Thumbs up to a $2 million infusion of federal funds that will be used to buy conservation easements for hunting and fishing access along the Rocky Mountain Front. The money had been dropped when Congress failed to pass a budget bill last year, but Sens. Max Baucus and John Tester were successful in getting it restored.

Thumbs down to what seemed to be a lack of understanding of Montana's brucellosis concerns in Congress. At a hearing attended by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, committee Chairman Chuck Rahall, D-W.Va., asked why the Interior Department is "murdering its beloved mascot." It was a reminder how many people in other parts of the country see bison as a symbol not to be abused.

Thumbs up to Townsend school district officials for their new biomass boiler, one of five operating in Montana schools. The district will be able to sell more than 130 tons per year of CO2 emission offsets gained from replacing their fossil fuel for the next 15 years.

Thumbs down to an Iditarod musher disqualified this year for abusing his dogs, which were too tired to continue racing. His actions not only were cruel to the animals, but they represented a black eye to the race itself and to its organizers who have struggled to assure the world that race dogs are treated properly.