The calendar said it was still spring. Barely. But the news release from Yellowstone National Park, and the subsequent follow-up from Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, delivered the ominous and expected news in this fishy corner of southwest Montana and northwest Wyoming. As of 2 p.m. on June 19, summer “hoot owl” closures would go into effect.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration pulled the federal government out of the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement — a deal struck in 2023 by the Biden administration between two states and four Indigenous nations aimed at restoring salmon populations and paving a way to remove four hydroelectric dams along the river system. The move is likely to revive decades-old lawsuits and further endanger already struggling salmon populations.