Nick Mott

Knapweed and leafy spurge don't have many fans in these parts. Nobody makes the drive from Texas to pose with them and post the photos on Instagram. Invasive species aren't usually something to celebrate, because they can wreak havoc on native ecosystems in ways impossible to undo. But other invaders have gotten a much warmer welcome. One listener wonders why some non-native species – like brown trout and rainbows – are so valued in Montana.

Grizzly bears in the lower 48 will remain protected as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, federal officials announced Wednesday.

Yellowstone National Park has received an anonymous $40 million gift to fund affordable housing for employees. Affordable housing is an issue for national park employees across the country.

Authorities have been unable to find the bear that killed a woman near Yellowstone National Park late last month. The attack has renewed calls to take grizzlies off the endangered species list.

States neighboring Yellowstone National Park have eased rules on hunting wolves, resulting in the most being killed in nearly a century

Last year, two neighboring states loosened restrictions on hunting wolves outside Yellowstone, resulting in a spike in deaths. Locally that's politically popular, but biologists see problems.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 3-2 to increase wolf harvest by allowing neck snaring and trap baiting statewide, night hunting on private land and other changes to the season. The new rules permit “aggressive” hunting measures not seen in Montana for decades.

A state fish and wildlife committee Friday finalized regulations designed to reduce the wolf population in the state using a suite of new hunting tools not seen in Montana for decades.

Big wildfires create their own weather, and can even spawn tornadoes swirling with smoke and flame. Researchers are trying to determine how often they occur.

Wildfires have torched almost 800,000 acres in Montana so far this year. But burns in eastern Montana’s grass and farmland and western Montana’s mountainous, timbered landscape behave very differently. Freddy Monares spoke to MTPR reporter and editor on the podcast Fireline Nick Mott about the different types of fires in Montana.