Category Archives: Environmental Issues

Get your Forest Plan comments in now! Deadline is Oct 3!

Environmental Issues, Member Bulletins & Information,
Lake in Flathead National Forest
Lake in Flathead National Forest

Dear North Fork Preservation Association Member,

With all of the wild public lands in the North Fork, there is not one acre of designated Wilderness….yet.  This needs to change and YOU can play a significant role in this by writing a comment on the Flathead Forest Plan TODAY!

The Flathead National Forest is in the midst of its forest planning process.  Several years ago, members of NFPA participated in the Whitefish Range Partnership (WRP), a local citizen collaborative, in anticipation of the forest planning process.  The WRP represented various interests (loggers, snowmobilers, mountain bikers, backcountry horsemen, and wilderness advocates) and consensus was reached on 83,000 acres of proposed wilderness in the northern Whitefish Range.  This area includes the most spectacular peaks in the Whitefish Range: Nasukoin, Tuchuck, Hefty, Thompson-Seton, and Review.  We are hoping that the Flathead National Forest will include the northern Whitefish Range as Recommended Wilderness in their final Forest Plan and not allow any non-conforming uses in recommended wilderness.  (Recommended Wilderness is the first step in getting this area designated as Wilderness by Congress.)

A personal letter from you makes the biggest impact.  If you have hiked any of these peaks, please mention this in your letter.  If you don’t have time to write a personal letter and want the easy way, just go to www.wildmontana.org/flathead and add your name and contact information to the letter that was written by the Montana Wilderness Association.

If you write your own personalized letter, send it to:

Chip Weber
Forest Supervisor
Flathead National Forest
650 Wolfpack Way
Kalispell, MT 59901

Please include support for the following things:

For the North Fork—

  1. Recommended Wilderness in the northern Whitefish Range following the map submitted by the Whitefish Range Partnership.
  2. Manage recommended Wilderness just like designated Wilderness, prohibiting motorized use and mountain biking.

For other areas in the Flathead National Forest–

  1. Expansion of the Bob Marshall Wilderness northward in the Swan Range to protect the Bunker and upper Sullivan Creek area
  2. Protect the Greater Jewel Basin, especially the western slope of the Swan Range, in recommended Wilderness.
  3. Expansion of the Mission Mountains Wilderness to include the lower-elevations, species rich-lands adjacent to it.
  4. Manage recommended Wilderness just like designated Wilderness, prohibiting motorized use and mountain biking.

Also, please support Alternative 3 in the Environmental Impact Statement to keep core grizzly bear habitat managed at the level that it has been in the past…… whether or not the grizzly is delisted.

We have a receptive Forest administration and a good chance of getting recommended wilderness additions if there are lots of comments from citizens.  Your comment is very important!  You can make a real difference! Thanks for taking the time to do this!  The deadline is October 3, so please submit your comments today!!

 

Warm Regards,
Debo Powers, NFPA President
NFPApresident@gravel.org

Legendary conservationist John Craighead dead at 100

Environmental Issues, News,

First Chuck Jonkel, now John Craighead . . .

John Craighead liked to quote fellow legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold, who once said “we should think like a mountain.”

The philosophy of following nature’s cues and looking “at the fundamentals of things” guided Craighead’s pioneering work in American conservation, its wild rivers and seminal studies of grizzly bears.

“I have listened to the voice of the mountain for most of my life,” said Craighead upon receiving The Wildlife Society’s Aldo Leopold Memorial Award in 1998.

The mountains still talk, but they lost one of their most avid listeners Sunday morning when John Craighead died in his sleep at his home of more than 60 years in southwest Missoula.

Read more . . .

Conservationists from around the globe gather in Glacier Park

Environmental Issues, News, ,
St. Mary Lake
St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park

A world-wide assortment of conservationists met in Glacier Park . . .

What many European visitors to the United States encounter on their first trip to America, the woman from Croatia noted, is New York City.

One of the first things Maja Vasilijevic saw on her first trip to the U.S. was a little different than the bright lights and teeming crowds of Times Square. No, one of Vasilijevic’s first encounters with America included a large herd of bison thundering across a lonely stretch of U.S. Highway 2 on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

“It’s unique,” said Vasilijevic, who had never in her life seen one of the animals in person. “Not only the bison – the whole landscape.”

Read more . . .

Grizzly bear DNA database grows by the day

Environmental Issues, News,
Grizzly Bear - Thomas Lefebvre, via Unsplash
Grizzly Bear – Thomas Lefebvre, via Unsplash

Here’s a good article by Chris Peterson in the Hungry Horse News discussing how the use of DNA analysis in grizzly bear research is really hitting its stride . . .

This summer, grizzly bears have been confirmed in the Big Hole River Valley of Montana for the first time in the last 100 years.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear manager Kevin Frey said they do have hair samples from at least one grizzly from earlier this summer in the Big Hole and the state plans on having the samples analyzed to find out if biologists can track the origins of the bear.

The case is just another illustration of how far DNA analysis of bears has come in the past 25 years.

Read more . . .

Judge asked to restore cancelled energy lease in Badger-Two Medicine

Environmental Issues, News, ,
Badger-Two Medicine Region
Badger-Two Medicine Region

Solonex makes the next move in its court fight over cancelled oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine region . . .

A Louisiana energy company is asking a federal judge to reverse the cancellation of a 33-year-old oil and gas lease on land considered sacred to the Blackfoot tribes of the U.S. and Canada.

Solenex LLC of Baton Rouge filed court papers Monday seeking a judgment in the case that’s before U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C.

The 6,200-acre lease is in the Badger-Two Medicine area of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. It’s just outside Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

Read more . . .

Coalition challenges Rock Creek Mine water permit

Environmental Issues, News, , ,
Southern Cabinet Mountains, as seen from Swede Mountain, near Libby
Southern Cabinet Mountains, as seen from Swede Mountain, near Libby

An environmental coalition is challenging the DNRC water permit for the Rock Creek Mine, one of two proposed mines near the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness . . .

A coalition of environmental groups is challenging the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s proposed decision to issue a water permit to the company hoping to build a massive copper and silver mine near Noxon.

The coalition, including the Clark Fork Coalition, Rock Creek Alliance, Earthworks and the Montana Environmental Information Center, has alleged that the Hecla Mining Company’s Rock Creek Mine would dewater streams within the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. The nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice represents the groups.

The formal objection was filed with the DNRC on Sept. 6.

Read more . . .

Must see! 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year Contest

Environmental Issues, Photos & Images
Curious Lions by Kym Ilman
Curious Lions by Kym Ilman

National Geographic is running their annual photography contest. I cannot post samples here but, trust me, you really want to go check them out. There are some truly spectacular photos among the submissions so far and the contest still has several weeks to run.

Twisted Sifter has some highlight photos on their site with links to more.

Researchers start long-term huckleberry investigation

Environmental Issues, News,
Huckleberries on Moran Creek Trail (T2) in Flathead NF - W. K. Walker
Huckleberries on Moran Creek Trail (T2) in Flathead NF – W. K. Walker

Researchers have launched a serious effort to learn more about huckleberries.

The North Fork Preservation Association is supporting this investigation. The NFPA has a huckleberry team of seven people, led by Suzanne Danielle, who checked two sites in the North Fork every week throughout the season . . .

We know the least about the plant we love the most in the mountains.

When Tabitha Graves took up carnivore research for the U.S. Geological Survey base at Glacier National Park, one of the biggest puzzles needing attention was the role huckleberries play in the food chain. Although creatures from grasshoppers to grizzlies like the purple fruit, we know little about what the berries themselves like.

“The more I’ve gotten into this, the more I’ve realized how important they are,” Graves said. “All kinds of birds eat them, as do small mammals. We’ve found coyote scats with berries in them. We’ve seen wasps eating them. And of course, humans eat a lot of them.”

Read more . . .

Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation annual science meeting and community events come to Whitefish

Environmental Issues, News,
Whitebark Pine Closeup, 2016 - W. K. Walker
Whitebark Pine Closeup, 2016 – W. K. Walker

From the press release . . .

The Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation (WPEF) is partnering with the Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park to hold the Foundation’s 2016 science meeting in Whitefish on September 16th. The event is being held at the O’Shaughnessy Center, 1 Central Avenue, and includes both a full day of science presentations and an evening program for the public. There will also be an event on Saturday recognizing Whitefish Mountain Resort as the first certified “Whitebark Pine Friendly Ski Area”. The formal presentation ceremony recognizing the ski area’s efforts to protect and restore whitebark pine will occur at the resort’s Base Lodge at 10:30 a.m.

Whitebark pine is a keystone species, whose large seeds provide a critical food source for over 110 species of birds and animals at high elevations. Its presence allows other tree species to establish under the harsh conditions near the tree line, and helps retain snowpack and regulate runoff. Outdoor enthusiasts know whitebark pine as a familiar companion that enriches their high mountain experiences.

Whitebark faces several threats, primarily human caused, that have decreased the number of whitebark pine in Northwest Montana by over 90 percent. The science program being held on Friday, the 16th from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. will feature presentations by many of the premier experts in whitebark pine research, policy and restoration efforts. The public is welcome to attend; go to http://whitebarkfound.org/ for more information.

An evening program for the public, covering whitebark pine ecology, threats and local restoration efforts, will be held after the science meeting from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. The evening program will feature presentations by whitebark pine and Clark’s nutcracker researcher, Dr. Diana Tomback, and Flathead National Forest reforestation specialist, Karl Anderson. Evening events will also include a no-host bar and silent auction. The public is encouraged to attend and learn more about whitebark pine and why it is such an important species to the people living in northwest Montana.

For more information on any of the events, please contact Melissa Jenkins, WPEF Secretary, at (406) 260-6500.

Grizzly delisting plan gets new public comment review

Environmental Issues, News, ,
Grizzly bear sow with three cubs - NPS photo
Grizzly bear sow with three cubs – NPS photo

Wildlife managers continue to work on a plan to remove grizzly bears from the Endangered Species List. Meanwhile, there’s evidence of contact between the two main grizzly population centers . . .

Federal plans to delist the grizzly bear from Endangered Species Act protection will get a second round of public comment.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Tuesday announcement follows its release of a peer-review report generally approving its management plan for allowing state management of grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Coincidentally, it also arrives on the heels of reports that Yellowstone grizzlies may be making contact with their fellows in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem north of Missoula.

Montana, Idaho and Wyoming state wildlife managers have all proposed plans for both protecting and hunting Yellowstone grizzly bear populations, assuming they leave federal management. Northern grizzlies are considered a separate population, although they are undergoing a similar delisting process that isn’t as far along as the Yellowstone one.

Read more . . .