On July 22, 2023, at 7:16am Gallatin County Dispatch received a 911 call for a person who had suffered an ankle injury while descending the steep side of the College ‘M’ Trail. The injured party was unable to walk down the trail and requested assistance from Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue (GCSSAR).

Gallatin County Search and Rescue volunteers from the Valley Section, AMR, and the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office responded to the trailhead. A hasty team was deployed and made contact with the patient and determined the injured party would not be able to walk without assistance. GCSSAR members, some with specific alpine skills, packaged the patient in a one wheeled litter and then safely lowered them down to the trailhead using a low angle rope system.

Sheriff Springer would like to remind hikers that even adventures on popular trails, such as the College ‘M’ Trail, can go differently than planned. Hiking with a partner, having a communication device, and packing appropriate clothing and gear for changing conditions is always good practice.

Gallatin County is hosting a job fair in September and employers from across the area are invited to participate and advertise their current openings! 

The Gallatin County Job Fair will be on Tuesday, September 12 from 12-6 PM at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds.  

This event will provide employers with access to a diverse talent pool, an opportunity for face-to-face connection with potential applicants, chances to network with other businesses and government agencies in the area, brand visibility and promotion, market research and feedback from job seekers, and a way to engage with your community! 

 Employers already confirmed to be on hand include: 

• Gallatin County Human Resources
• Gallatin County 911 
• Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office 
• Montana Department of Justice 
• Montana State University 
• Town Pump 
• First Security Bank 
• Highline Partners 
• Best Practice Medicine 
• City of Bozeman 
• Belgrade School District 
• P&J Plumbing 
• The Springs Living 
• Vocational Rehab 
• The Producer Partnership 
• Bozeman Job Service 
• Express Employment Professionals 
• Big Sky Staffing 

The job fair is free, but space is limited. Booths are reserved on a first-come basis. Employers can register for a booth by emailing jessica.dixon@gallatin.mt.gov. For additional questions, please call 406-582-3045. 

HELENA – Hunters who signed up for the Surplus License List will be randomized and selected today, Friday, July 21. The list includes licenses and permits left over from the special license and permit drawing for deer and elk permits and deer B and elk B licenses/permits.

FWP will contact hunters who are at the top of the list via email with instructions to finalize their purchase within a specified time. 

Hunters must finalize the purchase of the license/permit within the timeframe specified in the email, otherwise, your opportunity will be offered to the next hunter on the randomized list. FWP may offer opportunities that have not sold out through the Surplus License List to over-the-counter customers at our internal and external license sale providers.

This new process for the sale of surplus licenses began in 2020 in response to issues in years past. The old process was vulnerable to long lag times, confusion and a perception of inequity for those unable to use the first-come, first-served online option starting at 5 a.m.

Nonresidents who hold a NR native license, youth combo license, or NR college student combination license may purchase deer B and elk B licenses at half price.

Sign-up for surplus license for antelope, antelope B, crane and special mountain lion will be Aug. 9 through Aug. 27.

For more information, contact the FWP licensing office at 406-444-2950 or fwplic@mt.gov.

BOZEMAN – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is advising anglers that portions of the Ruby and lower Big Hole rivers are closed to fishing daily from 2 p.m. to midnight, effective Friday, July 21.

The hoot-owl restrictions are issued for:

• The Big Hole River from its confluence with the Beaverhead River to Tony Schoonen Fishing Access Site
• The Ruby River from its confluence with the Beaverhead River to Duncan District Road

FWP's drought policy provides for angling restrictions when flows drop below critical levels for fish, when water quality is diminished or when maximum daily water temperatures reach at least 73 degrees for three consecutive days.

These restrictions will stay in effect until conditions improve.

Restrictions of this nature are designed to protect fish that become more susceptible to disease and mortality when conditions like this exist. One short-term strategy to reduce catch-and-release mortality during times of warm water is to restrict angling to the coolest times of day. 

Anglers can help reduce stress and mortality for fish by following these practices when catching and releasing fish, though fish mortality may still occur: 

• Fish during the coolest times of day, where permitted. 
• Keep the fish in water as much as possible.  
• Let the fish recover before releasing it. 

If high temperatures and extremely low flows persist, anglers may want to consider fishing areas with less stressful conditions, such as larger lakes or reservoirs, or higher elevation waterbodies.

Similar restrictions are in place for other waterbodies. For a current list of restrictions and closures, click here.

On July 19th, 2023, at 9:22 am, Gallatin County dispatch received a call for an injured horseback rider on a trail near the 320 Guest Ranch. The patient fell from their horse and sustained a head injury. Ranch staff members radioed for help and began to provide care to the patient.

Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue volunteers from the Big Sky Section responded to the 320 Guest Ranch and deployed a hasty team up the trail. Ranch employees guided rescuers to the location of the patient. The rider was safely transported back to the trailhead with the use of a one-wheeled-litter and side by side. Ultimately the patient was transferred to a Big Sky Fire Department Ambulance and transported to Bozeman Health Big Sky Medical Center for further evaluation.

Sheriff Springer would like to commend the 320 Guest Ranch for being prepared with an emergency communication plan and for providing aid to the patient before help arrived.  Recreating in the backcountry can lead to several kinds of accidents, being prepared for what could happen helps both the responders and the patient.

Photo courtesy of Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office.

HELENA – While mule deer populations remain steady in portions of the state, spring green-up surveys conducted by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wildlife biologists showed populations in some parts of the state remain lower than desired, and as a result, licenses available to hunters in those areas have been cut back.

Over the past few years, persistent drought, particularly in southeast Montana, has affected both survival and recruitment rates for mule deer. This drought has also, at times, been coupled with hard winters, making it especially difficult for fawns to survive to adulthood. The combination of these environmental factors has impacted mule deer herds in southeast Montana so much so that recent surveys indicate the population there is 48 percent below the long-term average.

“It’s really not been just one thing,” said Brett Dorak, FWP Region 7 wildlife manager. “Hard winters, dry summers – it all takes a toll on mule deer in particular. But that’s what our adaptive harvest management plan is designed to address – localized conditions that impact populations. By following the plan, we have adjusted our antlerless B license opportunity annually and over the past few years we have reduced those opportunities by 91 percent.”

Annually, wildlife managers around the state adjust mule deer B license numbers based on spring survey results. When it looks like the population is in decline in a hunting district, FWP reduces the number of mule deer B licenses available in order to keep more female deer in the herd, the very segment that drives the population. In central Montana, that has meant mule deer B licenses have fluctuated a bit during the past few years. In Region 7, mule deer B licenses have dropped from a high of 11,000 in 2020 to 1,000 this year.

In Region 6, or northeast Montana, numbers have been more variable. Generally, mule deer numbers are average to below average in southern districts of the region and average to above average in northern districts. Mule deer B license quotas have been adjusted accordingly.  

The prairie-breaks habitat of central Montana’s Region 4 has seen declining mule deer numbers, and much of the region had already changed to antlered buck-only regulations in response to severe winter conditions and summer drought of the past few years.

“We’ve been lowering our B license numbers for a few years,” said Cory Loecker, Region 4 wildlife manager. “But even with the favorable weather conditions this spring and the resiliency deer can exhibit, their numbers will take some time to rebound.”

This year also saw a few other changes to licenses. In June, the Fish and Wildlife Commission approved changes to the general deer license in several hunting districts that will shift licenses from either-sex mule deer to antlered buck mule deer only. The hunting districts affected by these changes are 301 in southwest Montana; 410, 411, 412, 417, 419, 426 and 471 in north-central Montana; 621 and 622 in northeast Montana; and 700, 701, 702, 703, 704 and 705 in southeast Montana. White-tailed deer opportunity will remain as either-sex in these hunting districts for 2023.

This means that during the archery, general and heritage muzzleloader seasons, the general license will not be valid for antlerless mule deer harvest in those districts.

These changes are reflected in the online hunting regulations, but not in the hardcopy version, which were printed in the spring prior to the changes made by the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

“It’s important for hunters to know how we’re responding to declines in mule deer numbers,” said FWP Director Dustin Temple. “We’ve heard for the last few years from landowners and hunters alike that they’re concerned about deer numbers. Staff’s application of our adaptive management plan to be more conservative with harvest really fits the situation on the ground.”

Good wildlife populations are always tied to good habitat conditions. Summer and autumn forage is important for deer, as the nutrition they get in the summer and fall will help them make it through the long Montana winters.

“We had some timely rains late last summer and autumn, which helped with some late vegetative production,” said Dorak. “Mule deer pregnancy and fetal rates are associated with forage quality in the fall, and those late rains we had may be the reason why we saw a small rebound in our recruitment rates this spring. Prairie mule deer populations are cyclical, and we have been in these low spots a few times over the past four decades, but these mule deer are also resilient. When environmental conditions are favorable, these populations can bounce back.”

“Thankfully the wet spring and summer seen in much of Montana may help give numbers a boost next year,” Dorak added.

But either way, FWP biologists will be paying close attention and adjusting B license numbers based on most recent surveys along with weather and habitat conditions.

HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is advising anglers that portions of the Beaverhead River, Bitterroot River and the entire Jefferson River are closed to all fishing daily from 2 p.m. to midnight, effective Wednesday, July 19. The restrictions will stay in effect until conditions improve.

The hoot-owl restrictions are issued for:

• Jefferson River – the entire river, from the Missouri River to the confluence of the Big Hole River and Beaverhead River
• Beaverhead River –from the confluence of the Big Hole River to Anderson Lane.
• Bitterroot River – from Veteran’s Bridge at Hamilton to the confluence of the East and West Forks Bitterroot River

FWP's drought policy provides for angling restrictions when flows drop below critical levels for fish, when water quality is diminished or when maximum daily water temperatures reach at least 73 degrees for three consecutive days. Water temperatures of 77 degrees or more can be lethal to trout. The upper Bitterroot restriction is based on criteria for cutthroat trout, which is temps reach or exceed 66 degrees for three consecutive days.

Restrictions of this nature are designed to protect fish that become more susceptible to disease and mortality when conditions like this exist. FWP officials said one short-term strategy to address heat-induced stress in Montana's wild trout is to reduce catch-and-release mortality by alerting anglers to fish only in the morning. 

Anglers can reduce stress on fish at all times of the year by getting fish to net or hand quickly, keep them in the water, and revive them prior to releasing them back to river.  

In addition, anglers can also help reduce stress and mortality for fish by following these practices when catching and releasing fish, though fish mortality may still occur: 

• Fish during the coolest times of day, where permitted. 
• Keep the fish in water as much as possible.  
• Let the fish recover before releasing it. 

If high temperatures and extremely low flows persist, anglers may want to consider fishing areas with less stressful temperatures and conditions, such as larger lakes or reservoirs, or higher elevation waterbodies.

GALLATIN GATEWAY, Montana – Concerned citizens from the Gallatin Gateway area have joined forces to create the Gateway Conservation Alliance whose initial goal is to prevent the TMC Inc-Black-3462 open-pit mine application from being approved. Montana DEQ has planned a public meeting to review the application and accept public comments. The meeting is scheduled for 6:00 PM, July 25th at the Gallatin Gateway Community Center (145 Mill St, Gallatin Gateway, MT 59730).

The Gateway Conservation Alliance brings together a diverse group of stakeholders including environmental activists, conservation experts, local businesses, government representatives and especially, concerned citizens. By fostering open dialogue, promoting cooperation, and harnessing collective efforts, the GCA aims to tackle pressing environmental challenges and address the potential threats posed to our beloved Gallatin Gateway.

The initial focus of the GCA is to prevent the approval of the TMC Inc-Black-3462 open-pit mining application and encourages everyone to attend next Tuesday’s meeting. “This proposed mine is the latest in a series of developmental projects in the Gateway area that is vehemently opposed by affected neighbors. We need to make our voices heard and the GCA is our megaphone,” stated Tracie Gibbons, President of the Gateway Conservation Alliance. “That’s why it’s critical for everyone who’s ever travelled south on the 191 towards Big Sky and wants to preserve this end of the Gallatin valley, to turn out next week and support our cause.”

This open-pit mine application is especially damning because of the Opencut Act that should have all Montanans concerned about the future or our landscapes.

Those who can’t attend the meeting in person can join via Zoom: https://mt-gov.zoom.us/j/83773474222?pwd=MklBTmpFb1A0dWFtUEVqRmVpSUx0QT09

More information on the can be found at https://gatewayconservationalliance.org .