Scan of the front page of the Ravalli Republic newspaper (Bitterroot Valley, Montana), dated Thursday, October 15, 2026. The main photo shows a large crowd of people, many in jackets and some in red, white and blue, walking across a grassy field toward the camera, with mountains and a blue sky behind them. The caption says they are attendees lining up outside Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell ahead of a rally hosted by President Donald Trump. Other items are a top story on a judge halting a Forest Service reorganization, a sidebar on wolf protections, a story on a Stevensville student who is a National Merit semifinalist (with a photo of a young person with long hair standing in front of a school entrance labeled YELLOWJACKETS), and two small teaser photos at the top (football players, and a children's book cover).
Text in image: SERVING THE BITTERROOT VALLEY SINCE 1889
RAVALLI REPUBLIC
CORVALLIS • DARBY • FLORENCE • HAMILTON • STEVENSVILLE • VICTOR
Idaho Vandals to visit Missoula for second straight year.
PAGE B1
Spooky reads for kids, adults as fall chill hits the air.
PAGE A5
A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated Newspaper — Majority shareholder, David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group
Thursday, October 15, 2026 RavalliRepublic.com
Judge halts Forest Service reshuffle
SAM WILSON
sam.wilson@missoulian.com
The ongoing reshuffling of the Forest Service, along with much of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was paused Tuesday after a federal judge in Northern California found the reorganization was "almost certainly" violating federal law by diverting funds without congressional approval.
U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria granted a temporary stay that bars the department and many of its agencies from closing any more offices or relocating employees, pending action by Congress.
"Congress did not contemplate USDA using its appropriated funds to shut down offices or relocate employees," wrote Chhabria, with the U.S. District Court of Northern California. "To the contrary, Congress was actively working to restrict the agency's ability to do so."
The USDA announced a sweeping plan in 2025 to reorganize the massive department, with an eye toward reducing its footprint in Washington, D.C., and staffing up regional hubs across the country.
The USDA employs 3,100 full-time workers in Montana, according to the federal Office of Personnel Management. Of those employees, 2,700 work for the Forest Service.
Forest Service officials are planning to eliminate the agency's longstanding
Please see USFS, Page A2
TRUMP IN KALISPELL
'WE LOVE TRUMP'
BEN ALLAN SMITH, MISSOULIAN
Hundreds of attendees line up outside Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell ahead of the rally hosted by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Big crowd turns out for rally in GOP stronghold
SEABORN LARSON, CARLY GRAF, GRIFFEN SMITH AND BEN ALLAN SMITH
A star-spangled spectacle was brewing in the Flathead Valley on Wednesday afternoon as thousands descended on Majestic Valley Arena to see President Donald Trump.
Trump was in Montana to campaign for GOP candidates, namely conservative radio host Aaron Flint, who is running to replace U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke as the representative in Montana's 1st Congressional District. Democrat Sam Forstag is running a tight race against Flint; polling has shown the race in a statistical tie for the last several weeks.
Those in line to see the president on Wednesday came from nearby communities and from as far as California.
At least eight sitting or hopeful legislators had been spotted at the rally as of 2 p.m.
"I've been to over 30 of these
Please see TRUMP, Page A4
Feds, wolf advocates duel over species' future
SAM WILSON
sam.wilson@missoulian.com
When is a gray wolf "significant" enough to earn federal protections?
And after a decades-long recovery returned the species to one-third of its historic range, is it time to remove the protections that brought them back?
A panel of three appeals court judges visited Missoula's federal courthouse Wednesday afternoon as the bottom of those questions — along with a multitude of others — in a trio of lawsuits that could shape the future of the iconic species in the contiguous United States.
In one case, the Center for Wildlife Biology, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and other environmental groups are suing to overturn the federal government's rejection of their petition to relist wolves under the Endangered Species Act across the entire Lower 48 states.
The lawsuit previously played out in the same courtroom in Missoula's Russell Smith Federal Courthouse, where District Judge Donald Molloy last year ruled against the Fish and Wildlife Service and found the agency failed to apply the best available science in its analysis and ignored the predators' historic range.
Wolves once roamed across most of the North American continent, but were nearly eliminated south of Canada
Please see WOLVES, Page A3
Stevi scholar drums up success
Svaren is Bitterroot's only National Merit semifinalist
NICOLE GIRTEN
nicole.girten@ravallirepublic.com
Stevensville senior Zane Svaren's ultimate dream is to be a rock star, drumming on the biggest stages.
So far, though, one of Svaren's biggest accomplishments is being the only student in the Bitterroot named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist.
He will compete with about 16,000 other kids around the country next spring for 6,700 merit scholarships worth about $24 million.
He said it "feels cool" to be among such an elite few.
"Sometimes going to a school like Stevensville, it almost feels like maybe it's a 'big fish, little pond' thing because our school's kind of underfunded," he said.
To qualify to be a semifinalist, applicants have to first score high on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Applicants also need an "outstanding academic record" and to submit an application
Please see SCHOLAR, Page A5
YELLOWJACKETS
Stevensville senior Zane Svaren is the Bitterroot's only Merit Scholar semifinalist in the 2027 cohort. He will go on to compete for one of more than 6,000 scholarships totaling more than $24 million.
NICOLE.GIRTEN@RAVALLIREPUBLIC.COM
GET THE FULL BENEFITS OF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION!
Activate your digital account to get updated stories, videos, and hundreds of additional puzzles and comics. Visit ravallirepublic.com/activate and download our app for the E-edition and breaking news on the go!
Weather
Mostly sunny, nice
High: 59 Low: 29
Forecast: A10
Inside
Opinion A6 | Sports B1
Nation/World A7 | Classified B8
Weather A10
$2.50 • TTS • Volume 137, Issue 288 • Copyright 2026
Follow us online: /RavalliRepublic /RavalliRepublic
Described automatically. The words above are a machine's reading of the picture, not Trump's.
Post from Truth Social
What the image shows screenshot
Scan of the front page of the Ravalli Republic newspaper (Bitterroot Valley, Montana), dated Thursday, October 15, 2026. The main photo shows a large crowd of people, many in jackets and some in red, white and blue, walking across a grassy field toward the camera, with mountains and a blue sky behind them. The caption says they are attendees lining up outside Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell ahead of a rally hosted by President Donald Trump. Other items are a top story on a judge halting a Forest Service reorganization, a sidebar on wolf protections, a story on a Stevensville student who is a National Merit semifinalist (with a photo of a young person with long hair standing in front of a school entrance labeled YELLOWJACKETS), and two small teaser photos at the top (football players, and a children's book cover).
Text in image: SERVING THE BITTERROOT VALLEY SINCE 1889 RAVALLI REPUBLIC CORVALLIS • DARBY • FLORENCE • HAMILTON • STEVENSVILLE • VICTOR Idaho Vandals to visit Missoula for second straight year. PAGE B1 Spooky reads for kids, adults as fall chill hits the air. PAGE A5 A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated Newspaper — Majority shareholder, David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group Thursday, October 15, 2026 RavalliRepublic.com Judge halts Forest Service reshuffle SAM WILSON sam.wilson@missoulian.com The ongoing reshuffling of the Forest Service, along with much of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was paused Tuesday after a federal judge in Northern California found the reorganization was "almost certainly" violating federal law by diverting funds without congressional approval. U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria granted a temporary stay that bars the department and many of its agencies from closing any more offices or relocating employees, pending action by Congress. "Congress did not contemplate USDA using its appropriated funds to shut down offices or relocate employees," wrote Chhabria, with the U.S. District Court of Northern California. "To the contrary, Congress was actively working to restrict the agency's ability to do so." The USDA announced a sweeping plan in 2025 to reorganize the massive department, with an eye toward reducing its footprint in Washington, D.C., and staffing up regional hubs across the country. The USDA employs 3,100 full-time workers in Montana, according to the federal Office of Personnel Management. Of those employees, 2,700 work for the Forest Service. Forest Service officials are planning to eliminate the agency's longstanding Please see USFS, Page A2 TRUMP IN KALISPELL 'WE LOVE TRUMP' BEN ALLAN SMITH, MISSOULIAN Hundreds of attendees line up outside Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell ahead of the rally hosted by President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Big crowd turns out for rally in GOP stronghold SEABORN LARSON, CARLY GRAF, GRIFFEN SMITH AND BEN ALLAN SMITH A star-spangled spectacle was brewing in the Flathead Valley on Wednesday afternoon as thousands descended on Majestic Valley Arena to see President Donald Trump. Trump was in Montana to campaign for GOP candidates, namely conservative radio host Aaron Flint, who is running to replace U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke as the representative in Montana's 1st Congressional District. Democrat Sam Forstag is running a tight race against Flint; polling has shown the race in a statistical tie for the last several weeks. Those in line to see the president on Wednesday came from nearby communities and from as far as California. At least eight sitting or hopeful legislators had been spotted at the rally as of 2 p.m. "I've been to over 30 of these Please see TRUMP, Page A4 Feds, wolf advocates duel over species' future SAM WILSON sam.wilson@missoulian.com When is a gray wolf "significant" enough to earn federal protections? And after a decades-long recovery returned the species to one-third of its historic range, is it time to remove the protections that brought them back? A panel of three appeals court judges visited Missoula's federal courthouse Wednesday afternoon as the bottom of those questions — along with a multitude of others — in a trio of lawsuits that could shape the future of the iconic species in the contiguous United States. In one case, the Center for Wildlife Biology, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and other environmental groups are suing to overturn the federal government's rejection of their petition to relist wolves under the Endangered Species Act across the entire Lower 48 states. The lawsuit previously played out in the same courtroom in Missoula's Russell Smith Federal Courthouse, where District Judge Donald Molloy last year ruled against the Fish and Wildlife Service and found the agency failed to apply the best available science in its analysis and ignored the predators' historic range. Wolves once roamed across most of the North American continent, but were nearly eliminated south of Canada Please see WOLVES, Page A3 Stevi scholar drums up success Svaren is Bitterroot's only National Merit semifinalist NICOLE GIRTEN nicole.girten@ravallirepublic.com Stevensville senior Zane Svaren's ultimate dream is to be a rock star, drumming on the biggest stages. So far, though, one of Svaren's biggest accomplishments is being the only student in the Bitterroot named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. He will compete with about 16,000 other kids around the country next spring for 6,700 merit scholarships worth about $24 million. He said it "feels cool" to be among such an elite few. "Sometimes going to a school like Stevensville, it almost feels like maybe it's a 'big fish, little pond' thing because our school's kind of underfunded," he said. To qualify to be a semifinalist, applicants have to first score high on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Applicants also need an "outstanding academic record" and to submit an application Please see SCHOLAR, Page A5 YELLOWJACKETS Stevensville senior Zane Svaren is the Bitterroot's only Merit Scholar semifinalist in the 2027 cohort. He will go on to compete for one of more than 6,000 scholarships totaling more than $24 million. NICOLE.GIRTEN@RAVALLIREPUBLIC.COM GET THE FULL BENEFITS OF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION! Activate your digital account to get updated stories, videos, and hundreds of additional puzzles and comics. Visit ravallirepublic.com/activate and download our app for the E-edition and breaking news on the go! Weather Mostly sunny, nice High: 59 Low: 29 Forecast: A10 Inside Opinion A6 | Sports B1 Nation/World A7 | Classified B8 Weather A10 $2.50 • TTS • Volume 137, Issue 288 • Copyright 2026 Follow us online: /RavalliRepublic /RavalliRepublic
Described automatically. The words above are a machine's reading of the picture, not Trump's.