November 22, 2004

EPA looking at Coal Creek problem

From the Thursday, November 18, 2004 issue of the Hungry Horse News . . .

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is heading up an investigation into why bull trout populations are not recovering in Coal Creek, a tributary of the North Fork. Bull trout are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Unlike in other North Fork tributaries, the number of bull trout spawning beds in Coal Creek-redds-has not recovered from a region-wide collapse in bull trout populations. The collapse was blamed on the introduction of mysis shrimp in the Flathead River system by the state between 1965 and 1975.

The number of redds in Coal Creek dropped from 34 in 1980, when fisheries biologists began counting, to zero in 2001 and three in 2004. By comparison, the 2004 numbers for Big, Whale and Trail creeks are 11, 41 and 34.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 04:57 PM

Two Flathead commissioners set their sights on planning regulations

From the Monday, November 22, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .

Republican Gary Hall has a plan.

So does Democrat Joe Brenneman.

Strange thing is, it sounds like the same plan, a plan for established zoning and land-use regulations that will guide growth in Flathead County for years to come.

"I do believe we think a lot alike," said Hall, who will be joined by the newly elected Brenneman on the Flathead County Commission come the new year. "We both seem pretty interested in implementing a growth policy."

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 04:52 PM

November 05, 2004

Plan would open thousands of burned acres to harvest

From the Friday, November 5, 2004 issue of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

The Flathead National Forest has unveiled its final plan for managing areas burned by the Robert and Wedge Canyon fires in summer 2003.

A two-volume Environmental Impact Statement was released this week, outlining several alternative management approaches for a total of 34,650 acres of national forest lands that were burned in the North Fork Flathead drainage.

The forest's "proposed action" calls for salvage logging on 4,337 acres and tree planting on 3,000 acres. It also calls for decommissioning 15 miles of road and closing five miles of road that are currently open seasonally or year-round to approach forest plan standards that are intended to improve grizzly bear habitat security.

[...]
The final EIS for the Robert-Wedge Post Fire Project is available at the Flathead National Forest Supervisors Office or on the Internet at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/flathead/nepa/nepa.htm

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at 12:06 PM