How is climate change affecting
the places and people you love in Montana?
Browse our Interactive Map
View our full collection of stories and see where the stories are from on this interactive map!
Words & Images
By Axana Soltan
In drafting a "Dear Tomorrow" letter, I envision a message to my children in 2050, assuring them that today, in 2024, we took a stand. We acknowledged the crisis at hand and committed ourselves to action.
By Jacob Owens | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
Ranchers throughout northcentral Montana, including those on the Fort Belknap reservation, are reporting dramatically reduced herds. Some ranchers, though generally optimistic, harbor concerns about the future of their iconic way of life.
By Clarise Larson | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
Bends isn’t new to wildfire. His family has been ranching on the reservation for generations. Ranching is a part of who he is. He is accustomed to wildfires — he remembers spending summers of his youth protecting his family’s ranch from wildfire.
But things are changing.
By Hannah Telling | Live at the 2023 Montana Folk Festival
“Looking back on my life, I realize I grew up surrounded by living ghosts. In the lush forests of my childhood, I chased stories of my great-grandparents—immigrants, miners, union members. In the heat of summer, I leapt over deep, linear trenches marking collapsed mine tunnels, explored desolated, alien planet landscapes caused by toxic mine waste, and unearthed strange, rusted machinery from Montana’s industrial past.”
We are past the point of discussion and inactivity when so many are fleeing their homes and communities are forced to navigate slow government response and people are being denied safe access to necessary medical care. We must rally together in these times across demographics and countries.
What gives me hope is the tremendous set of tools we have at our fingertips to solve climate change. We can and I believe we will get it right! But it won’t happen without a lot of work, coming together and challenging our old conceptions.
By Tyler Nienstedt | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
The sweetgrass that grows on the Rocky Boy’s reservation has inhabited the plains and wetlands there for centuries and is unique to this specific area. Used in ceremonies and for personal use, the Anishinabe Ne-I-Yah-Wahk believe the smoke carries prayers to their Creator.
In recent years, the sweetgrass on the Rocky Boy’s reservation has become harder to find.
By Tye Brown | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
The Fort Peck reservation, home of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, spans more than 2 million acres in the far northeast corner of the state. For most of its history, water accessibility has been a challenge in this region, in particular for farming, ranching and personal use. Recently, worsening drought has made it even harder in the heavily agricultural region.
After more than two decades, a water treatment and delivery project is finally nearing completion. Within the next few years, it could provide thousands of households, ranches and farms with clean water. Residents hope this will mark the end of water insecurity that has made it difficult to live in the area.
By Serena Carlson
Serena’s essay, one of the winners of Changing Times youth writing contest, responded to a prompt focusing on a creative future and how their community is responding to the climate in 2070.
By Rosie Ferguson | Native News, University of Montana School of Journalism
Climate change and human deforestation has been threatening the availability of quality lodgepole pines that the Apsáalooke use to practice their culture. While the tree is not threatened, the future of lodge- poles in eastern Montana is unclear.
Recordings
By Randy Hafer | 2024 Billings Climate Week
“It became more and more apparent, as we were building the [Urban Frontier] House, that, in fact, the simpler the systems get, the smaller the systems get…the easier everything is, and the less expensive it is.” ”
By Ed Gulick | 2024 Billings Climate Week
“When you are riding [your bike], there is a real connection to the people around you. And you are connected to your place. We have a wonderful place! Let’s enjoy this place. You are connected to the weather in ways that a lot of people aren’t connected. It’s a wonderful thing!"
By Boris Krizek | 2024 Billings Climate Week
“[Emissions are] fairly comparable between the CNG and the diesel [engines] particularly because [the diesel] has the regen [system].”
By Alex Hibala | Live at the 2023 Bitteroot Climate Story event
“The river, this river is special. All of them in this state are special. It's not anywhere in the West that you get to find this many freestone fish living wild. Wild fish adapting to the environment as best as they can. They deserve some protection and a little bit of forethought.”
By Cari Holst | 2024 Billings Climate Week
“Buying locally, buying from something like a food hub, building up that local ecosystem, that resiliency, allows us to fall back on the local community and local producers. Because if we try to build up those things when we need them, it’s going to be really hard.”
By Ivy Fredrickson | Live at the 2023 Montana Folk Festival
“We see it in our everyday lives. Wildfire smoke across the nation, not just every so often here in the northern Rockies region. Severe storms in places they shouldn’t be. “1000 year” floods occuring every few years. Measurable and indisputable sea level rise. These are very bad things, but these are game changers for real action. The impacts of climate change are now so obvious that they cannot be ignored. You cannot do business without considering the risks of climate change.”
By Wayne Burleson | 2023 Billings Climate Week
“All health begins in the soil” - Wayne Burleson, of Billings, MT explains how feeding our soils can heal us and help us better adapt to changing weather conditions. Wayne Burleson is a native Montanian, Master Gardener and avid volunteer. Wayne volunteers with the Montana Rescue Mission and Farmer-to-Farmer where he travels around the world teaching with his wife, Connie.
By Laura Garber - This recording is live from our Cultivating Community Resilience Through Storytelling Event
“The most important moment for a seed, is now. You are holding the seed now and you have the opportunity to let the future happen or let it die in your hands…”
By Justin Angle - This recording is live from our Cultivating Community Resilience Through Storytelling Event
“I started getting interested in stories and I learned that in this community there were some amazing stories - such a rich diversity of stories in this community. That lead me to launch an interview program (A New Angle) that allowed me to hear story after story. I learned so much about people, how they have approached life, how they’ve moved through their own experiences, and found ways to be resilient.”
Interview with Wayde McCoy | CSKT Earth Day Celebration
Wayne McCoy, Kootenai Elder, tells the story of growing up without modern accommodations of running water, electricity, and central heating. Born at home in a teepee, Wayne recounts a very different world than we see today, less than a decade ago. In his lifetime, he watched man-made climate impact the clear rivers he fished and… In Salish he tells man to “stop, look, and listen” to see the larger picture of what life is all about. He recounts some hard truths about how society is changing.