Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Articles written by Amanda Eggert


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  • Long-Distance Rail Route Through Southern Montana Garners Another Nod From Feds

    AMANDA EGGERT, Montana Free PRess|Feb 28, 2024

    A Chicago-to-Seattle passenger rail route that passes through some of Montana's most populous counties has been included in a list of 15 long-distance routes tapped for restoration by the federal government. The development marks the second time federal regulators have spotlighted the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority's efforts to bring additional passenger train service to Montana. During a meeting on Feb. 8, the Federal Railroad Administration also provided a bit more detail on where the North...

  • How to Decode Your NorthWestern Energy Bill

    AMANDA EGGERT, Montana Free Press|Feb 7, 2024

    Have you ever looked at your power bill and struggled to understand the various rates and charges that dictate how much you owe your utility company? If yes, you're not alone - even energy professionals can find their bills befuddling. To bridge that knowledge gap, we dug into the nearly 20 rates and charges that are factored into monthly residential bills for the state's largest utility company, NorthWestern Energy. NorthWestern supplies electricity or natural gas to approximately two-thirds...

  • Study Finds Montanans Increasingly OK with Wolves

    AMANDA EGGERT, Montana Free Press|Feb 7, 2024

    Montanans are increasingly tolerant of wolves, according to newly released research from the University of Montana's Human Dimensions Lab and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The study, first conducted in 2012 and repeated in 2017 and 2023, was designed to gauge Montana residents' attitudes toward wolves and various aspects of wolf management. To conduct it, researchers sent a survey to 10,000 Montana residents who were separated into four categories: the general population, landowners with mor...

  • Chronic Wasting Disease Found in Yellowstone Park

    AMANDA EGGERT, Montana Free Press|Nov 22, 2023

    Yellowstone National Park announced this week that a mule deer buck inside the park's borders has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The detection is a first for the park, which has previously managed to dodge the always-fatal disease despite its presence in the three states that neighbor Yellowstone. In a Tuesday press release, the park said that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department tested the carcass of a radio-collared mule deer that died in the southeastern section of the park near Yellowstone Lake. The release notes that there's...

  • Land managers anticipate pivot to 'fast and furious' wildfire strategy in light of COVID-19

    Amanda Eggert, Montana Free Press|Jul 29, 2020

    On a late-June bikepacking trip from Superior, Montana, to Hailey, Idaho, fire ecologist Philip Higuera studied wildfire's impact on the landscape, as is his habit when he's in the woods. He started his trip in a rugged and thickly forested area along the Montana-Idaho border that burned in 1910 and continued south through fire scars new and old before arriving in an open, high-elevation area studded with sagebrush 630 miles later. Along the way, Higuera noted the abundance of standing dead...