John Chaney was a college student in the 1970s when he decided to document the few remaining American bald eagles before their seemingly inevitable extinction.

The lower 48 had fewer than 450 mating pairs of bald eagles then. He wondered what a United States of America would be like with no bald eagles.

He learned about salmon fishermen awarding bounties for eagles they thought threatened their profession, with 100,000 killed from 1917-1953. He learned about nesting areas destroyed by logging and development. He read up on DDT, used as an agricultural insecticide, thinning the shells of eagle eggs so much they cracked before chicks were ready to hatch. This wasn’t long after the Cuyahoga River fire of 1969, when the nation saw images of oil on a Cleveland river in flames, a nadir that spurred the environmental movement.

One of his college professors began listing all the species that had gone extinct in his lifetime. That got Chaney thinking. The professor was “convinced (the eagles) wouldn’t make it another decade or two.”

And then Chaney saw his first bald eagle. He was sitting on a bluff when the eagle came flying down the Mississippi toward him.

MORE>>>Great Falls Tribune

One-ton bison bulls stand belly-deep in snow, swinging their massive heads to dig down to buried grass. The Lamar River disappears under a white winter blanket crisscrossed with four-footed tracks. Steam clouds from the Mammoth Terraces tower against a cold blue sky.

This is winter in Yellowstone, and you can see it from the comfort of your own car. The park’s north entrance at Gardiner is open year-round. The road across the northern tier is plowed all the way to Cooke City; snow tires are required. Critters outnumber people in February, March and early April when all other park roads are closed to regular traffic.

The wildlife watching starts outside the park’s Gardiner entrance. Bald eagles often perch on the highest trees along the Yellowstone River around Corwin Springs. Bands of bighorn sheep also frequent that area, along with antelope, mule deer and elk. Just inside the Gardiner park entrance, look up for bighorns that often graze the bench on the east side of the road or cling to the steep slopes above the Boiling River.

At times, the snow-covered hills between Gardiner and Mammoth are dotted with elk and bison. In Mammoth, take a walk around the thermal terraces or stroll between the historical markers at Fort Yellowstone. Stop in the Albright Visitor Center (renovated last year and now open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily) to warm up and learn about Yellowstone in museum exhibits and video.

Heading east, visitors can see the icy spires of Undine Falls. The falls overlook is just a few yards from the road, but watch your step on the snowpacked path.

MORE>>>Billings Gazette

The Sunday night mid-season premiere of "The Walking Dead" on AMC delivered what many fans thought was a rather explosive episode.

It was also, apparently, a bit too loud and realistic for at least a few people in Great Falls.

Officers with the Great Falls Police Department responded to a residence for a report just before 7:30 p.m. of a neighbor hearing loud noises and gunshots coming from a home nearby.

Police officers responded to the scene and surrounded the home, some with weapons drawn.

When they arrived, they discovered that the family was inside the home watching "The Walking Dead" with the volume turned up and the windows open.

No further action was taken. Police did not disclose the location of the incident.

MORE>>>KBZK