Montana defies order on transgender birth certificates

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Just hours after a Montana judge blocked health officials from enforcing a state rule that would prevent transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificate, the Republican-run state on Thursday said it would defy the order. District Court...

Montana defies judge who said officials can't stop transgender people from changing their gender on birth certificates

Montana judge blocks state rule that would prevent transgender people from changing their birth certificates

US withdraws polluted Montana site from new mining

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials have withdrawn parcels of public land near the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana from future mining to protect a reclamation area where more than $80 million has been spent to clean up past mining contamination. Mining will be barred...

Coal plant operator to buy out co-owner, install some wind

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The operator of Montana's Colstrip coal-fired power plant said Monday it was buying out one of the site's co-owners and plans to construct a wind farm nearby that would generate 600 megawatts of electricity. Talen Energy Supply would acquire Puget Sound...

Judge restores oil lease on land sacred to US, Canada tribes

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the Biden administration to reinstate a drilling lease that has been in dispute for decades on land near the Blackfeet Indian Reservation that is considered sacred to Native American tribes in the U.S. and Canada. The...

Montana adopts permanent block on birth certificate changes

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana health officials on Friday made permanent a rule that blocks transgender people from changing their birth certificates even if they undergo gender-confirmation surgery. The move by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's administration comes just days before...

Climate damage from oil leases on US land gets second look

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration reached a legal settlement Tuesday that requires the government to reexamine potential climate damages from oil and gas leases put up for sale under the Trump administration on government land in Montana and North Dakota. Similar...

Montana ranchers, officials appeal bison grazing on US land

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A ranching group and Republican state officials have asked a federal panel to reverse the Biden administration's approval of bison grazing on U.S. lands in central Montana as part of a vast nature reserve. Federal officials last month approved a request by...

Climate bill's unlikely beneficiary: US oil and gas industry

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. oil industry hit a legal roadblock in January when a judge struck down a $192 million oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico over future global warming emissions from burning the fuels. It came at a pivotal time for Chevron, Exxon and other industry...