All posts by nfpa

National Weather Service says western Montana rivers will likely rise next week

Flood Information, News, ,

In this week’s conference call, the National Weather Service continues to fret about the potential for flooding . . .

It may not be as soggy as the spring of 1997, but this year has potential for record floods in western Montana and the Idaho Panhandle.

“When we get those warmer temperatures next week, we’ll see those rivers start to react,” National Weather Service hydrologist Ray Nickless said on a Thursday conference call. “We’ll be seeing high water all the way through May and into June.”

Many parts of the northern Rocky Mountains have record-high snowpacks, and the ones that don’t nevertheless have kept the snow much longer than usual…

Continue reading . . .

Snowpack delays scheduled opening of some facilities in Glacier National Park

News, ,

Glacier Park is having trouble getting dug out this year . . .

Due to an unusually large,  lingering snowpack and cool temperatures, Glacier National Park officials announced delays in opening some east side campgrounds and the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn. The opening date of the Many Glacier, Cutbank and Two Medicine Campgrounds will be June 10th, instead of the usual Memorial Day Weekend opening date. The Swiftcurrent Motor Inn opening will also be delayed until June 10th rather than the previously anticipated June 3rd. Visitors with reservations at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn will be accommodated at other Glacier Park, Inc. properties. Park crews are working diligently to get facilities uncovered, water and wastewater services turned on, utilities repaired and roads dug out.

Although May has shown some signs of spring, weather stations at West Glacier, East Glacier and Saint Mary all recorded near record or record precipitation amounts for April. US Geological Survey snow surveys measured 88 inches of snow on the ground at the 5,900 foot level near Siyeh Bend on the Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road) in the end of March. The survey was repeated a month later and 106 inches of snow was measured at the same location. Snow depth data has been collected since 1993, and the highest recorded depth was 166 inches at the 7,000 foot level in the end of April 2011.

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Lawsuits challenge new wolf rules in Northern Rockies

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Here’s a short Associated Press article covering both of the two lawsuits filed today opposing congressional removal of gray wolves from Endangered Species Act protection . . .

Environmental groups asked a federal judge Thursday to put gray wolves back on the endangered species list in the Northern Rockies.

Two lawsuits were filed in federal court in Montana as control over more than 1,300 wolves was turned over to state authorities in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Utah.

A federal budget bill rider in April had mandated Thursday’s lifting of wolf protections.

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Environmental groups file suit to stop wolf delisting

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

As expected, a number of environmental groups filed suit in federal court today challenging congressional removal of gray wolves from Endangered Species Act protection. Here is the Missoulian’s write-up on one of the two suits . . .

A trio of wolf advocates claim Congress violated the Separation of Powers Doctrine when it removed gray wolves from Endangered Species Act protection and blocked future court review.

“We will not allow the fate of endangered species to be determined by politicians serving special interests,” Alliance for the Wild Rockies director Michael Garrity said in an email Thursday morning. “These decisions must be based on science, not politics, and Congress has never before removed species from the endangered species list by political fiat.”

AWR was joined by Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

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Wolves are off the Endangered Species List — again

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

As of yesterday, wolf managment has been returned to state control in Montana and Idaho. Here is the Daily Inter Lake’s take on the subject . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule Wednesday that officially removes wolves in Montana and Idaho from the Endangered Species list.

The rule comes on the heels of Congressional action that compelled delisting.

“We are implementing the recent legislation that directs the delisting of the gray wolf in most of the northern Rocky Mountains,” Interior Deputy Secretary David Hayes said in a prepared statement. “As with other delisted species, we will be applying the Endangered Species Act’s post-delisting monitoring requirements to ensure that wolf populations remain robust while under state wildlife management.”

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Glacier National Park’s Chief of Science and Resources Jack Potter retires

News, ,

Jack Potter retired last Monday after 41 years at Glacier National Park! A no doubt big retirement potluck is scheduled for May 13. See the following press release for details of Jack’s career, as well as information on the potluck.

After 41 years of service in Glacier National Park, Chief of Science and Resources Management, Jack Potter retired on May 2nd. A potluck gathering will be held to celebrate his retirement in the West Glacier Community Building on Friday, May 13th, at 4:30 p.m.

In the summer of 1969, 19 year old Jack Potter took the train from western Pennsylvania to Glacier National Park to work as a bus boy at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn Coffee Shop. The following summer he was hired on the park trail crew and over the next seven summers, he worked seasonally while studying political science at Colgate University and later forestry at University of Montana, becoming a trail crew leader in 1973. Following one summer away from the park, Potter started a permanent, subject-to-furlough position in 1978 as Hudson Bay District Trails Foreman. He was subsequently promoted to backcountry supervisor in 1984. In 1992, Potter took the position of Assistant Chief Ranger, supervising field resources. In 2003, he became assistant chief of the newly formed Science and Resources Management Division, and has served as the division chief since 2005.

Potter has received numerous awards including the Superior Service Award in 2007 from the Department of Interior and the National Park Service Intermountain Region Director’s Award in 2003 for Excellence in Natural Resource Management. Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright stated, “Jack Potter knows more about Glacier National Park than any person alive. He is the conscience of the park, and possesses an uncanny sense of what’s appropriate and what’s not. His passion for the job, and life in general, is infectious. Although I’ve never believed that any employee is irreplaceable, Jack Potter comes the closest of any person I’ve known. He will be sorely missed!”

Continue reading Glacier National Park’s Chief of Science and Resources Jack Potter retires →

Snow depth and accumulation information available online

News, , ,

Judging by the number of “hits” on the subject here at gravel.org, a lots of folks are interested in the unusually high snowpack at altitude and the potential for flooding later this spring.

For those of you who wish to keep track of such things, WeatherStreet.com has a web page that tracks snow depth and snow accumulation values for Montana. It also has the most recent SNOTEL snow depth reports.

Link: Montana Snow Depth and Snow Accumulation (WeatherStreet.com)

Obama Administration: Gray wolves go back to state control — in as many as eight states

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

This too-short Associated Press article claims that, besides returning management of gray wolves to state control in the Northern Rockies, the Obama administration proposes to do the same for a further 4200 wolves in the Great Lakes region . . .

The Obama administration says it is lifting Endangered Species Act protections for 5,500 wolves in eight states in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes.

The move will turn control over the predators to state wildlife agencies. Public hunts for hundreds of wolves already are planned this fall in Idaho and Montana.

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President nominates Kalispell attorney Dana Christensen to replace U.S. District Judge Molloy

News, ,

Kalispell attorney Dana Christensen has been nominated to replace U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy who presided over many significant environmental lawsuits over the past years, including the recent effort to keep gray wolves on the Endangered Species List. Today’s Missoulian has the story . . .

The president has nominated Kalispell attorney Dana Christensen to replace U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula, who will begin senior status this summer.

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., submitted the Kalispell attorney’s name to President Barack Obama for consideration earlier this year, and on Wednesday the president announced Christensen’s nomination along with those of five others to district judgeships nationwide.

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