Whatever makes some dogs chase vehicles apparently extends to wolves . . .
A Canadian man says he was chased by a gray wolf while he was riding a motorcycle in British Columbia.
Tim Bartlett of Banff tells the National Post the wolf darted onto the road and began chasing him June 8 as he was riding through the Canadian Rockies. The animal got within several feet of him before Bartlett accelerated.
Another problem griz got a free ride to the North Fork earlier this week . . .
A 4-year-old male grizzly bear has been captured near the lower Marias River and relocated west of Glacier National Park after a family reported lambs and a calf had been killed.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly bear manager Mike Madel tells the Great Falls Tribune that a family reported last Friday that a couple of lambs had been killed and the next day they found a dead calf. Officials confirmed a grizzly killed the animals.
The 440-pound bear was captured Sunday. Because it had not been captured before, a radio collar was placed on the bear and it was released near the North Fork of the Flathead River.
Jeff Mow, currently superintendent of Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska, takes over as the Glacier National Park superintendent August 25 . . .
A new superintendent — 25-year National Park Service veteran Jeff Mow — has been selected to lead Glacier National Park.
Mow is currently superintendent at Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska. He will begin his assignment in Glacier on Aug. 25…
Mow, who has been superintendent at Kenai Fjords since November 2004, is eager to return to Montana.
“My first visit to the park was in 1988 as a wildland firefighter on the Red Bench Fire near Polebridge,” he said. “Twenty-five years later, it is such an honor and privilege to return as superintendent and a newest member of Glacier’s outstanding management team. I can’t wait to join with the park staff and partners as we meet numerous challenges and opportunities facing the park in the next few years.”
Further reading: coverage from the Flathead Beacon and the Missoulian.
It’s now official. The federal government wants to lift Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves within the Continental U.S. . . .
The Obama administration on Friday proposed lifting most remaining federal protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, a move that would end four decades of recovery efforts but that some scientists said was premature.
State and federal agencies have spent more than $117 million restoring the predators since they were added to the endangered species list in 1974. Today more than 6,100 wolves roam portions of the Northern Rockies and western Great Lakes.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wants comments on a “habitat enhancement” project for the south fork of Coal Creek. Here’s the write-up from the project web page:
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), Region One, is seeking public comment for a draft environmental assessment (EA) for the South Fork of Coal Creek Habitat Enhancement Project. FWP proposes to implement a project to increase available spawning and rearing habitat for westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout by adding large, woody debris into an impaired section of the South Fork of Coal Creek in Flathead County.
The draft is out for a 21-day public review through 5:00 p.m., Friday, June 28, 2013. Contact person: FWP Fisheries Biologist Amber Steed, (406) 751-4541 or e-mail to asteed@mt.gov.
Supporting document: South Fork of Coal Creek Habitat Enhancement Project
Here is the Missoulian’s take on U.S. Rep. Steve Daines’ introduction of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act in U.S. House of Representatives . . .
Citing its supply of clean water and the coalition of support backing its protection, U.S. Rep. Steve Daines on Wednesday introduced legislation restricting new mineral development in the North Fork Flathead watershed.
Daines, R-Mont., introduced the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013 in the House of Representatives, joining U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Democrats, who introduced a similar measure in the Senate.
U.S. Rep. Steve Daines just introduced a U.S. House version of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act that is currently slogging its way through the Senate . . .
U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., on Wednesday formally introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would block mining and energy development in the North Fork Flathead River drainage on the western boundary of Glacier National Park.
The bill, H.R. 2259, is nearly identical, both in name and content, to its companion bill in the Senate, the North Fork Watershed Protect Act, which Democratic U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester introduced in February.
The public lands bills seek to furnish permanent protections on more than 400,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service parcels, placing them off limits to hard-rock mining, mountaintop-removal coal mining, and oil and gas development.
The latest from the ongoing harlequin duck study in Glacier Park . . .
A male harlequin duck, known to be at least 17 years-old, was recently identified in Glacier National Park by University of Montana researchers and Glacier National Park scientists. The banded duck is believed to be the third oldest on record. The oldest known banded harlequin duck has a recorded age of 18 years and 10 months.
“Prior to these findings, harlequin ducks were reported to live up to only 10 years of age, which makes this finding a positive indicator of the health and longevity of harlequin breeding populations in Glacier National Park,” said Lisa Bate, Glacier National Park biological science technician. “Research indicates harlequin ducks mate for life unless something happens to one member of the pair. This old male has returned the last three years with the same female.”
In 2011, a study of harlequin ducks on Upper McDonald Creek was initiated by Glacier National Park in cooperation with researchers from the University of Montana. Researchers use radio-telemetry and banding to learn more about the location of harlequin nests and factors affecting offspring survival. Upper McDonald Creek is considered an important breeding stream for harlequin ducks, comprising 25% of known broods produced in Montana. The area also has the highest density of breeding harlequins in the lower 48 states. Glacier National Park has approximately 40 pairs of harlequins in the park.
U.S. national parks are seeing increasing problems with vandalism . . .
When Steve Bolyard checked out a report of black paint on some of the park’s majestic saguaros — cactuses whose towering bodies and upraised arms are as emblematic of the American West as red-rock buttes and skittering tumbleweeds — he did not expect to see ganglike calligraphy covering more of them than he could easily count.
Now in its ninth year, an interagency grizzly bear study led by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will be active in Glacier National Park. Here’s the press release . . .
A long-term interagency program to monitor grizzly bear population trends in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem will continue at Glacier National Park this year.
Bait stations, automated cameras, and traps are used to capture and monitor grizzly bears within the park. Bait stations and trap sites are marked with brightly colored warning and closure signs. Visitors are asked to respect posted signs and not enter sites where grizzly bear traps or bait stations are present.
Glacier National Park wildlife biologists attempt to maintain a sample of up to 10 radio-collared female grizzly bears out of an estimated population of 300 grizzly bears living in the park. Trapping efforts will continue through October at various locations throughout Glacier National Park.
The interagency grizzly bear monitoring program began in 2004 and is led by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Participating agencies include: National Park Service, United States Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and the Blackfeet Nation.