New buildings and businesses in Lodge Grass reflect recovery efforts, report says

In Lodge Grass, a town of about 500 people on the Crow Indian Reservation, new buildings and businesses are emerging amid long-standing impacts of meth addiction, according to Montana Free Press. An estimated 60% of residents 14 and older struggle with drug or alcohol addiction, the report says, citing a local survey contracted by the Mountain Shadow Association, a Native-led nonprofit.

The town has torn down more than two dozen abandoned buildings in recent years, the report says. A day care center opened in October 2024, replacing an abandoned home that had tested positive for traces of meth, the nonprofit’s director said in the story. The Mountain Shadow Association is developing Kaala’s Village, a planned campus that would include a therapeutic foster home and housing for families working toward sobriety, the report says.

Local leaders told Montana Free Press the projects are visible steps in community recovery efforts.