It looks like Montana’s wolf hunt will finish up on February 15 at just over 70% of the original quota . . .
Unless the wolf hunt picks up substantially over the next few days, it appears Montana will fall well short of its statewide quota when the extended season closes Wednesday, Feb. 15.
So far, 156 wolves have been harvested, just over 70 percent of the 220-animal quota. In Northwest Montana’s Region One, 61 wolves have been harvested in six wolf hunting districts with a total quota of 73.
From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .
The Northwest Montana Patriots Association, one of more than a dozen Tea Party groups in the state, is weighing in on the Montana wilderness issue with Sen. Jon Tester.
The group is doing it with an unusual states’ rights suggestion to turn over management authority of some federal lands to the state as other federal lands are designated as wilderness under Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.
This week’s Hungry Horse News has a nice piece on the history of wolf recovery in Northwest Montana . . .
The revival of wolf populations in Northwest Montana likely had its genesis with a single pack just north of Glacier National Park.
A female wolf named Kishinena in British Columbia was caught and radio-collared in April 1979. She was the first radio-collared wolf in the Rocky Mountains as part of the Wolf Ecology Project headed up by Robert Ream, at the University of Montana.
While she spent most of her time in British Columbia roaming the North Fork drainage, Kishinena did wander into Glacier Park on occasion.
From today’s Missoulian . . .
The U.S. Forest Service wants to speed up work on national forests, for both timber production and forest health.
“Collaboration is most effective in getting forests managed in a proper way,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a conference call on Thursday. “We want to move beyond the conflicts in the past that slowed progress down. We’re going to look to encourage environmentalists, folks in the forest industry, people who live in forest communities and other stakeholders to work for healthy forests.”
Vilsack pledged the Forest Service would boost its lumber production from 2.4 billion board feet in 2011 to 3 billion board feet by 2014. That would come through a 20 percent increase in forest acres treated over the next three years.
Those treatments also include fuels reduction, reforestation, stream restoration, road decommissioning, culvert work and prescribed fire, as well as timber harvesting.
Here is a little more detail on the closure of the wolf hunt in the North Fork area, as well as general hunt status in this corner of Montana . . .
A wolf hunting district covering the North Fork Flathead drainage has been closed by the state because the district’s wolf quota recently was reached.
Wolf Management Unit 110 had a quota for two wolves to be harvested by hunters with wolf permits. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced the closure Tuesday.
Only one other wolf-hunting district in Northwest Montana has been closed. District 101 covering the Salish Mountains west of Kalispell had a quota of 19 wolves that was reached Dec. 29.
The wolf hunt is officially over for the North Fork and environs. Here is the press release . . .
The hunting of all wolves in Montana Wolf Management Unit 110 which includes portions of Lincoln and Flathead Counties, in northwestern Montana, will close Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at one half-hour after sunset.
The order halting the hunt came after Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials received word that the pre-established harvest quota for wolves in the WMU had been met.
For more information, visit FWP’s website at fwp.mt.gov click “Montana Wolf Hunt,”or call the toll-free number at 1-800-385-7826.
And here is a related Associated Press article . . .
Montana officials are closing down wolf hunting in parts of northwestern Montana bordering Glacier National Park after hunters filled the area’s two-animal quota.
Hunting closes after sunset Wednesday in portions of Lincoln and Flathead counties west of the park.
First the grizzlies started moving back out onto the high plains, now a young male wolf called “OR7” has wandered into California. California being California, it’s a big deal. The New York Times has the story. It includes some pointed observations by Ed Bangs, the recently retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator for the Northern Rockies. . .
SAN FRANCISCO — On the Chinese calendar, this week ushers in the year of the dragon. But here, it feels a lot more like the year of the wolf
On Dec. 28, a 2 1/2 -year-old gray wolf crossed the state line from Oregon, becoming the first of his species to run wild here in 88 years.
His arrival has prompted news articles, attracted feverish fans and sent wildlife officials scrambling to prepare for a new and unfamiliar predator.
Here’s a pretty useful write-up on the proposed new national forest planning rule. Or, for those of you who like to read source documents, the official U.S. Forest Service press release and a link to the (take a deep breath) “Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule” can be found online at the Forest Service web site . . .
A proposed planning rule for managing national forests puts new emphasis on watershed health and recreation, but also strives to keep loggers in the woods, U.S. Forest Service officials said Thursday.
The national rule will guide local forest supervisors when they make their more specific forest management plans. Those plans govern where trees can be cut, the kinds of wildlife to watch out for, activities allowed in campgrounds and the backcountry, and how people can challenge forest decisions.
More information: Press release and link to U.S. Forest Service’s draft planning rule
A shiny, new set of national forest management rules are due to take effect in early March . . .
The Obama administration says new rules to manage nearly 200 million acres of national forests will protect watersheds and wildlife while promoting uses ranging from recreation to logging.
The new rules, to replace guidelines thrown out by a federal court in 2009, are set to take effect in early March. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the rule change on Thursday.
Vilsack said in an interview that the rules reflect more than 300,000 comments received since a draft plan was released last year. The new rules strengthen a requirement that decisions be based on the best available science and recognize that forests are used for a variety of purposes, Vilsack said.
This is pretty interesting. It seems Montana is getting more than its share of snowy owls this winter . . .
More snowy owls appear to have migrated from the Arctic to Montana and other states this winter in search of food.
The owls are identifiable by their brilliant white color, measure 2 feet tall or taller and have wingspans of nearly 5 feet.
In Montana, the owls have been seen from Kalispell to Plentywood and as far south as the Crow Reservation.
Last week, one snowy owl was spotted in the area of the Kidsports complex and Glacier High School in north Kalispell while five owls were observed in the Somers area.