All posts by nfpa

Park Service spares book from endangered list

News

From the Thursday, May 17, 2007 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

(This is a follow-up to our posting last Tuesday. Ben Long is a well-known environmental writer from Kalispell.)

The latest and last chapter in the story of Ben Long’s popular book has, much to the author’s surprise and delight, a very happy ending.

“It won’t be destroyed,” Long said of his book. “We’ve negotiated a solution.”

Long’s award-winning book, published in hardcover and to critical acclaim in 2000, tells the story of the Lewis and Clark trail. It’s a story of America’s natural history, of what was, of what’s been lost and of what yet remains.
But a couple years back, when his publisher printed a soft-cover edition of “Backtracking: By Foot, Canoe and Subaru Along the Lewis and Clark Trail,” the cover art was changed to include a portion of the famous Corps of Discovery image, a silhouette of the explorers pointing off into the distance.

It’s an iconic image, immediately recognizable. It’s appeared on road signs for some 40 years. And since 1999 it’s been owned and protected by the National Park Service.

Read the entire article . . .

Book ordered off shelves over logo

News

From the Monday, May 14, 2007 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

(Ben Long is a well-known environmental writer from Kalispell.)

It’s not every day the federal government orders a book off the shelves, so you can imagine Ben Long’s surprise when he learned last week his work would be pulled and pulped.

“It’s not like it’s a blockbuster or anything,” the Kalispell author said, “but it’s been good to me.”

And the pulper? The National Park Service, an agency, ironically, that Long has championed for years.

Trouble is, the latest soft-cover release of Long’s award-winning book – “Backtracking: By Foot, Canoe and Subaru Along the Lewis and Clark Trail” – features that famous silhouette image of the Corps of Discovery leaders pointing into the distance.

Despite its appearing on road signs for some 40 years now, turns out the National Park Service owns that image and has the right to reel in Long’s book.

Which is exactly what it has done.

Read the entire article . . .

State officials warn grizzly studies in northwest Montana in danger

Environmental Issues, News

From the Wednesday, April 25, 2007 online edition of the Great Falls Tribune . . .

Officials with state Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Tuesday the state can no longer afford to study the long-term population trend of grizzlies in northwest Montana without financial help from federal agencies.

If the monitoring abruptly ends because of the funding pinch, delisting efforts would be set back years, the FWP officials said.

“Zero chance of delisting unless we have some sort of monitoring program,” said Rick Mace, a Kalispell-based research biologist who heads the state’s monitoring efforts.

Read the entire article . . .

Rice stands with Montana in opposing mine

Environmental Issues, News

From the Tuesday, April 24, 2007 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stands with Montana in opposing a coal mine planned for southeastern British Columbia, and will ask Canada to put the proposal through a wide-ranging federal review, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Tuesday.

Baucus said that at a meeting earlier in the day, Rice told him she will request the review later this week in Norway when she meets with her Canadian counterpart, Foreign Minister Peter MacKay.

Read the entire article . . .

23 million acres proposed for wilderness designation

Environmental Issues, News

An Associated Press article linked to in the Friday, April 20, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

A wide-reaching wilderness protection bill that would forever ban logging, oil exploration and other development on 23 million acres across the Northern Rockies was introduced Friday by two East Coast members of Congress.

The proposal drew a quick backlash from natural resource industry lobbyists and some Western lawmakers who view it as an intrusion on their turf. But supporters hope a Democrat-controlled Capitol Hill will improve the odds of a bill that has gained little traction during eight prior attempts at passage.

The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act would more than double existing wilderness acreage in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington.

Sponsored by Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, and Christopher Shays, R-Ct., the act would forbid most development across broad swaths of public land in the five states. It calls for the removal of more than 6,000 miles of existing roads, primarily within national forests.

Read the entire article . . .