Category Archives: Environmental Issues

Several conservation and sportsmen groups want to ban wolverine trapping

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Short version: A number of organizations groups want to end wolverine trapping in Montana. Montana FWP thinks they are overreacting to a minimal trapping quota. Here’s the lead-in . . .

Eight conservation and sportsmen groups are petitioning Montana to ban the trapping of wolverines, citing a government finding that climate change may threaten the survival of the fierce, bear-like creatures.

Montana wildlife regulators on Thursday unanimously approved the upcoming trapping season anyway, saying the climate change models span decades and the trapping quota of five wolverines for the 2012 season is not likely to hurt the overall population.

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Bear specialist Tim Manley receives conservation award

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Tim Manley received some well-deserved recognition recently . . .

State grizzly bear management specialist Tim Manley has been selected as the first recipient of the Bud Moore Conservation Award.

Co-sponsored by Northwest Connections, the Swan Ecosystem Center and the Vital Ground Foundation, the award recognizes individuals who have gone out of their way to work with rural residents in the conservation of natural resources.

In presenting the award, Vital Grounds executive director Gary Wolfe said Manley was selected for his leadership, holistic thinking, wildlife conservation vision and spirit of cooperation — all traits embodied by the late Bud Moore, an iconic forester and outdoorsman.

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Greater Yellowstone Coalition wants to block wolf trapping near Yellowstone Park

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An environmental group wants a no-trapping buffer in the areas of Montana near Yellowstone Park to protect wolves that wander outside the boundaries . . .

A conservation group wants a trap-free buffer in Montana to protect wolves roaming outside Yellowstone National Park.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition says the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission shouldn’t allow wolf trapping in three management units that cover southern Montana from the Absaroka Mountains to the Madison Range.

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Griz relocated to North Fork a few days ago in trouble again near Whitefish

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That grizzly bear relocated into the North Fork from Lincoln a few days ago has already made its way over the Whitefish Divide and into trouble . . .

A grizzly bear that recently was moved from the Lincoln area to the North Fork Flathead drainage has showed up for trouble again, this time in a neighborhood about 10 miles north of Whitefish off U.S. 93.

The bear, a 2-year-old male weighing 150 pounds, was released in the lower Coal Creek area on July 22, but it managed to cross the Whitefish Divide and move south, turning up at the home of Carol Mystic in the Tamarack Creek area just four days later.

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Special map raises money for Flathead Lake biostation

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An artistic map of Flathead Lake is being sold to raise money for the Flathead Lake Biological Station . . .

The University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station and the Flathead Lakers have collaborated with a Missoula-based map making company to create a unique, artistic rendition of Flathead Lake to benefit the biological station.

The limited-edition print of Flathead Lake from Xplorer Maps features an antique style complete with illustrations of regional flora and fauna…

To view or purchase the map and find more information about the map and the programs that the proceeds will support, visit www.xplorermaps.com, www.flatheadlakers.org or www.umt.edu/flbs.

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Grizzly bear moved from Lincoln area to North Fork

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Another nuisance griz got the boot from more settled areas and introduced to the North Fork . . .

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists and field assistants captured a grizzly bear last week that had become too comfortable grazing near homes in the Lincoln area. Crews relocated the bear to the North Fork of the Flathead on Sunday.

FWP bear management specialist Jamie Jonkel said the bear was mostly eating clover, but also got into some birdseed, one bag of garbage and 100 pounds of water-damaged winter wheat that was on a property on 7-Up Ranch Lane.

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Searching for the biggest Western larch

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Andrew Larson, an assistant professor of ecology at the University of Montana, is on the hunt for the biggest Western larch in the U.S. . . .

The largest Western larch in the land is a giant, standing 153 feet over the placid waters of Seeley Lake in a quiet, shady grove.

Visiting the tree is akin to a quest and standing in its presence, where the air is fresh and light, brings one a sense of serenity…

As large and distinguished as the old larch is, Larson thinks there’s a bigger tree awaiting discovery in northwest Montana’s vast tracts of wild and remote lands.

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Canadian Flathead Valley scheduled for ‘BioBlitz’

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A team of scientists will be conducting a biological survey in early August of the area being proposed as an expansion for Waterton Lakes National Park in the Canadian Flathead drainage . . .

British Columbia’s North Fork Flathead drainage will soon be swarming with scientists looking to document as many forms of life possible in a first-ever “BioBlitz” for the area.

The search will involve about a dozen scientists and support personnel combing the drainage for birds, bees, bats, fish, fungi, flowers, lichens, trees, reptiles and mammals of all types…

The scientists will be working in an area of southeastern British Columbia that is proposed as an expansion area for Waterton Lakes National Park…

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Grizzly bear deaths spike in Yellowstone region this summer

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It could just be statistical anomaly, but there have been 16 grizzly bear deaths in the Yellowstone region this summer. Most are natural losses, but they are much higher than normal . . .

Bear biologists are refraining from assigning a single reason for a two-fold increase in the rate of natural grizzly bear deaths in the Yellowstone National Park region.

Ten of the 16 grizzlies that have met their ends this summer have died of natural causes, according to data from the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.

Historically, humans are to blame for more than 75 percent of the bear deaths in the first half of the summer. While the rate is just 37 percent this year, it is derived from a small sample size, and biologists aren’t jumping to any conclusions.

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Grizzly bear taste for chicken makes for conflicts — and dead bears

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We mentioned this last year, but it bears repeating: Human-bear conflict is not just caused by garbage, dog food and bird feeders. There is a growing problem these days with unprotected chicken coops. The New York Times ran a story a couple of weeks ago . . .

Longing for fresh eggs, Levi and Nauni Griffith began raising chickens in their backyard. They started with a few, and eventually had 116. Until late last summer, that is, when a grizzly sow and her cub, filling the night with fearful growling, got in among the shrieking chickens and then lumbered off, leaving bits of 99 birds behind…

In northwestern Montana, as in much of the country, more people are keeping chickens. And bears of all kinds are developing a taste for poultry that lures them into populated areas, presenting a dangerous situation for both people and, especially, for bears.

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