With midterms, Yellowstone National Park’s 150th birthday and plenty of legislative work to be done in between sessions, no one expected 2022 to be a quiet news year. But we couldn’t have anticipated the flood that hit the state in June, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the effect it would have on Montana, and everything that happened in between.
As the year comes to a close, Yellowstone Public Radio’s reporters look back on some of the most memorable stories they worked on this year. This was YPR News in 2022:
Our series on the first national park's 150th birthday examined how Yellowstone is learning from its past and how it’s bringing in new perspectives and ideas that will shape the future — including its cherished bison population, controversy over wolf hunting, and efforts to include Indigenous people in the park's decisions going forward.
Then, in mid-June, just as the park was getting ready for its busy summer tourist season, thefloods hit, shutting the entire park down temporarily and causing lasting damage to communities across the region. Yellowstone is moving forward — but it's a long road to recovery.
A fungal disease deadly to bats is making steady progress west
Two years after the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome was first detected in Montana, biologists say the disease that decimated bat populations in the eastern U.S. is moving west — but the region's geography makes it hard to track the animal, and the disease.
"White-nose syndrome is a fascinating subject to cover, and it’s also a disease deadly to bats that not everyone is aware of," said energy and environment reporter Kayla Desroches. "As a bonus, I had the chance to tromp into a field and hang out with a group of researchers, which is always a good time."
In Yellowstone County, a fight over recreational marijuana is on the primary ballot
A question on primary ballots sought to essentially reverse the 2020 vote and block the recreational industry in Yellowstone County entirely. (The measure failed, but opponents of the recreational industry say they're not done trying.)
"This was a total crash course in marijuana politics and one I had to do quite a bit of catching up on as a newcomer to Montana. There's a lot of history and emotion behind the debate over marijuana legalization in the state," said news director Nadya Faulx. "It will be interesting to watch this play out here and in other counties."
At the Montana Folk Festival, audiences take part in keeping traditions alive
At the Montana Folk Festival in Butte, audiences got to take part in keeping traditions alive, learning international folk dances and interacting directly with traditional artists as they demonstrated their techniques.
"I went to the Montana Folk Festival to interview an artist about the tradition of making Ukrainian Easter eggs," said Bozeman reporter Olivia Weitz. "Something unexpected happened when I was in the artist tent — a 9 year old girl from Butte walked in and let me follow her around. What you hear is an impromptu conversation between her and the artist. It’s a great reminder of how we sometimes learn best from the curious questions kids ask."
Big Sky State Games introduces esports to its lineup
Big Sky State Games added the 39th sport to its lineup: The sports festival hosted a virtual esports Rocket League tournament in early November. Reporter and All Things Considered host Kay Erickson spoke to the new esports commissioner about the new foray.
Messages from Montanans are headed on a mission to the moon
When NASA sends an unmanned rocket to the moon next summer, it will carry with it some unusual cargo: hundreds, perhaps thousands, of messages and photos from people back on Earth.
They’ll be stored on the RadPC, a type of computer developed by a team at Montana State University and hand-selected by NASA to go on the lunar mission.
"One of the most fun things about being a journalist is getting to learn about such a variety of topics. I do not know a thing about space or computer engineering," said Nadya Faulx. "And Brock LaMeres, the head of the program, was a great interview — very enthusiastic about his work."
Moving The Mikado to Montana, opera creators satirize Bozeman and confront show’s complicated past
The Mikado’s original music and witty satire has charmed audiences since it debuted in London in 1885, but more recently the opera has faced criticism for the way it appropriates Japanese culture and perpetuates stereotypes. Over the years, opera organizations have adapted it — and with The Montana Mikado, Intermountain Opera Bozeman staged perhaps the most dramatic update yet.
"To research this story, I interviewed a New York-based opera singer, read academic operas reviews and watched old operas on YouTube. These are not the kinds of sources I interact with regularly, but I enjoyed the challenge of learning about a medium that was not familiar to me," said reporter Olivia Weitz. "When it all came together, I was excited to highlight how a Bozeman-based opera company was updating a controversial opera in ways that sparked big conversions and reflection."
Indigenous early childhood program funding temporarily extended, but advocates say pressures remain
Family Spirit programs like one in Lame Deer are largely funded through the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program, or MIECHV. Advocates anxiously waited for the program's reauthorization, which came in December before the deadline.
"For this story, I spent the day with a Northern Cheyenne program in Lame Deer that does family outreach. It was a privilege to speak with the Russell family, who were kind enough to let me record their visit," said reporter Kayla Desroches. "Their one-year-old crawled around to the different adults in the room and stopped to play with my shoelaces. Their son Gavin enjoyed hamming it up for the camera."
New documentary follows Billings baker's journey from from track star to 'Cookie Man'
For some 40 years, Jan Boogman has been running Caramel Cookie Waffle, a lunch café and bakery in Billings, coming in well before dawn to make stroopwafels — the iconic Dutch cookie.
But before he became a Montana staple, Boogman was a professional track athlete in his native Netherlands. Now, a new documentary by his daughter, Alette Boogman, chronicle's Jan's journey from runner to cookie maker.
Yellowstone and USFWS wolf biologists on reintroduction, hunting quotas and retirement
In January, it will be 28 years since 41 wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park, relocated from Canada by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Wildlife biologist Ed Bangs was the recovery coordinator for the project. He and his team were responsible for delivering the wolves to the park. Yellowstone’s senior wolf biologist Doug Smith was on the receiving end.
Both men joined Yellowstone Public Radio’s Orlinda Worthington on Zoom for a conversation on wolves, politics and retirement.
"I was excited to visit with newly retired Yellowstone Park wolf biologist Doug Smith, and Ed Bangs, retired wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who was the lead on the wolf reintroduction project 28 years ago," said reporter and Morning Edition host Orlinda Worthington. "My favorite part of our conversation was hearing what Smith feels is the 'wolf approach to life,' from which I think we can all take some advice, along with Bangs sharing how we can see a little wolf behavior in our dogs… and in humans!"