All posts by nfpa

Snow plows get started on Going-to-the-Sun Road

News, ,

Glacier National Park is starting to dig out from under the past season’s snowfall . . .

Glacier National Park snow plows started churning their way through snow on Going-to-the-Sun Road this week.

Plows on the west side reached just beyond the Avalanche Creek area to the Red Rock slide.

Plows encountered 12 to 30 inches of snow on their path from Lake McDonald Lodge.

The road surface from the lodge to Avalanche remains covered with 2 to 6 inches of ice, while Camas and Fish Creek roads have 1 to 4 inches of ice . . .

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: Bear meat was his main diet

Commentary, ,

This week, Larry talks a bit about another old-timer: Frank Liebig . . .

Even before Norton Pearl made his snowshoe circuits of Glacier National Park, Frank Liebig was there. They must have known each other since Liebig worked for the Forest Service for 33 consecutive years, from 1902 until 1935, when he retired.

From 1902 until 1910, when Glacier Park was established, Liebig’s “district” was the area which became Glacier Park, and his home at the north end of Lake McDonald was reached by a trappers trail that extended to the Canadian Border.

Continue reading . . .

Investigating a grizzly bear attack in Yellowstone

Environmental Issues, ,

Slate posted a very lengthy, detailed piece by Jesicca Grose on Monday centered around the investigation of a pair of fatal grizzly bear attacks in Yellowstone National Park last year. Boing Boing, a very popular web log, just picked up on this, so there’s likely to be quite a bit of discussion of this article over the next few days . . .

A grizzly was ambling along the Yellowstone River on a clear day in late September 2011, when she lifted her nose up and smelled something familiar in the air. She couldn’t tell quite what it was, but it smelled like food. Maybe the shredded remains of a bison taken down by a wolf pack, its innards sloughing out of its stomach and onto the riverbank. The sow may have spent the day digging up pocket gophers, but a feast like this would really help her to pack on weight. Within eight weeks she’d be taking her two young cubs into a den in the side of a slope for the long Western winter. They needed fat, and soon.

After months of a diet consisting mostly of grass and nuts and roots, the scent of dead meat was impossible to resist. The mother grizzly walked in the direction of the carrion with her cubs scrambling along behind her. The bigger one, with the blond face, was probably closer on his mother’s heels, with his brother, the color of burnt sienna, lagging behind. The sow had to keep a close eye on her offspring. There was always the threat of male bears trying to kill her family. They knew she wouldn’t go into heat again as long as her cubs were with her.

Annual Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex public meeting scheduled for April 14

News,

From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

The annual public meeting about the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is scheduled for April 14 at the Seeley Lake Community Hall.

The public is being encouraged to attend and meet the National Forest Wilderness Managers and state Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff.

“This year is the 25th year that we will be collecting monitoring-data based on public participation and partnerships in managing the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and the wilderness plan,” Deb Mucklow, BMWC lead district ranger, said in a statement . . .

For more information about the public meeting, contact the Spotted Bear Ranger District at (406) 387-3800.

Continue reading . . .

“It’s time to pull in the bird feeders and secure the trash”

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

The bears are off to an early start this year . . .

Bears are stirring earlier than usual and have already resumed behavior that led to a record number of captures last year.

Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks recently relocated a 535-pound male grizzly bear that killed seven calves in four nights near Lincoln. The local FWP office has also been receiving reports of bear sightings near Whitefish and Columbia Falls.

The reemergence of bears has led to a campaign by wildlife officials reminding residents to clean up attractants that increase the likelihood of conflicts.

Continue reading . . .

Award-winning short documentary profiles Thoma Lookout

News, ,

A well-regarded documentary about Thoma Lookout is gaining press coverage. Additional information is available on the film’s Facebook page . . .

New York filmmaker Brian Bolster was backpacking through Glacier National Park when he came across a fire lookout. The solitary day-to-day lives of people living perched atop mountains, scanning the horizon for wildfires, intrigued Bolster. The result is a 16-minute award-winning documentary, titled “The Lookout.” Bolster spent six days and five nights single-handedly filming Leif Haugen, a fire lookout for the Flathead National Forest, as he performs his daily duties at the Thoma Lookout in the North Fork area near the Canadian Border.

Continue reading . . .

Giving the North Fork Patrol their due

News, , , ,

We got a note the other day from Mark and Margaret Heaphy who are, respectively, the Chairman and Secretary/Treasurer of the North Fork Patrol, the people who will, on request, help keep an eye on landowner property.

The North Fork Patrol has a small problem. Since the North Fork Landowners’ Association doesn’t send out a fall newsletter anymore (it only sends out one in the springtime), folks have tended to forget to contribute to the North Fork Patrol. Although you don’t need to be an NFLA member to have property “patrolled,” the newsletter served as a reminder and also as a signup form for the patrol.

So, if you desire the services of the North Fork Patrol, the Heaphys are encouraging you to sign up at any time. (Now would be a good time.) If you are an NFLA member, you can use the form in the Spring newsletter. The sign-up form is also available on the NFLA website. Payment is good for one year from when paid, regardless of when that is. If there are any questions about your current status on the patrol or when you last paid, please contact Margaret Heaphy.

For those of you not familiar with the North Fork Patrol, here’s the official description from the NFLA website: “The North Fork Patrol, with the written permission of a landowner, will check a property for evidence of trespass, illegal entry or poaching. All suspected illegal activity will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency . . . In addition to checking properties, the patrol offers a reward of up to $500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of someone perpetrating trespass or property damage. A signed application is required to participate.”

Patrol sign-up is only $10, folks — chump change for someone to keep an eye on your place if you’re not around. And, in case you missed it the first time, you can grab a sign-up form here.

Opinions decidedly mixed on new U.S. Forest Service planning rule

Environmental Issues, News,

The Missoulian takes on the thankless task of summarizing the new Forest Service planning rule . . .

The U.S. Forest Service’s recently released planning rule could turn the agency into a more efficient decisionmaker or create a department of perpetual planning, depending on who you listen to.

“We are ready to start a new era of planning that takes less time, costs less money and provides stronger protections for our lands and water,” Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said in an email announcing the final version of the rule. “This new rule will bring 21st century thinking to a process that is sorely needed to protect and preserve our 193 million acres of amazing forests and grasslands.”

Critics have been equally expansive. Andy Stahl of the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics predicted the process “would die of its own weight.”

“Anyone who thinks this rule will make forest plans quicker to develop is naive,” Stahl said . . .

Continue reading . . .

Researcher says bear spray stops angry grizzlies better than guns

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

More evidence in support of bear spray. Also, read to the end to find our very own Frank Vitale’s bear spray story.

Bear spray doesn’t supply “brains in a can” to survive a grizzly attack, but it appears to work a lot better than spraying bullets.

That’s the conclusion researchers presented to more than 300 bear experts at the Fourth International Human-Bear Conflict Workshop in Missoula last week.

University of Calgary bear expert Steve Herrero was involved in two separate studies that looked at the effectiveness of bear spray and firearms in bear attacks . . .

Continue reading . . .

Less than two weeks to send comments in support of the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The Montana Wilderness Association (MWA) has been heavily involved in supporting the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act since its inception. Here’s a lightly edited excerpt from one of their recent announcement encouraging everyone to support this legislation . . .

Last Thursday, a bill to permanently protect the incomparable Rocky Mountain Front got its day in Congress with a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

This is a crucial step in the journey of a Heritage Act, a bill that will forever protect our wilderness heritage along the Front, including hundreds of miles of quiet trails and some of the finest backcountry hunting and fishing  in North America.

To help get this passed, Senator Max Baucus is asking for our support. The more demand we create for the Heritage Act the better chance we have of getting it signed into law this year.

To submit a comment in support of the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, visit savethefront.org’s Quick Guide to Submitting Written Comments to the Congressional Record.

If needed, here are a few important points to remind lawmakers back in Washington, D.C.

Made-in-Montana

Montanan’s were able to work across party lines when crafting this legislation and now it’s the Senate’s chance to do the same and help pass it into law. Working together, ranchers, outfitters, business owners and conservationists listened to each other and to people from across the state.  The Heritage Act is product of five years of public meetings, countless kitchen table discussions and group meetings with permitees, landowners and local officials.

Big Game needs Big Country

Montana sportsmen and women get it.  Big, unbroken habitat means healthy big game herds and longer hunting seasons.  And keeping the Front just the way it is means the next generation of Montana hunters will have the same access and opportunity we have today.

Best Defense is a Good Offense

We can’t wait until elk have no food source, fish have no clear water and our native plants have nowhere to grow.  That’s why the Heritage Act will place a high priority on the eradication of noxious weeds on the Front and require land managers to prioritize their efforts.

For more information about the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act please visit savethefront.org or go to http://www.baucus.senate.gov.

Additional background can also be found at the MWA’s Rocky Mountain Front Wilderness Campaign page.