Since 1991, the Western Montana Mycological Association has offered workshops and forays focused on mushrooms— not all of them as exciting as this one—every spring and fall season. These forays are always campouts, and attract dozens of dedicated mushroom hunters from all over the state.

Montana’s native tribes relied on the bounty of bison in nearly every aspect of their daily lives. In addition to depending on them as a primary food source, native peoples also developed ingenious methods that enabled them to use every part of these colossal one-ton giants.

I’ve worked for more than 20 years as a newspaper reporter, and the last seven years as a television news reporter for KXLF in Butte. It’s important to note that it takes a dedicated and talented team to put together the daily broadcasts. Each day we start from zero to produce what, at times, seems like a daily miracle. 

There are some lakes, McGregor Lake (about midway between Kalispell and Libby on hwy 2) being one, where divers gather each summer to dive, catch crawdads, and have a big crawdad boil. 
I’m only familiar with the trapping method, and I don’t like to be underwater so that is the method we will address here.

The road between Yellowstone and Glacier offers the less rushed traveler ample opportunities to discover Montana’s renowned “big sky”, its beautiful mountains, blue-ribbon trout streams, as well as its rich cultural heritage, making the drive between the two parks a much more enjoyable and enriching experience.

On August 30, 1920, the Montana Legislature took the western part of Sheridan County and the northeastern portion of Valley County to create Daniels County. Named for local rancher Mansfield Daniels, the County covers 1,426 square miles, almost all that land.

I drop my backpack in my office and start my rounds, as I call them, checking on each and every animal including fish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, ground squirrels (if they’re not hibernating), river otters, raptors, gray wolves and grizzly bears to make sure all is well.

Glaciers add a nuance of complexity to mountain flying. As it is, mountain flying is complicated and can be dangerous due to wind, terrain, altitude, reduced aircraft performance, turbulence, and weather.

“The pictographs are so faded or destroyed that you have to use your imagination. The best example is in the sorry excuse of a visitor’s center. So, save your $6 state park fee (if you live outside of Montana)."

His heart rate jumped, and gooseflesh rose on his forearms, sending a shiver down his spine. His jaw went slack, and his mind raced as he stared south, baffled by four massive black rectangular objects, each with red lights on them.

One famed night, a pack of wolves frightened Mary’s team of horses, and the coach flipped on its side. Taking shelter behind the overturned vehicle, Mary held the wolf pack off all through the night, armed with her pistol and shotgun.

Bison play a central, integral role in the cultural, spiritual and ceremonial life of many western Native American tribes in both the plains and the intermountain areas, such as Montana. Their relationship to the bison runs deep and is ingrained into who they are as Native people

While it is okay to leave respectful memorials to loved ones, or even toys and trinkets on a long-passed child’s grave, it is never okay to leave refuse, graffiti, or other ill-intentioned items. Please join me as we respectfully wander a few of our beautiful state’s memorial gardens.

Over the past decades, morel hunting has changed quite a bit. In the 1980s, the fire reports were issued in single line entries, with the name of the fire, township and range (later to lat/long coordinates), aspect, slope, elevation, vegetation cover, and start date. Go get ‘em, boys! That was all you had to go on. So out we went, tracing our way along whatever roads were open to get as close to the start point as we could, scanning the ridges for brown or red trees to locate the burn site.

I went to the cow then, for a friendly visit, only to discover she was in a fit of bovine rage. This, too was not a good sign. As a fat old man, I figure it was about even odds in a fair fight, but I refused to die without another cup of coffee, so I started to trudge back to the house when I noticed it: a wretched little bundle of white, barely visible amidst the snow.

The debut collection from author Michael Carter marks him as a Montana writer to watch, someone so good at mixing genre elements that he might just be unfairly overlooked in a field that too often confuses realism with seriousness. 

The beautiful landscapes found along the Shonkin Sag have had a significant impact on art, too. Its rugged terrain, as well as the buttes and mountains that flank it, influenced the work of Charles Russell, one of the most famous Western artists of the 20th century.

Montana is blessed with some of the darkest skies in the country, due to lack of any large light-polluting cities. Couple this with the many wildernesses and other wild and scenic set-aside areas, and one can get far away from even the light of small towns.

One morning in mid-August, 1805, Meriwether Lewis of President Thomas Jefferson’s Corps of Discovery awoke “as hungary [sic] as a wolf.” Having a scant two pounds of flour left, he had it divided in half and cooked half with berries.