All posts by nfpa

Montana transitioning from wolf monitoring to management

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Kent Laudon, a Montana FWP wolf expert, retires as the state shifts from wolf recovery to management . . .

With gray wolves recovered in Northwest Montana, the state wildlife agency’s role has been moving from species monitoring to management, including hunting.

One of the biggest elements of that change is the departure of Kent Laudon, the region’s top wolf expert who retired Friday after a decade spent trapping, tracking and monitoring wolves in the Northwest Recovery Zone, which roughly spans the top half of Montana’s Rocky Mountains.

He started working for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks as the regional wolf management specialist in 2004, tasked with determining how many packs are in the area each year and how many wolves are in each pack.

Read more . . .

Montanans for Healthy Rivers announces Community River Forum series

Environmental Issues, News,

[Reminder: The local Community River Forum presentation is next Tuesday, June 16. See below for details.]

Montanans for Healthy Rivers is sponsoring a Community River Forum series to discuss watershed protection throughout the state. The closest is in Kalispell at The Museum at Central School, June 16, 7-8pm. (Note that you need to tell them you’re coming.)

Here’s the announcement they’re sending around . . .

In a nation often divided by partisan politics, river conservation is a subject that unites Montanans. In a state sculpted by mountains, valleys and prairie, rivers define our identity. They are a part of our lifeblood. Clean, free-flowing rivers support our agriculture, tourist economy, fisheries, wildlife, and way of life.

From the Stillwater Valley to Big Sky, Rock Creek to Kalispell, many Montana communities are intimately connected to healthy rivers. For ranchers, anglers, paddlers, hunters, outfitter guides, watershed groups, small business owners and larger Montana-based enterprises, this is hardly breaking news.

So it is ironic that nearly all of our iconic rivers and creeks across the state are unprotected from the impacts of future industrial development.

Montanans for Healthy Rivers is proud to present a solution to protect our remarkable river heritage. Please join us at an upcoming Community River Forum to learn more about our draft citizen’s proposal for new Wild and Scenic River designations.

Seeley Lake (Seeley Lake Community Hall) – June 2nd 7-8 pm
Missoula (Holiday Inn Downtown) – June 3rd 7-8 pm
Kalispell (The Museum at Central School) – June 16th 7-8 pm
Bozeman (Bozeman Public Library) – June 23rd 7-8 pm
Billings (Billings Public Library) – June 25th 7-8 pm

Court hearing today on drilling in Badger-Two Medicine

Environmental Issues, News, ,
Two Medicine Lake
Two Medicine Lake – Flikr User Phil’s Pixels

As expected, Solonex is in court playing hardball over their old oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine region . . .

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday over whether a Louisiana company should be allowed to drill for natural gas on a longstanding lease near Glacier National Park that’s on land considered sacred to the Blackfeet Indians.

The 6,200-acre lease was suspended by federal officials in the 1990s along with dozens of others in the Badger-Two Medicine area south of Glacier.

Owner Solenex LLC of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, filed a 2013 lawsuit to lift the suspension on the lease issued in 1982. The company wants U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., to decide the case so it can drill this summer.

Read more . . .

‘Greek in Glacier’ announced!

News, ,

What would a North Fork summer be without Plato? Dr. Walter M. Roberts III returns to the North Fork later this month. Amidst all the bicycle riding and community participation he will, as usual, be presenting a series of seminars, including his ever-popular Plato course. See the poster below for details.

Greek in Glacier 2015 Poster
Greek in Glacier 2015 Poster

A note from Walter regarding the Plato seminar: “To folks who will be wanting to participate in Detroit Greek and Latin’s Plato Seminar in Glacier National Park, this is the text of Plato’s Republic that I would like everyone to have: Plato, Republic — edited by Robin Waterfield (World Classics: Oxford University Press.) We will muster in the Gazebo on Square Peg Ranch on the Friday before the Fourth of July at 2pm for our first meeting. As usual, the seminar will be followed by pizza at the Northern Lights Saloon & Cafe. Who’s treating the instructor?”

Hybrid species evolving before our eyes

Environmental Issues
Coywolf
Coywolf photo by http://www.ForestWander.com

Here’s a very interesting survey article from the Ensia site on the issue of species hybridization . . .

Native wolves had been eradicated and the forests of the eastern United States long cut down when residents of western New York first began to notice the arrival of coyotes in the 1940s.

The coyotes of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains were lithe and quick, usually weighing less than 30 pounds. The newcomers were different…

Indeed, scientists have since discovered these super-sized coyotes are only about two-thirds coyote. About 10 percent of their genes belong to domestic dogs and a quarter comes from wolves, with which they hybridized as they moved east north of the Great Lakes . . .

Read more . . .

Federal bull trout recovery plan released for public comment

Environmental Issues, News, , ,
Bull Trout
Bull Trout

The feds released a draft version of their plan for bull trout recovery yesterday, starting the clock on a 45-day recovery period . . .

The draft master plan for removing bull trout from Endangered Species Act protection was released at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, after 16 years of work and protracted legal battles.

“What we’ve tried to do with this approach over previous approaches is focus on what we believe are the highest priority conservation actions that need to occur,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bull trout recovery planning coordinator Steve Duke. “It won’t make the best life possible for bull trout, but where we know something will have an impact, we’ll react to that.”

The FWS plan is out for 45 days of public comment. It must meet a court-ordered settlement deadline for acceptance by Sept. 30. Two previous plans developed in 2002 and 2004 were deemed inadequate.

Read more . . .

Additional reading: Draft Bull Trout Recovery Planning Documents

Flathead Forest to hold river recreation open house

News, ,

From the press release . . .

River recreationists are invited to an open house to learn more about the 3 Forks of the Flathead River, which include the North Fork, Middle Fork, and South Forks. The open house is schedule June 8th from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on June 8th, 2015 at the Flathead National Forest Supervisor’s Office at 650 Wolfpack Way in Kalispell, Montana.

During the open house, river managers will be available to visit and answer questions about river recreation activities, river use and management, and rules and regulations.

For additional information about this open house, contact the Hungry Horse-Glacier View Ranger District in Hungry Horse at 406-387-3800 and the Spotted Bear Ranger District at Spotted Bear at 406-758-5376.

Researchers start their Spring round of grizzly bear trapping

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Personnel from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will be live-trapping and collaring a couple of grizzly bears in the North Fork area over the next few days. So, if you see the warning signs, stay clear of the sites. . .

Here’s what Rick Mace had to say . . .

The grizzly bear population monitoring team would like to capture and radio collar a couple grizzly bears in the NF Flathead River starting in the next few days. We would be working both on Forest Service and private lands.  All of the Forest Service sites would be off of the existing open road system as we have done in the past. All sites will have approved signs and we will obviously avoid any active timber sales and trail heads.  Most of our sites have been used now for many years without incident.  We anticipate capture sites in Trail, Red Meadow,  and Moose Creeks. Also we may work off the main North Fork Road near Mud (Garnet) Lake going towards the border.  We would like to run the capture program for a maximum of about 10 days depending on success, starting later this week.

Feds unveil 10-state sage grouse conservation plan

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The federal government rolled out their sage grouse conservation plan to considerable debate . . .

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell revealed plans Thursday to preserve habitat in 10 Western states for an imperiled ground-dwelling bird, the federal government’s biggest land-planning effort to date for conservation of a single species.

The proposal would affect energy development. The regulations would require oil and gas wells to be clustered in groups of a half-dozen or more to avoid scattering them across habitat of the greater sage grouse. Drilling near breeding areas would be prohibited during mating season, and power lines would be moved away from prime habitat to avoid serving as perches for raptors that eat sage grouse.

Some will say the plans don’t go far enough to protect the bird, Jewell said. “But I would say these plans are grounded in sound science — the best available science,” she said at a news conference on a ranch near Cheyenne.

Read more . . .