From the slopes of Whitefish, researchers are using ski resorts to gather valuable data – and seeds, that could help restore forests. In some regions of Montana, over 90 percent of whitebark pines have died.

The U.S. Forest Service wants to reserve timber harvests from three national forests in Montana for processing at local lumber mills. It’s relying on an 80-year-old law to do so. Montana Free Press environmental reporter Amanda Eggert has been following the plan for a “sustained yield” of timber from three national forests in Montana and joined MTPR’s Austin Amestoy with more.

Montana’s health department says it’s moving forward with plans to reimburse trained, non-medical maternal health professionals called “doulas” through Medicaid. MTPR’s Austin Amestoy sat down with KFF Health News reporter Katheryn Houghton to get the update.

Kids living in abusive homes or who are going through the court system sometimes don’t have anywhere to stay. When that happens, specialized youth shelters care for them, but beds can be full.

Business owners in rural Montana say inflation and high fuel prices, combined with the Canadian tourism slump is hitting their bottom lines. The Montana Department of Commerce reports Canadian spending in the state dropped nearly 20 percent between 2024 and 2025.

Montanans are being told to eat less fish in some areas of the state. A new report from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality says high levels of PFAS are present in fish in the Fort Peck Reservoir, the East Gallatin River, the Missouri and the Clark Fork, among other locations.

Archival footage of Apollo 11 and a documentary on the court case that legalized interracial marriage are just two of dozens of student history projects judges will weigh at Montana’s National History Day competition. It’s a statewide program that encourages students to research events and people that changed history.

There are many reasons why no woman has been elected to federal office in Montana since Jeannette Rankin. But it largely begins with deeply rooted beliefs about where women belong and who should have power. Montana women say the challenges Rankin had to overcome are still largely present today. Learn more from them on this episode of The Big Why.

MTPR is interviewing candidates running for federal office in 2026. MTPR's Shaylee Ragar speaks with Troy Downing, a Republican running for Montana's eastern U.S. House seat.

Snowpack in the West typically reaches its peak in early April but that hasn’t happened this year. Drought persists, setting up conditions for wildfires and low water supply. This warm, snowless winter points to a warming climate and trouble for Montana farmers.