el, Montana evacuated about 140 people on Saturday just after midnight, then allowed them to return at 4 a.m.  Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer stated that "The parties responsible will restore the Yellowstone River". 
According to the Bridger Pipeline LLC, another oil spill occurred near Glendive on January 17, 2015, at 10 a.m. In response, the pipeline company shut down the pipeline at 11 a.m. in effort to prevent further environmental hazards. The company stated that 300–1,200 oil barrels (equivalent to 12,600 to 50,400 US gallons) were spilled into the river. State officials estimated, on the other hand, up to 50,000 US gallons (190,000 l; 42,000 imp gal) of spilled oil.  Benzene, a carcinogen,  was found in ten to fifteen parts per billion.   An EPA official said that "anything above five parts per billion is considered a long-term risk."  Nearly 6,000 people were told not to use municipal water in Glendive due to the elevated levels of cancer-causing benzene found in the Yellowstone River, and in the tap water supplied.   Bottled water was provided to their residents.  On January 23, 2015, the city water treatment plant was declared decontaminated.  City officials declared tap water safe to consume. 
The Wyoming company from True Companies' Poplar pipeline system  involved in this incident has a history of nine oil spills in 2006–14 leaking an amount of 11,000 US gallons (42,000 l; 9,200 imp gal) of crude. Also, their sister company Belle Fourche Pipeline owned by Tad True and their family, recorded twenty-one incidents in the same period leaking 272,832 US gallons (1,032,780 l; 227,180 imp gal) of oil, both companies had federal fines levied against them and appear in governments records.   The oil cleanup on Yellowstone River was put on hold for one month or more on February 3, 2015 until the ice melts. Montana Department of Environmental Quality was monitoring an area spanning a ninety-mile (144.8 km) stretch of the Yellowstone, from the spill site downstream to a bridge just across the North Dakota border. 
On August 19, 2016 the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department indefinitely closed the river and its tributaries from the Montana border at Gardiner, Montana to Laurel, Montana to all recreational activity. The 183-mile (295 km) closure resulted from a massive fish kill attributed to proliferative kidney disease, a rare but serious salmonid disease. The parasite-- Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae—is not harmful to humans or other mammals.  Wildlife officials estimate tens of thousands of fish may have died, mostly mountain whitefish, but Yellowstone cutthroat and rainbow trout have been affected.  The closure is expected to cause significant adverse economic impact to businesses which depend on summer tourist and recreational activities along the river. 
On September 1, 2016 the agency reopened two stretches of the river. The first stretch, from the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park to Carbella, Montana, was open to non-fishing recreation only to allow the fish population to recover. The second stretch, from Carbella, Montana to Laurel, Montana, was opened to all uses. 
Peak Yellowstone River temperatures exceeded 68 °F (20 °C) for 18 straight days from July 17 to August 4.  Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks notes that trout and whitefish prefer water temperatures close to 55 °F (13 °C). 
The Yellowstone River is considered to be one of the greatest trout streams of the world  and is officially classed as a blue ribbon stream in Montana from the park to the confluence with the Boulder River east of Livingston and from the mouth of Rosebud creek near Rosebud, Montana to the North Dakota border.  The lack of dams along the river provides for excellent trout habitat from high inside Yellowstone Park, downstream through Gardiner, the Paradise Valley, Livingston, and to Big Timber, a stretch of nearly 200 miles (320 km). The Yellowstone varies in width from 74 feet (23 m) to 300 feet (91 m), so fishing is normally done by boat. The most productive stretch of water is through Paradise Va