From the Thursday, April 26, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Jake Sweeney first thought he was looking at a mountain goat while hunting up the North Fork last Friday.
But he looked a closer and then a little closer and realized, there’s no goats in this area.
That’s a bear.
It was a bear all right. An albino black bear.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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From the Wednesday, April 4, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Retired attorney and long time North Forker Steve Berg is hiking the Appalachian Trail. The world’s longest footpath, Berg plans on hiking its length from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Katahdin, Maine, over the next few months. He is e-mailing us reports as he goes along. And we’re now posting them on a blog as well.
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From the Wednesday, April 4, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
A few years ago a wolverine in Glacier National Park found a dead mountain goat in an avalanche off Mount Piegan. While the dead goat was buried under several feet of snow, the wolverine, with its keen nose had no problem finding the rotting goat.
As the wolverine dug in the snow a photographer walked up behind it. The wolverine heard the man, and walked away, not overly concerned, but not looking to interact with a two-legged creature either.
The man snapped off several pictures. The wolverine, a few years later, would die like its mountain goat dinner had died: By an avalanche.
The said photographer saw something most people rarely see in Glacier or the Rocky Mountain West for that matter: A live wolverine.
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From the Saturday, March 31, 2007 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Canada’s federal government has agreed to review a controversial coal mine proposal north of Glacier National Park, promising a far more exhaustive environmental analysis than currently planned.
An Associated Press article linked to in the Saturday, March 31, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
The environmental review for a coal mine planned in British Columbia and opposed in Montana is being ratcheted up, likely delaying the mine proposal by up to three years, said Sen. Max Baucus, whose goal is to have the proposal scrapped.
The Montana Democrat said Friday that Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Wilson, has confirmed the project proposed by Cline Mining Corp. will be reviewed at the federal level. Earlier plans called for a review at the provincial level.
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From the Saturday, March 31, 2007 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
The Canadian federal government intends to pursue an environmental review of the Cline Mine, which could delay development by three years, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced Friday.
According to a press release from Baucus, the senator met with Canada
From the Monday, March 26, 2007 online edition of The Globe and Mail . . .
When Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was established in 1934 it symbolized the “peace and friendship” that existed between Canada and the United States as the two countries united to protect some of North America’s greatest Rocky Mountain wilderness.
Now, some 73 years later, the world’s first international peace park has turned into a battleground as Montana and British Columbia fight over a proposed open-pit coal mine on the headwaters of the Flathead River, just outside the international park boundaries.
In a letter to federal Environment Minister John Baird, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is requesting a review under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act saying he has failed to get agreements from B.C. to adequately protect the Flathead River.
“This is an amazing development,” Bob Peart, a strategic adviser to the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Committee, said yesterday.
“It’s never happened before in Canadian history that a foreign state has demanded an assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. I think this just shows you how seriously the U.S. is taking this threat. Montana’s governor is reaching out and saying the Flathead is really, really serious business.”
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