Bozeman Build #66

Good morning and welcome back the Bozeman Build covering Montana and Northern Rockies Trade News. Today we discovered squirrel caused power outage, MTN news upgrading from VHF to UHF radio frequency, heightened wildfire risk this season, protecting drinking water, Helium production expansion, $23M to coal communities, Northwest Rate Hike near 25% year over year, rangeland research, Bull Mountain Coal mine greenlight, Big Sky fire station, Bozeman public schools trade program, and new traffic lights. Around the Northern Rockies we cover geyser webcams, steel tariffs, Monks building cathedrals, and wind disputes.

Enjoy,

Daniel

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_{When and what is the Bozeman Build? The BB is a 1x/week free email newsletter delivered Monday mornings focused on Montana trade content and news. We are not a financial or building advisors.}

Montana and Bozeman Trade Pulse

Montana trade pulse

Jun 02, 2025 Mike Hoggan of Valier is sharing stories from his four-decade career in wildlife management in a new book. Hoggan spent more than 42 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Program, working alongside sheep ranchers and managing predator populations. (KTVQ)

June 3 2025 - Northwestern Energy says a squirrel is to blame for Tuesday's power outage in Helena. The animal entered the energizing equipment in a substation, knocking out power around 7:05 a.m. But conflicts can still happen. In 2011, an East Missoula neighborhood lost power after an eagle dropped a deer fawn on a high-voltage line. (KTVH)

Jun 04, 2025 MTN News Upgrades Frequencies for Enhanced Over-the-Air Broadcasting. Scripps is the company is making the switch from VHF radio frequency to UHF. (KBZK)

June 4, 2025 - State wildfire briefing indicates fire season ‘could be significant’. The briefing also included a long-term weather forecast from Northern Rockies Coordination Center meteorologist Dan Borsum who said computer projections are calling for a dry and hot summer. He also said some weather patterns are similar to high fire danger years in the past – like 2000, 2002, 2006, 2017 and 2021. (Daily Montanan)

Jun 05, 2025 Forest thinning continues around Butte's reservoir to protect drinking water, A project to remove fuels, such as down trees and branches, from the 2,300-acre area around the reservoir has been ongoing since 2023. (KPAX)

Jun 05, 2025 Helix Exploration raises £4.5m to fast-track helium production in Northern Montana (The Montana Helium Fairway)

June 05 2025 The Montana Department of Commerce announced today that 39 Montana cities, towns, counties and water and sewer districts will share more than $23.7 million of grant funding to help communities construct or upgrade water and wastewater systems and bridges. The funding is through Commerce’s Montana Coal Endowment Program. (MT Commerce)

June 6, 2025 - NorthWestern Energy announces another rate increase If the Montana Public Service Commission signs off on the most recent increase, the average residential customer will be paying $127.16 in July, according to information from the agency. Altogether, that would be a more than 25% increase from May 1 to July of this year. (Daily Montanan)

June 6, 2025 Through new research, a team in Montana State University’s College of Agriculture has published a comprehensive look at wildlife species that depend on rangeland ecosystems, sifting through nearly 1,600 animal types. The work, titled “An Inventory of Rangeland Wildlife in the Western United States,” (MSU News)

June 6th 2025 - Federal government OK’s expansion of Bull Mountains coal mine Friday to a long-delayed expansion of Signal Peak Energy’s Bull Mountains coal mine near Billings. (Montana Free Press)

DNRC News

From https://dnrc.mt.gov/News/

• Governor’s Drought and Water Supply Advisory Committee to Meet June 4

• Initial Proposal Foothills North Block Forest Management Project

• 2025 Second Quarter Oil & Gas Lease Sale - Sale Results

Bozeman trade pulse

Jun 03, 2025 Construction beginning: Jackrabbit Amsterdam Intersection (MDT News)

Jun 05, 2025 New Big Sky Fire Station Breaks Ground After a Decade in the Making (KBZK)

June 5, 2025 An 86-acre parcel of Montana state trust land near Logan will be closed temporarily for a routine site assessment as part of a proposal to develop the parcel into a formal shooting range. (Montana Outdoor)

Jun 06, 2025 The 108 West Babcock project has moved into the Public Notice phase with the city of Bozeman. This project is proposing the demolition of the existing structure to build a 4-story mixed-use building with commercial on the first two floors and 4 residences on the upper two floors. (Bozeman Real Estate Group)

Jun 06, 2025 Bozeman Public Schools launches new construction trades program (KBZK)

New Traffic Light on Kagy

The City set up a temp light off 7th and Kagy, appears that they are testing it out for now figuring traffic patterns, will probably set up a permanent one here soon.

Grant Street renovation project

Grant Street between the SUB and College of Engineering is torn up aiming to convert Grant Street to a more pedestrian friendly walkway spanning from South 11th to South 7th. See more active MSU projects at Current MSU Construction Projects

Northern Rockies

May 22, 2025 Geothermal energy in the Great Basin of Nevada and adjoining states could produce electricity equal to one-tenth of the current U.S. power supply, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed in a paper released today. (USGS)

Monday, June 2, 2025 Yellowstone Volcano Monthly Update - Yellowstone Caldera activity remains at background levels, with 119 located earthquakes in May (largest = M2.7). Deformation measurements indicate a small amount of caldera subsidence since early October. On May 31 at 8:39 p.m. MDT a small eruption occurred at Black Diamond Pool in Biscuit Basin, site of a hydrothermal explosion last summer. The event was recorded by a new webcam installed earlier in May.

June 3, 2025 Steel and aluminum tariffs increase to 50 percent as of June 4th. (Whitehouse.gov)

Carmelite Monks near Meeteetse Wyoming are using CNC technology to build a gothic temple. carmelitegothic.com/

Similar to Eastern Montanans concerns over Berkshire Energy wind towers (see Eastern Montana Wind Facebook Page) , Ranch Family near Laramie Files Lawsuit to Block Wyoming Wind Lease, Citing Generational Legacy (Cowboy State Daily), Idaho Falls residents have also been pushing back resulting in House Bill 146 requiring the installation of light-mitigating technology systems on wind energy conversion systems.” (East Idaho News)

Thanks for reading,

Daniel

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