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More well-deserved recognition for Jack Potter

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Jack Potter

As mentioned earlier this month, Jack Potter, Glacier National Park’s Chief of Science and Resources Management, retired on May 2 after 41 years with the Park Service. Recently, Headwaters Montana posted a very nice article discussing Jack’s career and accomplishments . . .

On May 2 of this year, Jack Potter retired after 41 years with Glacier National Park, one of the few National Park Service employees to spend his entire professional career in one place.  To many of us on the ‘outside’ of Glacier’s internal operations, Jack has been the conscience of the bureaucracy for Glacier’s safekeeping.  The future challenges and threats facing Glacier are many and  Jack’s vigilance and integrity will be hard to replace.  It is fair to ask, “Who will be the next Jack Potter for Glacier?”

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Referenced in the above article was a lengthy Park Science profile published last March, shortly before Jack’s retirement . . .

Resource managers who stay in one national park for their entire career, building and refining their knowledge of the place, exercising judgment, sharing insights, and defending park values are a rare thing in the National Park Service. Thus, we explore the long-tenured career of Jack Potter in Glacier National Park, Montana, as a way to learn from his experience, help preserve institutional memory, and celebrate his special contribution to the National Park Service.

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Flooding expected in some areas of Northwest Montana this weekend

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According to an article in today’s Daily Inter Lake, some rivers in Northwest Montana are expected to reach or exceed flood stage this weekend. (The North Fork isn’t on the list, although the stage forecast for a week from now is suggestive.) . . .

Flooding is expected to start this weekend on some Northwest Montana rivers, but the National Weather Service is warning that it is just a beginning, with the highest flows on all rivers yet to come.

The forecast calls for continued warm weather over the weekend, with rain Sunday night and Monday and cooler weather next week that should level off flows on most rivers in the region, said Marty Whitmore, the warning coordination meteorologist in Missoula.

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Glacier Park digs out slowly

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Glacier National Park is making steady progress with snow removal, but this year’s substantial snowpack and the continuing avalanche danger are limiting road openings. On the North Fork side, the Camas Road is open, as is the Inside North Fork Road from the ranger station to Big Prairie. All other roads are officially closed to vehicle traffic. See this weekend’s press release for details.

Montana FWP Commission gives tentative approval to wolf hunt

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

As expected, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission gave tentative approval to a fall wolf hunt at today’s meeting. The Flathead Beacon has the story . . .

Montana wildlife officials tentatively approved a plan Thursday to allow hunters to kill as many as 220 wolves this fall, marking the state’s first wolf management decision since Congress lifted endangered species protections.

The unanimous vote opens the door for the public to weigh in before the commission makes a final decision in July. It would be Montana’s second wolf hunt since 2009, when 72 wolves were killed, and state Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners appeared confident the 2011 hunt will be approved.

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Western Montana waters expected to rise fast, hard once snow melts

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Here’s the Missoulian’s take on the start of Spring runoff . . .

Western Montana’s flood season has a lot in common with the space shuttle Endeavour: It’ll be big when it goes, but the start date keeps getting postponed.

“Even though we’re losing some water in the (snow)pack, it’s not to the level we normally see,” National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist Marty Whitmore said Tuesday. “But when that snow comes off, it will come in a fairly quick time.”

By Tuesday morning, the region north of an imaginary line along Thompson Falls, Kalispell and Browning was seeing significant melting in the mountains. But below that all the way south to Dillon and Ennis, moisture was still accumulating from storms on Sunday and Monday.

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The melt is on; rivers and streams are rising

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From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

A trend of warmer weather will settle in over Western Montana this week and the deep mountain snowpack finally will start to melt, with rivers and streams expected to approach or exceed flood stage by the middle of next week.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the 60s or higher through Saturday, along with a chance of showers and thunderstorms during the latter part of the week.

“We just anticipate the melt to occur,” said Marty Whitmore, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula. “We’re going to see significant rises in creeks and small streams … Some of those are going to start coming out of their banks.”

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