According to an Associated Press article, Montana and Idaho are setting hunting season quotas for wolves this year. This is likely a pro forma action, since any wolf hunt will be challenged in court by a number of environmental groups.
The Missoulian reports that Montana is probably in for a normal fire season. “Normal” means something on the order of 420,000 acres burned and around 1800 fires, mostly human-caused.
As mentioned in a couple of earlier posts today, Sen. Jon Tester is looking at backing a number of possible wilderness designation proposals. The previous post links to an article giving a pretty good overview of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge proposals, but is quite vague on the one in the Seeley Lake area and another in “northwestern Montana.” However, there were enough clues to track down some useful information.
Turns out, the “northwestern Montana” item is part of the “Three Rivers Challenge,” a legislative proposal put together by the Lincoln County Coalition that would affect the Kootenai National Forest. A draft of the proposal is available on their web site.
The Seeley Lake area proposed wilderness designation is primarily an extension to the southwestern boundaries of the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat Wildernesses. It’s part of a larger package put together by the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project. Their web site contains a summary of the wilderness designation proposal, as well as a project map.
The Flathead Beacon posted a much more complete AP article on Senator Jon Tester’s wilderness area plans than the one we linked to earlier today. There’s more detail on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge proposal, which appears to be somewhat contentious. It also reveals that the Seeley Lake area proposal came from the Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Project and the one in northwestern Montana originated from Three Rivers Challenge.
Here’s the lead-in . . .
Wilderness advocates and key officials say Sen. Jon Tester’s office has plans to bring Montana its first new wilderness designation since the 1980s.
But Tester’s office is keeping details quiet — just saying that anyone interested in how forests are managed should contact the senator.
Plans for the designation of a new wilderness area draw on separate proposals that have been in the works for years, say advocates who hope legislation will fast-track hundreds of thousands of acres into wilderness status.
According to an AP article in today’s Missoulian, Senator Jon Tester has plans to propose a new wilderness designation in Montana. One possibility is some 500,000 acres in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, but Tester is also “considering proposals in the Seeley Lake area and in northwestern Montana.”
Here’s the lede . . .
Wilderness advocates and key officials say Sen. Jon Tester’s office has plans to bring Montana its first new wilderness designation since the 1980s.
But Tester’s office is keeping details quiet — just saying that anyone interested in how forests are managed should contact the senator.
Northwestern Montana, eh? Interesting. We’ll keep an eye on this.
Here’s this week’s Hungry Horse News write-up on UNESCO’s investigation of threats to Waterton-Glacier Park . . .
A United Nations delegation will travel to Glacier National Park and the North Fork to see for itself the threats of mining and coal bed methane development could have on the Park.
Meeting in Spain last week the 21-member United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee voted unanimously to send a mission to Waterton-Glacier and the Canadian Flathead.
