Category Archives: News

Glacier Park snowshoe walks begin January 10

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Glacier Park is again offering their popular snowshoe walks this year starting Saturday, January 10. Here’s the core of the press release . . .

Glacier National Park is offering winter snowshoe walks every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. beginning Saturday, January 10, Winter Trails Day. This day is celebrated throughout the country as an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and discover the fitness and social benefits of outdoor activities. The snowshoe walks will continue through Sunday, March 22.

The public is invited to join the two-hour, ranger-led snowshoe excursions into the park’s winter environment. The program is free. Participants are encouraged to bring snowshoes or they are available to rent for a nominal fee at the Apgar Visitor Center. Participants should wear sturdy winter boots, dress in layers for a variety of winter conditions, and bring water and snacks.

This year, the walks will begin and conclude at the relocated Apgar Visitor Center. There is no group size limit and reservations are not accepted. The snowshoe walks are suitable for varying ages and abilities, but are not recommended for children under age 6.

The snowshoe walks are presented in partnership with the Glacier National Park Conservancy…

Read more . . .

U.S. legislation protects Flathead River Valley

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Passage of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act is beginning to attract notice in the Canadian press, including this piece in the Kootenay News Advertiser . . .

Recently, the U.S. Senate passed the North Fork Watershed Protection Act as part of a nationwide U.S. public lands legislative package. Canadians have awaited this particular legislation since 2010, when then-governor Brian Schweitzer and then-B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell signed the B.C.-Montana Memorandum of Understanding promising to ban mining and oil and gas development in the entire transnational Flathead watershed.

“Passing this legislation represents a truly significant accomplishment for the BC–Montana relationship, and for the health of our shared Waterton-Glacier Peace Park region. It was vitally important for the U.S. government to pass this legislation to balance similar legislation passed in BC in 2011 that banned mining and energy development in the transnational Flathead watershed,” says John Bergenske, Conservation Director of B.C. conservation group Wildsight…

Montana and B.C. had been at odds over appropriate industrial development in the Flathead watershed since 1975, when Rio Algum, Ltd. proposed a mountaintop removal coal mine just six miles north of the international border and the U.S. Glacier National Park. That initial dispute took 13 years to settle, and required the intervention of the International Joint Commission (IJC) that has authority over the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 between Canada and the U.S.

Read more . . .

The fisheries angle on Flathead protection

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

Trout Unlimited is also happy about passage of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act . . .

The Flathead Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited has long been committed to protecting the Flathead River system, one of the last best strongholds for native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. The recent bipartisan support and passage of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act is a major step in the right direction. Hats off to Sens. Jon Tester and John Walsh and to Rep. Steve Daines for working together to protect the North Fork of the Flathead from future mineral and energy development.

Given recent developments with coal mining in the Elk River drainage in British Columbia, and the continued low bull trout population numbers, as evidenced by annual counts of spawning beds, or “redds” in North Fork tributaries, the passage of this act is both timely and necessary.

Read more . . .

North Fork Watershed Protection Act listed among notable events of 2014

Environmental Issues, News

The Flathead Beacon posted a summary today of the area’s most newsworthy stories of 2014, including passage of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act . . .

More than four decades after local conservation groups began efforts to protect the North Fork of the Flathead River from energy development, Montana’s congressional delegation inched a bill to furnish permanent protections on the pristine watershed over the finish line. The North Fork Watershed Protection Act was signed into law Dec. 19, and bans future mining and drilling on 383,267 acres of federal land in the North Fork. The bill and seven other Montana land bills were attached to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, and supporters said the rare bipartisan collaboration and tireless local support of the measure is symbolic of a strong conservation legacy in the Crown of the Continent.

MWA Winter Wilderness Walks schedule announced

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The MWA just posted their Winter Wilderness Walks schedule for 2015. Here’s the core information from the email announcement. . .

It’s that time of year again! Beginning this January, the Montana Wilderness Association is offering 57 guided snowshoe walks across some of the state’s most magnificent backcountry.

Now in its twelfth season, MWA’s Winter Wilderness Walks program offers hikers of all ages and experience levels an opportunity to participate in a traditional recreation opportunity while enjoying Montana’s quiet beauty and treasured wild places. Winter Wilderness Walks are also a great way to meet new people, explore and view wildlife in a winter setting.

All outings are free and open to the public, but participants need to preregister by visiting wildmontana.org/walks and selecting the “Preregister for this walk” link under each walk.

MWA will provide snowshoes for participants if necessary.

Supporters hail passage of North Fork bill

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Chris Peterson of the Hungry Horse News did a nice write-up on last Friday’s meeting with Senators Tester and Walsh . . .

A lot has changed since 2006, when Glacier National Park superintendent Mick Holm traveled north to Canada to meet with British Petroleum officials who were considering coal bed methane gas development in the Flathead River drainage.

“They tried to convince us they were a green company,” Holm recalled last week. “We tried to convince them the right thing to do was to not do anything.”

That was one of many battles over the future of the North Fork of the Flathead over the past 40 years. The struggle finally came to an end on Dec. 18 as President Obama signed the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.

Read more . . .

Whitebark pine selectively bred to resist blister rust

Environmental Issues, News, ,

I’ve heard that the area around Hornet Lookout is one source of the seeds used in this project . . .

The U.S. Forest Service is growing disease-resistant whitebark pine trees to improve the chances of survival of the key high-elevation species, which blister rust is wiping out in the Northern Rockies.

“It’s just using the natural selection process and giving it a little bit of a boost,” said Tanya Murphy, a silviculturist with Great Falls-based Lewis and Clark National Forest.

Some whitebark pine trees have genetic traits that make them more resistant to disease.

Read more . . .

Group gathers in West Glacier to celebrate North Fork protection

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Last Friday, December 19, a group of folks met with Senators Tester and Walsh at the Belton Inn in West Glacier to celebrate the passage of a number of Montana lands bills, including the North Fork Watershed Protection Act. Yours truly was there, along with a fair number of other North Forkers, conservationists, business people, community leaders and federal officials. The media was out in force. I knew perhaps a third of the folks in the room.

The meeting was informal, with both politicos in blue jeans and very accessible. They even showed up ahead of time to have more time to chat with the attendees. Everyone made a point, before and after the speechifying, of thanking the senators for getting legislation through the system that was developed collaboratively here in Montana. It was all very adult and non-political. Refreshing.

There’s been a ton of attention from both the press and from a number of conservation outfits. Rather than generate a bunch of individual posts, I’m going to do a roll-up here, with links to a representative sample of the online coverage . . .

Supporters Hail Passage of North Fork Bill as Conservation Milestone (Flathead Beacon; nice photos)

North Fork preservation celebrated in West Glacier (KPAX)

Obama signs bill protecting North Fork, Rocky Mountain Front (Helena Independent Record)

Victory for the Crown of the Continent (Montanans for Healthy Rivers newsletter; also has nice Trail Creek article)

Group seeks grizzly re-introduction in Selway-Bitterroot

Environmental Issues, News,

The Center for Biological Diversity is pushing to have grizzlies re-introduced into the Selway-Bitteroot . . .

An advocacy group has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reintroduce grizzly bears into the Selway-Bitterroot area of Idaho and Montana.

The Center for Biological Diversity said Thursday that it hopes to revive a stalled recovery plan for the animals that was finalized in 2000.

The group says having bears in the Selway-Bitterroot would help connect grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park with other populations of the animals in Montana and Idaho. It says the 16-million-acre area could support 300 to 600 bears.

Read more . . .

Protections blocked, but sage grouse work continues

Environmental Issues, News,

The feds will keep investigating the status of the sage grouse, even though they can’t actually do anything about it right now . . .

U.S. wildlife officials will decide next year whether a wide-ranging Western bird species needs protections even though Congress has blocked such protections from taking effect, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Wednesday.

They could determine the greater sage grouse is heading toward possible extinction, but they would be unable to intervene under the Endangered Species Act. The bird’s fate instead remains largely in the hands of the 11 individual states where they are found…

Jewell said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will continue collecting and analyzing data on sage grouse. A decision on whether protections are warranted will be reached by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, Interior officials said.

Read more . . .