Category Archives: News

Larry Wilson: Whitefish Range challenge accepted

September 6, 2012Commentary, Environmental Issues, NewsFrank Vitale, Larry Wilson, North Fork Landowners’ Association, North Fork Preservation Association, North Fork Road, Thompson-Setonnfpa

Larry accepts the Mount Thompson-Seton challenge and discusses the end-of-season wind-down . . .

I thoroughly enjoyed the letter last week from fellow North Forker Frank Vitale. I consider him as well as the North Fork Preservation Association a “moderate” environmentalist.

Since there seems to be some confusion about the definition of moderate, let me refer you to the dictionary…

If Frank is willing to take this old fat guy to Mount Thompson-Seton and, most importantly, back out, I accept. I suspect there is much that he and I will agree on even if we don’t agree about the specifics of a wilderness. I hope others will join us.

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Bow hunter takes North Fork wolf

September 6, 2012Environmental Issues, Newsbow season, North Fork Flathead, wolf hunt, wolf quotasnfpa

A hunter took a wolf at the beginning of bow season, closing the North Fork wolf hunt until gun season opens . . .

An elk hunter with a wolf license shot a wolf on the fourth day of archery season just west of the Whitefish Divide, prompting Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to close the North Fork Flathead’s wolf management Unit 110.

It is the only hunting district in the state that retains a quota for wolves.

Only two can be harvested per year in the district, which covers the North Fork west of Glacier National and extends over the Whitefish Divide into Lincoln County.

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Cold front may help firefighting efforts in Glacier Park

September 5, 2012Fire Information and Status, NewsAvalanche Wildland Fire, Glacier National Parknfpa

An incoming cold front should aid firefighting efforts in Glacier Park . . .

Crews are successfully containing a wildfire burning near Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park and an incoming cold front could further calm the blaze.

The lightning-caused fire is now being estimated at 70 acres, due to more accurate mapping and not recent fire growth. The Avalanche Lake Trail remains closed until further notice.

A heavy-lift helicopter continued aerial water drops on the fire Wednesday while 25 firefighters and eight smoke jumpers worked to secure containment line on the west and north sides of the fire.

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Area fire activity easing off

September 5, 2012Fire Information and Status, NewsAvalanche Wildland Fire, Blacktail Ridge Fire, wildfire informationnfpa

Wildfire activity in this corner of Montana is easing off, not that anyone is complaining . . .

Burning activity was limited Tuesday on the Blacktail Ridge Fire near Plains, and the Avalanche Lake Trail remains closed in Glacier National Park due to a small fire nearby.

“Really we haven’t seen much fire growth today,” said Jennifer Costich, a fire information officer assigned to the Blacktail Ridge Fire, which has burned about 250 acres two air miles south of Plains…

In Glacier Park, firefighters have held the Avalanche Wildland Fire on Mount Brown to about 45 acres since it was detected last Saturday.

More than 30 people are working on the fire, including eight smokejumpers, along with helicopter support…

Continue reading . . .

Avalanche Fire estimate bumped to 45 acres

September 3, 2012Fire Information and Status, NewsAvalanche Wildland Fire, Glacier National Parknfpa

Looks like Glacier Park is making good progress controlling the Avalanche Fire . . .

The current size estimate of the Avalanche Wildland Fire in Glacier National Park is approximately 45 acres. This size estimate is due to more accurate mapping of the fire, not fire growth, park officials said Monday afternoon.

The wildland fire is located on Mount Brown, near Avalanche Lake on the west side of Glacier National Park. The Avalanche Lake Trail is closed until further notice.

Aerial water drops have been effective in suppressing the fire, along with about 25 fire firefighters constructing fireline.

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Larry Wilson: A short water quality history

September 3, 2012Commentary, NewsLarry Wilson, transboundary Flathead, water qualitynfpa

Larry gives a little background on the efforts over the years to reach agreement on water quality issues between British Columbia and Montana . . .

Every North Forker is painfully aware that British Columbia is vital to our lifestyle and well being. After all, the North Fork of the Flathead River flows out of British Columbia and provides us with the cold, clear, pure water that is essential to us and to Flathead Lake.

For more than 30 years, we’ve been concerned about Canadian industrial threats to water quality in the river. Most urgent threat was the development of coal mines in the upper Flathead. This was one of the main reasons the North Fork Preservation Association was organized.

At one point, NFPA president John Frederick and his then-wife Sharon bought stock in the coal company that had development plans in the Flathead. For several years, they attended stockholders meetings to raise awareness of our concerns.

Montana Gov. Ted Schwinden began negotiations with British Columbia to address water-quality issues, and since then every Montana governor continued those efforts. Although the efforts of Govs. Stan Stephens, Marc Racicot and Judy Martz seemed to make little progress, step by step the Canadians and Americans were making headway. The International Joint Commission and the Flathead Basin Commission and B.C. officials continued to meet, share concerns and move toward a solution.

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Crews fighting wildfire in Glacier Park’s Avalanche Lake area

September 3, 2012Fire Information and Status, NewsAvalanche Lake, Avalanche Wildland Fire, Glacier National Park, wildfiresnfpa

Glacier Park is dealing with a wildfire in the vicinity of Avalanche Lake . . .

Firefighters spent Sunday working to suppress the 25-acre Avalanche Wildland Fire burning on Mount Brown in Glacier National Park.

Reported to authorities Saturday afternoon, the wildfire is located near Avalanche Lake and the popular Avalanche Lake Trail will remain closed from the campground to the lake until further notice.No other trails have been closed because of the fire, park officials said.

Two U.S. Forest Service helicopters and a contract helicopter are being used to drop water on the fire and for aerial observation.

Twenty six firefighters and eight smoke jumpers also are working to suppress the fire. They are from Glacier National Park, Flathead National Forest and Kootenai National Forest.

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Feds ending wolf protections in Wyoming at end of month

September 3, 2012Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, wolf management, wolves, Wyomingnfpa

Federal wolf protections officially end at the end of September. Lawsuits are likely . . .

The federal government will end its protections for wolves in Wyoming, where the species was introduced two decades ago to revive it from near extinction in the United States.

The announcement Friday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will entrust the state with managing wolf numbers and endorses a plan that allows for them to be shot on sight in most of the state, while keeping them permanently protected in designated areas like Yellowstone National Park. Wyoming will take over management of the wolves at the end of September.

The decision of the announcement quickly sparked promises of legal challenges from environmental groups that argue wolves still need protection to maintain their successful recovery.

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“Banquet on the Border” draws 90 attendees

September 3, 2012Environmental Issues, NewsBanquet on the Border, Flathead Coalition, Headwaters Montana, National Parks Conservation Association, North Fork Compact, North Fork Landowners’ Association, North Fork Preservation Association, Trans-boundary Flathead, Wildsightnfpa

Monday, August 20th was the Banquet on the Border; by all reports, a resounding success. Dave Haddon of Headwaters Montana wrote an excellent report on the whole affair. Since this report is still not available online, I am shamelessly ~~stealing~~ adapting large portions of it here . . .

The Banquet on the Border – last Monday, August 20 – celebrated the British Columbia government’s 2011 official act of banning mining and energy development on their side of the watershed; the progress made to date to do the same in the U.S North Fork with Senate Bill 233 (the North Fork Watershed protection Act – still pending); and the other work that is moving forward to enhance protections for water and wildlife in the rest of the watershed, most notably:

Completing Waterton-Glacier Peace Park by adding the ‘Missing Piece’ in the BC Flathead, and
Protecting the existing international wildlife corridor between Whitefish and Banff National Park.

Headwaters Montana and National Parks Conservation Association organized the party for the south side of the boundary. Wildsight did so for the north.

Who Showed Up?

We invited the U.S. Border Patrol. But with the exception of a brief drive up and turn around we were left to securing our own borders and enjoying our neighborliness.

The Canadians outnumbered the Americans 3 to 2 but who’s counting? Their greater numbers stemmed from the week-long Flathead Bioblitz and Flathead Artists’ Workshop that was based at the Canadian border and had concluded the day before…

In addition to the ten Canadian and U.S. scientists who attended the bioblitz and some ten artists, members of the Flathead Wild Team and supporters filled out the Canadian tables.

On the U.S. side, Headwaters Montana board members and supporters showed up in good numbers, as well as representatives of the North Fork Preservation Association, board members of the Flathead Coalition, and The North Fork Landowners Association, North Fork Compact, and representatives for Senator Max Baucus.

20 Years Ago

Steve Thompson with the Cinnabar Foundation (Montana’s home-grown conservation fund) helped deepen the Banquet-goer’s appreciation for this far flung event by reminding folks that champions of the Transboundary Flathead had celebrated with a banquet at the same spot 20 years ago. Amazingly, four people from that 1992 event were on hand last week... [Our own John Frederick was one of them. – ed.]

Safety issues kept Flathead Hotshots off fatal fire

August 21, 2012Fire Information and Status, NewsAnne Veseth, Flathead Hotshots, Idaho, Steep Corner fire, wildfiresnfpa

A Flathead-based fire fighting crew pulled themselves off the Steep Corner fire in Idaho due to safety issues the day before Anne Veseth was killed while working that fire . . .

One day before a 20-year-old firefighter was killed by a falling tree on the Steep Corner fire, a U.S. Forest Service hotshot crew from Montana refused to fight the fire because of safety concerns.

In a report filed Aug. 14 on the National Interagency Fire Center’s SAFENET website, an unnamed superintendent of the Flathead Hotshots said firefighting conditions on the fire, managed by the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association, were “extremely unsafe” because of falling snags, lack of communication, lack of a command structure and mixed crews with no leadership. The report was written Aug. 11.

The next day Anne Veseth of Moscow, Idaho, a two-year wildland firefighter with the Forest Service, was killed when she was struck by a falling tree while working on the Steep Corner fire.

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