Category Archives: News

Flathead ‘Bat BioBlitz’ may help Canada’s endangered bats

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

The Canadian Flathead, as well as the area immediately below the border, has hosted a number of bat studies in the past few years, including this most recent one…

Bat biologists are converging in B.C.’s Flathead River Valley tomorrow. They hope to gain new information to advance bat conservation in B.C.’s southeast and to ultimately minimize the impacts of White Nose Syndrome, a mysterious disease that has killed millions of North American bats.

The four-day Bat BioBlitz, organized by conservation groups in B.C. and Alberta and led by Wildlife Conservation Society Canada’s bat biologist, Dr. Cori Lausen, will build on an initial inventory of Flathead bats that Lausen conducted last summer during a BioBlitz. That inventory detected two species of bats in the Flathead that are considered federally Endangered by the Committee on Endangered Wildlife in Canada: little brown myotis and northern myotis.

“In the southeast corner of B.C., the Flathead may be the gateway for entry of White Nose Syndrome into B.C., and it is thus urgent to start monitoring bats in this area,” said Lausen. “Significant bat hibernation caves have never been found in B.C. and yet the Flathead is surrounded by karst and has the deepest cave in all of Canada.”

Read more . . .

Forest road decommissioning winding down?

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Looks like the Flathead National Forest might be just about done with decommissioning roads . . .

Over the past 10 years, the Flathead National Forest has decommissioned about 700 miles of roads. That might be nearly the last of them if recommendations contained in a recent draft study are followed.

Forest planners recently examined all 3,000 miles of roads spread across the 2.4 million acres of Flathead Forest land. The travel analysis looked at risks and benefits for each road and concluded that, in the future, only 54 miles of road would be considered for closing or no longer needed.

Most of that total is found in one road — Forest Road 2820, in the headwaters of Bunker Creek.

Read more . . .

Picnick-raiding black bear killed by park rangers

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Here is this year’s “a fed bear is a dead bear” story. Glacier Park had to kill a food-conditioned black bear in the Two Medicine area of the park . . .

Glacier National Park Rangers euthanized a black bear from the Two Medicine area on Friday, July 18, after several reports in which the bear exhibited apparent food-conditioned behavior, including an incident in which the bear charged a picnicking family.

On Thursday, July 17, the black bear approached a family that was eating at a picnic table at the Two Medicine Picnic Area. The family yelled and clapped hands, but the bear charged towards the table, and the family retreated to their vehicle. The bear consumed the food and left the area after a park ranger repeatedly hazed the bear with rubber bullets and bean bags.

This same black bear was observed digging in a fire pit in the area, and did not seem bothered by human presence. There were several sightings of the bear on and near to the park trail system along the shore of Two Medicine Lake. The bear was determined to be a food-conditioned bear, and a threat to human safety. Trail and picnic area closures were implemented in Two Medicine.

The bear was euthanized. This action is consistent with Glacier National Park’s Bear Management Plan. The male bear was approximately five years old and weighed approximately 225 pounds.

Read more . . .

Grizzly relocated from Blackfeet Reservation to North Fork

Environmental Issues, News, ,

As mentioned at the recent Inter Local meeting, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks personnel helped relocate a nuisance grizzly to the Whale Creek drainage . . .

A grizzly bear captured on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation after it killed a calf was relocated to the Whale Creek drainage of the North Fork Flathead River.

On July 16, Blackfeet tribal biologists captured the 220-pound, 2-to-3 year-old-male grizzly bear at the site of a calf kill near the Montana and Alberta border.

Read more . . .

Biologists look for ways to preserve grizzlies after delisting

Environmental Issues, News,

Once the feds remove the grizzly bear from the endangered species list, what happens then? . . .

The grizzly bear answers to a lot of names.

Biologists call it Ursus arctos. They also describe it as an “ecological engineer” or “keystone predator.”

Wordy members of the general public call grizzlies “charismatic megafauna.” Others call them “vermin.” While running for president in 2008, Arizona Sen. John McCain famously derided studying grizzlies as a classic example of “Washington, D.C., pork.”

McCain later apologized for misunderstanding the value of Montana grizzly bear researcher Kate Kendall’s DNA hair analysis…

Read more . . .

What ‘completing’ Waterton Park would mean for Glacier Park and the North Fork

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

Harvey Locke’s presentation at the upcoming NFPA annual meeting gets a mention in this NPR piece . . .

Waterton-Glacier International Peace park connects over the US-Canada border between Montana and Alberta. However, the two parks don’t match up in their cross-border boundary.

Glacier Park stretches west to encompass the North Fork Flathead River Valley, but the Canadian Flathead is not part of the Park. The Canadian Flathead is Provincial land, akin to state or forest service land in the US, and offering the potential for logging or mineral development. Conservationists have been angling to “Complete the Park” by expanding Waterton into the North Fork Valley.

This idea of completing the Park is not new. Executive Director of Headwaters Montana Dave Hadden said it’s an effort about as old as the Park itself.

Read more . . .

2014 Bear Fair coming to Polebridge August 23; needs your help

Environmental Issues, News,

The 2014 Bear Fair is coming to Polebridge on August 23, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.. It’s a great opportunity to get various groups together and learn about everything from electric fencing to bear spray. The last time there was a bear fair in Polebridge  (July 9, 2011), there were 200 people there!

Besides all the good information about bears, the sponsoring groups usually provide lunch, which will be cooked by the Northern Lights Saloon, a tent for presentations, and porta-potties.

Problem is, all this requires money. So, the organizers are asking both groups and individuals for assistance.

Individual donations can be made online here: https://www.mtoutdoorlegacy.org/donate/bear-fair-2014.

Or, contact one of the organizers for more information:

Terence McClelland   tmmcclelland@fs.fed.us  406-871-1855
Lindsey Stutzman   lindsey.a.stutzman@gmail.com  406-212-1803
Tim Manley   tim.manley@bresnan.net  406-892-0802

North Fork Inter Local coming up July 16

News, ,

This summer’s Inter Local meeting is coming up on Wednesday, July 16, at Sondreson Hall. The meeting starts at 1:00 p.m. and is sponsored by the North Fork Road Coalition. Inter Local meetings are held twice each year, winter and summer. These semi-annual get-togethers are intended to encourage open discussion between North Fork landowners and neighbors and local, state and federal agencies.

In other words, it’s a big deal if you have an interest in the North Fork.

Preceding the Inter Local meeting, is the annual FireWise Day Workshop at 9:30 a.m. and lunch at noon. The potluck lunch at noon is also hosted by the North Fork Road Coalition.

Please send agenda item additions or revisions and address updates to Ray Brown: polebridgeray@yahoo.com, 406-892-1431 (mobile), 406-261-6884 (cell).