This cover shot was taken by Jaime and Lisa Johnson.
Keeping Forests Forested: How a little-known federal program is protecting rural jobs, wildlife habitat, water quality, and recreational access in western Montana. Read more >>
Snow Men: Predicting summer stream flows requires dangerous high-altitude expeditions in late winter and early spring. Read more >>
Time to Mate? The amazing strategies mammals have devised for determining when to reproduce. Read more >>
Pistol Whipped: Turns out a gun is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Read more >>
From Freeway to Freezer: How to avoid colliding with a deer, elk, moose, or pronghorn. And some good news if you do. Read more >>
Kids on Ice: FWP’s “hard-water” clinics get kids outdoors and teach them to catch fish and understand underwater biology. Read more >>
Cow or Plow: Cattle need grass, which makes ranching the best hope for grassland songbirds. Read more >>
Musselshell Makeover: How the people in this central Montana watershed found a way to share water from—and restore function to—the river running through their lives. Read more >>
Ugly Discovery at Swan Lake: The Fish and Wildlife Commission takes an unprecedented step to stop illegal fish introductions after walleyes are found in a scenic northwestern Montana lake. Read more >>
We Know You're in There: Geneticists use new eDNA science to quickly and accurately identify fish species in streams and lakes and trace the origins of individual fish. Read more >>
Chucking Big Buggers for Big Browns: It’s not the most elegant fly-fishing technique. But it is the best way to catch trout the length of your arm. Read more >>
Raceways to the Rescue: The surprising story of how FWP fish hatcheries help Montana conserve native populations and restore federally listed species. Read more >>
Open or Close? Why connectivity is essential for native fish populations—except when it isn’t. Read more >>
A Bumbler Fishes Through It: I was no Brad Pitt, but I decided I had to learn how to catch a trout with a fly. Read more >>
Deadly Decoration: When ospreys line their nests with baling twine, the results can be grim. Read more >>
The Price of Popularity: Anglers, kayakers, boaters, and inner-tubers love the scenic, sunny, trout-filled Madison River. That’s the problem. Read more >>
A Black Flash in the Mountain Sky: It nests behind remote waterfalls, flies high beyond human sight, and winters in places unknown. As it has for more than a century, the black swift remains Montana’s most mysterious bird. Read more >>
A Great Place to Be a Curlew: Thanks to ranchers, tribal leaders, and other conservationists, the Mission Valley’s intermountain grasslands still provide abundant habitat for the nation’s largest shorebird and other wildlife. Read more >>
Sneaking in to Wildlife Havens: By quietly cruising down a river in a canoe or kayak, you can see more birds and mammals than you ever thought possible. Read more >>
A Shot Worth Taking: Why Montana still allows sage-grouse hunting. Read more >>
The Perfect Day: The good news, I told myself, is I get to keep hunting. Read more >>
Buffalo Gal: A heavy heart is lightened by gratitude during a once-in-a-lifetime hunt. Read more >>
Monitoring Muleys: How FWP figures out mule deer population trends and harvest recommendations, and why biologists say now is the time to issue more B licenses in southeastern Montana. Read more >>
Coming Through Darkness: Essay. Read more >>
Q&A: Shoulder Season Basics: What hunters and landowners need to know about FWP’s unprecedented attempt to reduce extremely overabundant elk populations in 43 Montana hunting districts. Read more >>
"No, I'm Not Kidding" When hunters get this phone call, it might be news they’ve been waiting for their entire lives. Read more >>
How Low Can They Go? A team of cavers descends into the nation’s deepest limestone cave, in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness, farther down than anyone has ever been. Read more >>
Overdue: State and federal agencies say it’s time to take Yellowstone region grizzly bears off the threatened species list. Read more >>
Macro vs. Micro: FWP sees populations. The public sees individual animals. Can the difference be resolved? Read more >>
Saving the Best Forever: FWP conservation easements protect critical wildlife habitat and secure hunting access while sustaining family ranches. Will new landowners support those goals? Read more >>
The Mountain Men of Montana: Even with the constant danger, physical hardship, and endless isolation, they lived what seemed to be free, independent lives that many of us dream of having. Read more >>