Category Archives: Environmental Issues

Controversial bill that aims to shift authority over federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S. border nears House vote

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From the Missoulian . . .

A controversial bill that aims to shift authority over federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S. border to the Department of Homeland Security could be nearing a vote on the House floor, a development that has renewed debate over the measure’s applicability in places like Montana, where it would strip dozens of environmental protections from Glacier National Park and designated wilderness areas.

The proposed legislation, called the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, or H.R. 1505, would exempt Homeland Security from compliance with 36 federal environmental protection laws in order to expedite border security, including the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

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Cutthroat trout’s ear bone reveals its life history

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This recently released study on westslope cutthroat trout migration tracking is pretty interesting stuff . . .

Like a tree’s concentric growth rings, a small bone within a fish’s ear reveals a history of its growth. And according to a new study of westslope cutthroat trout in the Flathead River system, the bone also contains a record of its migration pathways – a kind of geochemical diary of its life.

The bone, called an otolith, acquires a new ring every day of the fish’s life. All fish have them, and for decades scientists have counted the bands of the bone to determine the age of a fish, as well as estimate population growth.

But a study published last week by a slate of Montana researchers in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences brings to light new information that the ear bones also contain a unique fingerprint of the water chemistry where the fish swims on a given day, which can be used to map the entire life history of a fish within a river network.

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Another sign of spring: deer counting

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Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks people are out in the field gathering data on deer populations . . .

Hunting deer in springtime resembles its fall cousin in everything but the weaponry: Get up before dawn, go far away from other people, creep quietly to avoid scaring the quarry.

The only difference is that the big scopes don’t have rifles attached. Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Jay Kolbe has his mounted to his pickup window. As the morning light shifts from blue to yellow, he drives from one patch of new grass to another, counting every whitetail adult and fawn he can spot.

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Crown of the Continent makes list of “Top 5 American Treasures to Protect in 2012”

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The “Crown of the Continent” area in Montana, including the North Fork of the Flathead River, made the list of “Top 5 American Treasures to Protect in 2012” published on Earth Day by the Center for American Progress . . .

The United States is home to some of the most stunning and unique natural areas in the world, including 397 national parks, 101 national monuments, and 556 national wildlife refuges. But many more public lands—managed by the federal government and owned by all Americans—are worthy of protection for future generations. This Earth Day it’s worth thinking about the places that have strong local coalitions calling for protection that should be granted this year.

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Yellowstone Grizzlies to keep ‘threatened’ status until at least 2014

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The debate over the Grizzly’s status in the Yellowstone Park area continues . . .

Grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park will keep their threatened status for at least the next two to three years, as wildlife officials said Friday they plan to bolster their case that the species has recovered.

Federal and state officials insist there are enough bears in the three-state Yellowstone region to guard against a reversal of the decades-long effort to bring them back from near-extermination.

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Earth Day: Glacier Park embracing green initiative

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Glacier National Park is a climate change poster child . . .

Against the backdrop of a warming world, Glacier National Park and its waning namesakes have for years stood out as one of the most tangible manifestations of climate change.

And because the park’s administrative brass consistently marches at the vanguard of research, education and climate-friendly initiatives, Glacier Park has assumed a dual role, serving both as a poster child for the perils of global warming and a trailblazer in the efforts to mitigate its effects.

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Westslope cutthroat trout restoration project showing good results so far

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A so-far successful westslope cutthroat trout restoration effort in the South Fork has implications for future projects in other areas . . .

A decade-long program to restore Montana’s state fish to a chain of 21 alpine lakes above the South Fork Flathead River drainage is showing good results, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks official said.

Some of the lakes in the Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation project have been poisoned to kill non-native fish and then stocked with cutthroats. Others have been densely stocked each year with genetically pure trout to try to get rid of hybrid populations. Five remote lakes have received no treatment so far.

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Website upgraded as Montana wildflower season approaches

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From a recent post to the Missoulian . . .

The white on the ground remains snow instead of trillium petals, but wildflower season approaches.

To plan for that, consider an expanded U.S. Forest Service website that features great bloom locations across the nation. Montana has a dozen options, including the Lolo, Bitterroot, Kootenai, Helena, Gallatin, Custer, Flathead, Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Lewis and Clark national forests.

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For more information, see the U.S. Forest Service’s “Celebrating Wildflowers” website.

New bear-resistant trash cans rolled out on Flathead Reservation

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Following extensive testing, they’re introducing some pretty clever, bear-resistant trash totes on the Flathead Reservation . . .

Bill Foust admits it took him a little while to figure out how – with his hands full, anyway – to open the lid on his trash cans.

Bears still haven’t mastered it.

And that’s a good thing, considering Foust and his wife Barb live along the front of the Mission Mountains, where bears and humans sometimes have their difficulties coexisting.

The Fousts, who haven’t been able to bear-proof trash cans on their own, have been testing two new specially made bear-resistant containers for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

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