All posts by nfpa

Brian Sybert: Lessons from the Scapegoat Wilderness

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , , ,

Brian Sybert, executive director of the Montana Wilderness Association, has a pretty good op-ed in Hungry Horse News supporting the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act . . .

In 1972, nearly 240,000 acres of federal public land lying between Montana’s iconic Rocky Mountain Front and storied Blackfoot River Valley became the first acres in the nation to enter the wilderness system at the behest of ordinary citizens.

The story of the Scapegoat Wilderness has influenced every effort to protect wild country during the past 40-plus years in Montana and throughout the nation.

And it’s a great story, full of colorful characters and bugling elk. On some levels it is also a heartbreaking tale of sacrifice and the heavy emotional burden that comes with standing up for what you believe is right.

Read more . . .

Flathead Forest Plan work renews wilderness discussion

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The Flathead National Forest’s Forest Plan revision process reawakened serious discussion about wilderness within the area . . .

Conservation groups may agree the new Flathead National Forest plan should contain recommended wilderness, but there’s some disagreement about where.

Amy Robinson, Northwest Montana field director for the Montana Wilderness Association, says her organization is focused on preserving areas that have been recommended in the past as well as areas largely adjacent to existing wilderness.

 

Read more . . .

Feds get until 2018 to hand in their Lynx recovery homework

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gets until 2018 to come up with a Canada Lynx recovery plan . . .

A federal judge on Wednesday set a 2018 deadline for the government to complete a long-delayed recovery plan for imperiled Canada lynx in the Lower 48 states.

Wildlife advocates had asked U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy to push the government into faster action on the snow-loving big cats, which were added to the list of threatened species in 2000.

But after federal officials said budget issues and competing priorities were slowing their work, Molloy indicated Wednesday in an order that he was reluctant to second-guess them. He said the January 2018 deadline proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was reasonable.

Read more . . .

North Fork Trails Association online

News,

Our friends at the North Fork Trails Association (aka the “Trail 4 Organization”) now have a basic web presence at http://www.nftrails.org/.

Also, you can find them on Facebook at facebook.com/nftrails. I’m told you are supposed to “like” their page. Every time you do this, an angel gets its wings — or something like that.

Their mission is to “promote the maintenance and preservation of the historic trail structure in the North Fork Flathead area with the aim of supporting recreation, forest management and research.” In other words, work on getting the old North Fork trail system fixed back up. Keep an eye on them. They have big plans this year.

Trail 4 - view near ridge top
Trail 4 – view near ridge top

Oliver’s annual summer solstice celebration this saturday!

News, , ,

REMINDER: Oliver Meister, the owner of the North Fork Hostel, is throwing his annual summer solstice celebration again this year. The event is on Saturday, June 21 (that’s today!), starting about mid-afternoon (or when the lamb is done). If the hostel grounds are too wet from all the recent rain and flooding, the event will be held at Square Peg Ranch. Oliver is supplying lamb, everyone else should bring a pot luck contribution.

National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act aims to improve Forest Service trail maintenance

News,

This is interesting, especially in view of the uptick in volunteer trail maintenance activity on the North Fork over the past year . . .

A bill encouraging the U.S. Forest Service to improve its trail maintenance received widespread support from Montana outdoors groups this week.

The Montana Outfitters and Guides Association, The Wilderness Society and others heralded the introduction of the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act by Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, and Tim Walz, D-Minnesota. The bill would expand the use of volunteer help on trail maintenance and codify how the Forest Service prioritizes its maintenance backlog.

Read more . . .

Montana FWP considering new way to model wolf population

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is considering a new statistical model for estimating the state’s wolf population . . .

Researchers from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the University of Montana estimate the state’s wolf population at more than 800 using a new statistical technique.

Researchers conducted a study of the new technique from 2007 to 2012. The new method, called patch occupancy modeling, uses deer and elk hunter observations coupled with information from radio-collared wolves. The statistical approach is a less expensive alternative to the old method of minimum wolf counts, which were performed by biologists and wildlife technicians. The results of the study estimate that for the five-year period, wolf populations were 25-35 percent higher than the minimum counts for each year.

“The study’s primary objective was to find a less-expensive approach to wolf monitoring that would yield statistically reliable estimates of the number of wolves and packs in Montana,” said Justin Gude, FWP’s chief of research for the wildlife division in Helena.

Read more . . .