Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reminds landowners, watershed groups and others that this summer’s deadline to apply for Future Fisheries Improvement Program grants is May 15. The goal of FWP’s Future Fisheries Program is to restore rivers, streams and lakes to improve Montana’s wild fish habitat. Entities can receive funding for qualifying projects that benefit Montana’s wild fish.

A Hunters Education Class is scheduled for April 26-29 in the basement of the Sherman Inn. The class will be from 5-9 p.m. each night and from 8 a.m. until done on Saturday, April 29. All hunter education classes are free of charge. To find a class and register, go to https://fwp.mt.gov/ hunt/education / hunter. Make sure to print, read and sign any necessary paperwork ahead of the class.

The winter and spring of 2023 is proving to be tenacious, with roughly 30 inches of ice remaining in some areas on Fort Peck Reservoir and nighttime temps in the single digits well into early April. In most years, Fish, Wildlife and Parks fisheries crews start setting trap nets in early April. Traps are set to collect walleye that are beginning the spawning process. While photoperiod (day length)

Snowmelt runoff will continue to bring minor and moderate flooding across northeast Montana in areas north of the Missouri River over coming weeks. The Milk River continues to rise across the region and ongoing flood warnings are likely. The warmest day of the year so far is expected for today’s high at press time, Tuesday, April 11. Temps south of the Missouri are expected to break 80 degrees.

Staff at the Spotted Bull Recovery Resource Center in Poplar are inviting the public to attend a “soft opening” at their new building on April 26. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. “Come and check the place out have a cup of soup, coffee, water,” Carrie Manning told the Northern Plains Independent. Manning said the soft opening is open to all. The new Spotted Bull Recovery

An explosion occurred at Glasgow Stockyards April 6. Cody Cornwell, Stockyards owner, told the Western Ag Network April 8 that they were branding and vaccinating heifers after the April 6 sale when the propane bottle they were using caught fire. The building filled with propane gas during efforts to put out the fire, causing the building to explode. Jake Newton suffered smoke inhalation

A bill that would incorporate concepts from the federal Indian Child Welfare Act proposed by Sen. Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, received support from the Montana ACLU and the Blackfeet Tribe in committee last week. The House Human Services Committee voted 18-3 on Senate Bill 328, sending the legislation to be debated on the House floor. Democrat representatives Ed Stafman of Bozeman, Kim Abbott

Montana voters could be faced with a nuanced decision next year: Is hunting in Montana a right or a privilege? House Bill 372, which would make hunting, as well as fishing and trapping, a right protected by the Montana Constitution, is in its final stretch in the Montana Legislature, with a crucial Senate committee hearing set for April 13. Because the bill seeks to amend the constitution, the

The Montana House voted decisively last week to kill one of Gov. Greg Gianforte’s key housing affordability proposals, a bill that would have allocated $200 million toward infrastructure to help build new homes in an effort to ease the state’s housing crunch. The bipartisan 30-69 vote on the Home Ownership Means Economic Security, or HOMES Act, spells a potential death knell for the only part

The Montana Department of Transportation and Knife River Construction are gearing up for a new project on U.S. 2 this spring. The U.S. 2 - Culbertson project continues previous and ongoing roadway improvements in Roosevelt County to enhance safety and improve pedestrian accessibility, drainage, and roadway conditions in Culbertson. The project will reconstruct approximately 1 mile of U.S.