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PNS - Tuesday, July 8, 2025 - FEMA's fate remains up in the air as flooding ravages Texas, Trump again threatens aggressive tariffs, and the U.S. Supreme Court considers a consequential campaign finance case.
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PNS - Tuesday, July 8, 2025 - Kerrville didn't have weather sirens used by other cities; Ohio bill could chill ballot access, spark voter challenges; Medicaid cuts: Disproportionate impact predicted for LGBTQ+ in IL; MN's construction trades hopeful data center incentives pay off; Texas doctors leery of changes to 'clarify' abortion law language.
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By Kathleen Shannon - Producer, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - Montana's new Blackfoot Drought Response Plan, updated in April, adds new water users during a very dry year. Those who helped rework the plan say continued collaboration and voluntary efforts will help the community get through the drought. Comments by Clancy Jandreau (jaahn-DROE) Blackfoot water steward, Blackfoot Challenge.
Click on the image above for the audio. Members of the Blackfoot Drought Committee, first formed in 2000, include local landowners, irrigators and outfitters, as well as representatives from state and federal agencies, conservation organizations, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. (Jason Olstad/Adobe Stock)
Kathleen Shannon
July 7, 2025 - Following last year's historic drought in Montana and hot temperatures early this spring, the Blackfoot River is running at roughly 25% of normal water levels.
Water rights have shifted some this year but experts said management will continue to be community-driven.
Clancy Jandreau, Blackfoot water steward for the nonprofit group Blackfoot Challenge, said the river's fish population declined in the late 1980s and early 90s, but there has also been a long history of restoration efforts. The new Blackfoot Drought Response Plan, updated in April, helps build on those efforts, Jandreau noted.
"We really wanted to more explicitly recognize that habitat restoration efforts that improve fisheries can in and of itself be a response to drought, as it builds resilient fisheries," Jandreau explained.
The new plan also incorporates deferred changes from the 2015 Montana Water Rights Compact, in which the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks became co-owners of a water right historically associated with hydropower production.
During a dry summer like this one, Jandreau pointed out the drought plan encourages a "shared sacrifice for shared benefit" model, in which irrigators, anglers and other water users voluntarily reduce their effects on the resource.
"Everybody's going to be seeking the refuge of the river over this summer," Jandreau added. "That includes humans and wildlife. So just doing their best to be aware of that and being responsible and ethical recreators this summer out there on the river."
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PNS - Monday, July 7, 2025 Deadly Texas floods draw a federal response as the administration reduces emergency and weather services. States prepare to deal with cuts to schools, health care and environmental protections, while Elon Musk launches a new political party.
