All posts by nfpa

Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday in Missoula

News

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee holds its winter meeting starting Tuesday . . .

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, which is responsible for grizzly bear recovery in the continental United States and adjacent Canadian provinces, will hold its annual winter meeting in Missoula on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Holiday Inn Downtown, 200 S. Pattee St.

Sessions will begin at 8 a.m. on both days. A public comment period will be provided at the end of each day.

Frank van Manen, leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, will present the results of a comprehensive food synthesis report related to grizzlies in the Yellowstone ecosystem. The IGBC then will discuss proposing a new rule and make a recommendation to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Read more . . .

Group crafts proposal for Whitefish Range area

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

Over the weekend, Jim Mann of the Daily Inter Lake posted a nice article on the recently completed work of the Whitefish Range Partnership . . .

After meeting regularly for 13 months, a group of people representing a highly diverse range of interests recently signed off on recommendations to the Flathead National Forest for long-term management in the North Fork Flathead drainage.

Considering there were 30 signatories going along with a requirement for complete consensus or no recommendations at all, the accomplishment of the Whitefish Range Partnership is remarkable, particularly at a time when divisiveness dominates the national political stage. “Polarization is real easy,” said former state legislator and Secretary of State Bob Brown, who chaired the partnership. “It’s easy for politicians and political leaders to play to their own loyalists and it’s hard to compromise, but when you’re sitting across the table from someone who is your fellow community member, you see how much you have in common.”

And that’s exactly what the privately organized partnership did, meeting roughly twice a month at venues where home cooking and beer were on tap. The idea was to work through differences on wildland fire management, weed management, wildlife, timber management, backcountry trails, mountain biking and trail use, fisheries management, snowmobiling and recommended wilderness.

Read more . . .

Western wildlife officials want wolverine listing delayed

Environmental Issues, News, ,

There’s still resistance to listing the Wolverine as a threatened species . . .

An organization of wildlife officials for Western states is asking the federal government to delay a possible listing for wolverines as a threatened species, which could mean an end to trapping outside Alaska for the animal’s fur.

The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife objects to any listing based solely on fears climate change could shrink the wolverine’s wintry terrain along the spine of the Rocky Mountains and other Western ranges.

“Climate change models are not a reason to list species under the Endangered Species Act,” Bill Bates, a representative from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, told The Salt Lake Tribune.

Read more . . .

DNA data: about 600 black bears in Glacier Park

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Analysis of DNA data originally collected for a grizzly bear study indicates about 600 black bears live in Glacier Park . . .

A trio of researchers recently concluded that Glacier National Park’s black bear population is about 600 — roughly one black bear for every 2,167 acres.

The study, conducted by U.S. Geological Survey scientist Kate Kendall and colleagues Amy McCleod and Jeff Stetz, is based on nearly 1,800 black bear hair samples collected during a 2004 grizzly bear DNA study.

Researchers gathered hair samples using “bear traps,” with a scent station used to attract bears inside a barbed wire fence that snagged their hair, or by attaching small pieces of barbed wire to rub trees. Both grizzly and black bears select trees they regularly like to rub on. DNA in the hair follicles was analyzed to identify species and sex as well as individual bears.

Read more . . .

Wilderness Act turns 50 next year

Environmental Issues, News,

Last week’s Flathead Forest Friday was all about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Chris Peterson of the Hungry Horse News provides the background . . .

In September 1964, the country was in turmoil. There was a growing war in Vietnam, the country was still suffering the effects of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and there was a growing cultural revolution.

In the midst of this, Congress passed and President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, which immediately protected 9.1 million acres of lands across the U.S., including the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The area that became the Bob Marshall Wilderness had been administratively-designated as wilderness by the Forest Service in 1940. The Wilderness Act gave it congressional protection.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the act, and Forest Service officials along with the Bob Marshall Foundation, the National Park Service and other stakeholders are beginning plans for events and celebrations of the birthday.

Read more . . .

Diverse stakeholders recommend Whitefish Range forest plan

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , , ,

The Flathead Beacon just posted a lengthy, well-written article by Tristan Scott about the just-concluded Whitefish Range Partnership agreement.

Like the earlier Missoulian piece, this one is also recommended reading . . .

Bob Brown, a former secretary of state and longtime Whitefish legislator, pulled into the snow-caked parking lot outside Ed and Mully’s Restaurant at the base of Big Mountain, his car bearing a bumper sticker that read, “Compromise is not a Four Letter Word.”

Ever the diplomat, Brown was there to broker a meeting organized by a coalition of longtime adversaries turned unlikely bedfellows — tree huggers and tree cutters, eco-warriors and timber sawyers, hikers, horsemen, mountain bikers, cabin owners and nearly everyone else with a stake in the management of public lands on the Flathead National Forest.

They represented three-dozen interest groups who historically clashed over public land use on Montana’s forests; who for decades pitted wilderness against timber production, non-motorized against motorized recreation, commercial interests against wildlife. They were advocates accustomed to digging in their heels, entrenched in their ideologies and not given to making concessions.

Read more . . .

Whitefish Range Partnership celebrates accord

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

Rob Chaney of the Missoulian posted a first-rate article about the final Whitefish Range Partnership meeting and the agreement’s significance.

Recommended reading  . . .

In the Bible’s First Book of Kings, Solomon nearly has to chop a baby in half before two women claiming to be its mother can resolve their dispute.

No swords were pulled at the table where the Whitefish Range Partnership found a way to let loggers, wilderness advocates, snowmobilers, mountain bikers, river rafters and cabin owners share 300,000 acres of the Flathead National Forest. But the roomful of longtime adversaries agreed having a Solomonic deadline actually helped them build the trust to share the land.

Last Monday, partnership members shared chili and champagne as they presented Flathead Forest Supervisor Chip Weber with their final agreement. Thirteen months in the making, the deal could help the U.S. Forest Service settle even bigger debates across the Rocky Mountains.

Read more . . .

Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act clears key Senate committee

Environmental Issues, News,

Sen. Max Baucus’ Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act crossed another barrier in the Senate . . .

A key congressional committee on Thursday unanimously endorsed a measure from U.S. Sen. Max Baucus to expand protections along the Rocky Mountain Front.

The bill would add 67,112 acres of new wilderness to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. It also proposes designating 208,160 acres as a Conservation Management Area. That designation is not as restrictive as wilderness but would permanently keep in place protections in the Forest Service’s travel plan.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced Baucus’ Rocky Mountain Heritage Act with a voice vote.

Read more . . .

Studying hawk owls in Glacier Park

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The Hungry Horse News has a story about an ongoing survey of hawk owls in Glacier Park’s burn areas . . .

It hunts by day, has a long tail and is a fierce killer with a sweet trill of a song. It’s the northern hawk owl, and it’s one of Northwest Montana’s most unique birds.

Researchers from the Owl Institute, a Charlo-based nonprofit dedicated to owl research and conservation, have banded 60 hawk owls since their research began in earnest in 2005, according Matt Larson of the institute.

Along with his wife Jess, the two have been scouring the woods of Glacier National Park for several years in search of the owls. To date, the couple and other researchers from the institute have located 30 hawk owl nests in the Glacier Park region.

Read more . . .

Whitefish Range Partnership reaches consensus on Forest Plan recommendations

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

The Hungry Horse News posted their article on the recent Whitefish Range Partnership meeting . . .

A group of stakeholders have reached consensus on a collaborative document for future management of the North Fork area.

The Whitefish Range Partnership has been meeting for the past several months in preparation for the upcoming Forest Plan revision process for the Flathead National Forest. The meetings were moderated by former state senator and secretary of state Bob Brown, of Whitefish.

Most stakeholders said the process went well.

Read more . . .