Category Archives: Environmental Issues

Tester gets ‘four Pinocchios’ for statements on logging litigation

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Senator Jon Tester seriously misstated the effect of lawsuits on logging projects in Montana, causing a minor public furor and earning him “four Pinocchios” from the Washington Post . . .

Our inbox started flowing with e-mails from outraged residents of Montana shortly after Montana Public Radio ran an interview in which Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)  asserted that “every logging sale” in the state was “under litigation.” The complaints also reached the radio station, as within a day, Tester’s staff offered a revised statement that focused on “volume” rather than sales. Marnee Banks, his spokeswoman, apologized for the original statement, but Tester himself made no comment.

But when we asked Tester’s staff for evidence to back up the revised statement, they simply directed us to the U.S. Forest Service, rather than explain the data themselves. It’s taken a few days to unravel the numbers, but this is a case of apples and oranges, with a few limes thrown in.

What’s the actual effect of litigation on logging in Montana?

Read more . . .

Model quantifies meltwater contribution from Glacier Park’s glaciers

Environmental Issues, News,

A recent study puts some hard numbers on the amount of meltwater contributed by the glaciers in Glacier National Park . . .

A recent study to be published in the University of Colorado’s Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research journal quantifies for the first time the amount of meltwater from Glacier National Park’s glaciers.

The peer-reviewed scientific study presents a model quantifying the contribution of the Park’s 39 named glaciers to local watersheds. Total glacial coverage in the Park has declined by 35 percent over the last half-century as an increasingly warm atmosphere outpaces the rate at which new precipitation allows glaciers to grow.

The research effort began about five years ago with Whitefish native Adam Clark’s graduate thesis at the University of Montana Geosciences Department, where he studied under another one of the study’s coauthors, Joel Harper. Clark now works for the U.S. Geological Service’s Northern Rocky Mountains Science Center with Dan Fagre, the other co-author of the study.

Read more . . .

Feds may restore grizzlies to North Cascades

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Looks like Washington’s Cascade Range may be getting some grizzly bears . . .

A tentative federal proposal to restore grizzly bears in the North Cascades will be explained at public meetings next month.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service are taking public comments for an environmental impact statement before deciding whether to take an active role in restoring the grizzly bear to the North Cascades Ecosystem…

The North Cascades ecosystem encompasses 9,800 square miles in the United States and another 3,800 square miles in British Columbia. The United States portion includes North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake and Lake Chelan national recreation areas plus the Okanogan-Wenatchee and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie national forests.

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Reminder: Rally for public lands in Helena at noon, Feb. 16

Environmental Issues
President's Day Public Land Rally
President’s Day Public Land Rally

Reminder: Attend the Public Land Rally in Helena this Monday, February 16, at High Noon!

Guest speakers:
Governor Steve Bullock
David Allen, President and CEO, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Mary Sexton, former Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director
Adrienne Marx, Montana Wilderness Association council member
Randy Newberg, host of the popular cable television show “Fresh Tracks with Randy Newberg.”

Can you make it?  Will you make it?

If you live in the Flathead Valley there’s a van leaving Kalispell at 8:00am.  Call 406-730-2006 for info. First come, first serve.

If you live in another town, click here for other bus/car pooling opportunities.

Why is this important:  The Transfer of Public Lands is a hot button issue this legislative session. Powerful out of state interests are wooing our legislators to pursue a dangerous and economically disastrous path that would lead to excessive litigation and ultimately, if successful – less access and more taxes for Montanans. That’s why we’re heading to Helena to fight back and make sure that the Legislature understands loud and clear that our public lands are not a toy for politicians to play with.

Can’t make it? Sign the petition!

Serious money being spent on sage grouse conservation

Environmental Issues, News,

Everyone knows to take government budget numbers with a grain of salt, right? Still, this overview of the money being directed towards sage grouse conservation is pretty interesting . . .

Spending on a government-sponsored initiative to help struggling sage grouse populations in the West is projected to exceed $750 million by 2018.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday the money will conserve an estimated 8 million acres of sage grouse habitat. Federal officials are more than halfway to that goal since starting the Sage Grouse Initiative in 2010.

The chicken-sized birds are found in 11 Western states. They’re being considered for federal protections after their numbers plummeted in recent decades.

Read more . . .

Poll: Montanans believe federal lands belong to U.S., not state

Environmental Issues, News

Further evidence that this idea of turning federal lands over to state control is a minority view . . .

A nonpartisan survey of Rocky Mountain state voters found 68 percent consider federal public lands as “American places” rather than places that belong to the people of individual states.

“It was striking to see they grasp these are American places by a 2-to-1 margin,” Republican pollster Lori Weigel said of the 2015 Western States Survey released Tuesday. “And there was significant intensity behind that. A greater proportion of people felt strongly about that.”

Read more . . .

Groups call for more wilderness adjacent to the Bob

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

MWA and Headwaters Montana are recommending additional wilderness segments adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness, mostly in existing roadless areas . . .

Two wilderness groups are recommending additional wilderness in the Mission Mountains, Jewel Basin and Swan Crest areas adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

The Montana Wilderness Association and Headwaters Montana recently released two reports on their recommendations for the Flathead National Forest, which includes 147,315 acres in the Swan Range.

Read more . . .

Brad Blickhan wins Jack Potter Award

Environmental Issues, News,

Here’s a good write-up on Brad Blickhan, winner of this year’s Jack Potter Glacier National Park Stewardship Award . . .

In 1987, a young Brad Blickhan came to Glacier National Park to drive a Red Bus. His uncle had drove the historic tour buses and said it was a good summer job for a college student. Like many others before him, Blickhan fell in love with the place, and never left…

In 1992, Blickhan tried to land a job on the Park’s trail crew. It was tight budget year with no openings so he took a post at the Park’s dispatch center, which got him involved with ranger staff. A few years later, he was a seasonal ranger at Two Medicine. By the early 2000s, he became the permanent Lake McDonald area ranger.

For his conservation efforts over the course of his 20-year Park Service career, the affable Blickhan was awarded the Jack Potter Award by Headwaters Montana, a local conservation group. Potter was the chief of science and management for many years at Glacier Park.

Read more . . .

Researching wolverines in the Bitterroot

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

The Ravalli Republic has a pretty interesting article, with photos, on a wolverine research project in the Bitterroot National Forest. Their setup collects both hair samples for DNA data and photographic evidence, allowing them to identify individuals without waiting for DNA analysis . . .

It seemed like the perfect spot for a wolverine to visit.

A couple of miles back from the nearest road and surrounded by the kind of thick timber that offers a wary critter a good bit of security, the little nook selected by a crew of Bitterroot National Forest researchers to set their first long-term photographic monitoring site had all the makings a good place to rendezvous with wolverines.

“After awhile, you just kind of know what to look for,” said Chris Fillingham. “You go with your gut and what you’ve seen works before.”

Read more . . .