All posts by nfpa

Warm days; rising waters

Flood Information, News

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.

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Crown of the Continent makes list of “Top 5 American Treasures to Protect in 2012”

Environmental Issues, News, ,

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.

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Yellowstone Grizzlies to keep ‘threatened’ status until at least 2014

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

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.

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Earth Day: Glacier Park embracing green initiative

Environmental Issues, News, ,

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.

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Larry Wilson: Talking North Fork roads, fires

Commentary, ,

This week Larry discusses the condition of the North Fork Road — always a hot topic this time of year — and summarizes the conditions for fire mitigation grants . . .

Every year in March and April, I am asked repeatedly, “How is the North Fork Road?” Questions come from Flathead Valley residents wanting to drive as far north as Big Creek to look for bull elk in Glacier National Park, or maybe wanting to drive to Polebridge to view elk on Home Ranch Bottoms, or maybe to the Merc to buy a turnover or some other sweet thing. (The Polebridge Mercantile will reopen this year on May 1.)

Also, there are many e-mails and a few phone calls from summer presidents in Florida, California and other undesirable places who are anxious to get back to the North Fork.

My answer always starts out the same way…

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Most difficult Sun Road work just about finished

News, ,

Looks like the worst of the remaining Going-to-the-Sun Road maintenance in Glacier National Park should be wrapped up by next spring . . .

Glacier National Park visitors again can expect traffic delays on Going-to-the-Sun Road this summer due to a long-term road reconstruction project.

But the $137 million Sun Road rehabilitation project’s most difficult phase on the road’s alpine section is expected to be almost entirely finished by this fall.

“The most expensive, most difficult construction areas, the ones with the adverse weather and short seasons, our plan is to have that done at the latest by spring of 2013,” said Jack Gordon, the park’s landscape architect.

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Web site offers good guide to climbing and hiking in the Whitefish Range

News, Travel Articles,

Rachel Potter passed along a link to a rather thorough write-up on the Whitefish Range or, rather, the entire mountain corridor, starting in Montana and running up into Canada. Lightly edited, here are her notes/comments: ‘This is a very interesting site.  Lots of hike descriptions in the Whitefish Range.  It’s a “peak bagger” site, but lots of walk-ups listed.  The intro to the range is okay, but not 100%accurate.’

Link: Whitefish Range(MT/BC) page at summitpost.org.

Lake Mountain trail offers good wildflower viewing later this year

News, , ,

An earlier post included a link to the Forest Service’s “Celebrating Wildflowers” website. Rachel Potter points out that the site’s “Northern Region Viewing Area” page includes a nice description of wildflowers on the Lake Mountain trail in the Flathead National Forest.  She goes on to mention that the route to Lake Mountain can also be accessed from Red Meadow — the same trailhead as Link Lake.

Westslope cutthroat trout restoration project showing good results so far

Environmental Issues, News, ,

A so-far successful westslope cutthroat trout restoration effort in the South Fork has implications for future projects in other areas . . .

A decade-long program to restore Montana’s state fish to a chain of 21 alpine lakes above the South Fork Flathead River drainage is showing good results, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks official said.

Some of the lakes in the Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation project have been poisoned to kill non-native fish and then stocked with cutthroats. Others have been densely stocked each year with genetically pure trout to try to get rid of hybrid populations. Five remote lakes have received no treatment so far.

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