From the Flathead Beacon . . .
Wildlife officials captured a young male grizzly bear Friday in a residential area north of Columbia Falls, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
The 4-year-old bear was caught in a trap set for a much larger grizzly that was getting into garbage in the area.
The young male was relocated Saturday in the Whale Creek area of the North Fork of the Flathead River drainage . . .
This is a bit like discussing the World Series after the first few games of the regular season but, for what it’s worth, there’s a chance we might have a mild fire season around here this year . . .
It looks to be a busy fire year, but not around here.
Continuing drought and poor snowpack have the nation’s southern states and large parts of the Midwest bracing for smoke and flames as spring moves into summer, according to Ed Delgado of the National Interagency Fire Center. Delgado heads the center’s National Predictive Services Program.
“One of the things we’re having to deal with is the uncertainty in global circulation patterns,” Delgado said during a national teleconference on Thursday. “Whether we transition into a neutral or an El Niño pattern will have dramatically different outcomes for the potential for fire.”
We’ve updated the “Flood Information” page. Mostly, this meant tossing the stale links and making sure the other stuff was still working properly.
There’s no excitement forecast for the North Fork of the Flathead River yet. It just seemed like a good idea to get the page brushed up before the spring runoff really gets moving.
This is a pretty good story. Montana FWP thought they were going out to retrieve a dead caribou that wandered away from a Canadian herd. Instead, they ended up with a live Caribou on their hands . . .
What started out as an unusual hunt for a dead caribou that wandered south of Eureka from Canada turned out to be an animal rescue mission Thursday for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists.
British Columbia wildlife officials notified the biologists Thursday morning that a recently transplanted cow caribou had wandered into the Pinkham Creek drainage, and its satellite collar was broadcasting a mortality signal that is triggered when the collar doesn’t move for six hours.
Jim Williams, the regional wildlife manager, teamed up with biologists Tim Thier and Tim Manley to retrieve the animal using snowmobiles.
If you’ve got a slash pile or whatever that needs burning, you’ll need a burn permit starting May 1 and running through June 30. (No burning is allowed July 1 – September 30.) Here are the highlights . . .
Burn permits are available online at http://www.firesafekalispell.com/. Fill out the online form and a permit will be emailed to you.
If you don’t have Internet access — or don’t know someone who does — several locations can issue burn permits during normal business hours: the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation office in Kalispell at 655 Timberwolf Parkway, the DNRC office in Olney at 7425 U.S. 93 N., Flathead County Environmental Health on the second floor of the Earl Bennett Building at 1035 1st Ave. W. in Kalispell or the Bigfork Fire Department at 810 Grand Ave. in Bigfork.
Permits are free. One permit is required for each location, but the permit is good through June 30.
Have a copy of your permit with you when you burn.
Depending on air quality, there may be burning restrictions on some days. Before you burn, call the Flathead County Air Quality Hotline at 751-8144 or check online at http://flathead.mt.gov/environmentalhealth/burning.php.
You are responsible for any and all suppression costs if a fire escapes your control. Escaped debris burns are the leading cause of all wildfires in Montana. Don’t leave your fire unattended and don’t burn when windy.
Two sharply contrasting pieces appeared in local papers the last couple of days. The first was a well-written op-ed by George Wuerthner advocating a more rational approach to wolf management and predation control in general. The second was an Associated Press article discussing Wyoming’s plans for a wolf hunt this fall.
The warm weather triggered a rise in river levels. It doesn’t look like much excitement in the Flathead Valley, though . . .
The National Weather Service is projecting Northwest Montana rivers and streams to rise over the next few days with some expected to approach or exceed flood stage.
The rising waters are due to recent warm weather and rain that is expected Wednesday night, continuing through Thursday. Along the Montana-Idaho border, as much as an inch is expected. About a half inch is expected in areas farther east.
The “Crown of the Continent” area in Montana, including the North Fork of the Flathead River, made the list of “Top 5 American Treasures to Protect in 2012” published on Earth Day by the Center for American Progress . . .
The United States is home to some of the most stunning and unique natural areas in the world, including 397 national parks, 101 national monuments, and 556 national wildlife refuges. But many more public lands—managed by the federal government and owned by all Americans—are worthy of protection for future generations. This Earth Day it’s worth thinking about the places that have strong local coalitions calling for protection that should be granted this year.
The debate over the Grizzly’s status in the Yellowstone Park area continues . . .
Grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park will keep their threatened status for at least the next two to three years, as wildlife officials said Friday they plan to bolster their case that the species has recovered.
Federal and state officials insist there are enough bears in the three-state Yellowstone region to guard against a reversal of the decades-long effort to bring them back from near-extermination.
Glacier National Park is a climate change poster child . . .
Against the backdrop of a warming world, Glacier National Park and its waning namesakes have for years stood out as one of the most tangible manifestations of climate change.
And because the park’s administrative brass consistently marches at the vanguard of research, education and climate-friendly initiatives, Glacier Park has assumed a dual role, serving both as a poster child for the perils of global warming and a trailblazer in the efforts to mitigate its effects.