Category Archives: Environmental Issues

Heaven’s Peak restoration raises concerns

Environmental Issues, News,

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

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

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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Wolves find few friends among Montana lawmakers in 2011 legislature

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Lots of (ahem) howling about wolves in this year’s session of the Montana legislature . . .

As the Montana Legislature moves into the second half of the session the gray wolf is proving to be one creature with few friends in the Capitol.

Lawmakers are advancing a slate of bills that call for decreasing protections for wolves, while Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer encouraged killing the animals last month in defiance of the federal Endangered Species Act.

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Wacky wildlife bills progress through Montana legislature

Environmental Issues, News,

From this week’s Hungry Horse News . . .

Hunters just might be able to use a spear next season if a law that makes them legal holds up. The Senate passed a bill by a 27-21 vote in January that would make a spear a legal weapon.

Senate Bill 112, sponsored by Sanders County Republican Greg Hinkle, is now being considered by the House. It’s just one of the many fish and game laws that are under consideration by the Legislature this year.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer has openly made fun of the bill and has promised he’ll veto it.

But spear chucking isn’t the only thing in lawmakers sights. They’d also like to nullify the Endangered Species Act. . .

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Tester amends federal budget bill to declare wolves recovered in Montana and Idaho

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

From today’s Missoulian . . .

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has inserted language into the Senate’s Continuing Resolution – the bill that funds the entire national budget – declaring the gray wolf a recovered species in Montana and Idaho.

The $1.077 trillion, seven-month spending bill is expected to reach a full Senate vote on Tuesday, and then return to the House of Representatives.

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Legislation, more agreements still needed to ensure protection of Flathead region

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , , ,

This well-written, well-researched article by Rob Chaney of the Missoulian is recommended reading for anyone interested in the challenges still to come in protecting the Trans-boundary Flathead . . .

Now that the trans-boundary conference calls and Washington, D.C., hand-shaking sessions are over, a lot remains to finish in protecting the Flathead River between British Columbia and Montana.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s Valentine’s Day announcement that two conservation groups were providing $9.4 million to buy out mining claims on the Canadian side of the Flathead didn’t include all the details of the deal. One significant omission was that while the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy is raising its half of the money through private donations, the Nature Conservancy of Canada is dipping into a $225 million Canadian government fund for its contribution.

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Devon Energy still owns 74 leases in the Flathead; retirement likely

Environmental Issues, News, ,

A very informative article posted late last night to the Missoulian’s web site . . .

While about 80 percent of existing energy exploration leases in the North Fork Flathead have been retired by the world’s leading oil, gas and mining companies, a handful of parcels remain in contention by smaller firms.

Those holdings include nearly 138,000 acres in Flathead County that extend into the Haskill Basin drainage, the primary source of Whitefish’s drinking water supply, as well as along the western edge of Glacier National Park in the Flathead National Forest and underneath Big Mountain.

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Wilson discusses North Fork watershed resolution and aftermath

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , , , ,

This week’s Hungry Horse News column by Larry Wilson discusses the recent actions on both sides of the border to protect the North Fork watershed and takes a look at what might be coming next. His column is, as usual, recommended reading . . .

Since Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed a memorandum of understanding with British Columbia, which promised up to 17 million dollars to Canadian companies for reimbursement for cash already spent, we have all wondered where he would find the money. Montana could not pay and for months efforts were made, without success, to get Uncle Sam to foot the bill.

Now it seems that an answer has been found! The Nature Conservancy of Canada and the U.S. Nature Conservancy have committed $9.4 million to the government of British Columbia to conclude the British Columbia-Montana memo of understanding signed a year ago. As part of the deal, the province of British Columbia will enact legislation banning the extraction of minerals, oil, gas, and coal within the watershed. With the two nature conservancy groups coming up with this money, protection of the upper North Fork is an important step towards completion.

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B.C. legislation for Flathead only first step towards long-term protection

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , ,

This article on the Sierra Club BC’s web site does a good job of putting the current actions by the B.C. government to protect the Canadian part of the Flathead valley in context.

Here’s the lead-in . . .

Legislation to prohibit mining and energy development in the Flathead River Valley is only the first of three steps the B.C. government must take to protect the Flathead permanently, said Sierra Club BC in a recent press release.

On February 15, 2011, the B.C. premier’s office issued a statement that “the Province has signed an agreement to sustain environmental values in the Flathead Valley, and will introduce legislation to support the 2010 MOU on Environmental Protection, Climate Action and Energy with the State of Montana.”

“While the legislation is an important step, it does not equate to long-term conservation for the Flathead River Valley,” said Sierra Club BC spokesperson Sarah Cox. “It’s a complete stretch to say that the Flathead is forever protected.”

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