HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has wrapped up September’s Bear Aware Month, but the need to be vigilant in bear country persists this fall.

Grizzly bear activity in September was high in many places in the state. This is normal this time of year as bear activity increases as they look to put on weight for the winter hibernation. This coincides with increased human activity as hunters take to the field.

Wildlife managers don’t expect to see activity slow as fall persists. Fall hunting also picks up with waterfowl season opening Oct. 4 and pheasant and antelope rifle seasons Oct. 11. With more hunters in the field, it’s important to remember to be bear aware.

For hunters specifically, the FWP website is a great resource for how to be safe in bear country.

Be bear aware

Montana is bear country. People should be prepared to encounter grizzly or black bears. Avoiding conflicts with bears is easier than dealing with conflicts. Here are some precautions to help avoid negative bear encounters:

• Pack meat out as soon as possible.
• Avoid cutting up carcasses at dusk or night. If you kill an animal at dusk, be prepared to cut up the carcass in the dark by carrying strong headlamps. Be extra vigilant and watch for bears.
• Properly hang meat until you can retrieve your downed game.
• If you must leave your animal, return to the site carefully. Leave it in an area that is easily observable from a distance.
• Drag gut piles into open areas, if possible, and at least 100 yards from your carcass as soon as possible.
• If a bear has claimed your animal, do not attempt to haze or frighten the bear away. Report any lost game to FWP.
• Bird hunters should be extra careful while walking in and along areas of brush, especially along waterways. Grizzly bears use thick cover for day beds. Walk with the wind, carry bear spray and keep a close eye on hunting dogs. If there is abundant fresh sign of grizzly bears in the area, consider bird hunting somewhere else.

You love the idea of tending to a lush garden. Fresh soil. Green leaves. Giving your crops tender loving care every day. But who has the time for that anymore? Meetings at work take over. The house and kids need attention. Before you know it, your plants are drooping and you’re too tired to care for them.

Gardening used to be an all-day thing. But it’s hard to find that luxury when the pace of life is fast. Still, that love for growing plants never goes away. You just need smarter ways to make it fit your schedule.

With a few clever tools and habits, your garden can stay alive even if you’re time-strapped. Here are seven convenient gardening solutions to make your plants thrive even when life is full.

1. Raised Garden Beds

Raised beds are a game-changer if you’re a busy bee. They give you control over your soil and layout. They even make drainage so much easier. You can build raised garden beds just once. Then, you can skip the endless bending and weeding that traditional gardens demand.

Use raised beds to get ahead of late spring gardening. Top them with fresh soil and compost. That way, when the season hits, you can plant quickly. Prepping ahead means skipping the last-minute scramble.

2. Soil Delivery Straight to Your Door

Finding time to lug heavy soil bags from the store isn’t fun. It’s messy. If you’re not used to carrying heavy things, it’s tiring. You might even end up with a sore back.

But dirt delivery services can save the day. You can order high-quality soil blends right to your driveway. It’s faster, cleaner, and might even be cheaper if you buy in bulk. When time is tight, convenience like this keeps your garden running smoothly.

Remember to choose nutrient-rich mixes that suit your plants. Vegetable gardens thrive on compost-heavy soil. Meanwhile, flower beds like lighter blends.

3. Drip Irrigation Systems for Watering

Watering sounds simple until you realize how often you need to do it. Busy days with no free time result in dry soil. 

A drip irrigation system helps out with that. It delivers water straight to plants’ roots. Slow and steady. No wasted water. No dried-out leaves. Once you set it up, you can leave it alone to do the job. You only need to check on it occasionally.

Most kits are easy to set up. You can connect them to a timer. That way, your garden stays hydrated even when you forget. It’s like having a watering assistant for busy gardeners.

5. Self-Watering Planters

Self-watering planters store extra water in a hidden reservoir. They let plants drink up that moisture when they need it. This setup saves you from constant watering runs. It’s also perfect for anyone who forgets to water their plants. And let’s be honest. That’s all of us.

Use these planters for anything from herbs to leafy greens to flowers. Most models are sleek enough to fit indoors, too. Just remember to check the water level at least once a week. Top it off when needed. Your plants will stay happy and hydrated with minimal effort from you.

6. Vertical Gardening

Instead of spreading plants across your yard, grow them vertically. Trellises are a visually stunning way to showcase your plants. Wall planters are also a terrific option. They’re especially great for balcony gardens and smaller yards.

Vertical gardening makes the most of your space. That means fewer weeds to pull. Less soil to maintain. Plants are easier to reach for watering and harvesting. 

For busy gardeners, that’s a huge win. You spend less time chasing vines across the yard. No bending and stretching. Just more time actually enjoying your garden. 

7. Portable Gardens

Not every garden has to stay put. Portable gardens are moveable setups that let you shift your plants wherever they’ll do best. They’re gardens you “build” in rolling planters or containers. You can lift and relocate them at any given time.

They’re great for small spaces and renters. It’s also convenient for anyone whose yard gets different amounts of sun throughout the day.

For busy gardeners, this saves time on trial and error. It reduces the risk of plants struggling or dying if they’re not in a good spot. With lightweight containers, you can adjust your garden in seconds. You’ll spend less time worrying about where everything should go.

8. Garden Task Apps for Tracking

Many people think gardening is all instinct. But the myth of the green thumb is exactly that. A myth. Gardening is learned. It takes practice. Sometimes, you’ll even need a little help.

Garden task apps are a great way to keep track of everything you need to do for your plants. They remind you when to water. When the colder season hits, they tell you when to prune. Some can also track what’s thriving and what’s struggling. That way, you can learn from every season. It’s a terrific way to help busy and beginner gardeners stay on top of tending their garden.

Conclusion

Your garden doesn’t have to steal your entire weekend. You just need the right help. That’s something you can get from drip irrigation kits. Beautiful raised beds or vertical plants. Even handy apps on your phone.

 The tips above are proof that convenience and garden care can go hand in hand. Start small. Pick one or two ideas first. Then, see how much easier gardening feels. When tending your plants feels simple, you get to focus on the joy of gardening, not the time-consuming work it sometimes demands.

At one point in time, barns were the standard addition to any home, but as technology advanced, paired with things like industrialization, urbanization, mechanization, transportation, education, and the whole economy, barns stopped being useful, at least in their primary function. 

But instead of tearing them down and getting rid of them, lots of communities across the U.S. are giving new life to barns. They found a way to turn them into valuable spaces. Those spaces today support culture, recreation, and local economies.

In Bozeman – especially those near Main Street and the Gallatin Valley farmlands – barns aren't just relics of the past, but rather opportunities (if they're planned right). 

A good and smart investment can adapt old barns into functional, modern community assets without losing their rustic charm.

1. Event Spaces

One of the most popular ways to reuse barns is to turn them into event spaces. 

Weddings, festivals, and town events are a perfect fit for renovated barns. The high ceilings and open areas make them effective spaces for any group size.

Most companies and families are doing these conversions because they offer both cultural benefits and economic gain. Barn weddings, for example, have emerged as a top trend, fusing rural charm with modern comforts, especially so at renovated spaces just outside Downtown Bozeman and near Bridger Canyon.

• Cultural benefit: Sustains rural identity.
• Economic benefit: Rental fees support local businesses.
• Community benefit: Offers shared space for celebrations.

2. Markets & Food Hubs

In Bozeman, where high value is set on local goods and artisan items (e.g., Bogert Farmers’ Market), barns are the perfect platform for seasonal markets. 

Far beyond the food, these facilities have a tendency to incorporate handmade crafts, music, and activities that provide a sense of community.

Barns repurposed in this way encourage sustainability and strengthen the local economy by keeping food dollars in the community.

3. Creativity Workshops & Studios

Artists, woodworkers, and other craftspeople need space. Barns often provide the square footage they otherwise can't get. The combination of sunlight, open space, and country atmosphere makes barns attractive as studios.

In order to fit this role, barns (usually) must be reinforced. In some states, builders choose high-tech support solutions such as metal trusses pole barn systems, simply because they provide the structural support required for workshops, galleries, or other multi-purpose use. But beyond just being ‘required’, sometimes reinforcements are mandated by the state whenever such renovations/repurposing take place.

Louisiana, Montana, and other states with strong agricultural histories are excellent examples of how reviving old barns with reliable framing keeps them running and safe for the next generations.

4. Educational Centers & Museums

Barns are especially suited for telling stories of local history. By converting them into museums or interpretive centers, towns hold on to their agricultural history while providing educational resources for all ages. 

Bozeman already showcases this approach with places such as the Museum of the Rockies.

5. Recreational (Community) Areas

Barns can easily be transformed into recreational areas (both for the community and as tourist attractions). 

We’re talking gyms and fitness centers, rock climbing clubs, etc.; barns can really be used for a variety of sports and health programs. Their spacious interiors are especially well-suited to having basketball courts installed, yoga centers, or even indoor children's play areas.

Such communities are enriched by having usable, all-year-round recreational spaces. This not only enhances one's health but also promotes more solid social bonds.

How Much Do They Cost?

Turning old barns into community assets is only possible if you want to invest. The good side is that it's much cheaper than building new facilities. The costs vary depending on the condition of the barn and how many upgrades are required.


Looking at the initial costs, they may seem high, but ROI (return on investment) can come in many forms, from cultural value to tourism or rental income.

Conclusion

Barns are more than a saving part of agricultural history. And especially today, considering the numerous options available to us. Agrarian life is still there, but hardly at the same scale as it was before. So, of course, designers designed and tinkered with turning these beautiful but functional buildings into something else that we can use today – and voila! We got venues, markets, studios, museums, recreational spaces, and much, much more.

By taking buildings that aren't very much used today and by looking at what a town, a community needs today, we can merge the two into something new and exciting. 

As former Mayor Cundy Andrus often emphasized – we're not only solving pressing issues, but we're also saving a town's heritage at the same time.

Gallatin County, MT – The Montana Clean Indoor Air Act was passed in 2005, and this year Montana has taken another important step to protect community health with the passage of Senate Bill 390 (SB 390). SB 390 expands the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act to include e-cigarettes and other vaping devices. This legislation closes a critical gap in the 20-year-old law, ensuring that residents and workers across the state are safeguarded from harmful exposure to e-cigarette aerosol in indoor public spaces and workplaces.

Signed by Governor Greg Gianforte on May 8, 2025, SB 390 took effect immediately. The bill amends Title 50, Chapter 40, Section 103 of the Montana Code Annotated by
revising the definition of “smoking” to explicitly include the use of an “electronic
smoking device.” The law defines electronic smoking devices to include e-cigarettes,
vape pens, and dab rigs that deliver nicotine or other substances for human
consumption.

E-cigarette aerosol is not harmless water vapor; it contains ultrafine particles, volatile organic compounds, flavorants, cancer-causing chemicals, heavy metals, and nicotine.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers
(ASHRAE) has concluded that e-cigarettes emit harmful chemicals into the air and
should be regulated in the same manner as conventional tobacco smoking.

“This expansion of the Clean Indoor Air Act ensures that everyone in Gallatin County— and across Montana—has the right to breathe clean air at work, in restaurants, and in other public spaces,” says Cherie Murbach, Tobacco Education Specialist at the Gallatin City-County Health Department. “It also helps protect our youth. By reducing the visibility and social acceptance of vaping in public places, we can counteract the troubling rise of e-cigarette use among teens and young adults.”

According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Report, in 2023, 20% of Gallatin
County high school students and 9% of Gallatin County middle school students reported the use of an electronic vaping product, or e-cigarette. Studies show that
comprehensive smokefree laws, including those covering e-cigarettes, can significantly reduce youth initiation and use. Between 2017 and 2019, youth e-cigarette use decreased in states with inclusive smokefree policies, while increasing in states without such protection.

The Clean Indoor Air Act now prohibits smoking or vaping nicotine, marijuana, or any other substance in workplaces or enclosed public spaces throughout Montana. The Act affirms the fundamental right of all Montanans to breathe clean air, establishing that public health takes precedence over the desire to smoke or vape.

The law also requires the posting of clear signage in all enclosed public places. Signs
must be displayed prominently at every public entrance, stating that smoking and
vaping are prohibited inside.

To report a possible violation of the Clean Indoor Air Act or to obtain free signage, visit tobaccofree.mt.gov or call the Gallatin City-County Health Department at (406) 582-3100.

HELENA -- Montana is famous around the world for its rivers and lakes, and it turns out that angling in the Big Sky state has a sizable economic impact.

Gloria Zimmer with Bozeman’s Mayor Terry Cunningham

BOZEMAN – Bozeman’s Mayor Terry Cunningham is posthumously recognizing local resident Ralph Zimmer with the City’s highest honor, a key to the city. Zimmer served the city, county, and state in citizen leadership roles in the area of bike and pedestrian safety.

“Ralph was a tireless advocate for safety throughout his more than 40 years of service,” says Mayor Cunningham. “He embodied the concepts of citizen service, gracious leadership, public engagement and practical problem-solving throughout his volunteer service to the City of Bozeman. I will never forget his contributions and how he pushed the City towards improving safety for all.”

Zimmer grew up in Colorado and earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Traffic Engineering from Purdue University. He worked at the Federal Highway Administration and Montana State University before retiring early due to an eye disease that caused him to go blind in 1999.

His disability did not stop his passion for safety. Zimmer chaired the Bozeman Area Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee, a group created by interlocal agreement between the Bozeman School District, Gallatin County and the City of Bozeman in 1976. Zimmer was an early joiner, starting his service in 1977. He continued on the board until it was consolidated into the Transportation Board in 2021.

Zimmer also spent time on the Galla10 Alliance for Pathways, a group that advocates for multimodal facilities throughout the Gallatin Valley. He was also a member of the Bozeman Transportation Coordinator Committee for over four decades and was a member of the Triangle Planning Coordinating Committee.

In addition to his board service, he spent decades testifying at City Commission, County Commission, State Transportation Commission, and State Legislature Committees, advocating for bike and pedestrian safety.

Zimmer was well-known in traffic safety circles and earned recognition throughout his life. He was the first ever recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals. He also received the James L. Pline Award from the Intermountain Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. He was recognized by MSU’s College of Engineering with a Distinguished Faculty Award in 2019.

“The Key to the City is the highest award the City of Bozeman can bestow upon a citizen. We are grateful for Ralph Zimmer’s passionate advocacy for safer streets, sidewalks, and pathways,” says Cunningham.

Starting Oct. 1, the fee to record a document with the Gallatin County Clerk & Recorder will increase to $20 for the first page and $10 for each additional page. This change is part of Montana House Bill 192, signed into law earlier this year. The current $8-per-page fee remains in effect until Sept. 30 at 5 PM.

The additional non-standard charge for recording a document that does not meet the standards for recorded documents in MCA 7-4-2636 will remain at $10 per document.

Fees for filed documents such as liens, right to liens, UCC’s, plats and surveys, etc. will also not be changing.

For questions, contact the Clerk & Recorder’s Office at 406-582-3050 or clerkandrecorder@gallatin.mt.gov.

BOZEMAN — Nellie Whiteman tended to sit in the back of the classroom in Montana State University’s Visual Communications Building.

The film student worried that because she felt different from her classmates, having come from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, they wouldn’t get along. Whiteman, who is Northern Cheyenne and Oglala Lakota, was the first in her family to attend a four-year university, and she experienced culture shock when she moved to college from Lame Deer, where she was surrounded by family and people who looked like her.

But she took the leap to direct her first film at MSU during her junior year, then another, titled “Cheyenne Creation Story,” in her senior production class. She believed the stories were important to tell, which propelled her to pitch them and lead student crews despite her insecurities.

“I need to do this,” said Whiteman, who graduated in May with a degree in film and a minor in Native American studies. “If I don’t, who else will?”

“Cheyenne Creation Story,” which is about six minutes long and documents the oral history of how the Cheyenne people came to be according to their traditional beliefs, will be screened at the Red Nation International Film Festival in Los Angeles, held Nov. 10-16. The 30-year-old event is one of the largest Indigenous film festivals in the nation and includes an awards ceremony broadcast live on Red Nation Television Network.

The cast and crew of the "Cheyenne Creation Story" film, from left, include Jonathan Gibson, Phillip Whiteman Jr., Nellie Whiteman, Maddison Whitaker-Barnett, Simon Gatte, Carter Hudson and Anna Bouressa. The film was produced at Montana State University as part of a senior production class. Submitted photo.

Entering “Cheynne Creation Story” in at least five festivals was a requirement for Whiteman’s senior production class, taught by instructor Alexa Alberda and assistant professor Ben Leonberg in the School of Film and Photography. Students spent the spring semester crowdfunding, planning, filming and editing in a condensed version of real-world film production, Alberda said. They used resources including MSU’s editing bays and industry-standard cameras to create the films.

“I like to tell the students that we make art to be seen, not to hide it in our closets,” Alberda said. “When they’ve put months and months of work into something, we really want to push them to put it out in the world, even if it’s scary.”

As a director, Whiteman was involved in everything from initial storyboarding with her producer to reviewing captions with her editor. Her team of fellow seniors included photography director Anna Bouressa, sound designer Simon Gatte, behind-the-scenes manager Jonathan Gibson, editor Carter Hudson and producer Maddison Whitaker-Barnett.

The film is told in Cheyenne by Northern Cheyenne Chief Phillip Whiteman Jr., who sat in the drum room in MSU’s American Indian Hall and described how the Creator sent four spirits to find a beautiful place to create humans. The interview-like setup is meant to feel as though an elder is having a conversation with the viewer, Nellie Whiteman said. Phillip Whiteman is also Nellie Whiteman’s father and a former cultural adviser for the film “Hostiles,” a drama starring Christian Bale.

It was important, Nellie Whiteman said, to have the story told in the Cheyenne language and captioned with English subtitles to preserve how it was traditionally passed down through generations: orally and in the Native tongue. She said Native Cheyenne speakers have been dwindling for a multitude of reasons, including the toll of COVID-19 on the tribe’s older generations and the reluctance of elders to share cultural knowledge after attending Native boarding schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. The schools forcibly assimilated Native youth to American culture and taught them to suppress their traditional practices.

“I felt like I was able to make something I was proud of and that is for my community and where I come from,” said Nellie Whiteman, who hopes to share the film online in the future. “And it didn't just help me, it’s helping them in the long run.”

Bouressa, who graduated from MSU in May with a degree in integrated lens-based media, said her favorite scene was the film’s opening shot of Nellie Whiteman’s father at Drinking Horse Mountain, a trail northeast of downtown Bozeman. As his headdress feathers fluttered in the wind, Bouressa angled her camera to make him appear as though he towered above her, but her tripod wouldn’t collapse as low as she wanted.

“Our producer, Madison, was like, ‘Here, use me.’ She laid down on the ground, and I propped the camera up on her back,” Bouressa said, laughing.

Bouressa came to MSU from Eugene, Oregon, planning to study business. Photography had always been one of her passions, but she couldn’t imagine it as a legitimate career. She said that perception changed once she decided to switch majors and discovered her professors’ success in the industry.

“For the first time in my life, I was in school and actually learning about something that was interesting to me and that I was already engaged in,” she said.

After graduation, Bouressa became a photographer for Outside Bozeman magazine, then a photo assistant in Oregon, working on projects for organizations like the Oregon Department of Human Services.

Nellie Whiteman’s post-graduate plans included completing a fellowship at the Lone Peak Film Festival in Big Sky, receiving mentorship from directors of the documentary “Bring Them Home.” The fellowship was the first step toward her dream of becoming a director.

“Entering [my team’s] film into festivals and actually getting responses definitely boosted my confidence,” she said. “Like, OK, maybe I can actually be a director.”

BOZEMAN – The City of Bozeman recently retained Economic Planning Systems (EPS) to look at the Water Adequacy for Residential Development (WARD) initiative’s requirement that a residential development of three or more units seeking to meet its water demand using the City’s cash-in-lieu of water rights provide 33% of the homes at affordable rates. EPS’ analysis includes what the 33% requirement would do to a project attempting to be built in the current market.

The study’s results are in, finding that across single-family home developments and multi-family apartments, no developments would be feasible under WARD’s affordability requirement.

“These results confirm what housing industry professionals have long known: in today’s market, land, materials, labor, and lending are the driving forces behind the cost of housing and profit margins are slim,” says City Manager Chuck Winn. “The reason why affordable housing is hard to come by is that these units simply do not make a profit, and significant subsidies are needed to make these developments work. The math shows this.”

According to the study, a 30-unit single-family home market-rate development without affordability requirements could make a 10% profit in today’s market. With WARD in effect, that same development may lose $25,000 per home, for a total loss of 4%. The model also looked at a 90-unit apartment complex. According to the report, such developments are not currently feasible in today’s market without affordability requirements, and WARD increases the funding needed to make a profit by $2.6 million.

“People are seeing lots of apartments being built right now, and they should be aware that these apartments began years ago under different market conditions,” Winn stated.

The Water Adequacy for Residential Development (WARD) is a local ballot initiative that was created by a group of citizens, not the City of Bozeman. The ballot issue seeks to change code language to require developers of three or more residential units to pay cash-in-lieu of water rights to the city only if the development designates 33% or more of the units as affordable.

If the developer does not include 33% affordable units, they are responsible for securing water rights, which could take five to eight years with no guarantee of a water right at the end of that process. The WARD initiative also removes the ability for developers to meet the water demand of their development through off-site water efficiency or conservation measures. 

“If developers can’t make a reasonable profit building in Bozeman, they will go elsewhere,” Winn explained. “That could have negative impacts on our community. You might see developers move to the county and other communities, which could increase sprawl, increase commuting, and negatively impact the environment. If less housing is built in Bozeman and the demand to live here continues, we would expect the cost of housing to increase even further.”

Those interested in learning more about water, housing, and WARD in Bozeman can visit engage.bozeman.net/ward.

BOZEMAN — Approximately 80 university, industry and community partners gathered last week at EngineWorks on Montana State University’s Innovation Campus to celebrate the building’s opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Speakers at the Sept. 18 event included Mark Sharpe, executor director of the MSU Innovation Campus; Alison Harmon, MSU vice president of research and economic development; Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham; Brit Fontenot, director of economic development with the city of Bozeman; Julia Mortier, community manager of EngineWorks; and Adam Friedman, head of business development and leasing with Charter Realty.

“You will not find another building like this anywhere in the state of Montana,” Sharpe said. “As executor director of the MSU Innovation Campus, I am honored to be part of this great work.”
The 87,000-square-foot EngineWorks building was designed to offer dynamic community and office spaces where innovation, collaboration and growth can come together. It features 61,000 square feet of customizable workspaces for long-term tenants and 26,000 square feet of common spaces, such as conference and huddle rooms, kitchens, event space, outdoor gathering areas and more.

Fontenot praised those involved in the building.

“What makes a building special is the people who populate it and who brought it to fruition,” he said. “This project is proof of what the right partners can do together. I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished together.”

Tenants in the EngineWorks building on the MSU Innovation Campus include QCORE, an interdisciplinary MSU research facility dedicated to the study of quantum computing; Resilient Computing, an MSU spinout company that develops radiation-tolerant computer technology for use in space; Reveal, which builds defense technology products that accelerate human decisions through artificial intelligence; Montana Photonics & Quantum Alliance, a nonprofit serving as a hub for Montana’s optics, photonics and quantum companies; and a Defense Innovation Unit OnRamp Hub, which works with companies and universities to rapidly field technologies for national defense.

Project partners include Charter Realty and Development, Martel Construction, A&E: Architecture and Design, SterlingCMG and MT Contracting.

Cunningham recognized that it has been “a long glide path for this Innovation Campus to take hold” and thanked everyone involved for their contributions.

“They’re the reason we’re now taking flight,” he said.

The MSU Innovation Campus aims to create opportunities for companies to collaborate with MSU research, faculty and students, while helping those companies grow and raising Montana’s profile as national leader in entrepreneurship and innovation.

Harmon said she was thrilled to be celebrating the opening.

“This is an exciting night,” she said. “I have been to many events already in this space, which to me says our vision for connecting research and industry and student opportunities is taking hold. … We’re hungry for spaces like this. And as we cut the ribbon tonight ... I just want to say this is one of the most exciting things happening at MSU. This is just the beginning.”