Category Archives: Environmental Issues

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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Improvements to Quartz Creek fish barrier on the way

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The battle to keep non-native lake trout out of the Quartz Creek drainage continues . . .

Following National Park Service approval and an environmental analysis, Glacier National Park officials will move forward with modifications and improvements to the existing Quartz Creek fish barrier to try and suppress lake trout and other non-native fish from getting into Quartz Lake, the park announced Monday.

Located in the North Fork of the Flathead River drainage and the park’s North Fork District, Quartz Lake is believed to be one of the last remaining strongholds for bull trout in park waters west of the Continental Divide. The lake was believed to be the largest on the west side of the park accessible to lake trout but not yet colonized by them. However, lake trout were detected in 2005, threatening the long-term persistence of the Quartz Lake bull trout fishery.

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Grizzlies declared “Species of Special Concern” in Canada

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Rachel Potter drew attention to this nugget. The grizzly bear is a “Species of Special Concern” in Canada, with the highest concentration of these bears being in the Canadian Flathead and, of course, points south . . .

Canada has a “major responsibility for safeguarding remaining grizzly populations,” according to a new federal government report.

Canada’s Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) met at the beginning of May and assessed thirty-five Canadian wildlife species as at risk, declaring grizzly bears a “Species of Special Concern.” . . .

British Columbia’s Flathead River Valley has the greatest density of grizzly bears in the interior of North America. As part of a wildlife corridor that stretches from Yellowstone Park in the U.S. up to the Yukon, the Flathead is a crucial habitat link for grizzlies and other animals.

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Wolves, aspen, elk and fire

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Cristina Eisenberg gave a presentation on her research into the interrelationship between predators, prey and landscape May 2. The Hungry Horse news has an interesting write-up on this report . . .

There are things one knows to be true in the natural world of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. There are wolves, there are elk, elk are chased down and eaten by wolves, and elk do everything they can to avoid being eaten. It’s nature.

Add a wild card to the mix, like the huge wildfires that have grazed the landscape in the North Fork of the Flathead, and one sees something else — lush growth of new stands of aspen, a tree coveted not only for its aesthetics but as a food resource for elk.

Oregon state researcher and author Cristina Eisenberg has been studying the relationships between elk, aspens, wolves and fires for several years in the adjoining national parks. Over the years, she’s compared the density of elk and wolves in three different but similar regions — the North Fork, St. Mary and Waterton valleys. She talked about her findings at the Glacier National Park Community Hall on May 2.

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Aquatic invasive species watercraft inspection program gearing up for another summer

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Montana’s watercraft inspection program is already up and running this season. And for good reason . . .

Montana’s aquatic invasive species watercraft inspection program is gearing up for another summer, and the first question inspectors will ask is, “Where has your boat been in the past 30 days.” More than 45 newly trained Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks seasonal employees will man the check stations beginning in mid-May in key locations throughout the state.

The summer’s mission is to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, chief among them quagga and zebra mussels, New Zealand mudsnails and Eurasian watermilfoil, and to inform boaters how to prevent infesting Montana’s waters with these unwanted, costly-to-clean-up-after pests.

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