All posts by nfpa

Bugs, fire, politics to transform western Montana forests

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Here’s a pretty good discussion of the impacts on Montana’s forests over the next 50 years or so. Interestingly, some of the changes may actually restore earlier, healthier conditions . . .

Three things will combine to radically transform Montana forests in the next 50 years: bugs, fire and politics.

Mountain pine beetles have killed millions of acres of lodgepole pine trees. Those dead stands, combined with a progressively drier climate, will likely burn in wilder, more intense fashion. The biological aftermath should bring a wider mix of tree species, open areas and wildlife habitat, according to new computer models.

How humans tinker with that progression remains a wildcard…

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: Winter strikes the North Fork

Commentary, News, ,

This is a bit confusing. Apparently, Larry’s column didn’t make the deadline for the print edition of the Hungry Horse News, but it did get posted online — over a “Larry Peterson” byline [update – they fixed it]. Go figure.

Anyway, Larry discusses the season’s first serious snowfall and cold snap . . .

No one on the North Fork needs to be told that Fall has fell and it is now winter. In the last week we have had a total snowfall of over 16 inches. There has been settling but a blanket of snow now covers everything, the golden needles have been blown off of the larch and wood is no longer being put in woodsheds but is being carried into the house.

Not only are we carrying wood into the house, we are burning a lot of it. In between snow storms we have had bone-chilling cold along with brisk winds. It seems a little early for subzero temperatures but my Monkey Ward thermometer read minus 12 degrees F one morning and neighbors reported similar below zero readings.

Continue reading . . .

Big game hunting season ends Sunday in Montana; wolf hunt continues until year-end

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Montana’s big game season will end as scheduled, but the wolf hunt will continue. So far, hunters have taken only 96 of the allowed 220 wolves.

Here’s the lead-in from an AP article discussing this . . .

Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say Montana’s 2011 general big game hunting season will end Sunday evening, as planned, while wolf hunting will continue at least through the end of the year.

Continue reading . . .

Relocated grizzlies raise concerns for residents of Northwest Montana

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

An interesting article from today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

A rash of grizzly bear incidents in Northwest Montana has led to one of the busiest years ever involving captures and relocations, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

FWP has made 43 grizzly bear captures in Region 1 because of problem incidents this year, one of the highest numbers ever, according to FWP.

“This valley is a real grizzly hot spot,” FWP spokesperson John Fraley said.

Six grizzlies have had to be euthanized in recent months and one has been transferred to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone following problems, Fraley said.

Fraley attributes the increase in numbers to the fact that the grizzly population has recovered in the Northern Rockies in recent years, with an estimated 1,000 bears living in the region.

Continue Reading . . .

Wolf harvest approaching limits in some local districts

Environmental Issues, News, ,

From the Daily Inter Lake . . .

Heading into the final week of the big game hunting season, the deer and elk harvest picked up but still lags behind last year’s numbers while the wolf harvest is approaching quotas for a few Northwest Montana hunting districts.

Northwest Montana has six wolf hunting districts with a combined hunting quota of 71 wolves.

For District 101 covering the area between Libby and Kalispell, hunters have taken down 15 wolves out of a quota of 19 for the district.

In District 130 covering the area east of Kalispell including the Swan Valley, nine wolves have been harvested; the quota is 12.

And in the North Fork’s District 110, one wolf has been harvested out of the quota of two.

Continue reading . . .

George Ostrom: A history of American wolves

Commentary, History, ,

George Ostrom of the Hungry Horse News just finished up a fascinating history of wolves in America. Recommended reading.

Here’s the lead-in for part 1 . . .

When wolves first made a comeback into Glacier National Park from a pack coming down from Canada, I did a lot of research on their past history in the U.S. Few people have much past knowledge on what has now become the “new” game animal, so let me share some surprising facts:

Before the white man came, there were wolves in every state of the union, and the first bounty on them was placed by the Plymouth Colony in 1630. Lewis and Clark’s journals of 1804 mentioned the “great numbers” of wolves, with especially large populations in what is now the Billings area.

Continue reading part 1 . . .

And for part 2 . . .

The cattlemen weren’t sitting idly by waiting for the legislature. Many of them started or stepped up their own efforts of poisoning carcasses, hiring professionals and, of course, every cowboy on the range had orders to kill any coyote, wolf or bear on sight.

In 1895, a new $3 bounty law was passed, and the Miles City newspaper reported 3,300 wolves killed by April, but this was later proven slightly high. A total of 5,866 hides were turned in for bounty in 1896, but the wolves were getting smarter and doing such things as not returning to a kill, avoiding traps and taking off at the sight of men on horses.

Continue reading part 2 . . .

A more personal view of the new B.C. law protecting the Flathead Basin

Commentary, News, , ,

Ralph Maughan’s The Wildlife News weblog presents a refreshingly personal view of the recent B.C. legislation to protect the Flathead Basin . . .

What a turnaround in the space of 3 years!

In 2008 I took a 2 week trip to the headwaters of the famed North Fork of the Flathead River in B.C. to say goodbye to one of North America’s premier fish and wildlife areas, not to mention its incredible beauty.

Huge open pit coal mines, long in the planning, now seemed unstoppable. In addition thousands of coal bed methane wells were planned that would surely ruin the river right from its headwaters and downstream all the way to Flathead Lake in Montana.  Wildlife in Glacier National Park would be greatly harmed too. There seemed to be no hope.

Then, suddenly, everything began to change for the better…

Continue reading . . .

British Columbia passes formal law protecting Flathead Basin

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

British Columbia has now passed formal legislation protecting the Canadian Flathead (and the folks downstream on the U.S. side of the border) from extractive resource development. This is big news. (Albeit slightly stale — your friendly webperson got a little buried by his day job.) The Missoulian has a good write-up . . .

Canadian legislation to protect the Flathead River Basin from mining and energy development has formally passed the British Columbia Parliament.

The Flathead Watershed Area Conservation Act received royal assent on Monday evening. The bill cements the Canadian half of an agreement between British Columbia and Montana to maintain the wild and scenic character of the Flathead River, the north fork of which forms the western border of Glacier National Park.

“A healthy and free-flowing Flathead river is good for people and wildlife on both sides of the border,” said Dr. Richard Jeo, a biologist and director for The Nature Conservancy’s Canada Program. “This binational effort gives hope to communities whose economies rely on the river and to iconic wildlife that represent the spirit of the West.”

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: On wolf hunts, personal postal service and bentonite

Commentary, , , ,

This week, Larry talks about the ongoing wolf hunt, Becky Hardy, the former — and much appreciated — North Fork mail lady and the last bit of road maintenance before the weather closed in.

Still no snow to aid hunters, but near neighbors have managed to harvest another white-tailed buck and two bull elk. Another neighbor managed to get one of the five cow elk tags available by drawing. He is still looking.

The quota for North Fork wolves is two, and I have not heard of any being taken…

Continue reading . . .