Tag Archives: Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park announces 20th annual Science and History Week

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This looks pretty interesting. From the press release . . .

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is hosting its Annual Science and History Week through a live webinar series offered October 3 to 6 at noon MDT on the Microsoft Teams webinar platform. Parks Canada and the US National Park Service have hosted an annual Science and History event together since 2004.

Participants from around the world will have the opportunity to connect with scientists and subject matter experts as they highlight current natural and cultural research related to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and World Heritage Site. Each presentation will give a unique look at our partnerships, insights, and latest findings.

Please join us to learn more about the exciting research initiatives in the world’s first International Peace Park. Participants can register by filling out the online registration forms on the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center website.

This year’s presenters and topics: Continue reading Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park announces 20th annual Science and History Week →

Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day, July 25

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From the official press release . . .

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park will host the 14th annual Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day on Tuesday, July 25th, from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm at the West Glacier Community Building in Glacier National Park.

The event is free of charge, and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring a sack lunch to enjoy during the one-hour lunch break. Held yearly on the fourth Tuesday in July, this event alternates between the two national parks with Glacier hosting in odd years, and Waterton Lakes hosting in even years.

Science and History Day is an opportunity for the public to hear the latest results from scientists and historians carrying out projects in and around the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Presentations for this year are grouped into themes of history, wildlife, and aquatic and land environments.

Continue reading Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day, July 25 →

Waterton-Glacier mushroom ‘bioblitz’ announced

Environmental Issues, News, , ,
Morel mushrooms near West Glacier, Montana - Cathy McCoy
Morel mushrooms near West Glacier, Montana – Cathy McCoy

From the official press release . . .

The Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center is pleased to announce its inaugural Waterton-Glacier Mushroom BioBlitz June 9 and 11 at Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks. Visitors will work alongside taxonomic experts to document fungal diversity, and learn more about mushrooms and other fungi in the Crown of the Continent. Participants will use the iNaturalist app to record field observations, and are encouraged to download the app prior to the event.

Glacier National Park’s Mushroom BioBlitz is June 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Apgar, St. Mary, and North Fork locations. Participants are not required to stay until 5 pm. The event is free and open to people of all ages and skill levels. Registration is required. Visit https://www.nps.gov/rlc/crown/bioblitz.htm to register. Contact CCRLC at (406)-888-7944 or email Evan Portier at evan_portier@nps.gov for more information.

Waterton Lakes National Park’s Mushroom BioBlitz is June 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Contact william.greene@pc.gc.ca for more information. Remember to bring a valid passport if traveling across the border.

Funding and support for the Wateron-Glacier Mushroom BioBlitz is provided by the Glacier National Park Conservancy, Montana Geographic Alliance, Western Montana Mycological Association, and the Alberta Mycological Society.

Waterton-Glacier becomes first ‘International Dark Sky Park’

Environmental Issues, News,
Milky Way over Logan Pass in Glacier National Park - NPS, Jacob W. Frank
Milky Way over Logan Pass in Glacier National Park – NPS, Jacob W. Frank

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was just named the first trans-boundary International Dark Sky Park. Below is the lead-in from the Flathead Beacon’s article on the subject, but also check out the links following it for some spectacular photos . . .

Eighty percent of the United States’ population lives in an area where they can’t see a true dark sky. Around the globe, thanks to light pollution, only one-third of humanity can look up at the sky at night and clearly see the Milky Way.

For Glacier National Park interpretive ranger Lee Rademaker, that means every time the park prepares to host a night sky viewing, “we’re about to blow two-thirds of these people’s minds.”

For years, Glacier and nearby Waterton Lake National Park have been touting their dark night sky as another critical natural resource, just as important as glaciers or goats. On April 28, officials from the United States and Canada gathered at West Glacier to celebrate Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park being named the first trans-boundary International Dark Sky Park.

Read more . . .

Also see . . .
Glacier Park’s “Night Sky” page
In Search of America’s Darkest Skies (24 Photos)

Conservationists from around the globe gather in Glacier Park

Environmental Issues, News, ,
St. Mary Lake
St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park

A world-wide assortment of conservationists met in Glacier Park . . .

What many European visitors to the United States encounter on their first trip to America, the woman from Croatia noted, is New York City.

One of the first things Maja Vasilijevic saw on her first trip to the U.S. was a little different than the bright lights and teeming crowds of Times Square. No, one of Vasilijevic’s first encounters with America included a large herd of bison thundering across a lonely stretch of U.S. Highway 2 on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

“It’s unique,” said Vasilijevic, who had never in her life seen one of the animals in person. “Not only the bison – the whole landscape.”

Read more . . .

Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day in Waterton Lakes National Park

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Waterton Lake
Waterton Lake

From the official press release . . .

Parks Canada and the U.S. National Park Service will host the 13thannual Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day at the Falls Theatre (near Cameron Falls) in Waterton Lakes National Park on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. This international event, held annually on the last Tuesday in July, is free of charge with park entry fees.All are encouraged to attend.

Science and History Day is an incredible way for people to learn about the latest research directly from the scientists and historians working in and around the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Experts will discuss their work in a non-technical style, with presentations grouped into themes of aquatic resources, landscapes, history and wildlife.

Some of this year’s subjects include: the threats facing salamanders, cross-boundary work on climate change, the parks’ lesser-known past, and how remote cameras are used to track wildlife movement.

Jeff Mow, Glacier National Park Superintendent, said “The peace and friendship of the Peace Park is captured in the many cooperative projects carried out in our scientific community.”

“Science and History Day is an outstanding opportunity for all people to learn about some of the research in the Peace Park and personally connect with our environment and history,” commented Ifan Thomas, Waterton Lakes National Park Superintendent. “We look forward to welcoming everyone to Waterton for this special learning oppo

rtunity.”

The program celebrates the U.S. National Park Service’s Centennial with a viewing of the 1954 film “Wardens of Waterton” featuring cooperative work with Glacier National Park’s Rangers. Science and History Day provides participants with an excellent opportunity to learn about their national parks and connect with the heritage of their protected places. Attendees are encouraged to bring a sack lunch for the 45-minute lunch break, so as not to miss the film viewing at 12:45 p.m.

Continue reading Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day in Waterton Lakes National Park →

Alberta to protect Castle wilderness area north of Waterton-Glacier Park

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A couple of weeks ago, Alberta announced plans to protect the Castle wilderness region. Since then, the general press has picked up on the story, including the below AP piece.

Note that this is not the proposed westward extension of Waterton Park into the Canadian Flathead drainage that has seen so much discussion lately . . .

The announcement of two new parks in Alberta has delighted environmental groups that have been fighting decades for their creation.

But the news that it will be shut out of more than 386 square miles of the Castle wilderness region in the province’s southwest corner has angered the forestry industry. “It feels to us a bit like we’re being vilified,” Brock Mulligan of the Alberta Forest Products Association said.

The parks created by the NDP government are almost twice as big as those proposed by the previous Conservative government for the same region. They will also cover valleys and wetlands, while the previous proposal focused on high alpine areas. “It’s almost night and day,” said Sean Nichols of the Alberta Wilderness Association. “This one goes so much further.”

Read more . . .

Castle Wildland and Park - Final
Castle Wildland and Park – Final

Download the full map (PDF – 1.24MB)

Alberta to formally protect 250,000 acres north of Waterton-Glacier Park

Environmental Issues, News, ,
Castle Wilderness, Alberta, Canada
Castle Wilderness, Alberta, Canada

 

Well, this is good news. Alberta is implementing protections for the entire Castle Watershed, just north of Waterton Park . . .

The Alberta government announced Sept. 4 that 250,000 acres just north of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park will be protected from logging and development.

The area, which encompasses the entire Castle Watershed, is part of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, which spans northwestern Montana, southeastern British Columbia, and southwestern Alberta.

Efforts to protect the area date back decades, and on Friday the Canadian government announced the expansion of the existing Castle Wildand and creation of a new provincial park on the Alberta front range. Supporters said the designation will preserve the area’s ecological integrity and offer increased protection for wildlife populations, including trans-boundary grizzly bears, wolverines and cutthroat trout.

Read more . . .

Waterton-Glacier Park holds 10th Annual Science and History Day

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Waterton-Glacier holds a pretty interesting annual Science and History Day. This year, it’s on the U.S. side. Here’s the press release . . .

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park will host the Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day on Tuesday, July 30, from 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the West Glacier Community Building in Glacier National Park. The event is free of charge and all are encouraged to attend. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event, which alternates between Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks.

Science and History Day is a great way for the public to hear the latest results from scientists and historians carrying out projects in and around the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Topics are presented in a non-technical manner, and are grouped into themes such as ecosystem dynamics, history, and wildlife. Some of the topics for this year include: bat inventory, Civilian Public Service Corps presence in the park, non-invasive grizzly bear monitoring, Going-to-the-Sun Road rehabilitation, ecological restoration, and environmental history revealed through sediment cores.

Continue reading . . .

Ecologists urge increased protection for Canadian Flathead

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Efforts to extend Waterton Lakes National Park westward to increase protection of the Canadian Flathead are gaining momentum . . .

On a map, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park resembles a slightly-misshapen topographic pizza with a big slice missing.

This week, three leading ecologists with varied backgrounds converged on Whitefish to explain why extending national park protections to that missing piece – which represents a 100,000-acre chunk of Canadian wilderness – is critical to preserving one of the most intact aquatic ecosystems in North America.

The transboundary Flathead River, which on the Montana side is known as the North Fork, is the ecologically potent “Garden of Eden” that straddles the U.S.-Canada border, extending from the Flathead Valley to southeast British Columbia. And while conservationists agree that the region is one of the best protected watersheds in the United States, the missing pie piece north of the border remains independent of Waterton Lakes National Park.

Continue reading . . .