"Rainbow trout is a prized catch for fisherman on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, in the high plains of southeastern Montana.

“The men in my family like to go fishing; they cook them right there because it’s fresh,” said Charlene Alden, the tribe’s environmental protection director.

But there is an invisible threat in the local waterways. The pollution coming out of the smokestacks at the nearby Colstrip power plant contains mercury and other toxic elements, which can settle in water and be ingested by the fish."

Ella Nilsen reports for CNN March 18, 2026. [2]