Category Archives: Environmental Issues

Groups sue to stop Flathead National Forest thinning project

Environmental Issues, News,

Some organizations are suing to prevent a forest thinning project . . .

Environmental groups have sued to stop pre-commercial thinning work on the Flathead National Forest, raising arguments that are similar to those applied in two previous lawsuits targeting timber sales.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Wild Swan and the Native Ecosystems Council filed the lawsuit May 29 in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

It challenges a recently approved project that involves pre-commercial thinning on 3,650 acres spread across the Flathead Forest.

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FWP open house to consider wolf-hunt changes

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Here’s some more information on the upcoming Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks “listening session” to discuss changes in wolf hunt regulations . . .

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will host an open house in Kalispell on Wednesday, June 13, to give information and answer questions on the proposed 2012-13 wolf hunting and trapping season.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Flathead Valley Community College Arts and Technology Building. At the open house, people will break out into small groups to discuss details and work on comments regarding the proposals.

Under the wolf season proposals, the general season would run from Sept. 1, 2012, to Feb. 28, 2013, with trapping allowed from Dec. 15 to the end of the general wolf season. There would be no statewide quota, but quotas would be established in two areas near Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks.

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Grizzly bear panel eying oil activity on east side

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Land and wildlife managers are keeping an eye on the impact of oil and gas development on the Rock Mountain Front . . .

An interagency panel of land and wildlife managers has turned its attention to the impacts on grizzly bears from oil-and-gas exploration and extraction on the Rocky Mountain Front.

The Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem Subcommittee is geared toward delisting the grizzly bear population, with a draft Conservation Strategy for doing so expected to be released this summer.

But removing the threatened Northern Rockies grizzly bear population from protection under the Endangered Species Act is still “several years out,” said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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FWP issues alert for grizzly bears on high plains east of Rocky Mountain Front

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Even more evidence that grizzlies are starting to disperse eastward from the Rocky Mountain Front . . .

Wildlife officials are warning residents that grizzly bears are on the prairie east of the Rocky Mountain Front and precautions should be taken.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks workers tell the Great Falls Tribune that the agency has received reports of grizzlies east of Valier, on the Sun River between Fort Shaw and the town of Sun River, and along the Marias River above Tiber Reservoir.

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Montana FWP to hold public forum on proposed wolf rules

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Here’s more information on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks effort to gather public feedback on this year’s proposed wolf hunting and trapping regulations. (For more background, see last week’s post.) . . .

Residents will have a chance to speak up about proposed changes to the wolf hunting and trapping season at a public gathering in Kalispell next week.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is hosting an open house forum in the Science and Technology building at Flathead Valley Community College from 7 to 9 p.m. on June 13.

Wildlife officials will give a presentation on the proposed regulations that were recently approved by the state wildlife commission. Attendees will be able to ask questions and discuss the proposals further afterward.

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Cline sues B.C. over Canadian Flathead mining ban

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As mentioned last Wednesday, Cline Mining, the outfit that planned an open pit coal mine in the North Fork headwaters area up in Canada, sued British Columbia over its decision a couple of years ago to ban mining and other extractive industries in the Canadian Flathead. The story has since gotten quite a bit of coverage on both sides of the border. One of the better follow-up articles was just posted by the Missoulian . . .

The decades-long dispute over a proposed mining ban on the northern edge of Glacier National Park flared up this week when a Canadian mining company filed a lawsuit against the Province of British Columbia seeking $500 million in compensation for lost revenue.

In the lawsuit, Cline Mining Corp. alleges that the government of B.C. expropriated three coal properties in the Canadian Flathead Valley by passing the Flathead Watershed Area Conservation Act, a recent piece of legislation that halted mining on all lands within the Flathead River watershed.

Cline lost its coal claims in the Flathead Valley in southeast B.C. when former Premier Gordon Campbell signed the Flathead Watershed Area Memorandum of Understanding with Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, reversing a longstanding land use plan for the Canadian Flathead that gave drilling and mining primacy over all other uses.

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Public comment sought on wolf hunt proposal

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Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is gathering public feedback on this year’s proposed wolf hunting and trapping regulations. (Yes, that’s right, they are talking about allowing trapping this year.)

Most of these state-wide “listening sessions” were held on May 22, but there is one more scheduled for June 13, 7-9 p.m., at the Flathead Valley Community College, 777 Grandview Dr., Kalispell. The increased wolf quota and inclusion of trapping made earlier presentations fairly contentious, so expect the meeting in Kalispell to be lively.

Montana FWP also wants written public comment. Realistically, this is more effective than attending one of the meetings. Deadline for written comments is June 25. Send comments to FWP – Wildlife Bureau, Attn: Public Comment, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701. Call the FWP Wildlife Bureau at 406-444-2612 with any questions about the process.

For details on the proposed changes to Montana’s wolf hunting regulations, read FWP’s “Interested Persons Letter“.

You can also read the full press release online.

Battle against aquatic invasive species cranks up

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State and federal wildlife agencies are getting very hard-nosed about efforts to prevent the spread of a number of aquatic invasive species . . .

The battle against aquatic invasive species continues in Montana, where wildlife officials are constantly trying to prevent milfoil, mussels and other nonnative species from contaminating local lakes and rivers. These species are transported mainly on recreational watercraft that are not properly cleaned. History has shown aquatic invasive species are a major threat to waterways and can significantly damage ecosystems and natural resources.

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Public shows little agreement on wolf hunt

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This report on a Region 2 “listening session” provides a peek behind the curtain at the current Montana FWP thinking about predator control and hunt quotas . . .

This fall’s Montana wolf hunt will face critics who say it’s too extreme and not extreme enough.

State Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials got a taste of the divide on Tuesday during a Missoula listening session. While not ready for formal public comments, Region 2 Supervisor Mack Long invited the roughly 50 people in the audience to lay out the issues that should be considered. They obliged.

“It’s not too late to turn things around, but we’ve got to do it quick,” Long said. “This is one of the most dynamic times we’ve ever seen in wildlife management.”

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Grizzly population study to start in Cabinet-Yaak region

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A DNA-based grizzly bear population study is slated to being this summer in the Cabinet-Yaak area . . .

A small army will soon begin a summer of scouring the woods of extreme Northwest Montana and northern Idaho, collecting grizzly bear hair for a genetics-based population study.

The project is being led by Kate Kendall, a U.S. Geological Survey researcher who pioneered a similar large landscape grizzly bear population study in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in 2004.

On Wednesday, Kendall was on her way to lead 70 field workers in a nine-day training session at a Forest Service work station in the upper Yaak Valley not far from the Canadian border.

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