Montana

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Published

9 months ago

March 27, 2025

Society

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Rethinking Rural

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March 27, 2025

The greater Bozeman, Montana, region has become ground zero for rampant luxury development that is taking the “public” out of public lands.

The Crazy Mountains in Bozeman, Montana.(Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

It’s a breezy afternoon, and Keegan Nashan is standing on a county road in Clyde Park, Montana, yelling at golfers: “No one wants you here, even if they’re smiling while they’re serving you.” With the aim of further annoying them, she’s set up bluetooth speakers that blare “Rednecker Than You” on auto-replay.

These are no ordinary golfers. They are individuals who have paid seven figures to join the ultra-elite Crazy Mountain Ranch, an invitation-only club that promises an experience that “truly embodies the nature & spirit of Montana.”

Nashan, 31, was born and raised in Livingston, a small town near Bozeman. She’s watched for decades as out-of-state investors have acquired public and private lands and developed them into gated communities and exclusive resorts for some of the richest people in the world.

It began, in 1997, with the Yellowstone Club, a “mountain sanctuary” where billionaires ski, golf and build 8,000 square foot second, third, and fourth homes. The land rush has continued apace, with Boston-based Cross Harbor Capital Partners purchasing the18,000-acre Crazy Mountain Ranch in 2021.

“Cross Harbor basically owns Big Sky,” Nashan told me. “I’m worried for the culture of this place.” (Big Sky is an unincorporated area bordering Bozeman that, by Nashan’s count, boasts at least 30 private ranches or high-end resorts).

She’s right to worry. Montana is a checkerboard of public lands surrounded by private parcels. Prior to the luxury development boom, most private landowners allowed public access to adjacent public lands. But today, many of those trails are obstructed with locked gates and “no trespassing” signs. Longtime residents, who trace their roots back five generations (for Crow Indians, even longer), are suddenly unable to enter the places they’ve walked, hunted, fished, foraged, and prayed in their whole lives.

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Kal Munis, a political scientist at Auburn University, spent his childhood on the public lands of western Montana, sometimes for fun, sometimes out of necessity. “When the mine [where his father worked] shut down, we suddenly had to get our dinner from the creeks and the hills.” To this day, Munis says, it’s not uncommon for working-class Montanans to provide for themselves by hunting and fishing on public lands. When their access is suddenly blocked, that is no small problem.

Sustenance aside, families like Munis’s didn’t take vacations to Disneyland; their leisure time was spent picking huckleberries, camping, and fishing on public lands and on private ranches whose longtime owners customarily allowed locals access. Today, many of those ranches have been sold off to resort developers and wealthy urbanites eager to live the Montana dream… in seclusion. “These places become the king’s forest, and the commoners don’t get to go in the king’s forest,” Munis says.

What most Americans probably don’t even realize (including me until I looked it up last week) is this: Forty percent of the United States is public land with even higher proportions in Montana and several other Western states. Federal land cannot be sold off—at least, not easily—but there’s nothing to stop it from being encircled by private parcels that keep the public out. , Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a real estate magnate whose net worth has been estimated at $100 million, has suggested opening up federal lands to fossil fuel extraction—or selling them off altogether.

Montana state legislator Jane Weber worries that the Trump administration will turn federal public lands over to the state of Montana and that those lands will eventually be sold off to private developers. Weber, a forester by profession, says the state lacks the funds and expertise to manage vast tracts of land for wildfire and logging. She predicts that, once the state belatedly concedes its incompetence, it will sell the land to wealthy outsiders, “and we the public are going to lose our land.”

Weber also worries about the loss of grazing and farmland, as private ranches adjacent to national forests are bought and converted into private hunting grounds. Between 2017 and 2022, 10 percent of the state’s farms and ranches disappeared. 93 percent of those farms were family owned and operated. Given the volume of grains, beef, oilseeds, and legumes Montana supplies the nation, this trend is something that ought to concern everyone.

Weber bemoans the irony of Montana being gentrified by affluent urbanites charmed by the state’s beauty and lifestyle—only to start demanding upscale housing and amenities upon arrival. A prime example is The Ranch at Rock Creek, a once-upon-a-time working cattle ranch that now invites guests to “channel the pioneer spirit that encouraged our homesteaders to ascend the next peak.” In addition to their $6,500 a night stay in a tricked-out horse stable, guests can pay $300 for a “Sapphire hydration wrap,” just like ye olde homesteaders used to enjoy.

Which brings us back to Keegan Nashan. “I do this because I’m mad. I always wanted to build a home and raise a family here, but with housing prices what they are now, that’s no longer feasible for me or people who grew up here. I’m not anti-development, and I don’t begrudge people for wanting to come here, but we need somewhere to live.”

Montanans are fired up. They’ve got bumper stickers on their pickups telling the Yellowstone Club and Crazy Mountain Ranch to fuck themselves. Some of them stand on the same county road Nashan does holding shotguns. On March 8, a thousand protesters rallied for public lands in Missoula, drawing attention to an issue that is seldom on the national radar screen, even as DOGE savages public lands workforces.

Resentment against capitalist destruction of Montanans’ natural heritage cuts across partisan lines. Rural residents value public lands even more than urban folks do, according to a 2021 survey conducted by Munis and Zoe Nemerever. Democrats and Republicans are equally supportive of public lands, although those who identify as “strong Democrats” are actually less supportive. And unlikely coalitions of ranchers, environmentalists, and “hook and bullet” advocacy groups like Backcountry Hunters & Anglers have banded together to challenge developers and sue them over environmental degradation and obstruction of public access.

It’s not only the opposition that’s bipartisan—it’s the problem itself. A recent Crazy Mountain Ranch land swap was approved by the Forest Service under Biden. Such swaps may look fair on paper but are often lopsided, with the private party trading relatively barren, depleted acres for more valuable, resource-rich land that is then degraded by development.

John Sullivan, former chair of the Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers slammed the Crazy Mountain land swap: “We are deeply disappointed that the Forest Service has caved to big money and their never-ending goal to lock the public out of public land. Despite overwhelming public opposition from everyday Montanans, the USFS bent the knee to the wealthy and rewarded the illegal actions of landowners who have for years sought private enclaves of extremely valuable public land.”

For longtime Montanans, public land is a priceless treasure, their natural heritage inscribed in the ground they walk upon, the waters that run through it, and the bounty of plants and animals the land sustains. But to investors, developers, and too many politicians, land is nothing more than numbers on a balance sheet. And so does Montana become the king’s forest while the commoners stand on the edges and yell.

Donald Trump’s cruel and chaotic second term is just getting started. In his first month back in office, Trump and his lackey Elon Musk (or is it the other way around?) have proven that nothing is safe from sacrifice at the altar of unchecked power and riches.

Only robust independent journalism can cut through the noise and offer clear-eyed reporting and analysis based on principle and conscience. That’s what The Nation has done for 160 years and that’s what we’re doing now.

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Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Frigid Friday – several inches of snow in parts of the area

Published

3 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Frigid Friday – several inches of snow in parts of the area

A band of moderate snow has formed from the Cut Bank area, extending southeast across Chouteau, Fergus, and Judith Basin Counties. Be alert for low visibility and slick road conditions. Icy conditions continue in Lewis & Clark and Broadwater counties, where snow fell on top of ice after some freezing rain overnight. Up to a 1/4″ of ice has been reported on cars and sidewalks. Freezing rain may mix in again this morning as milder air begins to move back in.

Today’s Forecast:

Frigid Friday, several inches of snowfall in parts of the area-Friday, December 12

It will be a frigid today, with high temperatures in the 0s and lower 10s across central and eastern Montana, and mid to upper 30s in Helena.

The snow band will continue throughout the day, bringing several inches of snow to areas east of I-15. The band of snow will gradually push east tonight, impacting Blaine, Phillips, and Valley counties overnight. Snow showers taper off by Saturday morning.

MTN News

Expect difficult driving conditions through Saturday morning, especially east of I-15 and into the mountains.

Arctic air slowly retreats north on Saturday. Temperatures start off in the -10s to near 0 on the Hi-Line and in the 0s for central Montana, then climb to the 0s and 10s for the Hi-Line and 10s to 20s in central Montana by Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, it will be a pleasant weekend in Helena with temperatures in the low 40s. A gusty breeze develops on Sunday, as temperatures warm nicely into the low to mid 40s in central Montana and into the 30s in northeast Montana.

Looking ahead to next week, mild and windy conditions kick off the workweek, followed by active weather returning midweek.

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Montana

Atmospheric river drives flooding in northwest Montana

Published

15 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Atmospheric river drives flooding in northwest Montana

Warm temperatures and an “atmospheric river” of precipitation that flowed into northwestern Montana this week have generated a state of emergency in Montana’s northwesternmost county, Lincoln, as local waterways run unseasonably high.

Around 12 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service started issuing flooding watches as area snowpack sites reported 24-hour precipitation totals that were approaching record levels. NWS meteorologist Dan Borsum told Montana Free Press Thursday that the “rain-on-snow” nature of the recent precipitation has led to widespread flooding.

Borsum called the weather pattern “unusual” for mid-December, instead likening it to a warm April.

Zach Sherbo, the public health manager for the Lincoln County Health Department, said in a Thursday afternoon phone call that additional precipitation is expected through Thursday evening, so rivers could continue rising into Friday.

The Lincoln County communities of Libby and Troy have been hit the hardest by the deluge, which prompted emergency services personnel to issue a state of emergency Thursday afternoon. Residents are cautioned against unnecessary travel and those served by the Libby city water supply are under a boil-water order as a precaution in the event of water supply contamination. School has also been canceled for students in Libby and Troy, Sherbo said.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department has identified a handful of bridges that have been compromised or are washed out as a result of flooding. It suggests residents looking for information on road closures and bridge conditions review an interactive map that is available online and linked in a press release posted to the Lincoln County Health Department’s Facebook page.

“It’s going to take a long time to recoup from this, just structurally, just with the bridges we’ve lost already and the condition that they’re in and going toward,” Sherbo said. “It’s a pretty big combined local effort right now.”

Justun Juelfs, the Kalispell-area maintenance chief with the Montana Department of Transportation said three stretches of state-managed roadways were closed or under monitoring status as of 4 p.m. Thursday.

An approximately 80-foot section of the Farm to Market Road south of Libby has washed out as Libby Creek carved a new channel. MDT is also monitoring erosion that is occurring along a U.S. Highway 2 bridge southeast of Libby and along a section of Highway 56 near Bull Lake. Juelfs encouraged motorists to review MDT’s road conditions report for up-to-date information on impacts to state highways.

The Army Corps of Engineers is assisting with sandbag-filling and distributing efforts and the Red Cross has set up a shelter for those in need at the Assembly of God Church in Libby, according to Sherbo.

The Montana Disaster and Emergency Services agency is also lending a hand with the flood response. In an email to MTFP, Anette Ordahl with DES wrote that a district field officer and a recovery coordinator are on the ground in Libby to offer assistance.

In a Thursday afternoon press release, Gov. Greg Gianforte noted that Sanders and Flathead counties have also recognized the flooding by issuing emergency or disaster declarations. Up to four inches of additional rainfall are expected across western and south-central Montana, according to a disaster declaration Gianforte’s office included in a 3 p.m. press release.

The National Weather Service reported Thursday morning that the Bear Mountain snowpack monitoring site, located just across the border in Idaho, received 6.5 inches of precipitation as of this morning, making it the third-wettest 24-hour period for the site in its 44-year monitoring history. The six-day precipitation total for Dec. 6-11 is 13 inches.

Borsum, with the National Weather Service, said the recent, unseasonable warm spell in western Montana combined with the “super strong” atmospheric river to melt early season snowpack and drive flooding. A similar rain-on-snow event in early June of 2022 led to widespread flooding in parts of south-central Montana that required extensive repairs to roadways and bridges.

Thursday, the Yaak River near Troy surpassed its official flood stage, running at more than 7,500 cubic feet per second. Its usual volume for this time of the year is about 200 cfs.

The Fisher River near Libby was also nearing flood stage. As of Thursday afternoon, it was running at nearly 4,000 cfs, more than 20 times its usual volume for mid-December.

Zeke Lloyd and Jacob Olness contributed to this reporting.

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Montana

Nestled Next To Glacier National Park Is Montana’s Charming Town With Casinos And Ethereal Mountain Views – Islands

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Nestled Next To Glacier National Park Is Montana’s Charming Town With Casinos And Ethereal Mountain Views – Islands

Roel Portraits/Shutterstock

Montana’s Glacier National Park is full of beautiful destinations, from stunning waterfalls to a hidden mountain passage with breathtaking alpine views. But when you visit this legendary national park, don’t miss the hidden gems right outside the park’s limits — like the charming small town of Browning, located on the Blackfoot Reservation, which boasts magnificent mountain views as well as a casino to try your luck at. This delightful town also has a wealth of outdoor activities and cultural sites on offer — and that’s not to mention its prime location just 15 minutes away from the eastern edge of Glacier National Park.

To get to Browning, you’ll likely want to fly to Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, about 91 miles away, then rent a car and enjoy a beautiful drive the rest of the journey. Alternatively, you can grab a taxi from the airport to the nearby Whitefish Amtrak Station, before embarking on a 2.5-hour Amtrak train ride that will take you to Browning. Either way, one thing is for certain: you’ll be treated to unbeatable scenery out the window along the way.

Visiting the Glacier Peaks Casino in Browning, Montana

Simonkr/Getty Images

Who needs the overpriced games and bad vibes at Las Vegas’ Bighorn Casino when you’ve got Browning’s Glacier Peaks Casino as an option? If you’re over 18 and in the mood to take a gamble, you won’t want to miss out on visiting this entertainment hotspot. Open all hours of the day and night, this casino wonderland contains over 500 slot machines as well as table games, a bar, and a restaurant. Keep an eye on their website to see what special events are in the pipeline, from poker tournaments to the weekly “Jersey Monday” deal, where visitors wearing football jerseys get $10 of free play.

Adjacent to the casino is the Glacier Peaks Hotel, which boasts a business center, gym, indoor heated swimming pool, and other amenities, making it a modern and comfortable accommodation whether you’re in town for fun or for work. If you’re staying in the hotel — or if you simply want a break from the casino floor — the aptly-named Jackpot Restaurant onsite serves up classic American cuisine all day. Fuel yourself for more fun and games with everything from delectable biscuits and eggs to nachos to smash burgers and pizza.

Outdoor activities in Browning, Montana

Wild Goose Island at sunrise in Glacier National Park

Weidman Photography/Shutterstock

A trip to this scenic locale wouldn’t be complete without making the most of the incredible natural views on offer. One particularly worthwhile lookout point from which to enjoy panoramic views of the area is Wild Goose Island Lookout. Park at the pullout and walk to the nearby overlook to get a view of Wild Goose Island. This tiny isle rises just 14 feet above St Mary Lake in a perfect postcard-worthy image, and is dwarfed by towering mountains.

Visitors eager to earn a mountain view with some movement can opt for one of the many trails in and around Browning. For a short (and handicap-accessible) walk, try Running Eagle Falls. While this out-and-back route clocks in at just 0.7 miles in total, it punches above its weight when it comes to payoff with a stunning waterfall. Experienced hikers in search of a challenge can consider tackling Triple Divide Pass, a difficult 14-mile hike that will take you through the less-heavily-trafficked Cutbank portion of Glacier National Park. After steep mountain uphills, you’ll find yourself overlooking Medicine Grizzly Lake. Note that if you choose to embark on this route, you’ll want to download offline maps, as cell signal in the park is extremely limited.

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