapping wolves is fine. But, it doesn’t have the resources to translocate — or move — them to another state.
In May 2023, Jeff Davis, Colorado’s Director of Parks and Wildlife, sent a request to Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, seeking 30 to 50 wolves during the course of “several years,” because voters there had passed Proposition 114, which created a wolf re-introduction plan for the state.
Colorado media outlets reported that the state had reached out to other states, including Montana, but had to go to Oregon to get its first wolves, after Idaho and Montana declined.
Greg Lemon, spokesperson for the Montana FWP, said that Montana does not have adequate staff to handle the request, which would include locating the wolves, trapping them and then transporting them. For example, he said that contributing the animals to Colorado would have likely required an environmental impact statement and other documentation that could have monopolized staff time.
He told the Daily Montanan that Davis had reached out to former FWP Director Hank Worsech, who was contacted by letter by Colorado. He said that Worsech had a phone conversation with Davis, declining to help Colorado reintroduce wolves with Montana animals.
Lemon said the decision was made by Worsech and that the governor’s office was not involved with the decision.
In regards to public information requests and inquiries by media, the Montana FWP released this statement:
“Wolf management in Montana is controversial and demands a balance of sometimes competing values from landowners, hunters, trappers and the general public. This will remain our focus. Moving wolves to Colorado would involve a lengthy environmental review, public process and ultimately a commission decision. It would also involve staff time in the field to find, trap and move wolves. This effort would take our focus off managing wolves for the people of Montana. We are simply not willing to divert our attention from this important task.”
Even though Montana declined to “translocate” wolves, the state is currently involved with moving another species. Montana has agreed to move some of its grizzly bears to Wyoming in an effort to connect isolated bear populations and diverse their genetics.
“That’s part of our commitment to the conservation of the species,” Lemon said. “We have to ensure genetic exchange and that’s important.”
The Daily Montanan asked what made the two decisions different, and Lemon said wolves have proliferated in the state, whereas the bears’ recovery has been a slower process that could benefit from the new genetics.
“The reality is that we have finite capacity and resources for our wildlife,” Lemon said. “And, (the Colorado) request is just not where we’re at.”

Montana
Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Lucky For Life results for June 27, 2025
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at June 27, 2025, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from June 27 drawing
18-21-29-42-50, Mega Ball: 02
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lucky For Life numbers from June 27 drawing
05-12-33-43-47, Lucky Ball: 17
Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from June 27 drawing
12-20-21-28, Bonus: 05
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
Winning lottery numbers are sponsored by Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network.
Where can you buy lottery tickets?
Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.
You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer.
Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 18+ (19+ in NE, 21+ in AZ). Physically present where Jackpocket operates. Jackpocket is not affiliated with any State Lottery. Eligibility Restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Terms: jackpocket.com/tos.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Montana
Viewpoint: Montana Board of Housing celebrates 50 years

Cheryl Cohen
Many of us can vividly recall our first apartment rental experiences. For me, it was a single-family home shared with three college roommates, then an upper floor in a triplex where the kitchen fan spun itself off the ceiling and crash landed on the dining room table, followed by a non-conforming daylight basement unit with mold growing on every window. These were not glamourous experiences, but they were what I could afford and what was available on the market.
Some of us have been blessed, through hard work, luck and favorable market conditions, to become first-time homebuyers. For me, it was a sweat equity short sale under the third runway easement of a large international airport necessitating over 60 cubic yards of debris removal in the first weekend. But it was our home, our garden, our sanctuary and we took pride in our amateur DIY renovation efforts.
Those of us who work in the affordable housing space have the privilege of supporting individuals and families with their first ventures in apartment leasing, transitioning to a rental home they can better afford and even witnessing the American Dream in action at the closing table as a family receives the keys to their first home.
Over the last 50 years, the Montana Board of Housing, which is administratively attached to the Montana Department of Commerce, has partnered with organizations statewide who regularly experience these inspiring moments. Imagine assisting an individual moving inside after experiencing homelessness for a decade or more, or supporting a single mom regaining custody of her little boy with a safe, affordable apartment on Christmas Eve, or helping seniors stay in their homes with a fair and reputable Reverse Annuity Mortgage loan or providing first-time homebuyer counseling to a family who works and saves for a down payment to close on their first home.
I’ve been fortunate to experience many such moments throughout my career, as have all members of the MBOH team. Each time, these moments remind me of a childhood memory. My parents, an electrician and a nurse, worked to build a new construction home for our family. My brothers and I would hang out at the job site after school (safely) while my dad ran the electrical. My mom, a music lover, asked my dad to wire surround sound speakers in various rooms of the house. The day we moved in, mom cranked the stereo with Kenny G’s saxophone music and ran through the house crying. My parents both came from humble backgrounds; it had been a long journey of saving and sacrificing to build our new home. I credit this memory and their hard work for my chosen career path.
The MBOH certainly tracks all manner of data, but it’s the human impact on Montana families and communities – which cannot be easily summed up in loan production volume or affordable rental unit counts – that drives our mission. With a safe and affordable home, families can thrive and flourish, communities become convening places for neighbors and new friendships and children retain stability in school.
With a safe and affordable home, individuals have more flexibility to take risks and pursue entrepreneurial ventures, educational attainment in children improves and overall health and well-being are enhanced. A safe, affordable home is foundational to our ability to reach our full potential; without it, the stress of stacked-up bills and difficult decisions whether to purchase food, medicine or those desperately needed new shoes for our kids monopolize our minds every minute of every day.
The MBOH’s cumulative support of first-time homebuyers includes 47,700 low-interest rate primary mortgage and down payment assistance loans, equating to nearly $3.8 billion dollars statewide. In addition to its support of Montana homebuyers, the MBOH portfolio includes over 9,500 affordable apartments and resident-owned mobile homes with long-term periods of affordability (30 to 50 years) and an in-house mortgage servicing portfolio with over 6,200 active loans. You can learn more about our history and impact on our website, which includes a slideshow video and timeline.
Perhaps you or a person you know has benefited from an MBOH loan, or you might live in an affordable apartment constructed with Housing Tax Credits allocated by our agency. And even if you don’t, you might recall a time in your life that you experienced housing instability due to a spousal separation, loss of a job or a health diagnosis that upended your entire life and finances.
Individuals and families supported by MBOH programs have experienced these and other struggles. We all need a hand up sometimes, and I’m tremendously proud that the MBOH – including our Board, staff, partners, investors, participating lenders, developers and others – could be this hand up for so many Montanans.
On June 19, 2025, Governor Gianforte signed HB 924 into law, establishing a new Montana housing trust within the broader Growth and Opportunity Trust. This legislation will provide statutory appropriations for affordable housing for the first time in Montana state history – but we won’t rest on our laurels; with your continued support, we’re rolling up our sleeves for another 50 years and beyond!
– Cheryl Cohen, MBOH Executive Director and Housing Division Administrator at the Montana Department of Commerce
Montana
Former Montana US Rep Pat Williams, who won a liberal- conservative showdown, dies at 87 – WTOP News

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Pat Williams, a New Deal-style Democrat who won Montana’s great liberal-conservative showdown of 1992 to become…
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Pat Williams, a New Deal-style Democrat who won Montana’s great liberal-conservative showdown of 1992 to become the state’s lone voice in the U.S. House of Representatives, died Wednesday. He was 87.
Williams died in Missoula of natural causes, family spokesperson Matt McKenna said Thursday.
John Patrick Williams represented the western half Montana from 1979 to 1997. When the 1990 census eliminated one of two House seats the state held since 1912, Williams captured the new statewide district in a bruising race against the longtime eastern-district representative, Republican Ron Marlenee.
The 51% majority was the slimmest of Williams’ congressional career — and the first election defeat in Marlenee’s 16-year career.
The matchup was billed as a classic liberal-conservative confrontation and a microcosm of political battles being waged throughout the West over control of the land and its resources.
It was a bitter, hard-fought contest — each man spent more than $1 million — and Williams said quickly after his victory that he would work to bring the state together.
Williams first tried for the congressional seat in 1974, but he lost to fellow Democrat Max Baucus. Williams was elected to the post in 1978 when Baucus moved to the U.S. Senate. By the time of the face-off with Marlenee, Williams was a deputy whip in the House.
He was an unabashed liberal, a staunch advocate for organized labor and a believer in the potential of government to help people.
That won him the enmity of conservative groups such as Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition.
Williams defended the National Endowment for the Arts against pornography charges and opposed proposed constitutional amendments to outlaw abortion and flag desecration and to require a balanced budget. He opposed U.S. military intervention in the 1991 Gulf War and wanted post-Cold War defense savings to be used for public works projects.
Williams tried to take a middle road in one of Montana’s most divisive issues, wilderness, and environmental groups generally gave him strong support. He said the argument of jobs versus the environment presented a false choice because the state could not have one without the other.
“A clean environment … has been and will be an absolute cash register for this state,” he said in 1992.
His family said in a statement that Williams spent his life protecting wild lands and defending the working poor, arts, Native people and children with disabilities.
“He believed government could be a force for good, and that culture, wilderness, and education were not luxuries — but rights,” the statement said.
After he left the House in 1997, Williams started teaching at the University of Montana, including courses in environmental studies, history and political science.
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte recalled Williams as a “dedicated public servant.”
“As Montana’s longest-serving congressman, Pat championed Montana’s interests, working to find common ground for nearly 20 years in Washington,” Gianforte said.
Williams’ wife, Carol, was the first woman to become minority leader in the state Senate. They have a son Griff, and two daughters, Erin and Whitney.
Williams’ cousin was daredevil Evel Knievel.
Williams received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and a teaching degree from Western Montana College.
Born Oct. 30, 1937, in Helena, Williams grew up in the mining city of Butte, and its traditionally Democratic unionized workforce was a major element of his power base. He taught in the Butte public schools for seven years, and the combination earned him a spot on the House Education and Labor Committee.
Williams served in the Montana House in the 1967 and 1969 sessions. In 1968 he headed the Montana presidential campaign for Hubert Humphrey. He did the same in 1976 for Jimmy Carter.
Williams got a firsthand look at Washington, D.C., from 1969 to 1971 when he worked as executive assistant to Montana Democratic U.S. Rep. John Melcher.
Williams returned to Montana in 1971 and spent seven years as state head of the federally funded Montana Family Education Program, a career program for disadvantaged people.
Williams will lie in state at the Montana State Capitol in Helena on Wednesday and Thursday.
Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
-
Arizona1 week ago
Suspect in Arizona Rangers' death killed by Missouri troopers
-
Business1 week ago
Driverless disruption: Tech titans gird for robotaxi wars with new factory and territories
-
Business1 week ago
Protesters are chasing federal agents out of L.A. County hotels: ‘A small victory’
-
Technology1 week ago
SpaceX Starship explodes again, this time on the ground
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta held talks to buy Thinking Machines, Perplexity, and Safe Superintelligence
-
Technology7 days ago
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 has returned to its lowest-ever price
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
‘8 Vasantalu’ movie review: Phanindra Narsetti’s romance drama is ambitious but lacks soul
-
Politics7 days ago
Trump demands special prosecutor investigate 'stolen' 2020 election, loss to Biden