Category Archives: Environmental Issues

Settlement reached on wolf recovery in western states – more info

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

From the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, here’s some more information on the proposed gray wolf recovery settlement announced last Friday . . .

Wolf management in the Northern Rockies took a step forward Friday, March 18, when a coalition of 10 conservation groups — including GYC — announced a legal settlement with the U.S. Department of the Interior. The agreement was filed in a federal district court in Missoula, where the court will review it and decide whether to support [it] . . .

If the court OKs the settlement, wolf management will return to the states of Montana and Idaho. Meanwhile, Endangered Species Act protections will be retained in the states where wolves remain threatened: Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and Utah . . .

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Further reading:
GYC press release
Press release from the U.S. Department of the Interior

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks releases spring bear report

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It’s that time of year again. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks released their spring bear report to various media outlets Friday, encouraging people to get ready for hungry bears emerging from hibernation . . .

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bear managers meet every year in mid-March to prepare for the state’s bears to emerge from hibernation. About the same time, male grizzly bears are already stirring and that is why April 1st is the target date FWP bear managers recommend for bringing in winter bird feeders and seed, cleaning yards and collecting and disposing of bear attractants that have accumulated over winter.

NORTHWESTERN MONTANA
Tim Manley, FWP Region 1 grizzly bear specialist, said it is especially important for residents to clean up around their homes early in April. In recent years, deep mountain snowpack and heavy spring snowfall have pushed bears into the valley bottoms earlier in the season and for longer than usual.

“On the east side of the Flathead Valley during 2010, we had 18 grizzly bears we knew spent much of April and the first half of May in the valley . . .”

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Deal reached to lift wolf protections in Montana and Idaho

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From an AP article posted to today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

Facing mounting pressure from Congress, wildlife advocates and the U.S. Department of Interior on Friday reached an agreement to lift gray wolf protections in Montana and Idaho and allow hunting of the predators to resume.

The settlement agreement — opposed by some environmentalists — is intended to resolve years of litigation that have shielded wolves in the Northern Rockies from hunting, even as the predator’s population has sharply expanded.

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Also see Earthjustice withdraws from wolf lawsuit , cites rift among groups in the Missoulian.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will negotiate wolf management with Wyoming

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Here’s a new chapter in the ongoing Idaho-Montana-Wyoming wolf management soap opera . . .

The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday that federal officials are resuming negotiations with Wyoming aimed at turning over control of endangered gray wolves to the state.

Federal officials have said for years that wolves were biologically recovered across Wyoming, but the species has remained on the endangered list there because of a law that allows wolves to be shot on sight across most of the state.

U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne last year ordered the government to reconsider its rejections of Wyoming’s wolf management plan. The Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday dropped its appeal of the judge’s November order.

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Glacier National Park home to about 40 wolverines

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Although not as extensive as yesterday’s Wolverine story in the Missoulian, this article posted to the Flathead Beacon has a bit of additional information . . .

A recent ongoing study indicates that about 40 wolverines are living in Glacier National Park, a U.S. Forest Service biologist says.

Rick Yates said that a study that started in January to collect wolverine fur samples is providing DNA samples from the secretive mammals.

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Remote cameras: Secretive wolverines give up furry clues in Glacier National Park

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This very interesting article about wolverine studies in Glacier National Park appeared in today’s Missoulian. Study volunteers Doug Chadwick, Karen Reeves, Stuart Reiswig and Flannery Coats all get a mention . . .

The carnivore’s eyes glow like orbs in the winter darkness, the front quarter of a deer clenched in its vice-like jaws.

As the fur-covered critter wrests the carrion from a steel bolt on a bait post, it leaves behind a token that will be treasured by researchers studying the animal – a lock of wolverine fur.

The remarkable scene was captured last month by remote camera at a backcountry site in Glacier National Park, where carnivore ecologist John Waller has been conducting an unprecedented study to determine the size of the park’s wolverine population.

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Obama nominates Rich Moy, senior fellow at University of Montana, for U.S.-Canada joint panel

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Among other things, the Joint International Commission deals with concerns affecting the trans-boundary Flathead, so any change to its make-up is of interest to North Fork residents . . .

President Barack Obama has nominated a former state water official to a joint U.S.-Canada panel that resolves cross-boundary water disputes.

Rich Moy, now a senior fellow at University of Montana, was nominated for the Joint International Commission at the recommendation of U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Montana Democrats.

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Officials: Wolf population dips in Northern Rockies

Environmental Issues, News, ,

You’ll need to read the better part of this article to get the full context . . .

The gray wolf population in the Northern Rockies dropped in 2010 — the first annual decline since the animal was reintroduced to the region 15 years ago, federal wildlife officials reported Friday. . .

Fewer wolves in Idaho accounted for the entire 2010 population drop. Wolf numbers increased slightly in Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington.

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Heaven’s Peak restoration raises concerns

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This sounds like one of those awkward debates between two groups of well-meaning people . . .

Glacier National Park’s plan to stabilize the remote Heaven’s Peak Lookout has sparked a lively debate over appropriate uses in wilderness. But unlike other public debates over the years, this one is, in part, between current and former employees of the Park Service.

The lookout was built in 1945 by conscientious objectors during World War II and one of the last remaining structures built by members of the Civilian Public Service.

For that reason, Glacier officials claim the lookout deserves preservation, whether it’s in wilderness or not.

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Grizzly’s threatened status appealed in Oregon court

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From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

Dueling attorneys for a conservation group and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offered starkly different opinions Monday about the future of the grizzly bear population in and around Yellowstone National Park, if the bear is taken off the threatened species list.

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