Category Archives: Environmental Issues

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 . . .

Between a rock and a hard place: mountain caribou in the South Selkirks

Commentary, Environmental Issues, ,

John Bergenske posted a lengthy, rather sad article to the Wildsite website discussing the problems recovering mountain caribou herds in the southern Selkirk Mountains in Canada. (South of the border, the Selkirks shelter the sole remaining woodland caribou population in the U.S.)

Sometimes, there are just no good solutions . . .

I have been involved with mountain caribou since the 1970’s and as Wildsight since the 90’s when we first sponsored caribou research in the Purcell Mountains. It has been clear since that time that there are no simple solutions or easy answers to mountain caribou recovery.

Read more . . .

Presidents’ Day rally to protect public lands

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,
Presidents' Day Public Land Rally
Presidents’ Day Public Land Rally

There is a rally at noon on President’s Day, Monday, February 16, in Helena to protect access to public lands. The immediate trigger for this event is a movement within Montana to give up federal lands to state control. Such a move would mean a sharp increase in the state bureaucracy, a hefty bump in the tax burden and, more  than likely, lead to much of the land being sold off to private interests to help finance the whole mess. Everyone from traditional hunting and fishing groups, to motorized recreation outfits to old-line enviros is pretty wound up about this.

For more information, see the Public Lands in Public Hands Facebook page.

Oregon wolf population hits threshold for delisting

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Oregon wolves, including the famous wandering wolf OR-7, have reached sufficient numbers to be considered for delisting as an endangered species in Oregon . . .

Wolves in Oregon have hit the threshold for consideration of taking them off the state endangered species list.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Tuesday the latest wolf census confirms at least seven breeding pairs — six in northeastern Oregon and one, led by the famous wanderer OR-7, in the southern Cascades.

The state wolf management plan calls for a status review once there have been four breeding pairs producing pups that survive a year for three years running. That review will be presented to the state Fish and Wildlife Commission when it meets April 24 in Bend. The earliest a decision could be made would be at the commission’s June 5 meeting in Salem.

Read more . . .