Polson's new promo vid has gone viral...

If you can't hike like Bob Marshall, then you can always follow along in spirit and get a good photo while you're at it.

That's how photographer Chris Peterson spent his summer.

He originally wanted to do a series of day-hikes for the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.

The 17-year veteran of the Hungry Horse News planned on trekking 50 miles a day for five days, and had already completed one such hike in the Scapegoat Wilderness.

Then he came upon wilderness pioneer Bob Marshall's hiking journal, posted on the website of the foundation that bears his name.

It's a log, jotted in pencil, of an eight-day, 288-mile hike Marshall undertook in 1928 at the age of 28, traveling from the Swan Range to the Mission Mountain Wilderness.

For posterity's sake, someone transcribed Marshall's looping script on a typewriter, where the numbers lay clear the intimidating clip at which Marshall hiked.

He set out alone in the Jewel Basin and traveled all the way south through what's now the Bob Marshall Wilderness, crossed what's now Highway 83, and went "way back" into the Mission Mountains at an impressive pace.

"Bob was just an amazing, out-of-his-mind hiker," Peterson said.

He did the math, and estimates Marshall must've been averaging 4 to 5 miles an hour.

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Montana Public Radio has started a new schedule for its broadcast offerings, including changes to its Montana news and evening programming.

One of the main changes is that rather than grouping Montana news into a separate “Montana Evening Edition” program, MTPR will instead be including local stories and headlines during “Morning Edition” from 7-9 a.m. as well as “All Things Considered” in the evenings from 5-7 p.m

“This is going to allow us to continue to give a fresh take on the news, and provide more in-depth stories,” program director Michael Marsolek said.

MTPR is a public service of the University of Montana and is a National Public Radio affiliate the broadcasts in western and central Montana.

NPR national news program “Here and Now” will be added in each weekday at 1 p.m.

Several of the more popular programs are moving to a new time slot at 7 p.m. after the end of “All Things Considered,” what Marsolek called “some of the best of National Public Radio.” Shows like “Moth Radio Hour”, “This American Life”, “TED Radio Hour”, “The Write Question”, “Musician’s Spotlight” and “Radiolab” will now occupy this segment over the course of the week.

“We looked at it as also an opportunity to look at the schedule, rebuild the evenings, and move some popular programs into a prime time block,” Marsolek said.

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Kyle Ploehn is an artist, illustrator and writer living in Billings Montana. He likes to spend the few hours he isn't painting hiking the mountains of Montana.

Fishin' by Kyle Ploehn. Original 16x20 acrylic on canvas painting.Fishin' was one of those weird images that just jumped from seemingly nowhere into my head. I had enjoyed painting up the pixilation trout right before this image, but hadn't planned on doing another fish so soon when this surreal image just hit me. I found it light and funny in my sketches and decided as long as painting fish was still fresh in my mind I should just go ahead and paint it. The idea behind it plays out like life, we're going along with all these distractions and lures to catch out attention. New car, new house, new phone, we are always seeking out that new thing, but sometimes we've got to look beyond the immediate for the hand trying to catch us for dinner.

 
The original is still available, an 16x20, framed for $550.
8x10 matted to 11x14 prints are available for $45. Contact me at [email protected], if you're interested in purchasing a print. Visit my online gallery and blog at http://kyleploehnart.blogspot.com or drop by Facebook and say, hey. https://www.facebook.com/kyleploehnart

Nearly a year after Montana initiated a method to legalize collection of roadkill, more than 800 permits have been issued.

“I’m elated,” said Rep. Steve Lavin, R-Kalispell, who carried the bill in the last Legislature.

Lavin said his purpose behind supporting the bill was to get meat into the freezers of people who could use it, so animals killed in collisions with vehicles wouldn’t go to waste.

“I’ve heard a lot of positive comments about it,” said Lavin, who is also a captain in the Montana Highway Patrol. He also endured a lot of jokes about the issue.

Painless permits

Under the new law, free permits can be downloaded from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ website. They can also be issued by officers, such as the Montana Highway Patrol, who respond to wildlife-vehicle collisions.

“We’ve made it pretty painless for folks to get online and do this,” said Jim Kropp, FWP’s chief of law enforcement.

Although the agency had initially opposed the measure, Kropp said the program seems to be reasonably problem-free.

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