From the Sunday, August 17, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Ever wonder what a bear really does in the woods?
Scientists finally are answering that question, thanks to some high-tech cameras hooked to an equally high-tech Internet uplink. More important, the solar-powered remote sensors also are helping biologists to catch just the bear they want, when they want.
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From the Wednesday, August 13, 2008 online edition of the Flathead Beacon . . .
As the United States suffers from ongoing wars and a wheezing economy, the nation’s political establishment remains transfixed by such trivial presidential issues as proper tire inflation, John McCain’s $520 Italian loafers and whether Barack Obama is too skinny. It’s enough to make Peter Moore’s campaign for the presidency look downright serious.
“I’m your apolitical presidential candidate,” Moore said on a recent morning, sipping coffee on the front porch of his cabin, looking out at Glacier Park’s Livingston Range. “We give people an option to the mainstream thing.”
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Here we go again, folks. Fire season is starting to heat up in the Flathead Valley. For current forest and wildfire information and related material, see our extensive Fire Information Links page.
From the Sunday, August 10, 2008 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
A lightning storm Friday night sparked 13 fires Saturday on the Flathead Reservation, the largest of which had burned about 400 acres Saturday evening.
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And from the Friday, August 8, 2008 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Northwest Montana is heading into the thick of fire season and folks are being urged to make sure all campfires are dead out and cold to the touch.
In addition, there is absolutely no open burning in Flathead County through September, fire officials note.
On average, there’s been one human caused fire in the valley every day. The weather forecast doesn’t appear to be helping the fire risk, either. The forecast is calling for hot, dry weather with highs in the 80s and 90s and a slight risk of thunderstorms, though it should cool off a bit by Sunday.
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From the Wednesday, August 6, 2008 online edition of The Guardian, a widely-read British newspaper . . .
It has been called one of North America’s wildest places. Just north of the US-Canada border, the wooded slopes of the Canadian Rockies channel unpolluted water into a valley that remains free of human development. Grizzly bears, cougars and wolverines prowl the banks of the Flathead river. Outside of a national park, there is probably no wilderness like it on the continent.
But outside of a national park could mean outside of legal protection. Somewhere in the workings of the British Columbia government, an application from global energy company BP is working its way around civil servants’ desks. In it, the firm outlines a proposal that has horrified local environmentalists: the installation of up to 1,500 gas wells covering an area of 500 sq km (310 sq miles) amid the lush 1,580 sq km wilderness of the Flathead. Some time during the next six months, officials may give approval to the project.
“There have to be some places on the planet where you don’t go for energy production,” says Jack Stanford, a biologist at the nearby University of Montana. “This is one of them.”
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“Montana’s News Station” (a collection of 7 TV stations, including KAJ in Kalispell and KPAX in Missoula) has been doing a series of short segments on the proposed Cline Mine and BP coalbed methane projects in the Canadian North Fork and Elk Valley areas around Fernie, BC. They even managed to get a news crew into the area around the Cline Mine site. There are four videos posted as of today, with more scheduled. Viewing the videos requires the Internet Explorer web browser.
From the Tuesday, August 5, 2008 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
A four-page report by the Flathead County Road Advisory Committee contains 35 recommendations for the county commissioners to consider, but no clear path to resolving the major issues of reducing dust or paying for needed road-related services.
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From the Saturday, July 26, 2008 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Sheriff’s Deputy Stewart Smith is constantly wiping a film of dust from the electronic equipment in his patrol vehicle. He keeps the windows rolled up, but fine particles of dirt and grit simply refuse to stay outside.
Tasked with enforcing speed limits on Flathead County’s gravel thoroughfares, Smith spends all day on the roads with the worst dust problems.
His presence appears to be working.
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From an NFPA press release published on July 21 . . .
On Saturday, July 26, the annual meeting of the North Fork Preservation Association will be held at the Sondreson Community Hall at Whale Creek. At 7:30 pm Dr. Brian Reeves of the University of Calgary will give a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Glacier Park and the North Fork before the coming of the White Man.”
Dr. Reeves is a dynamic speaker who has written a number of publications including “Our Mountains Are Our Pillows: An Ethnographic Overview of Glacier National Park.”
The 7:30 pm program is preceded by a potluck at 5:00 pm and election of officers at 7:00 pm. Everyone is invited.
For more information phone (406) 888-5084.
From the Monday, July 21, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Polite diplomacy appears to be trumping the historic conversation of conflict between Canadian officials intent on mining energy resources and downstream residents worried the development could taint Montana waterways.
“The nature and the tenor of the discussion are absolutely changing,” said Louisa Willcox, senior wildlife specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “I think it’s become far more civil, courteous and honest – and hopefully more productive.”
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From the Monday, July 21, 2008 online edition of the Flathead Beacon . . .
Despite a wet, prolonged spring, fire season has snuck in the back door. Over the weekend, crews from Flathead National Forest contained a wildland fire in the Whitefish Range.
Approximately 20 fire personnel constructed a fire line and laid water hose on the Red Meadow 1 Wildland Fire