Articles

'Hoot owl' restrictions in Montana, Yellowstone National Park start before the first day of summer

Pre-summer closures have become part of the West's new normal

by Chris Hunt - Saturday, Jul 5th, 2025

A bison grazes along the Gibbon River in Yellowstone National Park (photo: NPS / Jacob Frank).

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.

5 all-time favorite fly rods

A short list of Todd Tanner’s favorite trout rods

by Todd Tanner - Friday, Jul 4th, 2025

Photo: Jeremy Roberts / Conservation Media.

One of the advantages of working with some of the world’s most talented fly fishing instructors is that those instructors are always challenging your views.

“Is that really the best way to teach the students how to make a reach cast?”

“Seriously? That’s how you rig your nymphs?”

“Nobody fishes Double Taper fly lines anymore. Why are we recommending them?”

“Would you explain why you’re raising your rod tip at the end of that cast? That’s not how I do it.”

Salmon, tribal sovereignty and energy collide as Trump admin abandons Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement

The move threatens treaty rights and salmon recovery as energy demands from AI and crypto surge

by Miacel Spotted Elk - Wednesday, Jul 2nd, 2025

Ice Harbor Dam, one of the four Lower Snake River dams (photo: Salmon Recovery).

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.

Remember

Resistance comes in many forms

by Johnny Carrol Sain - Saturday, Jun 28th, 2025

Photo: Johnny Carrol Sain.

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
— E.B. White

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