BOZEMAN – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, in partnership with Montana State University (MSU), have brought on new staff and students in preparation for this year’s field season to study rainbow and brown trout declines and fish health concerns in the Jefferson Basin.

FWP recently hired a new fisheries technician based in Dillon to support efforts in the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Ruby and Madison rivers, including upcoming studies with MSU. That work will include three PhD students and support staff who will begin studies on recreational use, adult trout mortality and juvenile trout recruitment in 2024 on the four rivers.

FWP and MSU staff and students are meeting regularly to prepare for the upcoming field seasons. FWP staff will continue to provide regular updates on these projects through news releases and public meetings.

“We’re looking forward to beginning this important field season this spring,” said Mike Duncan, FWP’s fisheries program manager in southwestern Montana. “We’re grateful for the partnerships that will make these studies possible as we work toward solutions to the issues we’re seeing for fish in the Jefferson Basin.”

Fish health update

In the Big Hole and Beaverhead rivers, FWP staff and anglers have observed clinically diseased adult fish with apparent increasing frequency in recent years. FWP has conducted health assessments in those rivers. However, disease in fish is a complex interaction among the fish host, potential pathogens and environment, which poses challenges in determining the primary cause of fish health issues.

FWP staff have detected the parasite that causes proliferative kidney disease in the Big Hole River and many other rivers across Montana using molecular testing methods. However, staff have yet to see the disease manifest itself in fish in the river. It is also unclear whether the observed fungal infections or lesions are the primary cause or secondary effects of another disease. Thus far, testing has not identified any bacteria or viruses that are common fish pathogens.  

Tissue from diseased fish are being examined at a cellular level by pathologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). Results will be available this winter and will help determine the next steps in health assessments. Further testing for potential fungi, bacteria or viruses using alternative culture methods and technologically advanced molecular testing will occur this spring, summer and fall in adult and juvenile fish collected from the Big Hole and Beaverhead rivers. 

In the meantime, FWP has convened a workgroup with experts from across the country to better understand risk factors and underlying stressors influencing fish health at individual and population levels in these rivers. The workgroup will develop a proactive monitoring approach to characterize the relative contribution of potential stressors, including water quantity and quality, climate, and angling pressure that will be implemented this spring.

FWP’s partners include fish health experts, histopathologists, water quality specialists, microbiologists, fish physiologists and fish biologists with FWP, MSU, USFWS, USGS, Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab at Washington State University and the USGS Montana Cooperative Fishery Research Unit.

For more information about FWP’s response to trout declines in the Big Hole, Beaverhead and Ruby rivers, visit bit.ly/3Scbf9X.

BOZEMAN - Verge Theater is thrilled to present the contemporary, Jason Robert Brown musical, Songs for a New World. Opening Friday, February 2nd and running through Sunday, February 18th, Songs for a New World is the perfect cozy night out to enjoy ninety minutes of transformative vocal performances supported by a four piece band.

Under the skilled guidance of director Tessa Welsch and musical director Lori Rosolowsky, this tight-knit cast of talented vocalists will guide audiences through a series of songs that intertwine inspirational, empathetic characters and history, diving deep into what it means to be human.

Each song brings you into the heart and soul of the characters experiencing universal joys, sorrows, hopes and fears. Like a mirror, Songs for a New World offers the chance for you to see yourself in each story.

Verge Theater is continuing their mission to provide accessible theater to our community.

Tickets for Songs for a New World are Pay What You Wish with a suggested price of $35.

Audience members are offered the opportunity to select the price point that is comfortable for them when purchasing tickets.

Audiences are invited to attend a Special Valentine’s Performance on February 14th!

This special event will include champagne, a sweet treat, and a transformative show. Tickets are just $50 for this night out on Valentine's Day.

Performers:
● Samantha Pedersen
● Siri Devlin
● Connor Tweet
● Kristién Watkins

Band:
● Richard Williams (Percussion)
● Taka Maxfield-Matsumoto (Cello)
● Cam Warner (Bass)
● Lori Rosolowsky (Keyboard)

Creative Team:
● Tessa Welsch (Director)
● Lori Rosolowsky (Music Director)
● Olivia Olson (Stage Manager)
● Isabel Shaida (Asst. Director)
● Emma Rathe (Vocal Coach)
● KC Luchsingser (Sound)
● Julie Seitel (Lighting)
● Kristin Wilcox (Lighting).

Songs for a New World runs February 2 - 4, 8 - 10, 14, 16 - 18.
Performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays begin at 7:00 p.m., with Sunday matinees offered at 3:00 p.m.

Tickets are available at https://www.vergetheater.com/songsforanewworldtickets

BOZEMAN – Prospera, a catalyst for economic empowerment, is thrilled to announce the opening of applications for its statewide grant opportunity, Prospera’s Impact Grant for Women, designed to support and boost women-owned businesses across Montana.

To foster entrepreneurship and drive economic growth, Prospera is offering a total of $18,000 in funds to assist three deserving women-owned businesses in achieving their business growth goals.

Women entrepreneurs statistically don’t secure the same funding as their male counterparts. Prospera recognizes this disparity and aims to provide meaningful support through this grant opportunity. By offering this funding, Prospera aims to empower women-owned businesses to scale, innovate, and contribute to the economic vitality of the communities they live and work in.

Key details of the Prospera Statewide Grant Opportunity:
Grant Amount: $18,000

Number of Grants: Three (3)- One $5,000 rural grant (businesses operating in towns with populations less than 10,000), one $5,000 urban grant (businesses operating in towns with populations more than 10,000), one $8,000 grant that is open statewide no matter the town the business operates.

Eligibility Criteria: Open to all Montana women-owned businesses that have been registered with the MT Secretary of State and revenue generating for a minimum of one year, with ownership of 51% or more.

Application Period: Jan. 1, 2024 to March 8, 2024 at noon MST

Application Process: Interested entrepreneurs can apply through Prospera's official website https://prosperamt.org/loans-grants/impact-grant. Attend Prospera’s How to Apply Webinar on February 2 at 10am, register for the webinar at https://mtsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/5746

Pitch Contest Process: This is a two-step process. After the applications are submitted and scored, the top nine applications will pitch their funding request live on Zoom on April 17, 2024.

This is the sixth year that Prospera will be offering Prospera’s Impact Grants for Women. After granting these funds Prospera will have provided $106,500 to 20 women-owned businesses across Montana since 2019. Funding for the grant is independently raised at Prospera’s annual Prosperity Party. To contribute to future grant cycles or to support Prospera in its efforts to build a strong Montana Economy visit: https://prosperamt.org/foundation

About Prospera: Prospera helps businesses and communities find their pathway to success, acting as the navigator, problem solver, and catalyst for a string Montana economy. For nearly 40 years, our focus is helping people start and grow their local business – which in turn strengthens our region’s economy and communities. Prospera is dedicated to accelerating business through our no-cost business counseling, business training, grant assistance, business networking, and business loans.

Julia Haggerty, Montana State University associate professor and acting manager of the new EPA partnership based at MSU, speaks during the Friday, Jan. 19, event. MSU photo by Colter Peterson

BOZEMAN – At a Jan. 19 event on campus, officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that Montana State University will receive at least $10 million to establish a regional partnership to help communities and tribal nations in six states address environment- and energy-related priorities.

Funded by the EPA’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers Program, the MSU-hosted initiative will provide resources and assistance to underserved entities, such as rural and Indigenous communities. With offices on the MSU campus, the program will employ outreach and engagement specialists stationed throughout EPA Region 8, which includes Montana, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota.

“Together, EPA and MSU will help break down the barriers to resources that underserved and overburdened communities have always faced,” said KC Becker, EPA regional administrator. “These communities deserve support and fair access to the historic levels of funding EPA offers to protect families’ health and homes.”

Julia Haggerty, associate professor in MSU’s Department of Earth Sciences in the College of Letters and Science, is serving as acting manager of the new program at MSU, which aims to start operating this spring. A resource and rural geography specialist, Haggerty has spent her career working with communities and tribal nations to identify strategies to enhance resilience and well-being as energy and natural resource markets and policies shift.

Haggerty said that the program will promote student engagement through opportunities for students to support the TCTAC’s activities as interns, part-time workers and through directed study.

“What excites me as a faculty member is that this creates an incredible opportunity to elevate our game when it comes to identifying service-learning opportunities for students as we support program participants,” Haggerty said. “Many students and faculty care deeply about doing work to improve well-being in the region. There will be tremendous opportunities for students to learn from and participate in these efforts.”

MSU’s is one of 13 regional centers being established by the EPA under the White House’s Investing in America agenda. The EPA, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, selected MSU based on its ability to provide technical assistance related to energy and environmental justice, according to an agency press release.

The EPA-funded centers will provide training and other assistance to program participants in such areas as navigating federal grant application systems, developing strong grant proposals and effectively managing funding. The centers also will help identify funding opportunities and support community engagement, meeting facilitation, and translation and interpretation services. An additional focus of the program is accessing experts for consultation on technical and policy issues.

The program at MSU will use the expertise of partner agencies and organizations.

Some of them, such as the Extension programs at MSU, Colorado State University, Utah State University and the University of Wyoming, will receive funding under the five-year grant. Haggerty emphasized the prominent role of Extension programs at all the Region 8 land-grant universities in supervising the community engagement specialists assigned to their specific areas.

“The specialists – five new positions in total – will connect the knowledge and leadership in Region 8 communities with resources to empower local solutions,” she said. “There are currently many funding opportunities to address environmental and energy problems, but those opportunities can fly by underserved communities, where resources needed to apply and manage those funds are stretched thin by existing priorities.”

In keeping with its commitment to improve lives and communities, MSU Extension will use its expertise in community vitality and community-based leadership for the benefit of rural and tribal communities, said Cody Stone, Extension executive director.

MSU’s approach engages the Montana IDeA Community Engagement Core, which works to foster and enhance tribal and rural community partnerships to mitigate health disparities and enhance health equity, and the expertise of faculty and staff across the university.

The Colorado State University Center for Environmental Justice is serving as the executive co-lead alongside MSU. Also funded at CSU are the Center for the New Energy Economy and the Prevention Research Center.

Funded partners not affiliated with any of the land-grant schools in the region are the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy and The Center for Social Creativity.

Other partner organizations include the Extension programs for North Dakota State and South Dakota Stateuniversities; the Milken Institute Community Infrastructure Center; Environmental Partners Network; Just and Equitable Transition Network; National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Green Latinos; Save Energy Coalition; and Resources Legacy Fund.

More information about the center and the services it will provide is available athttps://ou.montana.edu/thrivingcommunities/index.html.

Storing non-perishable foods effectively is crucial for maintaining their quality and ensuring safety. This type of food, often seen as the backbone of emergency preparedness and pantry stocking, includes items like canned goods, grains, and dried beans. Unlike perishables, these foods have a longer shelf life, but that doesn't mean they're impervious to spoilage or quality degradation. Proper storage is key to preserving their integrity, flavor, and nutritional value. The goal is to protect them from factors like moisture, light, and pests, which can compromise their quality. By understanding the fundamental principles of non-perishable food storage, households can maximize the lifespan of these essential items, reduce waste, and maintain a reliable food supply. This introduction sets the stage for exploring practical and effective storage tips that ensure your non-perishables remain safe, accessible, and ready for use whenever needed.

Choosing the Right Containers

Selecting appropriate containers for storing non-perishable foods is a critical step in preserving their quality. The ideal containers are airtight, durable, and made of food-safe materials. Airtightness is crucial to prevent exposure to air, which can lead to staleness or moisture buildup, potentially causing mold or spoilage. Glass jars with tight-sealing lids are excellent options, as they don’t impart any flavors to the contents and are easy to clean and reuse. Plastic containers can also be used, provided they are BPA-free and designed for food storage. For larger quantities or bulk items, heavy-duty plastic bins or metal containers are suitable, especially when looking for options to store items in locations like self storage units in Baltimore. Such environments require sturdy, pest-resistant, and moisture-proof solutions. 

Additionally, ensuring the transparency or labeling of containers helps in quick identification and rotation of stock, keeping the oldest items at the front for use first. This approach not only helps in efficient space utilization but also contributes to minimizing waste and maintaining an organized pantry.

Ideal Storage Locations

Selecting the perfect spot for storing non-perishable foods is as important as choosing the right containers. The location should safeguard the food from environmental factors that can compromise its quality. A cool, dry, and dark area is ideal, as it minimizes exposure to heat, moisture, and light, all of which can accelerate degradation. The United States Department of Agriculture offers comprehensive guidelines on food storage, emphasizing the importance of temperature control. 

According to their recommendations, the following guidelines should be considered:

                • Avoid areas near stoves or ovens, as heat can spoil food faster.
                • Steer clear of damp places like under the sink, which can invite mold.
                • Keep food away from windows where sunlight can cause temperature
                   fluctuations.
                • Choose a spot that's not prone to drastic temperature changes, like a
                   basement or a pantry.
                • Ensure the storage area is far from chemicals or cleaning agents, to prevent
                   contamination.

These locations, when chosen correctly, not only prolong the shelf life of non-perishables but also help maintain their nutritional value and taste. Proper storage location selection, combined with the right containers, forms a comprehensive strategy for keeping your non-perishable foods safe and consumable for longer periods.

Managing Expiration Dates

Effective management of expiration dates is pivotal in ensuring the safety and quality of non-perishable foods. While these items are known for their long shelf lives, they do not last indefinitely. It's essential to be vigilant about expiration dates to avoid consuming spoiled foods, which can lead to health risks. One effective strategy is to practice the “first-in, first-out” principle, ensuring that older items are used before newer ones. When stocking your pantry, place newly purchased items at the back, allowing older ones to be consumed first.

Regularly checking expiration dates is also crucial. Set aside time monthly to inspect your pantry and remove items that are past their expiration or best-before dates. This not only helps in maintaining food safety but also in avoiding unnecessary waste. In addition to the printed dates, pay attention to the appearance and smell of the food. If something looks or smells off, it’s safer to discard it.

Remember, managing expiration dates is not just about safety; it's also about enjoying your food at its best quality. By keeping a close eye on these dates and organizing your pantry accordingly, you ensure that your non-perishable foods are always fresh and ready to enrich your meals.

Organizing for Easy Access

An organized pantry not only makes finding items quicker but also ensures efficient use and rotation of your non-perishable food stock. A systematic approach to organizing can make a significant difference. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight the importance of organization in preventing foodborne illnesses.

To streamline your pantry, consider the following steps:

1. Group similar items together – place all grains, canned goods, and spices in their respective sections.
2. Use clear, labeled containers for bulk items – this makes identification easy and keeps food fresh.
3. Allocate specific areas for different food categories – designate a shelf for breakfast items, another for baking supplies, and so on.

This method not only simplifies the process of finding what you need but also helps in tracking your inventory and understanding what needs restocking. An organized pantry reduces the time spent searching for items, minimizing the frustration that can come from a cluttered space. By maintaining a structured approach to storage, you can ensure that every item is easily accessible and used efficiently, reducing waste and saving time.

Pest Prevention Strategies

Keeping pests away from your non-perishable food is essential for maintaining its quality and safety. Pests like rodents and insects are attracted to food sources and can contaminate your supplies. To prevent such infestations, it's important to maintain cleanliness in your storage areas. Regularly cleaning shelves and containers removes crumbs and spills that can attract pests. 

Also, ensure that all food is stored in tightly sealed containers. This not only keeps the food fresh but also makes it inaccessible to pests. Another effective strategy is to periodically inspect your pantry for signs of pests, such as droppings or damaged packaging. Immediate action can prevent larger infestations. Just as restaurants must adhere to strict hygiene standards to ensure food safety, the same principle applies to home food storage. Keeping your pantry clean, organized, and well-maintained is key to preventing pest problems and ensuring your non-perishable foods remain safe and consumable.

Wrapping Up Safe Storage Practices

In conclusion, the proper storage of non-perishable foods is a blend of choosing the right containers, finding ideal locations, managing expiration dates, organizing for accessibility, and preventing pests. These practices ensure that your food remains safe, nutritious, and flavorful. By following these guidelines, you can confidently maintain a well-stocked pantry, ready for everyday meals or unexpected situations.

BOZEMAN – Emergency closures went into effect on Tuesday at three fishing access sites in southwestern Montana due to flooding.

The sites include Selway Park Fishing Access Site on the Beaverhead River, and Valley Garden and Ennis fishing access sites on the Madison River. These sites will be closed until further notice.

Recent cold weather has led to ice jams on rivers in these areas, causing ice and debris to flow into the sites. The combination of unsafe conditions includes flooded areas, moving ice and debris, and potentially unstable trees. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will reopen the sites when conditions allow.

Additional site closures may be in effect already or required later, depending on weather and river flows. Current restrictions and closures of FWP-managed lands and waterbodies can be found online at fwp.mt.gov/news/current-closures-restrictions.

Recreationists are encouraged to use caution when visiting rivers because of unseen hazards, as well as flow and ice conditions that can change suddenly. For more information about river recreation safety, visit fwp.mt.gov/activities/boating/river-ethics.

Every musician struggles to find his target audience. Beginning musicians struggle with finding their first listeners, but even after building a considerable audience, they need to constantly work so their listeners don't forget about them. If you've tried all the ways to promote your music on Spotify and are still unhappy with the results, Spotify playlist promotion can be a life-changing solution for you. Let's discover what that is and how to choose the best Spotify playlist promotion for your Spotify account.

When promoting your music on Spotify, it's essential to have a carefully planned promotion strategy. You need to first decide what results you want to achieve. Do you want to help more people find out about your music? Do you want to boost your new track? All this is important when choosing the type of Spotify promotion. So, if you're struggling to get recognition in the industry, getting a Spotify playlist promotion is one of the best ways to help people notice you.

How does it work?

So, what is Spotify playlist promotion? We all know what Spotify playlists are. Such playlists usually contain songs that have something in common. For example, they are dedicated to a particular topic, are composed in the same genre, or simply have a similar mood. The main advantage of those playlists is that they gather together an audience that is fond of a particular type of music. We call this a target audience. When promoting your music on Spotify, you need to be able to find the people who are interested in your songs. It's not only about improving the visibility and making anyone notice your music. If you want to get a real result and find new fans, you need to have a chance to reach the right people. When placing your signs on Spotify playlists, you immediately get access to a specific group of people who are potentially looking for the kind of music you make. Working with your target audience is really important if you want to gain appreciation and build a solid audience.

How do you choose the best Spotify playlist promotion?

Since promotion works with Spotify's algorithms, this is not an easy task, and it's better to have someone experienced do it for you/ special promotion services allow you to buy different types of Spotify playlist promotions. When searching for such a service, you need to make sure about a few things:

• Whether the traffic it brings you is organic. When promoting Spotify playlists, you want to get a chance to reach real active Spotify users. Simply faking the statistics and getting plays from bots is not going to work
• Check the efficiency of promotion by reading the feedback from users. Make sure that the service you are using is legit and is popular among other users.

One of the best Spotify promotion services is PromoSound. This platform offers users various ways to promote themselves. With years of experience, the platform's professionals offer different Spotify playlist promotion packages that would fit the needs and the budget of any musician. When searching for a reliable platform, you need to check if there's any legitimate information proving its success, and Promotosund is such a platform. Its experience is based on placing over 20,000 tracks on premium Spotify playlists, offering its users over 5 billion organic Spotify plays and more. If you really want to rock the industry, you need to invest in promotion wisely, so when choosing one, make sure to pay attention to such numbers.

Spotify playlist promotion is the key to success now; let's suppose you've chosen a promotion service. Then how do you choose the best promotion package? When choosing one, think of the budget you're ready to invest. Here, there are various strategies. If you want to get a quick result and have everyone around talking about you, you need to play big. However, you can take another strategy and develop your Spotify account gradually. For example, if you're just at the beginning of your music career, it is a good idea to invest in malles but regular promotion. This will help you to get organic growth and gradually develop your audience.

What are you waiting for?

Let's sum up all the advantages of Spotify playlist promotion:

• it gives you access to a big audience since such curated playlists usually have a significant fixed number of listeners
• help you get noticed by your target listeners. When placing your song in the right playlist, you are maximizing your chance to reach your future devoted fan.
• reasonable price. Spotify playlist promotions are usually offered at a very reasonable price compared to the result they bring. Just one investment in spoofy promotion can change your music career forever!

So what are you waiting for? Stop wasting your time and get down to promoting your music! Let everyone find out your name and bring your career to a whole new level!