Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission has voted to approve the acquisition of a new wildlife management area proposed for the Lower Yellowstone River. The Wildcat Bend Wildlife Management Area is located in Rosebud County. The property is about 2.5 miles downstream from the Far West Fishing Access Site east of Forsyth. It is a 328 acre site

The Missoula Airport has announced that Sun Country Airlines, will make its debut on June 26, 2024. The airline will offer nonstop flights to their Minneapolis/St. Paul hub twice a week, every Wednesday and Saturday, until late August.

Mazevo Coffee is constructing a 1,614-square-foot building that will be located at 2500 Brooks Street in Missoula. This will be the 6th Mazevo Coffee location in Montana.

Sun Country Airlines is also coming to the Billings Logan International Airport with new seasonal air service to Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Sun Country is a Minneapolis-based airline known for providing affordable travel options. Beginning in June, passengers can book Sun Country flights between Billings and Minneapolis-Saint Paul on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The complete renovation and rebuild of the iconic Wagon Wheel Bar in Choteau is nearing completion with the opening coming soon, The new “Wagon Wheel Bar and Grill” will feature a full-service bar and restaurant.

The Gallatin County Commissioners recently approved a dormitory-style employee housing building in Big Sky. The Powder Light Subdivision will have another residential building for affordable employee housing at Big Sky. The new structure will offer 12 residential units and one commercial space.

Montana’s Trail to the Stars, a project that guides visitors to sites where they can view the night skies, has received a national award for collaboration. Montana’s Trail to the Stars won the Excellence in Tourism Collaboration Award, presented at the 2023 National Extension Tourism Conference.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus was first detected in wild birds and domestic poultry in Montana in spring 2022. While HPAI cases in wild birds declined over the summer, but it has been detected in some parts of Montana this fall. HPAI viruses are extremely infectious and fatal to poultry and some species of wild birds. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is testing wild birds that display symptoms

Despite an even broader reservation system in 2023, visitation to Glacier National Park is up over last year. Overall visitation through August was 2.249 million, which is an increase of 1.7% over last year.

In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that there were 48,165 new residents that moved to Montana from other places, an 8.1% increase from the 44,531 new residents that came in 2021. Washington topped the list of states where new Montana residents came from in 2022. Montana also lost 38,483 people to other states in 2022, for a net population gain of less than 10,000.

The sting of high natural gas prices to heat your home over the past two winters is expected to ease for the upcoming heating season, which runs November through March. Montana-Dakota Utilities anticipates natural gas prices to be about 30 percent less than last winter. The company projects that the average residential customer will pay about $450 for the five-month winter season, or $90 a month; that is down about $200 from last winter, or a decrease of $40 a month.

Fire was discovered at the historic Jordan Inn property in downtown Glendive last week with the Dawson County Dispatch Center receiving a call at approximately 10 p.m. The Glendive Fire Department determiend that the entire 3 story building was compromised. The Jordan Inn had been condemned for 10 years, and was shuttered since 2013.

Jessie and Kyna Williams haved opened Switchback CrossFit gym at 33 Second Avemue East in Kalispell. The building was previously an abandoned truck repair shop.

Montana has a new draft plan to guide its management of wolves, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has announced. The Montana Gray Wolf Conservation and Management Plan drafted by FWP would replace the 20-year-old document that’s guided Montana’s approach to managing wolves since 2011. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks will be taking comments on the plan through Dec. 19 and is hosting a series of meetings around the state to answer questions related to the plan starting Dec. 7. The plan can be found at https://fwp.mt.gov/wolfproposal

Missoula City Council  and Missoula County Commissioners have each allocated $1 million toward the acquisition of Marshall Mountain, a former ski area and now popular recreational area in Missoula County. The property is being sold for $3.2 million. The area is expected to serve  backcountry skiing and other year-round recreation.

Williston, ND has been awarded the 2027 14-year-old Babe Ruth World Series to be held at Ardean Aafedt Stadium. This will be the sixth time that Williston has hosted the series.

Gov. Greg Gianforte presented his annual Forest Products Award to J. Shar Timber Harvesting, a family-owned and operated cut-to-length timber enhancement company in Libby.  J. Shar, Timber Harvesting sustainably harvests timber using tethered logging equipment. The Forest Products Award recognizes an outstanding person or entity for their work to actively manage Montana forests, responsibly develop forested resources.

A regional seed sales company operating in North Dakota and Montana is taking the first step towards developing a seed-crushing plant in northwest North Dakota. Buckshot Seeds was recently awarded grant funding from local government to do a feasability study. Buckshot Co-Owner Mark Erickson said the plant would mainly crush canola, creating a high-quality feed for cattle. The oil produced from the crushed canola would be sent to overseas fish farms, which are in high demand.

The Young Automotive Group held a grand opening for Young Mazda Missoula dealership. Young Automotive Group president Spencer Young Jr. said. “Our group is new to Montana and the city of Missoula.” It was previously Flanagan Motors Mazda.

The City of Kalispell’s Building Department has issued 234 permits for single family and duplex housing projects. This number is approaching double the 121 permits the department had issued by this time last year. Multi-family permits have increased from 84 multi-family permits during all of 2019 to 132 multi-family housing units approved so far in 2020. compared to 84 multi-family units in all of 2019.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services has lodged complaints against four Flathead County businesses alleging the entities violated COVID-19 directives by failing to ensure employees and patrons wore masks and that the establishments displayed proper signage related to COVID-19 protocols. The lawsuits were filed against Sykes Diner in Kalispell, The Remington Bar in Whitefish and the Ferndale Market and Your Turn Mercantile/Your Lucky Turn Casino in Bigfork. The businesses have been given 21 days to respond to the complaints.

U.S. senators have questioned the chief of Amtrak about job cuts and service reductions on the carrier’s long-distance passenger train routes, including the Empire Builder line that serves a dozen mostly rural communities in northern Montana. Amtrak CEO, William Flynn, testified that ridership remains down about 80% due to the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic forced Amtrak to reduce service on most of its long-distance trains to just three days a week. Flynn sought to assure senators the cuts are intended to be temporary.

Yellowstone National Park announced this week that it will begin testing a low-speed automated shuttle system in 2021. The automated shuttle will serve the Canyon Village campground, visitor services, and the visitor lodging. Canyon Village is a popular area north of Yellowstone Lake. The most popular roads in the park are over capacity by about 29% during July. Those roads include the West Entrance to Madison Junction, Madison Junction to Old Faithful and to Norris Junction, Old Faithful to West Thumb and Norris Junction to Canyon Village. The park has tested out a few different ways to help relieve that congestion, like having extra staff stationed in extra-congested parking areas. A 2019 pilot project at Norris Junction stationed staff to help test the efficiency of the overflow parking on the Grand Loop Road. That project showed that staffing can help visitors safely access areas where parking is limited.

Montana’s unemployment rate returned to a near-normal level of 5.3 percent in September after dropping from 5.6 percent in August. Economists typically consider normal unemployment levels to be between 4 percent to 5 percent. The national unemployment rate has remained higher than Montana’s, at 7.9 percent for September. Montana has the 9th lowest unemployment rate in the nation. 

MSU has received a $498,217 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to help Montana food and beverage manufacturers reduce waste and adopt strategies that can lessen environmental impact. MSU, working with the Montana Pollution Prevention Program and Montana Manufacturing Extension Center, will use the grant to provide small businesses in the food and beverage industry with on-site technical assistance and training on pollution prevention.

Welcome Market Hall, opened in Sheridan, Wyoming last May, a first of its kind concept for visitors and locals to enjoy Sheridan’s finest food and beverage offerings in a unique setting. Market Hall was conceptualized by owner Tom Thomson and Stephanie Stalker who were looking to bring a memorable social experience through good food and great conversation, located inside a historic railroad station originally built in 1912. Renovation of the space was a collaborative effort by Stephanie and her father Dan Stalker, a lifelong Sheridan resident and architect. Guests can choose between six different dining concepts including Scipio’s offering pizza, El Cruce bringing a variety of tacos and tapas, O-Ke-Kai which serves poke bowls and fried seafood favorites; Protein for sandwiches and ribs; WMH Brunch for brunch and lunch.  Beverage offerings include coffee shop Up Café; cocktails by CB&Q Lounge, or Grand Bar for beer and wine.

Negotiations are on-going among recreationists, the Crow Tribe, the Forest Service and private landowners, all with interests in the Crazy Mountains. The discussion is hopefully leading to a solution to a long-term conflict over land use in the Crazy Mountains. A community coalition is hoping that a land swap on the east side of the range will alleviate frustrations for all while allowing for more public access. The proposal will give the Forest Service over 5,200 acres of private land, including a new 22-mile trail, paid for by Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, in exchange for 500 acres of expert ski terrain from the Forest Service in Big Sky. Private landowners would get more than 3,600 acres in the land swap, by consolidating public lands already scattered between private lands.

Whole Foods Market is planning their first Montana store in Bozeman at the Gallatin Valley Mall, managed by Steve Corning, as part of the Gallatin Mall Group. Whole Foods Market will join Macy’s, Barnes & Noble, Regal Cinemas and JoAnn Fabrics in anchoring the 365,000 square foot center. 

Gallatin County’s residential real estate market saw large increases in pending sales, closed sales and average sales prices in October, while the inventory of available homes decreased significantly in both the single family and condo/townhome markets compared to 2019. Median sales price increased 18.9%, from $462,000 in September 2019 to $550,000 in September 2020. Closed sales increased 46.9%, from 130 to 191, and pending sales jumped 56.6%, from 113 to 177. The inventory of available homes decreased 60.1% compared to last year, from 537 to 214, and the month’s supply of inventory dropped 65%, from 4.0 to 1.4. The number of new single-family listings decreased 3% compared to September 2019, from 167 to 162. The average days on market increased 56.8%, from 37 to 58. Sellers received 99.1% of their list price last month, up slightly from 98.4% last year.