Feb 03 2012
From today’s Missoulian . . . The U.S. Forest Service wants to speed up work on national forests, for both timber production and forest health. “Collaboration is most effective in getting forests managed in a proper way,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a conference call on Thursday. “We want to move beyond the conflicts [...]
Feb 01 2012
Here is a little more detail on the closure of the wolf hunt in the North Fork area, as well as general hunt status in this corner of Montana . . . A wolf hunting district covering the North Fork Flathead drainage has been closed by the state because the district’s wolf quota recently was [...]
Jan 31 2012
The wolf hunt is officially over for the North Fork and environs. Here is the press release . . . The hunting of all wolves in Montana Wolf Management Unit 110 which includes portions of Lincoln and Flathead Counties, in northwestern Montana, will close Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at one half-hour after sunset. The order [...]
Jan 27 2012
First the grizzlies started moving back out onto the high plains, now a young male wolf called “OR7″ has wandered into California. California being California, it’s a big deal. The New York Times has the story. It includes some pointed observations by Ed Bangs, the recently retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator [...]
Jan 27 2012
Here’s a pretty useful write-up on the proposed new national forest planning rule. Or, for those of you who like to read source documents, the official U.S. Forest Service press release and a link to the (take a deep breath) “Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule” [...]
Jan 26 2012
A shiny, new set of national forest management rules are due to take effect in early March . . . The Obama administration says new rules to manage nearly 200 million acres of national forests will protect watersheds and wildlife while promoting uses ranging from recreation to logging. The new rules, to replace guidelines thrown [...]
Dec 28 2011
This is pretty interesting. It seems Montana is getting more than its share of snowy owls this winter . . . More snowy owls appear to have migrated from the Arctic to Montana and other states this winter in search of food. The owls are identifiable by their brilliant white color, measure 2 feet tall [...]
Dec 28 2011
This AP article is referring to Wolf Management Unit 101, which covers a good portion of Flathead and Lincoln counties. Wolf hunting is still open in Unit 110, covering the North Fork. See the FWP Wolf Hunting Guide page for more detail . . . Wildlife officials say wolf hunting will close in portions of [...]
Dec 16 2011
It’s official, Sen. Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” is dead for this year . . . U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act was not included in a House version of the 2012 omnibus bill to fund the federal government that was released Thursday morning, setting off a round of finger-pointing [...]
Dec 12 2011
From today’s Missoulian . . . Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act may get a last-minute vote before Congress closes out 2011. But a lot of other Montana-related legislation will probably give the hurly-burly of December’s must-pass congressional action a pass. That includes Sen. Max Baucus’ Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, Rep. Denny [...]
