HELENA – A full angling closure and two new hoot-owl restrictions will go into effect on additional sections of the Madison River in southwest Montana. The full closure will go into effect at midnight tonight. The hoot-owl restrictions go into effect at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 18.

Hoot-owl restrictions prohibit fishing from 2 p.m. to midnight each day. These closures and restrictions, which are due to warming temperatures and low flows, will stay in effect until conditions improve.

• Full closure takes effect at midnight tonight on the Madison River:

  • From Madison Dam at Ennis Reservoir on the lower Madison to the footbridge at NorthWestern Energy powerhouse​ 

• Hoot-owl restrictions take effect Thursday, July 18, include:

  • From the footbridge at NorthWestern Energy powerhouse to the confluence with the Jefferson River

  • From the Yellowstone National Park boundary to Hebgen Reservoir

​​Hoot-owl restrictions remain in effect for portions of the Beaverhead, Big Hole, Blackfoot, Clark Fork, East Gallatin, Gallatin, Madison, Ruby and Sun rivers, as well as the Bitterroot, Jefferson and Silver Bow Creek in their entirety. To view a full list of restrictions, click here.

FWP's drought policy provides for angling restrictions when flows drop below critical levels for fish, when water quality is diminished or when maximum daily water temperatures reach at least 73 degrees for three consecutive days. Water temperatures of 77 degrees or more can be lethal to trout.

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

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

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

Along with monitoring stream temperatures, FWP also monitors stream flows and in some streams holds instream flow water rights. FWP’s water program can issue a call on junior water users, when appropriate, to contribute to stream flows through the late summer and early fall. For more information on FWP water rights, click here.

The Gallatin Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) Program is headed to a new location in Belgrade! The Belgrade WIC office is now in the Heck/Quaw building at 91 West Southview Ave., Entrance 8 in Belgrade. This space is provided through a cooperative partnership with the Belgrade School District to better serve the families of Belgrade, Three Forks, Clarkston, and Manhattan.

“We are very excited about a few updates in recent months for the Gallatin WIC Program,” states Amie Gatterdam, Maternal Child Health Services Group Manager at the Gallatin City-County Health Department. “These updates include an online application form, hybrid meeting availability, and now a new – more convenient – location for many families.”

The Gallatin WIC Program’s online application was launched in May of 2024 and helps those gain access to WIC benefits with an easy-to-use online form. Anyone interested in WIC benefits can visit the Gallatin City-County Health Department’s website, www.healthygallatin.org/family-health/WIC to find more information on eligibility and documentation needed to apply. Additionally, the Gallatin WIC Program
started offering both in-person and remote (phone) appointments to help accommodate families on their schedule. Visit our website for more information or to make an appointment.
The WIC Program celebrates 50 years in 2024! The first WIC clinic opened in 1974 and the program has been at the center of positive public health outcomes, championing access to healthy food, breastfeeding support, health screenings, and referrals ever since.

WIC is a supplemental nutrition program that provides healthy food, breastfeeding support, and nutrition education to low-income families. The WIC program serves anyone who is pregnant or has become pregnant in the last 12 months (including pregnancy loss), as well as anyone caring for infants and children up to age five – this includes moms, dads, stepparents, grandparents, foster parents, or any legal guardian.

GLASGOW – Joining Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Gov. Greg Gianforte last week visited with a longtime partner of the Block Management Program in Valley County.

“Landowners like Leonard are absolutely essential when it comes to the success of public access programs in Montana,” said Katie Iverson, FWP access coordinator in Region 6. “Their willingness to allow the public on their private property for hunting is vital to the continuation of Montana’s hunting heritage.”

“Through block management, Montanans have access to nearly 8 million acres of private land to hunt and recreate, and even more when considering the access those acres provide to adjacent or isolated public lands,” Gov. Gianforte said. “I’m grateful for all our landowner partners in the Block Management Program who increase access and hunting opportunities for Montanans.”

FWP’s Drew Henry, Katie Iverson and Gov. Gianforte receive a tour from long time block management landowner Leonard Swenson.

The Block Management Program is a cooperative program between private landowners and FWP that provides the public with free hunting access to private land and helps landowners manage hunting activities. 

As a Block Management Program participant for nearly 25 years, Leonard Swenson is one of more than 382 cooperators in northeast Montana who provide public access to over 1.2 million acres of land. 

Visiting with Leonard Swenson on his property west of Glasgow, the governor and FWP staff heard the history of Swenson’s family homesteading the property, and his participation in the program. 

Known to hunters as the Swenson Block Management Area, the property, in combination with land deeded by the Wittmayer Grazing Association, unlocks more than 51,000 acres of public land that is frequented by over 1,000 hunters each year. 

“People love to get out and see different country, and I’m glad I can give them that opportunity,” Swenson said. “FWP is always eager to help me with anything I need, and the department has been great to work with.”

“Landowners like Leonard, and the Wittmayer Grazing Association, are critical to the success of the BMA (Block Management) and PALA (public access land agreement) programs,” said Drew Henry, an FWP wildlife biologist. “Landowners play a crucial role in supporting hunting traditions, wildlife management, and conservation efforts on both public and private lands in Region 6.”

FWP’s Katie Iverson and Drew Henry along with Gov. Gianforte talk to Leonard about his involvement in block management

During the last legislative session, the governor signed Senate Bill 58 into law. The bill doubled the payment cap for landowners participating in block management from $25,000 to $50,000.

FWP’s Public Access Land Agreement program also has 30 projects that allow Montanans access to more than 200,000 acres of inaccessible or under accessible public lands.  

“Public access is one of the department’s top priorities,” FWP Director Dustin Temple said. “We respect private property rights and work collaboratively with landowners to manage Montana’s resources and the public’s opportunity to enjoy them.”

“Without good landowner relationships, we simply can’t do our jobs effectively whether that deals with public access, habitat enhancement, or wildlife management,” Henry added. “These relationships enhance FWP‘s effectiveness in managing and conserving Montana’s resources on behalf of the public.”

Formally started in 1985, the Block Management Program is a cooperative program between private landowners and FWP that provides the public with free hunting access to private land and helps landowners manage hunting activities.

For more information on the Block Management Program, see the FWP website.

Contacts: Kaitlin Price, Office of the Governor

Greg Lemon, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

MILES CITY – Wildfires burning near Tongue River Reservoir State Park prompted a voluntary evacuation of visitors to the park Saturday evening.

Due to fire conditions, continued hot weather and poor air quality, it is suggested that people with reservations or plans to visit do not travel to the park at this time. Several wildfires are burning in southeastern Montana, including the 3,000-acre, lightning-caused Deadman Fire and the 3,300-acre Anderson Fire, both burning about 30-plus miles southeast of Ashland and near TRR State Park.

Big Horn County officials recommended evacuation of the park Saturday evening, and the majority of campers and visitors left. Visitation is not advised at this time, as conditions could possibly deteriorate.

The park’s status will be updated as conditions allow.

For statewide updates, visit FWP's restrictions and closures page at https://fwp.mt.gov/news/current-closures-restrictions

BOZEMAN— Shortly after 10 p.m. on Thursday, July 11, Bozeman Police Department (BPD) officers responded to the intersection of N. 20th Avenue and W. Beall Street for reports of a stabbing.

Arriving officers on the scene located one juvenile victim who had been moved to an area east of the incident. They found the victim had significant injuries to the abdomen, and immediately began to provide medical aid until paramedics arrived.

With support from Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) deputies, officers quickly identified and contacted all involved parties. Officers learned several juveniles engaged in a physical altercation at Kirk Park, leading to one suspect stabbing the victim multiple times. The suspect and witnesses were placed in custody as detectives began conducting their investigation.

The incident is under active investigation. The juvenile suspect remains in custody facing charges of attempted deliberate homicide. The victim was transported to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive.

“Our team would like to thank GCSO, Bozeman Fire Department, and American Medical Response for their swift response and assistance with this event,” Chief Jim Veltkamp stated.

Witnesses or anyone with information regarding the case can contact BPD Detective Shay Stephens at (406) 582-2215 or sstephens@bozeman.net.

On July 9th, 2024, at 10:18 PM, Gallatin County 911 Dispatch received a call from a skier who had encountered an individual having trouble making their way down “The Great One” couloir near Fairy Lake. The individual had suffered a fall and was bleeding from an injury to the shin and suspected a possible broken ankle.

The reporting party and the injured subject made their way to a rocky overhang out of the elements and awaited assistance from rescuers. Volunteers from the GCSSAR Valley section and Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to the trailhead near Fairy Lake. A hasty team made their way to the patient in order to conduct a medical assessment and provide first aid while a second team followed with additional equipment and a third team cleared the trail of various obstructions that had gathered during the winter. GCSSAR volunteers were able to assist the subject to the trailhead where they elected to transport themselves to follow-on medical care.

Sheriff Springer would like to thank the individual who stopped to assist a fellow skier in need and remind recreators that it is always a good idea to have the means to contact emergency responders when engaging in extreme sports. Furthermore, it is advised to be sure to carry more food and water than you expect to need because the remote nature of backcountry rescue means you may be waiting several hours for help if you find yourself unable to get out on your own.

On July 9, 2024, at approximately 5:45 pm, there was a rollover motor vehicle crash on Gallatin Road at mile marker 71 (immediately north of the mouth of Gallatin Canyon in the northbound passing zone area). The crash resulted in the death of the driver. The driver was travelling southbound in a pickup truck towing a camper trailer.

The joint investigation involving the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office and Montana Highway Patrol has gained information that a dark sedan was travelling northbound at a high rate of speed weaving in and out of traffic and may have caused the crash. The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office and Montana Highway Patrol are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the dark colored sedan. If you have dash camera footage of the incident or information about the vehicle, including make, model, color, and/or license plate number, please contact Montana Highway Patrol Dispatch at 855-647-3777.

HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is advising anglers that portions of the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Jefferson, Madison, Ruby and Sun rivers, as well as the Clark Fork River and Silver Bow Creek in their entirety, will be closed to all fishing daily from 2 p.m. to midnight, effective at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 10. The restrictions will stay in effect until conditions improve.

Hoot-owl restrictions are issued for:

• Big Hole River –

  • from the Saginaw Bridge on Skinner Meadows Road to the confluence with the North Fork of the Big Hole River

  • from the Tony Schoonen Fishing Access Site to the confluence with the Beaverhead River

• Beaverhead River – from Highway 41 near East Bench Road to the confluence with the Big Hole River

• Jefferson River – from the confluence of the Big Hole and Beaverhead rivers to the Missouri River

• Madison River –

  • Lower section, from the Warm Springs Fishing Access Site to the confluence with the Jefferson River

  • Above Hebgen Lake, from Hebgen lake to the Yellowstone National Park boundary

• Ruby River – from the confluence with the Beaverhead River to Duncan District Road

• Sun River – from the mouth of Muddy Creek to the Highway 287 bridge

• Clark Fork River – from the mouth of Warm Springs Creek to the mouth of Rock Creek

• Silver Bow Creek – its entirety

FWP's drought policy provides for angling restrictions when flows drop below critical levels for fish, when water quality is diminished or when maximum daily water temperatures reach at least 73 degrees for three consecutive days. Water temperatures of 77 degrees or more can be lethal to trout.

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

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

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

For the latest waterbody restrictions and closures, click here.