MATTHEW BROWN

Associated Press Writer
FILE - Tracy Stone-Manning listens during a confirmation hearing for her to be the director of the Bureau of Land Management, during a hearing of the Senate Energy and National Resources Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Biden’s public lands director named to lead environmental group
A senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration who oversaw its contentious efforts to address climate change by curbing drilling and mining on federal lands has been named the next president of a prominent environmental group.
 
FILE - Supporters cheer at an election night watch party for Republican Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, Nov. 6, 2024, in Bozeman, Mont. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino, File)
An influx of outsiders and money turns Montana Republican, culminating in a Senate triumph
Democrats’ crushing loss in Montana’s nationally important U.S. Senate race settled a fierce political debate over whether a surge of newcomers in the past decade favored Republicans.
 
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at a caucus night rally in Las Vegas, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
Trump gave Interior nominee one directive for a half-billion acres of US land: ‘Drill.’
Donald Trump assigned Doug Burgum a singular mission in nominating the governor of oil-rich North Dakota to lead an agency that oversees a half-billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore: “Drill baby drill.”
 
FILE - Old-growth Douglas fir trees stand along the Salmon River Trail, June 25, 2004, in Mt. Hood National Forest outside Zigzag, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
More logging is proposed to help curb wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest
U.S. officials are proposing increased logging on federal lands across the Pacific Northwest under changes to a sweeping forest management plan that’s been in place for three decades.
 
FILE - In this May 9, 2008, file photo, male sage grouses fight for the attention of females southwest of Rawlins, Wyo. (Jerret Raffety/The Rawlins Daily Times via AP)
Biden administration to restrict drilling, renewables in the US West to help struggling bird
U.S. officials are proposing tighter restrictions on oil, solar and wind energy development across more than 6,500 square miles of federal land in the U.S. West. The goal is to protect a declining bird species, the greater sage grouse.
 
Voters line up outside the Gallatin County Courthouse on Election Day in Bozeman, Mont., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)
Free pizza and a DJ help defrost Montana voters lined up until 4 a.m. in the snow to vote
Waiting to vote tested the willpower of hundreds of people in an hourslong line that stretched outside a county courthouse in a Montana town. Polls closed at 8 p.m. in Bozeman, Montana, but the last ballot wasn’t cast until 4 a.m.
 
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, center, speaks during an election night watch party Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Bozeman, Mt. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)
Montana Gov. Gianforte and Rep. Ryan Zinke win reelection as part of Republican sweep
Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte has won a second term by defeating Democratic challenger Ryan Busse. The victory continues Republican control in a state where the GOP also enjoys a decisive majority in the state Legislature.
 
Republican Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy speaks during an election night watch party Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Bozeman, Mont. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)
Republican Tim Sheehy defeats 3-term incumbent to flip Montana US Senate seat
Republican Tim Sheehy has defeated three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. The victory by the former U.S. Navy SEAL bolsters the GOP’s new Senate majority.
 
FILE - This undated photo from a court document provided by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana shows golden eagle feet recovered by law enforcement officers from a Washington state man's vehicle. (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana via AP, File)
Man who killed eagles on a Native American reservation gets nearly 4 years in prison
A Washington state man who authorities say led a wildlife trafficking ring on a Native American reservation in Montana that killed thousands of eagles and hawks was sentenced to nearly four years in prison.
 
FILE - This undated photo from a court document provided by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana shows golden eagle feet recovered by law enforcement officers from a Washington state man's vehicle. (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana via AP, File)
Poachers are exploiting the high demand for eagle feathers that are sacred among Native Americans
America’s golden eagles face a rising threat from a black market for their feathers used in Native American powwows and other ceremonies. Golden eagles are federally protected but not considered endangered.
 
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana seeking re-election to a fourth term, is seen at a campaign rally in a hotel ballroom, Oct. 25, 2024, in Bozeman, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Voters drowning in ads from ‘obscene’ amounts of cash flooding Montana U.S. Senate race
Republicans have struggled for 18 years to topple Montana Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. This year they finally see potential victory within their grasp in a race that could determine the balance of power in Congress.
 
FILE - Elders from the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in southeastern Montana listen to speakers during a session for survivors of government-sponsored Native American boarding schools, in Bozeman, Mont., Nov. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
Forced assimilation and abuse: How US boarding schools devastated Native American tribes
President Biden is expected to issue an historic apology Friday for the 150-year government effort to break up Native American culture, language and identity by forcing children into abusive boarding schools.
 
FILE - Tim Sheehy speaking during the second day of the Republican National Convention, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Montana GOP candidate who could flip control of Senate nagged by claims he lied about bullet wound
A former Park Service ranger says U.S. Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy of Montana has been lying about a bullet wound that the candidate said came from fighting in Afghanistan.
 
In this image made from video provided by the Teller County Sheriff’s Office, emergency responders work at the site of a mining accident in Cripple Creek, Colo, on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Teller County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Elevator door was ‘broken’ during Colorado mine tour accident that killed 1 and trapped 12
Investigators were trying to figure out Friday what led to an elevator accident at a former Colorado gold mine that killed a tour guide. The Teller County sheriff says the elevator door was broken.
 
FILE - Jack Phillips, who's case was heard by the Supreme Court five years ago after he objected to designing a wedding cake for a gay couple, speaks to supporters outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Dec. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Colorado’s Supreme Court dismisses suit against baker who wouldn’t make a cake for transgender woman
Colorado’s Supreme Court has dismissed on procedural grounds a lawsuit against a Christian baker who refused to bake a cake for a transgender woman.
 
FILE - Tim Sheehy prepares to debate U.S. Sen. Jon Tester on campus at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont., Sept. 30, 2024. (Ben Allan Smith/The Missoulian via AP, file)
This Montana Senate candidate said his opponent ate ‘lobbyist steak.’ But he lobbied—with steak
Montana Republican Tim Sheehy denounced incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester during a recent debate for “eating lobbyist steak” while Sheehy was fighting in Afghanistan.
 
Richard Rogers and his wife Laurie are seen outside the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Billings, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Man who was mad about Chinese spy balloon is convicted of threatening former Speaker McCarthy
A Montana man has been convicted of threatening to assault former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Prosecutors say 45-year-old Richard Rogers made the threat during a series of more than 100 calls to the Republican lawmaker’s office in February 2023.
 
FILE - An abandoned farm is shown on the Fort Peck Reservation, March 19, 2007, near Poplar, Montana. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Native Americans in Montana ask court for voting sites on reservation
The legal challenge, filed in state court, comes five weeks before the presidential election in a state with a a pivotal U.S. Senate race where the Republican candidate has made derogatory comments about Native Americans.
 
Tim Sheehy prepares to debate U.S. Sen. Jon Tester on campus at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Ben Allan Smith/The Missoulian via AP)
Montana US Senate candidate says derogatory comments about Native Americans were ‘insensitive’
Montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy says derogatory remarks he made last year about Native Americans were “insensitive.” Three-term incumbent U.S. Sen.
 
FILE - Dr. Brad Black with the Center for Asbestos Related Disease health clinic is shown looking at X-rays, Feb. 18, 2010, in Libby, Mont. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Court upholds finding that Montana clinic submitted false asbestos claims
A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court determination that a Montana health clinic submitted more than 300 false asbestos claims. The claims made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received.
 
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., speaks while standing next to his wife, Sharla, at a campaign rally, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Bozeman, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Embattled Democratic senators steer clear of Kamala Harris buzz but hope it helps
Three-term U.S. Sen. Jon Tester has made reproductive freedom for women a hallmark of his campaign. Yet one woman Tester notably isn’t talking about much on the campaign trail is Vice President Kamala Harris. Tester and fellow Democratic U.S.
 
FILE - This remote camera image provided by the U.S. Forest Service shows a female gray wolf and two of the three pups born in 2017 in the wilds of Lassen National Forest in northern California on June 29, 2017. (U.S. Forest Service via AP, File)
The Biden administration is taking steps to eliminate protections for gray wolves
The Biden administration has asked an appeals court to revive a Trump-era rule that lifted remaining Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the U.S.
 
Nick Michael with CJK Milling stands on top of discarded piles of ore in Leadville, Colo. on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)
Colorado mining town’s polluted legacy has a potential for profit, but some are wary of the risk
Piles of mine waste that loom above the historic Colorado mountain town of Leadville are a reminder of the city’s boom days. Now a company wants to “remine” some of the waste piles to squeeze more gold out of them.
 
FILE - In this photo provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, wildlife officials release five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colo., Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. (Colorado Natural Resources via AP)
Wolf pack blamed in Colorado livestock attacks is captured and will be relocated
Colorado wildlife officials have captured and plan to relocate five members of the first pack of wolves to form under the state’s ambitious wolf reintroduction program.
 
FILE - This undated image from a court document provided by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana shows golden eagle feet recovered by law enforcement officers from a Washington state man's vehicle. (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana via AP, File)
Wildlife trafficking ring killed at least 118 eagles, prosecutors say
Prosecutors say a Washington state man helped kill at least 118 eagles to sell their feathers and body parts on the black market.
 
FILE - Tim Sheehy speaking during the second day of the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Trump-backed US Senate candidate faces scrutiny for derogatory comments about Native Americans
Tribal leaders in Montana are pressing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy to apologize over remarks he made about Native Americans being “drunk at 8 a.m.”
 
FILE - Ryan Busse, senior advisor at Giffords Law Center, listens during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing, July 27, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
Montana Democrat Busse releases tax returns as he seeks a debate with Gov. Gianforte
Montana Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse has provided 10 years of income tax records as he tries to goad Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte into debating him ahead of the November election.
 
FILE - A northern spotted owl flies after an elusive mouse jumping off the end of a stick in the Deschutes National Forest near Camp Sherman, Ore., May 8, 2003. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)
Killings of invasive owls to ramp up on US West Coast in a bid to save native birds
U.S. wildlife officials next year will scale up efforts to kill invasive barred owls that are crowding out imperiled native owls from West Coast forests.
 
FILE - In this photo provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, wildlife officials release five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colo., Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. (Colorado Natural Resources via AP)
Wolf pack that attacked Colorado livestock to be relocated as reintroduction program stumbles
Wildlife agencies are trying to capture and relocate the first pack of wolves that formed under Colorado’s ambitious wolf reintroduction program.
 
FILE - Dr. Lee Morissette shows an image of lungs damaged by asbestos exposure, April 4, 2024, at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
Montana asbestos clinic seeks to reverse court finding that it submitted hundreds of false claims
A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination has asked an appeals court to reverse a lower court determination that it submitted hundreds of false claims.
 
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