Tag Archives: Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Grizzlies in the corn

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,
Grizzly bear sow with three cubs - NPS photo
Grizzly bear sow with three cubs – NPS photo

The Missoulian has an interesting story about how a farmer in the Mission Valley is dealing with bear conflicts . . .

Standing in a hollowed-out section in the middle of his 80-acre cornfield, Greg Schock bends over and picks up one of dozens of corn cobs scattered about. It’s been picked clean of every kernel.

On the dark black ground just barely moistened by Thursday night’s welcome rain, there are grizzly bear tracks and fresh scat dotted with kernels of corn.

From where he’s standing, the longtime Mission Valley dairyman’s view past the edge of the clearing is obscured by the thick rows of corn that will sometime soon become the silage that his cows will depend on to eat through the winter months.

Read more . . .

CSKT urges bi-national involvement as B.C. coal mining pollutants Increase

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The upcoming meeting between President Obama and Canada’s new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is drawing a lot of attention to transboundary environmental issues . . .

On March 10, President Obama will host a state dinner at the White House for newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the first time such an event has occurred for a Canadian leader in nearly two decades.

The historic gathering between the two liberal leaders could signal a watershed moment for the conservation world, which is on high alert as stakeholders attempt to ensure that a suite of transboundary natural resource measures figure prominently on the menu, including a call by Montana’s largest tribal government to address concerns over mining contaminants in the state’s waterways.

On both sides of the border, the growing wish list of environmental measures is unspooling rapidly.

Read more . . .

Fish & Wildlife Service may transfer National Bison Range to tribes

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Bison grazing
Bison grazing

It should be interesting to watch this story unfold . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has begun negotiating a possible transfer of the National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

In an email sent to agency employees Friday, Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Noreen Walsh announced the opening round of discussions but provided few specifics.

“Given that we are today in a much better place regarding the future of bison … and that we want to strengthen our partnership with the CSKT, we believe that now is the right time to investigate the possibility of transferring the refuge, which was long ago carved out of tribal lands, into trust for the benefit of the CSKT,” Walsh wrote.

Her email also noted such a transfer would require an act of Congress.

Read more . . .

Yellowstone to Yukon honors Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes for conservation work

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The Y2Y folks honored the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes for their conservation efforts . . .

Members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes received the inaugural Ted Smith award for conservation collaboration at a ceremony Friday.

The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative gave the honor to Dale Becker, head biologist for the CSKT Wildlife Management Department. Becker and the tribal government were instrumental in creating a system of wildlife crossings over and under U.S. Highway 93 as it passes through the Flathead Indian Reservation. The award also highlights CSKT’s efforts to create the nation’s first tribally designated wilderness and its support for reintroducing trumpeter swans to historic range

The award commemorates the legacy of Ted Smith, who helped found the Y2Y network of organizations and interested conservationists.

Read more . . .

New bear-resistant trash cans rolled out on Flathead Reservation

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Following extensive testing, they’re introducing some pretty clever, bear-resistant trash totes on the Flathead Reservation . . .

Bill Foust admits it took him a little while to figure out how – with his hands full, anyway – to open the lid on his trash cans.

Bears still haven’t mastered it.

And that’s a good thing, considering Foust and his wife Barb live along the front of the Mission Mountains, where bears and humans sometimes have their difficulties coexisting.

The Fousts, who haven’t been able to bear-proof trash cans on their own, have been testing two new specially made bear-resistant containers for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Continue reading . . .

World Heritage Committee draft resolution on Waterton-Glacier posted

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Today’s post on the Waterton-Glacier Endangered web log includes information on the UN World Heritage Committee draft resolution concerning the dangers posed to Waterton and Glacier parks by resource extraction in the Flathead headwaters region — the proposed Cline Mine, in particular. According to the posting, the first draft of the resolution does not explicitly call for placing Waterton-Glacier Park on the list of “Endangered World Heritage Sites,” nor does it yet address any indigenous concerns, including those views expressed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The UN World Heritage Committee meeting in Seville, Spain runs through June 30th. The schedule document is more than a little opaque, so it is not clear when the resolution on Waterton-Glacier will come up for a final vote.