HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will implement changes this year to the reservation process for state park sites. The changes will create more opportunities for recreationists to enjoy state parks and comply with legislation passed by the 2023 Legislature.  

Starting this year, visitors will have up to three months prior to their planned arrival date to make campsite and lodging reservations or purchase tour tickets. This is a change from the six-month booking window in the past. Visitors need to be aware that the maximum stay per site changed from 14 consecutive nights to 7. The last change allows at least 20 percent of state parks’ campsites to be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sites are reservable from the third Friday in May through the third Sunday in September. People can start making reservations on Feb. 17 at 9 a.m. by visiting  fwp.mt.gov/stateparks/ or calling the call center at 855-922-6768.

Portland, Oregon-based musician/engineer/producer Steve Drizos, a professional touring musician for more than twenty-seven years and studio owner, can currently be found behind the drums for Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons or helming the board at his SE Portland recording studio, The Panther, is gearing up to release his sophomore full-length album, i love you now leave me alone (Cavity Search Records) on February 16th.

Having worked with countless artists at The Panther, including Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Debbi Peterson (The Bangles), Spencer Tweedy, Chris Funk (The Decembrists), and Scott McCaughey (R.E.M., Minus 5, The Young Fresh Fellows), as well as his wife, The Decemberists' Jenny Conlee, Drizos is no stranger to both sides of the studio, culminating in his debut solo album, Axiom, which was released on Cavity Search Records in 2021. Written and recorded during the start of the pandemic, Axiom was Drizos' chance to experiment in the studio and make a solo album, playing most of the instruments himself. However, with i love you now leave me alone, he decided to demo everything and build a band around the songs, resulting in a powerful follow-up that finds the songwriter side of him growing and evolving, delivering another strong collection of eight powerful songs that find influence in 90s guitar-rock, pop, and folk.

"My first record, Axiom, got a lot more attention and positive feedback than I ever could have imagined, so I felt really motivated to release a follow up as soon as possible," Drizos says discussing the birth of i love you now leave me alone. "And where Axiom was very much done on my own, I wanted this project to be a band, tracking the songs live and having much more collaboration. Once I had a batch of songs that I felt good about, I assembled the players and got to work."

The band includes drummer Joe Mengis (Eels), Tim Murphy (RoughCuts) on bass and backing vocals, Todd Wright on electric guitars and backing vocals, and his wife, Jenny Conlee on piano and electric piano.

"I spent a decent amount of time making demos of these songs that were pretty fleshed out," he says. "The versions of the songs on the album are not very far from those demos, just played much better and with some much cooler ideas added in."

Whereas Axiom was introspective and about Drizos and his newfound sobriety, i love you now leave me alone focuses more on Drizos' loved ones and his relationships with them.

"Most of the songs on this album are about my relationships with those closest to me. Some songs are pretty direct, like 'troubled heart' is a song directly for my wife, while others are more of an amalgamation of people in my life. My first album was much more introspective, so I wanted this one to be looking out and talk about some of those relationships."

But, even with deep love for those closest to him, the self-admitted introvert decided to title the record with a saying he feels a lot. "I think it relates to the album in that the sentiment of 'I love you, now leave me alone' is relatable to most introverts like myself," he confesses. "Deeply loving those closest to us, but at the same time being pretty happy to be left alone. I had the title before I had any of the songs finished or even started. It kind of gave me a compass direction as to what the record was going to be about."

On the bouncy, warm pop-rocker "kick into touch," which builds into a driven rocker, Drizos sings:

Everyone I call home
Something I want you to know
You lift me up, you fill my soul
I love you, now leave me alone

"I think that pretty much sums up how I feel a lot of the times. I was worried that people would take that as being rude or insulting, but most everyone that's heard the lyric or I tell them the album title laughs and says, 'I get it!' I'm not the only one who feels this way."

When asked what the highlight of the album is for him, Drizos beams with excitement about the energy of the record, thanks to playing the songs live in the studio with a full band.

"Overall, I think the energy of a band playing in a room together was captured very well on this record. Even though there was a decent amount of overdubs, the foundation of the songs were all tracked live and I think you can really feel that. Songs like 'boomerang' and 'beautiful nothing' especially capture the energy."

Not only did Drizos work with a full band on his sophomore effort, but he also worked with a vocal coach to better deliver his vocals on this release.

"I worked with an amazing singer and good friend, Rebecca Sanborn, as a vocal producer/coach and she really pushed me to do things that I didn't think I could do. She took me out of my comfort zone and made me work for it and I could not be more pleased with the results. As someone who doesn't consider myself a strong vocalists, I am really happy with the results on this record."

While the record sounds fresh and contemporary, it is heavily rooted in and influenced by 90s rock, something Drizos contributes to the music he keeps coming back to.

"[90s rock] resonates with me the most," he admits. "Maybe at 50 years old it reminds me of a more innocent time in my life, maybe it's just really familiar and comforting. I love the energy and larger than life aspect of music from that era. Can it be overly earnest from time to time? Absolutely. But I'm not afraid to go there! As long as it's not ALL like that. I guess it doesn't feel like it was a choice to go in the direction of 90s rock, its just where I live most of the time."

When Drizos recorded and released Axiom, he had no intentions to play any of those songs live, and thus didn't. However, he approached i love you now leave me alone differently, with live shows in mind.

"I approached the writing and the producing of the album with the idea of playing live shows in mind, which I did not do with Axiom. I hope that the live shows are a pretty close representation of what the album sounds like. Since I don't really play live shows, at least as a band leader playing my songs, I'm not sure what to expect. I feel like I have found a great group of players that I feel really comfortable with, so I would love to bring these songs to a live audience."

The album's first single, "brooklyn 97202," is about his SE Portland neighborhood.

"I chose this as the first single because I really wanted to release it in the summer. It's a summer song, as well as a good example and introduction of what the band sounds like."

"Almost everyday I walk the same route around my neighborhood," he continues. "Most of the lyrics for this album I came up with on these walks. Last summer I felt hyper aware of the phenomenon that happens in the Pacific Northwest, after a long and dreary winter/spring, the lights come back on and everything turns from grey to technicolor overnight. And there is a collective lift in everyone's mood. The lights coming back on has definite parallels with the seasonal depression that a lot people suffer living in this area."

With the album's first single set for release July 21st, and the album set for release in early 2024, Drizos is excited for people to start hearing the record. And, while he made the record for himself, something he would listen to, he's not shy about admitting he wants people to hear it and connect with it.

"All I'm doing is making music that I enjoy making and listening to, and hope that others will get something out of it. I try my best to ride the line of believing this record is really good, wanting people to hear it and enjoy it, and at the same time not take any of it too seriously and remember its another record in a long line of records that have come before and will come after.

"I hope it gets to people's ears and they find something that they can relate to in it. I'm in a unique position where I'm not making a record for a particular fan base or planning a big tour around the release of the album. So the stakes are relatively low in those regards, which takes some of the pressure off. I love making records, I love collaborating with people I trust and respect, and I will keep doing that regardless. But at the same time I'm an insecure artist who wants people to like what I create."

On February 9, 2024, at 12:12pm, West Yellowstone Police Department Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a cross-county skier who had encountered a fellow skier who had injured their leg and lost consciousness for an unknown amount of time. The caller indicated that the skier was in need of immediate medical treatment near Jerry’s Journey on the Rendezvous Ski Trail, 2 miles south of West Yellowstone, Montana.

Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue (GCSSAR) volunteers from the West Yellowstone detachment, Hebgen Basin Rural Fire District (HBRFD), and Gallatin County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the request for aid. The GCSSAR team members established due to groomed snow conditions and the injured skier’s location on the Rendezvous Ski Trail, a tracked four-wheeler and a snowmobile response would serve the patient best. GCSSAR members arrived on scene and assisted the patient. The patient was transported from the scene of the accident by a specialized tracked four-wheeler towed ambulance to a waiting HBRFD ambulance for further evaluation. The injured skier refused further medical treatment and was released after being evaluated.

Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer would like to commend the passerby skiers who provided detailed information pertaining to the location and extent of the skier’s injuries and waited with the injured skier until emergency services arrived on scene. Sheriff Springer would like to remind outdoor recreationists that having the proper equipment to establish location and contact emergency services leads to the quickest and most efficient response from emergency personnel.

Layla of Belgrade is 11, soon to be 12, and dealing with the challenges of Scoliosis—a curvature of the spine. Knowing what it’s like to wear a hard plastic torso brace 24/7 to middle school, dealing with bullies, and worrying about having spinal surgery to correct the growing curve, she wants other girls with scoliosis to know they are not alone. Layla was diagnosed with scoliosis during a routine exam with her pediatrician at age 7. She has been wearing a brace 20 to 23 hours per day ever since, until now. Layla was able to hold back her curve with bracing, but now is scheduled for spine fusion surgery in April and will be adding that to her scoliosis journey.

Curvy Girls brings girls together to raise awareness and to support one another at monthly meetings, hospital visits, and brace-wear shopping trips. Because teens with Scoliosis typically feel self-conscious about their appearance and often have to wear a hard plastic torso brace up to 23 hours a day, they tend to isolate and may experience depression. Support groups provide an important opportunity to share concerns and information.  

Curvy Girls of Bozeman is a chapter of an international group started in 2006 by then 13-year-old Leah Stoltz of Long Island, N.Y. Since being featured on national television’s Nickelodeon HALO (Helping and Leading Others) Awards Show in 2009, and the 2017 Inégal campaign in collaboration with TeenVogue and model Martha Hunt, Curvy Girls has grown to over 100 chapters throughout the world.

Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) is a medical condition of unknown cause in which a preteen/teen has an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. On an x-ray, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line. Conventional treatment is through bracing, scoliosis-specific exercises and surgery. Scoliosis progresses 10 times more frequently in girls. In an attempt to halt curve progression and avoid spine surgery, bracing is continued throughout the growing years.

“Scoliosis affects us both physically and emotionally. While the back brace supports our bodies, Curvy Girls is our emotional brace,” says founder Leah Stoltz. “We need to help our girls feel better about themselves from the inside out.”  

Layla welcomes girls with Scoliosis to contact her so that together they can continue to make a difference. Visit www.curvygirlsscoliosis.com and learn more about Layla and Curvy Girls of Bozeman.

GREAT FALLS – The deadline for Smith River float applications is Wednesday, Feb. 14. The permit drawing will be held on Feb. 22. Permits are required to float the 59-mile section of river between Camp Baker and Eden Bridge and are issued each year through a lottery.

To apply for a Smith River float permit online, go to the FWP Online Licensing System. A $15 nonrefundable permit application fee is required. Successful Smith River applicants will be notified via email shortly after the lottery drawing is conducted. 

This year is the first time applicants can buy a bonus point for the Smith River Permit. A bonus point is essentially an extra chance you can purchase for the permit drawing. These points accumulate year after year if you are unsuccessful in the drawing. Residents can purchase a bonus point for $5; nonresidents can purchase a bonus point for $50. The bonus point is applied to your application the year it is purchased. You can apply for a permit through FWP’s Online Licensing System..

Another change this year, FWP staff will remove pit toilets at the boat camps along the Smith River this spring. All float parties will be required to pack out their human waste from the Smith River corridor. This requirement is similar to many other river systems in the West and necessary to keep the corridor pristine for visitors now and for decades to come. The rules implementing this pack-out system were passed by the Montana Parks Board in early 2022.

Floaters will need to pack portable toilet systems. To see a list of FWP-approved, portable, hard-sided toilets that will be allowed, click here. Alternative waste disposal systems, including bag systems, such as Clean Waste and RESTOP2, will not be allowed. 

Floaters can clean and sanitize their portable toilet system with a SCAT (Sanitizing Containers with Alternative Technology) machine, which has been installed at the Eden Bridge take-out. To watch a video of how the SCAT machine works with FWP-approved toilets, click here.

Finally, starting in 2024, the number of permits available for nonresidents may not exceed 10 percent of the available permits. This new law was passed as part of House Bill 846 in the 2023 Legislative Session.

In addition to the permit lottery, the public may purchase as many $5 Super Permit chances as they wish. FWP issues one Super Permit each year through a separate lottery. The recipient of the Super Permit will be allowed to launch on any date of their choosing for that float season.

The opportunity to purchase chances for the Smith River Super Permit will be available through March 22. The Super Permit drawing will take place on March 26. Super Permit chances may be purchased online through FWP’s Online Licensing System.

For more information about Smith River State Park visit: http://stateparks.mt.gov/smith-river/

BOZEMAN — Montana State University is offering a free program to help entrepreneurs take their business ideas to the next level. 

The Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s 406 Labs is accepting applications for its spring 2024 incubator. The 10-week program aims to help those who have developed business concepts or researched a potential new business to create solid business plans and identify the steps needed to clarify their approach to markets, customers, strategy, financials and more.  

Montana residents and MSU students, faculty, staff and alumni are eligible to apply for the program. MSU faculty and graduate students with research projects working toward commercialization of a technology are especially encouraged to apply. Details and the application can be found at montana.edu/business/entrepreneurship/406labs.html. The deadline to apply is Friday, Feb. 20. The program is free to all participants. 

Ron June, a professor in MSU's Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, participated in the 406 Labs incubator program in 2023 with a venture idea called OpenBioWorks with co-founder Priyanka Brahmachary, a research associate in the engineering college. 

"406 Labs was an incredibly valuable experience for our new startup,” June said. “We gained valuable tools and key metrics to help move our company forward.  I'm confident that these tools and lessons have improved our position compared to where we'd be without them, and I strongly recommend this for any academic entrepreneurs at MSU.” 

Pat LaPointe, managing director of Frontier Angels and the founder of Early Stage MT, is the facilitator for the spring group. 

406 Labs is also looking for established entrepreneurs and subject matter experts to mentor those accepted to the incubator. The mentor application can be found on the program website. 406 Labs is hosted by MSU’s Blackstone LaunchPad, an arm of the business college that supports the MSU community in entrepreneurial endeavors. 

For questions about 406 Labs and the incubator program, call 406-994-4383 or email info@msulaunchpad.org.

BUTTE – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff recently captured elk in the Highland Mountains south of Butte as part of a multi-year Targeted Elk Brucellosis Surveillance Project.

All 122 blood samples collected from captured elk tested negative for brucellosis.

Capture operations in the Highland Mountains were conducted in late January. Thirty elk were outfitted with GPS collars that will be active for one year to help wildlife managers better understand their seasonal ranges, migration routes and potential mixing with other elk herds.

The goal of these operations is to evaluate the presence and understand the movement of brucellosis in Montana’s elk populations. The research also helps wildlife managers and animal health officials understand the overlap between elk and livestock on the landscape.

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can infect humans, cattle, bison and elk and can result in abortion or the birth of weak calves. The disease is primarily transmitted through contact with infected birth tissues and fluids.

The Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) administers a brucellosis surveillance program for livestock in an area of southwest Montana called the designated surveillance area (DSA). Requirements within the DSA protect the state and national livestock industry from the spread of brucellosis. Livestock within the DSA are at risk of exposure to brucellosis from infected wildlife and are therefore subject to additional brucellosis testing requirements for movement and change of ownership, as well as additional traceability requirements.

Live elk captures in and around the perimeter of the DSA inform decisions on boundary adjustments by DOL. The Highland Mountains are outside of the DSA. The recent test results from the Highland Mountains provide support for keeping the current DSA boundary unchanged.

Montana’s Targeted Elk Brucellosis Surveillance Project is a joint effort between DOL and FWP, with support from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. In addition, this project and capture operation would not be possible without the generous support and permission from landowners to capture elk on their property.

More information about the surveillance project can be found online at fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management/elk.

For more information about how brucellosis is managed in Montana livestock, visit liv.mt.gov/Animal-Health/Reportable-Animal-Diseases/Brucellosis.

BOZEMAN — An ongoing project that aims to help Indigenous people prosper alongside buffalo at the Fort Peck Indian Reservation has received a four-year, $5 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes. The grant was awarded by the America the Beautiful Challenge program, with funding support from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Robert Magnan, director of the Fish and Game Department of the Fort Peck Tribes and grant leader, said he is thrilled with what this award will generate in improved herd and grasslands health, as well as expanded acreage and workforce for the Fort Peck Turtle Mound Buffalo Ranch.

The award also supports an ongoing, comprehensive, grassroots effort to engage members of the tribes in community-building initiatives intended to rejuvenate connections with buffalo. With Magnan’s support and leadership, part of those efforts has led to the establishment of a trail on the southern end of the ranch that is home to transferred Yellowstone National Park buffalo; the new grant will expand the existing .6-mile trail to nearly 11 miles.

Montana State University is one of a number of a collaborators on the project. MSU’s portion of the grant, which will go toward trail design and buffalo and native plants science education, is approximately $1 million. Other core partners include Fort Peck Community College and Defenders of Wildlife.

The project originated through discussions by and with the Pté Group, a grassroots organizing initiative at Fort Peck that includes Magnan and a dozen other community leaders, said Elizabeth Bird, principal investigator at MSU and project development and grants specialist in the College of Education, Health and Human Development.

“When the Pté Group formed, one of the themes that came out fairly early in discussions was that they and other tribal members needed ways to connect with buffalo physically,” Bird said. “(They needed to) be in their presence, see them, smell them, hear them, pick up sloughed fur.”

A couple of years later, MSU architecture professor Michael Everts was looking for a project for his students to work on designs integrating environmental, public health and socioeconomic issues, Bird recalled. MSU colleagues soon connected him with the Pté Group, and in the spring of 2016, Everts and the first group of MSU architecture students to work on the project were able to speak with members of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, tour the area and discuss potential projects.

“Fairly early in those conversations, the idea of a trail emerged as something that would be a really good way to connect people to the land and the buffalo up there,” Bird said. With broader community input, the Pté Group named the trail Pté Bahá Ocą́gu. (In Nakoda, Pté Bahá Ocą́gu means “buffalo hills,” and in Dakota, Wamákhaškaŋškaŋ means “all that moves on the land.”)

In addition to the trail itself, the group also discussed plans to place interactive story poles – or structures that visitors can engage with in culturally meaningful ways – along the trail, and the School of Architecture organized several independent design courses for students to collaborate with community members to design the story poles. Bird said one story pole is currently in place, and four or five more will be added. The first pole is designed to catch fur that comes off buffalo when they rub against the pole, so that people can gather the fur. A second story pole will channel the wind to make tones, and people will be invited to place their hands over apertures to generate different sounds. A third story pole will feature an internal stairway that children can climb to gain a different perspective on the surrounding area. A fourth story pole may be related to stargazing, Bird said.

The group has received several smaller grants since 2018 that enabled the work to begin, resulting in trail design and environmental and cultural review, development of roughly a half-mile of completed ADA-accessible trail, along with a parking lot, toilet, picnic and bench facilities and the first two story poles. The new grant will not only lengthen the trail but also help restore the buffalo ranch grasslands, expand the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes’ capacity to manage buffalo herds through increased wildlife-friendly fencing and workforce development and expansion; fund educational programs to foster a deeper connection between tribal youth, buffalo and their culture; increase eco-tourism capacity, including dark-sky programming, led by Jonny Lee Bearcub Stiffarm; and enhance Fort Peck Community College science faculty Steven Coon’s and Joanne Stewart Kloker’s and their students’ collaborations with the ranch. The education and eco-tourism initiatives are also key Pté Group aspirations, Bird said. Stiffarm has advocated for the Pté Group aim of buffalo-related educational programming for all ages. Another partner, Kai Teague, will help lead access to augmented native plants along the trail.  

An overarching goal is to strengthen ecosystem and community resilience and support tribally led conservation and restoration.

Bird, who has collaborated with partners at Fort Peck for more than a decade, is leading MSU’s involvement with the project. She will engage citizen science experts with Fort Peck partners in developing lessons for K-12 students, and she will help Everts and students in MSU’s School of Architecture deliver planning and constructability services for the trail, as well as design and fabrication of story poles.

Other MSU collaborators include Suzi Taylor, director of the Science Math Resource Center, and Jill Falcon Ramaker, assistant professor in the Department of Food Systems, Nutrition and Kinesiology and director of the Buffalo Nations Food System Initiative.

Bird hopes that by the time the grant concludes in 2027, more people – especially youth – will be involved and that infrastructure will be in place to enable the work and connections to continue.

“My hope is that by the time this grant ends it will be multi-generational and robust and those people will be able to carry the work forward,” she said. “To me the goal of this grant is to firmly establish the infrastructure for achieving the intentions of the Pté Group. If we can establish strong infrastructure and a set of lessons for and connections to (Fort Peck Community College) and (local) schools, that will go a long way.” 

Turnbull, co-chair of the Pté Group and key partner for the grant, said that all the proposed work “helps ensure that our wonderful, restored Yellowstone buffalo herd also advances the cultural, physical and economic health of our Fort Peck communities.”  

HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on several draft environmental assessments (EA) and emergency closures. For more information, including how to submit comments, click on the link provided or visit fwp.mt.gov/public-notices.

Manley Choke to Death Private Pond

A private landowner is applying for a Private Fish Pond License and proposes to stock Yellowstone cutthroat trout in an unnamed private pond. The pond is a 0.38 surface-acre pond located in the Crazy Mountains north of Springdale that is fed by a combination of groundwater and seasonal surface water. A screened Agri Drain structure serves as the outlet for the pond which will prevent escapement during normal operations. Although native Yellowstone cutthroat trout inhabit streams downstream of the pond, the associated risks with stocking the pond with hatchery-reared fish are minimal.

The project is sponsored by the private landowner, and the license would be active for a period of 10 years from the year of issuance (2024). The license can be renewed for additional 10-year intervals at the end of each term, and the license is transferable.

Comments due Feb. 8.

Emergency Rule Closing the Fairweather Fishing Access Site in Gallatin County

FWP has determined that flooding and ice jams justify the adoption of emergency rule closing the Fairweather Fishing Access Site.

Comments due Feb. 12.

Spotted Dog Wildlife Management Area Grazing and Water Development Plan Draft EA

FWP is seeking public review and comment through Feb. 12 of its proposed approach to livestock grazing and associated water development on Spotted Dog Wildlife Management Area (WMA).

The draft EA for the plan outlines how cattle grazing agreements with neighboring private landowners would be implemented for the overall benefit of wildlife. The plan also prescribes how water sources for livestock would be developed on the WMA.

The draft plan does not approve specific grazing agreements on the WMA, instead it provides a framework for where it could be allowed, what types of practices would be used and how grazing would be monitored and managed. Any future grazing agreements would require public review and Fish and Wildlife Commission approval as part of a separate process.

Comments due Feb. 12.

Adoption of Emergency Rule Closing the Selway Park Fishing Access Site in Beaverhead County

FWP has determined that flooding and ice jams justify the adoption of emergency rule closing the Selway Park Fishing Access Site.

Comments due Feb. 26.

Adoption of an Emergency Rule Closing the Valley Garden Fishing Access Site in Madison County

FWP has determined that flooding and ice jams justify the adoption of emergency rule closing the Valley Garden Fishing Access Site.

Comments due Feb. 26.

Adoption of an Emergency Rule Closing the Ennis Fishing Access Site in Madison County

FWP has determined that flooding and ice jams justify the adoption of emergency rule closing the Ennis Fishing Access Site.

Comments due Feb. 26.