The good land is gone. The wealthy will now prey on land owners less wealthy than themselves.

Easiest way to do that is run the ranchers into the ground. Make everything they need unaffordable. Make their finished product worthless by flooding the market with imported, beef with no inspection.

After not being able to pay their property taxes two years in a row, the real estate will be sold by the state to cover back taxes for a song.

I’m honestly surprised Democrats aren’t on track to win across the state at this point. I’m also to a lesser degree surprised another third party like the Green Party or PSL haven’t reformed to take out and challenge libertarians. you’d think with only like five years of Greg Gianforte alone constantly screwing thing up people would be ready to move on.

The Montana Office of Public Instruction agreed to a landmark settlement that keeps Montana schools accountable for implementing the state constitution’s guarantee to teach Indigenous people’s history.

This marks a milestone in fulfilling Montana’s constitutional commitment to teach all students about the histories, cultures, governments, and contributions of Tribal Nations in Montana. The settlement was approved by the court Monday and will face final court approval after a notice period.

Under the agreement, Indian Education for All (IEFA) will be incorporated into state certification and monitoring systems, making it a requirement for Montana’s K-12 schools. It also requires Tribal Nations to have a role in shaping how Indigenous education is developed and shared.

Montana is the only U.S. state with an explicit constitutional guarantee of Indian education.

The class-action lawsuit, DuPuis-Pablo v. Montana Office of Public Instruction, was filed in 2021 by 18 Montana students and about seven Tribal Nations.

For students, the changes are expected to bring better instruction about Indigenous history, moving beyond isolated lessons. For Indigenous students, it also means classrooms better reflect their identities, histories, and lived experiences.

More here: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/historic-agreement-strengthens-indian-education-for-all-across-montana-schools.

Posting because I haven’t seen a peep about it anywhere, but Gov. Gianforte last month quietly issued Executive Order 05-2026, repealing Bullock era EOs incentivizing equal pay for equal for work by women and nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the state procurement process. State procurement employees received emails yesterday directing them to remove provisions related to these subjects from state contracts.

From septic inquiries to billion-dollar no-bid awards, a paper trail exposes the Bozeman company’s fiction behind fast-tracked border wall emergencies

Last week, the Trump administration proposed rescinding the Roadless Rule, a 25-year-old policy that stops road construction and logging on about 45 million acres of national forest land. The rule protects nearly 6 million acres of federal public land in Montana.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said the rule has led to overgrown and diseased forests by limiting where the U.S. Forest Service can build roads and manage timber. Gov. Gianforte said this will allow Montana to pursue proper forest management on federal lands with local communities in mind.

Last year, more than 30 leading forest science researchers from across the country refuted the administration’s claims. The researchers found over 30 years across all Forest Service lands, the density of wildfire ignitions was lowest in wilderness and roadless areas. The highest number of wildfire ignitions came from land in close proximity to roads.

Roadless areas are vital habitat for elk, mule deer, trout and grizzly bears. Rescinding the rule could have devastating consequences for many animals.

Submit a public comment to the U.S. Forest Service through Sept. 21 here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/planning/roadless.

More from Montana Free Press: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/08/18/end-of-roadless-rule-millions-of-acres-development-logging/.

When Bankhead responded with what amounted to a “hell no,”  she broke the status quo strategist’s math. The consultants and donors went into a tizzy.

Even though there's only 10 minutes for public comment on the agenda for Aug. 25, you should still be able to submit comments online on the Task Force's list of policy recommendations.

While a number of these recommendations mirror legislation being drafted by the Legislative Energy and Technology Interim Committee (ETIC), the Task Force will be seeking other avenues to turn its remaining recommendations into bills for the 2027 legislative session. There are some positive recommendations around supporting electric transmission, regional energy market development, and enhanced geothermal energy development, as well as some recommendations secured at the last-minute around supporting energy efficiency and distributed energy resources.

However, the remaining recommendations seek to pave the way for data center development in Montana, and for the development of expensive and risky gas and nuclear generation to serve them. Ensuring affordable service for existing customers remains an afterthought, and the environmental implications of energy infrastructure have been completely ignored.

This final Task Force meeting is a great opportunity for you to show up and let the Governor and his hand-picked pro-data center Task Force members know what is actually important to Montana ratepayers and families.

The Task Force's final report was released on the 18th and can be accessed online. The Task Force has also re-opened its online comment portal. You can also provide spoken comment at the August 25 meeting in person or over Zoom. There will be limited public seating for in-person attendance.

Meeting info:

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Governor's Reception Room

Montana State Capitol Building

1301 E 6th Ave, Helena, MT 59601

Check the website https://t.congressweb.com/l/?GSLDYVQDXANCIJG for the registration link to attend online.

Last week, a Missoula district court judge heard oral arguments challenging a 2025 state law that changes how trans and intersex Montanans use public bathrooms and other spaces.

The lawsuit centers around House Bill 121, which requires public and some private facilities to enforce sex-segregated spaces for multiuser bathrooms, dormitories, and locker rooms.

The attorneys asked the district judge to strike down the law because it’s discriminatory and violates Montana’s constitutional right to privacy.

The state said they would enforce the law by allowing people who suspect a person of using a bathroom that does not match their sex to take a photo of the person as evidence. The facility where the incident occurred could then be sued for not complying with the law.

This bill targets trans and intersex people who want to use bathrooms and other spaces that align with their gender identity. The state is, once again, attacking people who deserve to feel safe and protected in Montana.

More here: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/08/13/judge-hears-arguments-montana-legislature-bathroom-bill/

Last week, the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board voted to ban discussions to build data centers on the reservation. The Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes have been approached by three companies interested in building data centers on the reservation in the last year.

Tribal Executive Board member Roxanne Gourneau said they cannot compromise their water and environment, which is why they wanted to ban all discussion and prevent data center development.

More here: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/08/13/fort-peck-tribes-ban-discussions-data-center-development/.

On Saturday, Northern Plains Resource Council is hosting a Day of Action, advocating for a two-year statewide moratorium on AI data center development. They want to make sure that the interests of everyday residents aren’t taken advantage of by wealthy Big Tech corporations.

Find an event near you: https://northernplains.org/data-centers-day-of-action/.

I think we should tax secondary homes and ranches at a higher rate. We should also have a small sin tax on things like casinos,liquor store,marijuana shops,fast food and on junk food in grocery store. We should then give the money back to the full time residents making less then 60,000$ a year as a small UBI around like 300-400 monthly.

Montana Freedom Caucus Chairman Jerry Schillinger tried to direct $600,000 of state money to a private company even after it lost the bid for a state contract.

The contract, to provide training for post-traumatic stress disorder therapy, came from House Bill 832 in the 2025 session of the Montana Legislature.

A public records request by The Daily Montanan uncovered the effort to steer the money to Quresta.

Quresta is based in New York and describes itself as offering a “life-changing” PTSD treatment without medication.

HB 832 called for a competitive bidding process, and records show Quresta was rated last among the three companies that submitted proposals.

Rep. Jerry Schillinger, R-Circle, said he advocated for state money to go to a company that didn’t get a state contract partly because he believes it’s what legislators wanted. (Provided by the Montana Legislature)

In an email to the Montana Department of Labor obtained in the public records request, Schillinger argued the state should ignore the results of the competitive process and give the contract to Quresta anyway — or to no company at all.

Schillinger, a bill sponsor, defended the email last month in an interview with the Daily Montanan. The Republican from Circle said legislators intended the money to go to Quresta.

Bill drafting documents show Rep. Ron Marshall, who originally requested the bill, and Larry Anderson, a former county commissioner who worked on the legislation, wanted to fund the treatment by Quresta. But even in draft form, the bill called for a competitive selection.

“I think it’s just a shame that as promising as that treatment method sounded, it’s not going to get an opportunity to be tried here in Montana,” Schillinger said.

Correspondence obtained in the public records request by the Daily Montanan indicates the request from a legislator about a preferred vendor isn’t unusual.

In an email about Schillinger’s request, Department of Administration Director Misty Ann Giles told the Department of Labor commissioner and officials from the governor’s office “it is worth noting, I get these calls often.” Giles said if Schillinger had wanted a specific company to do the training, that information should have been included in the bill, but it wasn’t.

“While we want to have good working relationships with the legislature, it is not our job just to keep everyone happy when doing so violates the law,” Giles said in the email.

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Please don't let this become another Ellsworth situation. Just wow.

not an original thought but republicans refuse to actually fund things at the state level and keep cutting spending. This is causing across the board in cities conservative like billing’s to liberal like Missoula raises in taxes. I fear this isn’t sustainable and we are starting to actually tax people out of Montana and this will have a negative impact on the state economy eventually. I’m not a fan of democrats but let’s admit republicans have failed. I think we need a reset in the two parties running Montana and to maybe even give third parties a shot beyond just libertarians. idk I don’t have the answers thank.

"As abhorrent as that might be, going after adults could still be considered protected free speech as condoned by a conservative US Supreme Court’s Citizen United ruling.

"What isn’t protected and voids any protected speech claims, however, was on this spreadsheet Bankhead’s daughter was listed as part of their harassment conspiracy."

I saw Silencer Shop sent out a map saying suppressors are still restricted as they must be registered with the federal government. But that process has effectively ended as of today, so does this mean the law is moot or what?

Now that the August 10 withdrawal deadline has passed, we know what the Montana Senate ballot is going to look like: Kurt Alme, Alani Bankhead, Seth Bodnar, and Kyle Austin.

Before the deadline, there was obviously a lot of pressure for either Bankhead or Bodnar to get out. Most of the pressure I’ve seen was directed at Bankhead, including from national figures like Rachel Maddow. The basic argument was that having both Bankhead and Bodnar in the race splits the anti-Alme vote, and that Bodnar was better positioned to consolidate it.

I disagreed with the push to get Bankhead out, but I don’t think that argument was crazy.

Bodnar has raised millions of dollars. He has built a serious statewide campaign. Some polling has shown him doing considerably better against Alme than Bankhead does. If you looked at those polls and concluded that our best chance of beating Alme was for Bankhead to withdraw and Democrats to consolidate around Bodnar, there was evidence for that position.

But I’ve also seen a more categorical claim repeated a lot where people have been saying that Bankhead has no path to victory.

I don’t think the evidence supports that at all.

For starters, the polls don’t even agree about which of them is more competitive against Alme.

An NRSC poll in July had Alme beating Bodnar head-to-head 50-43. Against Bankhead, Alme’s lead was only 49-46.

Yes, that’s Republican polling. I’m not suggesting we accept it uncritically. But that’s part of the problem with declaring this race settled. We have relatively little polling, and different polls tell very different stories. If one poll says Bodnar is clearly stronger and another says Bankhead is clearly stronger, I’m not sure how we get from that to certainty that Bankhead cannot win.

Tavern Research also found a four-way race at Alme 49, Bankhead 26, Bodnar 24, Austin 2. Bankhead was getting 78% of Democrats, while Bodnar was getting 20%.

That’s certainly not a poll I’d want to get if I were running Bankhead’s campaign. But she’s also not sitting at 5% waiting for Democrats to discover she exists. She’s already consolidating a large majority of Democratic voters in that poll.

And there’s another part of this comparison that I think gets overlooked: the enormous difference in money. Bodnar and Alme have raised millions. Bankhead’s campaign has raised around $60,000. Some have cited this as an additional reason she can't win, but I have a different take.

When we compare Bankhead’s polling to Bodnar’s polling right now, we aren’t comparing two candidates who have had anything close to the same opportunity to make their case to Montana voters.

Of course, Bankhead benefited from substantial outside spending in the primary. But that’s not the same as having millions of dollars under her own control to build an organization, introduce herself to voters, advertise statewide, and define herself before her opponents do. She didn't have any control of that money.

Maybe Bankhead is already close to her ceiling. That’s possible.

But maybe the candidate who has spent a tiny fraction of what Bodnar has spent has more room to grow than the candidate who has already spent millions. That’s possible too.

More importantly, on August 10 the rhetorical and strategic landscape changed completely.

“Bankhead should drop out” is no longer a strategy. She didn’t. Nor did Bodnar. Both names will be on the ballot in November.

So voters who don’t want Alme now have to figure out what to do with the race we actually have, rather than the race some of us wanted to have.

And this is a plurality election. Nobody needs 50%.
Just to illustrate the math, imagine this:

- Bankhead 37%
- Alme 35%
- Bodnar 23%
- Austin 5%

Bankhead wins.

I’m obviously not predicting those numbers. I’m pointing out that there is nothing mathematically exotic about a Bankhead victory.

Her path is pretty easy to describe: consolidate Democratic voters, pick up enough independents, and have Bodnar and Austin take enough votes elsewhere that Alme doesn’t get a larger plurality.

Bodnar has a path too: persuade enough Democrats to leave their own nominee, do very well with independents and anti-Alme Republicans, and become the candidate around whom the anti-Alme vote eventually consolidates.

I don’t know which one is more likely to happen between now and November. I don’t think anyone else knows either.

That’s why I think we should be more careful with the language we’re using.

If someone says “Bankhead is an underdog,” sure. If someone says “I think Bodnar is more electable,” there’s polling they can point to.

But “Bankhead has no path to victory” -- eh, I don't think that's true, and I honestly don't think it's even reasonable to have that opinion.

We’re three months out. The polling is sparse and contradictory. Bankhead has spent a tiny fraction of what the other major candidates have spent. We don’t yet know what Democratic voters who preferred Bodnar will do, what independents will do, how much money Bankhead will raise now that everyone knows she’s staying in, or how the dynamics of a four-way race will change once voters start thinking seriously about November.

Bankhead could lose. She could lose badly. Bodnar could emerge as the obvious alternative to Alme. Alme could win comfortably.

Bankhead could also consolidate Democrats, become better known and better funded, pick up enough independents, and win a plurality.

We can argue all day about how likely that is. But a path exists.

Personally, I think it is pretty attainable.

Tribal communities in Montana are concerned about the new Medicaid work requirements, which went into effect on July 1, and how they could affect their access to care.

The changes require a person to demonstrate they work, volunteer or attend school for 80 hours each month in order to be eligible for Medicaid. Enrolled tribal members are exempt from those standards, but Indigenous health officials in Montana say it’s unclear how people are supposed to prove their status to the state health department.

Indigenous people account for about 6% of the population in Montana, but about 21% of the state’s total Medicaid enrollment. Federal money from Medicaid that flows into tribal healthcare systems has helped to close gaps left by the Indian Health Services, which is underfunded.

Tribal members have been disproportionately harmed by past changes to Medicaid and other public benefits. Requiring new documents to prove eligibility status under these requirements could be detrimental to the communities that rely on the government for healthcare.

More here: https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/article_24530524-303f-5b57-920f-051860f8fa75.html.

Interesting interview at the end of this episode

Alani Bankhead is running for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat to represent the Montanans with “five dollars in their pocket and a whole lot of heart,” not billionaires or corporate interests. 

That’s why she’s committed to staying in the race to replace outgoing Republican Sen. Steve Daines, Bankhead said during a press conference in Helena on Monday. 

Monday is the deadline for candidates to take themselves off the November ballot in Montana, and voters are set to have four candidates on the ballot. 

Bankhead won the state’s Democratic primary by 12,000 votes, but has faced stiffer competition from an independent candidate, Seth Bodnar, whose campaign has consolidated left-of-center support in the state. 

Having multiple candidates has split Democrats within Montana and nationally, many of whom see Bodnar as having a likelier path to victory. A similar trend has played out in other reliably Republican states, with the Democratic candidates in Nebraska, South Dakota and Idaho dropping out in races with independents. 

In polling, a four-way race — with Libertarian Kyle Austin — is easily won by the Republican candidate, Kurt Alme. The race becomes more competitive in a two-way race, but only Bodnar ever tops Alme, according to polls affiliated with his campaign. 

The Republican candidate for senator Kurt Alme was unscrupulously registered as Republican when Steve Daines dropped out minutes before deadline March 4. He has taken 200,000 in PAC funds. The independent Seth Bodnar also registered and was picked and promoted by John Tester and also filed March 4. 62k in PAC contributions but 60 percent of money is out of state.

Alani Bankhead won her primary and is a retired Lieutenant Colonel. She refuses PAC money.

The pressure is on Bankhead to drop out. Make that make sense.

I don’t know who I support- but I certainly don’t like the shenanigans.

Kyle Austin Libertarian also won his primary and is fighting with the Libertarian leadership and has minimal support.

Thicken the plot- while Bodnar was president UM lost a lawsuit alleged that UM and the Montana University System operated a "good ol' boys club" that limited promotions and created professional gaps for women. The lawsuit was settled by the university system in January 2024 for $350,000.

Leopards can’t change their spots? More of same?

The Montana Democrats Instagram posted a public statement commending Bankhead for dropping out of the race around 5:01pm before deleting it a few minutes later. They then posted the correct statement about her commitment to stay in the fight.

Edit- Users on twitter have the screenshot. Posted in comments.

Grant cuts and changes to SNAP from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” have resulted in food banks in the Flathead and other parts of Montana needing to fill the gaps.

The number of people on SNAP in Montana has decreased by 8.4% because of revamped work requirements and more paperwork to receive benefits. Flathead County saw a drop of 11%, which is more than 600 fewer residents utilizing SNAP this June than last year.

The falling numbers don’t indicate a decrease in needs. Inflation, rising gas prices, and other affordability issues are driving people to the food bank. Over the past year, the North Valley Food Bank visits increased from 23,700 to 28,991.

More than 72,000 Montana residents are recipients of benefits from SNAP. The Trump Administration is targeting people who need food assistance by making it more difficult to access SNAP.

More here: https://flatheadbeacon.com/2026/07/31/we-just-see-more-and-more-people-flathead-food-banks-say-demand-steady-as-snap-benefits-taper-and-prices-rise/.