All posts by nfpa

Dr. Charles Jonkel to speak at annual meeting of NFPA on Saturday, July 31, at Community Hall

July 24, 2010Newsbear research, Charles Jonkel, Great Bear Foundation, NFPA Annual Meetingnfpa

Dr. Charles Jonkel, President and co-founder of the Great Bear Foundation was named the 2005 Conservationist of the year. The award honored his work in establishing the International Wildlife Film Festival in 1977, 30 plus years pioneering ways to improve the quality of wildlife television and, not least, for his 45 (now 50 years) of conducting bear research around the world. Also recognized were Jonkel’s roles in developing the methodology of bear research, establishing the first concepts of modern bear management and his election as President of the International Bear Biology Association.

Jonkel’s bear research efforts started in 1959 with the commercial availability of the dart gun. He has been around for an exceptionally long time and has much yet to accomplish.

Dr. Jonkel will be speaking at the annual meeting of the North Fork Preservation Association at 7:30 pm at the Sondreson Community Hall at Whale Creek, preceded by a potluck at 5pm and business meeting at 6:30 pm.

Chuck’s birthday is July 16. Join NFPA at the annual meeting and celebrate his 80th birthday.

New Flathead National Forest supervisor has full plate

July 24, 2010NewsChip Weber, Flathead National Forestnfpa

Here’s a pretty good article on Chip Weber, the new Flathead National Supervisor, from Thursday’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

Chip Weber has a diverse background and broad interests in forest management, all of which should be helpful for the new supervisor of the Flathead National Forest.

Weber came to the Flathead about two months ago after five years as a district ranger on the Willamette National Forest in Oregon . . .

Read the full article . . .

Meeting scheduled to review draft North Fork Road corridor study

July 24, 2010Environmental Issues, Newscorridor study, dust abatement, North Fork Road, pavingnfpa

Here’s some more information on the upcoming public meeting on the North Fork Road corridor study from yesterday’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

An open-house-style meeting has been scheduled for the public to review and give comments on the corridor study of a portion of the North Fork Road.

The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 27, at the Discovery Center at 540 Nucleus Ave., Columbia Falls. As an open-house style meeting, no formal presentation will be given.

Read the entire article . . .

UNESCO World Heritage Committee report to be released soon

July 22, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsFlathead Wild, UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Parknfpa

According to a post on the Flathead Wild site today, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee report on threats to Waterton-Glacier Park and its environs will be released at the committee’s meeting in Brasilia, which begins tomorrow.

We’ll provide access to the report once it becomes available.

BP sells Canadian coalbed methane assets

July 22, 2010NewsBP Canada, coalbed methane, Fernie, Mist Mountain Projectnfpa

BP is selling off a number of assets world-wide to raise money to pay for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, including their Mist Mountain coalbed methane project near Fernie, BC. As long-time readers may recall, BP originally intended coalbed methane development in the Canadian Flathead as well, but pulled out of that region in response to public outcry. Presumably, the new owner, Apache Corporation, will continue to honor this restriction.

Draft North Fork Road corridor study document is now available; meeting on July 27th

July 21, 2010Documents, Environmental Issues, Newscorridor study, dust abatement, North Fork Road, pavingnfpa

According to an email sent out yesterday afternoon by Pam Murray of PB Americas, the draft North Fork Road corridor study document is now available online and, for those of you traveling down-valley, on paper. (If you came late to the party, the corridor study is a $125K project looking at alternatives for improving the condition of the North Fork Road from Blankenship Road to Camas Junction.)

Ms. Murray said,

The draft corridor study document is now available for your review, please visit the website: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/documents.shtml and if the link does not work you can find the document by going to the study webpage at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/ From the menu on the left go to “documents” and then clicking section by section on the draft document.

The whole document is available as one file, however it is a very large file (over 20 M) and will probably time out for most people before the download is complete.

Paper copies of the draft corridor study document are also available at these locations:

The Columbia Falls Library, 130 6th Street West

Flathead County Offices, 800 South Main Street, Kalispell

MDT Office, 85 5th Ave East North, Kalispell

Please review the draft corridor study document. We also invite you to attend the public meeting on July 27, 2010 at Discovery Square, Sperry Auditorium anytime between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm…

The purpose of the public meeting is to receive your comments on the draft corridor study document. If you are unable to attend the meeting next week you can provide us comments on the draft corridor study document using the “comment on this study” link from the study webpage (see above link).

Additional information…

The entire current set of documents discussing the corridor study includes:

The main draft corridor study (56 pages, 20.2MB) and three appendices —
Appendix A: Environmental Scan Report (40 pages, 3.7MB),
Appendix B: Consultation and Coordination, Public Involvement (209 pages, 12.3MB), and
Appendix C: Improvement Options (7 pages, 82KB).

The following poster includes more information about the meeting on July 27th. Note this little item near the bottom: “For reasonable accommodations to participate in the meeting, please contact Paul Grant at 406/444.9415 at least two days before the meeting.” In other words, if you want to get up and say something, call ahead.

B.C. Premier expects to know mining costs soon on North Fork deal

July 18, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsBrian Schweitzer, Flathead Lakers, Flathead River Valley, Gordon Campbell, mining leasesnfpa

From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

Accepting the Flathead Lakers’ 2010 Stewardship Award for signing an agreement with British Columbia protecting the North Fork from mining and drilling, Gov. Brian Schweitzer gave much of the credit to his counterpart in the negotiations: Premier Gordon Campbell.

Describing the fragile talks, held secretly in Spokane, Schweitzer emphasized that – from mining royalties to political capital – it was Campbell who had the most at stake.

Read the full article . . .

Protecting the North Fork must be a team effort

July 17, 2010Commentary, Environmental IssuesBrian Schweitzer, Dave Hadden, Headwaters Montana, Jon Tester, Max Baucus, North Fork Flathead, Trans-boundary Flatheadnfpa

Dave Hadden, Executive Director of Headwaters Montana, had a letter to the editor published in today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

The North Fork of the Flathead River (a.k.a. the Transboundary Flathead) continues to play in the news of late. The news media report that Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are at odds over how to best protect our river, Glacier Park and Flathead Lake from upstream industrial activity. While a bit confusing to the reader, we think it’s important to keep the North Fork in the news for one simple reason: Our fabulous North Fork ain’t protected yet.

Read the complete letter . . .

Flathead Lakers recognize Gov. Schweitzer for North Fork agreement with Canada

July 16, 2010Environmental Issues, NewsBrian Schweitzer, Flathead Lakers, Flathead River Valley, Gordon Campbell, mining leasesnfpa

Posted yesterday to the KECI-TV website . . .

The Flathead Lakers recognized Governor Brian Schweitzer for his efforts to protect the Flathead. They gave Schweitzer an award for his agreement with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell.

The agreement between Montana and British Columbia halts mining in the Canadian portion of the North Fork drainage. Schweitzer praised the Premier saying Canada gave up more than seven billion dollars in possible royalties. On Thursday night, the Flathead Lakers gave both the Premier and the Govenor the Stewardship Award. (The Premier was unable to attend.)

Read the full article . . .

See also the Flathead Lakers website . . .