The public is invited to a free informational well testing workshop on Wednesday, June 26 at the River Rock Community Center.

The Gallatin Local Water Quality District (GLWQD) will host representatives from MSU Extension, the Gallatin Conservation District, and the Environmental Health Services division of the Gallatin City-County Health Department, who will discuss the importance of testing groundwater quality that is being used for drinking water.

Test kits will be available for pickup through MSU Extension’s Well Educated Program. Experts will help provide guidance to homeowners on important parameters to test for specific to Gallatin County’s groundwater quality. Information on how to apply for the Gallatin Conservation District’s cost share program will also be presented. This program allows participants in the Well Educated Program to be reimbursed for 75% of the cost of their well test.

The presentations will be held at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, June 26 at the River Rock Community Center, located at 101 River Rock Rd. in Belgrade.

HELENA – Starting June 19, hunters can sign up for the Surplus License List, which is a list of leftover licenses that were not distributed by the drawing. The list will be randomized, with hunters at the top of the list contacted via email with instructions to finalize their purchase within a specified time. 

Resident and nonresident hunters can sign up through the MyFWP portal. This process requires hunters to keep their email address current in their ALS record. Payment of the license fee is not required to sign up on the Surplus License List. Getting a license from this list has no effect on existing bonus points.

Hunters must finalize the purchase of the license/permit within the timeframe specified in the email; otherwise, the 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.

The timeframes to sign up for the various licenses and permits are as follows:

• Deer B and Elk B License: June 19 – July 19
• Deer and Elk Permits are not available

Nonresidents who hold a 2024 Combination License can hold a maximum of two Deer B Licenses in addition to their Combination License. Nonresidents without a 2024 Combination License can only hold a maximum of one Deer B License.

Nonresidents who hold a Nonresident Native License, Youth Combo License or Nonresident College Student Combination License may purchase Deer B and Elk B licenses at half price.

To sign up, go to myfwp.mt.gov/fwpExtPortal/myDrawResult_input.action.

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

BOZEMAN – The Office of International Programs at Montana State University is looking for families and individuals willing to host high school students from Okinawa, Japan from Aug. 1 to 15. While living in the community, the 30 students will participate in MSU’s Okinawa Global Leadership Program. 

The program, which was established in 2013, provides students with an opportunity to increase their understanding of the English language and American culture. It also allows the students to prepare for academic conferences in English-speaking nations and creates cross-cultural dialogue and understanding.

“We have successfully hosted over 300 high school students from Okinawa since 2013. The homestay experience is extremely important within this program. To many of the students it is the most memorable part,” said Makiko Diehl, program manager at the Office of International Programs.

Host families must provide students with a private room for sleeping, a place to hang clothing, three meals a day, basic household facilities and transportation to and from campus each day. Financial compensation of $30 per night, per student, is provided to host families to offset costs. For more information about being a host family, visit OIP’s hosting international participants page.

During the program, MSU, Gallatin High School and Bozeman High School students will assist the program participants with homework and participate in activities such as visiting the Museum of the Rockies and Yellowstone National Park.

For more information about the program, contact Diehl at 406-994-7944 or makiko.diehl@montana.edu.

Power Schools students enjoy eating beef born, raised, and processed in Montana, thanks in part to investments made in communities by Montana Farmers Union.

Montana Farmers Union leaders were on site earlier in June when Power Schools received its most recent delivery of hamburger. The investments necessary for the beef to get from Missoula to Power began several years ago, with MFU's donation of a refrigerated van to Missoula FFA to use with School House Meats and a $10,000 grant to Power Schools to purchase a freezer and expand their dry good storage.

“Montana Farmers Union is always looking for opportunities to support our local, rural communities. It’s incredible when our support multiplies upon itself and results in something special like our kids getting to eat Montana-grown beef from a local rancher,” said Matt Rains, MFU’s chief of staff.

Feeding Power students locally grown and processed food is a priority for Power Public Schools and Power’s Farm to School coalition, but a lack of freezer storage hampered efforts. The grant from Montana Farmers Union Foundation in 2022 allowed the school to purchase a new freezer and quadruple their freezer capacity.

It's in that very freezer where hamburger is now stored after being delivered to Power by School House Meats.

Initially, Missoula County Public Schools’ School House Meats program delivered meat short distances using coolers. Then, in 2022 Montana Farmers Union donated a refrigerated van to enable School House Meats to deliver more meat further distances. The van has made many deliveries since, including to Power.

Investments in both the van and freezer are part of Montana Farmers Union’s work to strengthen local food supply chains through the grassroots organization’s core tenets of education, legislation, and cooperation.

“MFU Foundation grants aren’t temporary fixes,” Rains said. “These investments are helping create long-term solutions, including keeping quality produce in Power’s school lunches for years to come.”

Learn more about grant opportunities through Montana Farmers Union Foundation at https://montanafarmersunion.com/

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On June 16, 2024, at 11:23 am, Gallatin County 911 Dispatch received a call from a pair of skiers who had been injures while skiing “The Great One” couloir southeast of Sacagawea Peak. Due to one skier having an injured shoulder, and the other sustaining a compound fracture on one arm, the skiers were unable to safely continue down the couloir.

Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies and GCSSAR Volunteers responded, and it was determined that a helicopter “short haul” extraction of the skiers to an ambulance waiting at the nearby Battle Ridge trailhead would be the safest course of action. Intermittent cell phone reception caused some initial communication issues, but an uninvolved individual further up hill was able to yell down and relay information to emergency responders.

GCSSAR volunteers from the helicopter short-haul team were inserted near the injured skiers and were able to access the subjects. GCSSAR volunteers conducted medical evaluations and provided first aid for the injuries before preparing the pair for extraction. In two trips, the helicopter from Central Copters, Inc. was able to safely transfer the injured skiers and two rescuers to the Battle Ridge trailhead with the remaining two rescuers electing to walk out on foot.

One injured skier was transported by AMR ambulance to Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center for follow-on medical care, while the second was given a courtesy ride by Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office deputies to the same hospital.

Sheriff Springer would like to remind all who recreate in the backcountry that cell phone reception is not always available; and especially when engaging in high risk or extreme sports, having the means to contact emergency services is crucial. A GPS paging capability like a Garmin inReach or similar is strongly encouraged. Furthermore, this is a reminder that it is not a good idea to recreate alone, having a friend around to call for help and stop the bleeding saves lives.

HELENA – They look so cute and helpless. But your efforts to help could end up harming the animal and reducing its chances to survive.

It’s important to understand that wildlife care for their young much differently than humans. One strategy that some species, particularly those species typically preyed upon by other animals (deer, rabbits, birds), use is to distance themselves from their young for many hours at a time. This helps to keep predators away from their young. For example, fawns are born without a scent, and it is safer for them if their mother, who has a scent, is not nearby. This also can potentially distract a predator into focusing on the doe rather than its offspring.

Wild animals thrive better where they have plenty of natural habitat (food, water, shelter, space). The potential to spread wildlife disease is also a good reason to leave young wildlife alone. Baby ground squirrels, racoons and rabbits can carry zoonotic diseases, which means diseases that are infectious for humans. Examples include plague, hemorrhagic diseases and tularemia.

If you see a baby animal, whether a goose or a grizzly, keep your distance and leave it alone. Handling baby animals can be dangerous, and usually once young animals are picked up by people they can’t be rehabilitated.

FWP does not accept, hold or rehabilitate moose, deer, elk and most other animals, including waterfowl. If you bring a deer or elk to FWP, you'll be asked to take the animal back to the site where it was found.  If the animal can't be returned, it may need to be humanely euthanized. 

Our world gets most of its power from the Sun. A lot of heat from the Sun hits Earth every second—10,000 times more than all the energy used in the world.
 
People are becoming more aware of the economic, environmental, and other issues that come up when they use regular energy sources. As a result, interest in solar systems grows every day.
 
The amount of energy used is expected to rise by at least two and a half times, and maybe even five times, in the twenty-first century. All possible futures show that fossil fuels, nuclear power, and big hydroelectric power will still be used. But "new sources of renewable energy" will grow the most, and all of the possibilities show that these sources will be widely used by 2050.

Indeed, predictions show that by 2050, the amount of energy coming from new green sources will be higher than the amount of energy coming from oil and gas put together. This would lead to the biggest energy infrastructure in the world and a huge growth in solar businesses.

Possible Ways for the Solar Power Industry to Grow
Solar energy satellites have been trying to collect energy from the sun in space and send it to Earth since 1967. During the energy crisis of the early 1970s, it was seriously thought about as an alternative to using fossil fuels to make power. Solar energy harvesting from space is once again getting a lot of attention. This is because the world needs more power and people are worried about smog in cities and the greenhouse effect.

 
Since there are no clouds or nights in high Earth orbit, solar energy can be collected 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is about three times stronger in space than on Earth's surface. Space-based solar power can be sent to places that need it the most at any given time.
 
Photovoltaic cells like the ones used in home solar panels and road sign panels will be used in most of these systems. Others will use reflectors and mechanical collectors that are like those used in large-scale solar setups in France and the Barstow desert in California. Reflective concentrators are also used in some PV systems.
 
Most of these systems gather energy from the sun in space and send it to Earth via an antenna, where it is turned into electricity that can be used on Earth.
 
Due to their short wavelengths (less than visible light), microwave beams do not seem to be dangerous to Earth's environment. Since more than thirty years ago, phone companies have been sending microwaves through the air without any known problems.
 
High start-up costs are the main thing that is stopping the growth of sending solar power from space. But as the need for electricity grows, it may be more than what can be produced in the usual way. This could cause prices to rise to the point where solar power from space is competitive. To cut down on pollution, limits could be put on burning coal to make energy. This could make solar power from space even more competitive.

Four important steps for the future of solar energy:

 
Making sure all the right conditions are in place to enhance electricity generation is the most important thing. Being oriented and inclined at an angle with respect to the horizon is one of them. Therefore, face the unit southward so that its light-absorbing surface is facing the sun.
 
Optimal sunlight exposure would be at the right angle to it. Depending on the local climate, choose the optimal angle of inclination to accomplish this effect. This varies from one place to another.
 
Most often, multi-story commercial or apartment buildings will have photovoltaic systems installed on the front. Two types of facades are differentiated: chilly and warm. Installing the solar modules right on top of a cold facade not only generates electricity but also acts as a thermal insulator, shielding the structure from the elements and adding visual appeal to its design. A solar system acts as a sort of building cover on a warm facade. Different companies produce both solar panels that let in light and those that block out noise. But the hefty price has prevented these items from becoming popular just yet.

 
A fascinating new product from a German photomodule maker has just hit the shelves: a solar panel with several uses thanks to its clever folding design. This unique table is perfect for outdoor settings, cafes, or open office layouts because of its capacity to turn sunlight into electricity. The built-in USB ports make it easy and convenient to charge your mobile devices straight outside.

 
Installing solar panels is undeniably one of the most popular renewable energy ideas in 2023, and the development of green energy is expected to skyrocket in the next few decades. In addition, the solar energy future seems bright, and a larger transition to renewable energy sources is almost inevitable.

Big Sky  – Thanks to an additional week of warm and dry weather, downhill biking trails at Big Sky Resort’s bike park will open for the season on Thursday, June 13.

The Explorer lift will start spinning on Thursday at 10 a.m., with lift service to all trails in the Explorer terrain pod: Easy Rider, Fade to Green, Fox Trot, Otter Slide, Rabbit Run, Takes Two, and Lower Tango.

On Friday, Ramcharger 8 will open for downhill biking, with access to Snake Charmer, Flicker, and Mountain to Meadow Connector. Ramcharger 8 will run daily for biking through September 15.

The Mountain to Meadow Climb is also open for uphill travel and access to Mountain to Meadow trail.

Stay tuned to the resort’s summer trail and lift report for real-time trail status and additional openings throughout the summer season.

MORE BIKE HAPPENINGS IN BIG SKY

Lone Mountain Ladies Bike Clinic: Lone Mountain Ladies, a new two-day women’s bike clinic, begins on Saturday, June 27. Big Sky Resort’s top-notch women instructors will provide skills clinics, a bike maintenance workshop, and personalized instruction. This clinic is best suited for riders who have a grasp on the basics of downhill biking and looking for specialized instruction to take their riding to the next level.

Women’s Bike Skills Series: Coached by women, for women, this skills clinic is for beginner to advanced riders looking to gain confidence and skills in downhill mountain biking. The Women’s Skills Series is held on select Fridays starting July 12 from 2 to 4:30 p.m.

Elevated Wellness: Elevated Wellness returns to the Everett's 8800 deck on July 12 with a spin class by Zephyr Cycling Studio. Enjoy an adventurous twist on a spin class at 8,800 feet with breathtaking views of Lone Peak. In addition to spin, Elevated Wellness will also offer Pilates on July 19 and yoga on July 26.

The Big Sky Biggie: Big Sky's favorite cross-country bike races return for another season on August 17. Starting in Big Sky’s Town Center and climbing into the beautifully distracting views from Lone Peak and Buck Ridge, riders will connect on some of the area’s most exhilarating (and challenging) pieces of single-track, double-track, gravel roads and the occasional paved

In this photo captured by a team from Virginia Tech, the moon's shadow on Earth during a total solar eclipse is captured from a high-altitude balloon April 8, 2024. The team is a part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project founded at Montana State University. Photo courtesy Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project

BOZEMAN – A Montana State University researcher has announced the first confirmed detection of eclipse-induced gravity waves in Earth’s stratosphere in data collected by students participating in an MSU-led nationwide atmospheric science program.

Angela Des Jardins, director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium and an associate professor in the Department of Physics in MSU’s College of Letters and Science, presented the findings Wednesday at the summer meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The conclusions were drawn from data collected last October by student participants in the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, a NASA- and National Science Foundation-sponsored program founded at MSU 10 years ago. During the past academic year, 53 teams of students from 75 institutions participated in the project, conducting advanced engineering and atmospheric science experiments from high-altitude balloons during the Oct. 14, 2023, annular and April 8, 2024, total eclipses.

The data Des Jardins presented were collected by four student atmospheric science teams during the annular eclipse, when the moon blocked all but the outer edge of the sun when viewed from the path of annularity. The four teams were stationed along that path in New Mexico, where conditions on Oct. 14 were ideal for sending weather balloons into the stratosphere every 15 minutes to collect pressure, temperature and humidity readings that were then collated into a high-resolution dataset.

Des Jardins said the data were processed and analyzed by a scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NEBP students from Idaho and New York. The results confirm that the moon’s shadow during the eclipse lowered temperatures enough to generate atmospheric gravity waves. Gravity waves are common and normally generated by day-to-night temperature changes or features like mountain ranges. The data collected over New Mexico confirmed the hypothesis that the fast-moving cold, dark shadow cast by the moon during an eclipse creates a thermal shock that sends out ripples in the atmosphere, similar to the way a rock tossed into a pond sends out ripples in the water.

Data from the 15 other atmospheric science teams elsewhere along the path of annularity are still being analyzed, said Des Jardins, as are data from the April total eclipse collected by all 19 teams. She expects all the data to be published on the MSU Dryad system, a service that supports researchers in archiving and preserving data, by the end of 2024 so that anyone can view and analyze them.

This is the third time NEBP students have gathered evidence of eclipse-driven atmospheric gravity waves. The first was in Chile during a 2019 total eclipse, and a paper on those findings was published in the journal Nature in 2020. However, Des Jardins said, the data in 2019 were taken from just one site on flights launched hourly, rendering the results inconclusive. The second was again in Chile in 2020, but the data collected at those two sites was distorted by an atmospheric river, or large amounts of rainfall. NEBP designed the 2023 and 2024 experiments to yield higher-resolution data, and Des Jardins said the findings represent a significant scientific advancement.

“By observing how the atmosphere reacts in the special eclipse cases, we can understand more about the atmosphere in general, which can help us better predict the weather and model climate change,” she said.

During the two recent eclipses, NEBP also engaged 34 engineering teams from across the country – including the lead team based at MSU – to fly balloons carrying instruments, individually designed payloads and at least two types of cameras to livestream video and capture all-around images from a space-like perspective. Links to their interactive, 360-degree videos and a collection of images showing the moon’s shadow and curvature of the Earth against the blackness of space are available on the NEBP website at eclipse.montana.edu, with more to come.

Like their atmospheric science counterparts, the engineering teams were paying close attention to what was happening in the atmosphere as they went about their duties.

“We anticipated massive cooling during the eclipses – this occurred, and the air depressed,” said Mike Walach, MSU assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Technology Education and Montana Space Grant Consortium co-flight director. The depression caused the MSU team’s balloons floating at 85,000 feet above Fort Wayne, Indiana, on April 8 to descend to about 65,000 feet during the total eclipse – about twice as far as the team’s balloons dropped during the annular eclipse nearly six months before over Nevada, he said.

Walach said all the NEBP engineering teams experienced many triumphs, thanks in large part to engineering innovations developed and shared with them by the MSU team. Among those were improvements to the balloons’ helium-venting systems, which worked well on the ground but not at altitude during practice flights prior to the NEBP eclipses.

To figure out why, the MSU team used dry ice to cool the components to 50 degrees below zero – well below the temperature of the cold room where they had previously tried troubleshooting, but within the parameters encountered in Earth’s stratosphere – and the valves failed. Adding a heating system fixed the venting problem, but the vents interfered with the parachutes responsible for returning equipment safely to the ground after the balloons burst. To address that, the students devised a parachute-packing system. All the innovations were successful.

“People said you can’t vent helium off a balloon at altitude, but they did it,” Walach said, adding that the fixes allowed the balloons to remain at altitude for longer periods, prevented parachutes from tangling and gave ground-based pilots the ability to steer the balloons to different wind layers to better control their direction.

Just last week, Walach welcomed a new group of student interns who have begun working on yet more innovations to the system designed by their predecessors.

“The purpose behind the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project was to teach other institutions academic ballooning, but we use it as a way of giving students in Montana an aerospace experience,” said Walach, who believes solving the engineering challenges provides students with invaluable technical, teamwork and communication skills that are highly valued by employers.

“This is pure research – they will make changes, then share and pass on that knowledge to the next group,” he said. “For undergraduates, it’s a good taste of what research is all about.”

In recent years, towel radiators have transformed from a luxury item to a must-have feature in many homes, particularly in modern bathrooms. Offering comfort, warmth, and functionality, these appliances come in various types, with electric and hydronic heated towel radiators being the most popular. Yet, the question persists - which of these is the best option? The answer greatly depends on your specific needs and circumstances, but we can explore the pros and cons of each type to help you make an informed decision.

Electric Heated Towel Radiators
Electric towel radiators operate independently of your central heating system. They come with an attached heating element which heats up when electricity flows through it. This process warms the radiant tubes, effectively heating up your towels and the surrounding space.

Advantages
● Independent operation: Since electric models operate independently of your central heating system, they only need an electricity supply to function. This means you can switch them on whenever you need, even during summer when the central heating is off.
● Easy installation: Without the need for complex piping to connect to your heating system, electric models can be installed easily and quickly.
● Energy efficiency: Some of the latest models are energy efficient, shutting off automatically when the set temperature is reached. This feature limits electricity consumption, hence, reducing energy bills.

Disadvantages
● Can be pricey: While electric towel radiators use less energy, they can be costlier than hydronic models because of their higher purchase price.
● Slow heating: Electric models generally take longer time to heat up compared to their hydronic counterparts.

Hydronic Heated Towel Radiators
Hydronic towel radiators use hot water from your central heating system to generate heat. When the central heating system is running, it channels hot water through the pipes and into the radiator, thus radiating heat in the process.

Advantages
● Cost effective: As they use your existing heating system, hydronic models are generally cheaper to run in terms of energy consumption.
● Fast heating: They provide quick warmth, as they heat up as soon as the central heating system is in operation.

Disadvantages
● Dependent on central heating: Hydronic models only function when your central heating system is running. This means your towels may not stay warm if you switch your heating off, particularly during warmer months.
● Difficult to install: Since they need to be connected to your central heating system, installation can be complex and may require professional help.

In conclusion, the choice between an electric or hydronic heated towel radiator largely depends on your circumstances and needs. If you value flexibility and ease of installation, an electric model may suit you best. On the other hand, if you are after cost-effectiveness and quick heat-up times, a hydronic model might be more suitable. Regardless of your choice, both options surely offer the luxury of having warm, fluffy towels and a cosy bathroom atmosphere.