Category Archives: News

Battle against aquatic invasive species cranks up

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State and federal wildlife agencies are getting very hard-nosed about efforts to prevent the spread of a number of aquatic invasive species . . .

The battle against aquatic invasive species continues in Montana, where wildlife officials are constantly trying to prevent milfoil, mussels and other nonnative species from contaminating local lakes and rivers. These species are transported mainly on recreational watercraft that are not properly cleaned. History has shown aquatic invasive species are a major threat to waterways and can significantly damage ecosystems and natural resources.

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Glacier Park still plans Going-to-the-Sun Road opening June 15

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Glacier National Park says they are still on schedule to open Going-to-the-Sun Road by June 15 . . .

If the weather holds, Glacier National Park plows crews are expected to be at Logan Pass by May 25, and the Going-to-the-Sun Road should open all the way over Logan Pass by June 15, Park assistant superintendent Kym Hall said last week.

“We’re on track for a June 15 opening,” Hall said.

Hall made the announcement at a public meeting in Columbia Falls on May 16. Once the snow is cleared, it still takes a few weeks to clear the road of rocks and debris and to install removable guardrails at several locations, Hall said. The guardrails need to be bolted into place.

According to the Park’s contract with HK Construction, June 15 is the earliest the road could open…

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Glacier Park upbeat about trail work

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It sounds like Glacier Park got the money they wanted and the weather they wanted and are making good progress on trail work . . .

Glacier National Park will have about a $1 million in their budget for trail clearing and trail work this coming season, Park officials said last week. The Park annually spends between $675,000 and $1 million on its 730-plus miles of trails.

Chief ranger Mark Foust said trail work so far this spring has fared much better than last year, when record snowpack remained on the mountains and an extended period of wet, cold weather lasted into early July.

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Public shows little agreement on wolf hunt

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This report on a Region 2 “listening session” provides a peek behind the curtain at the current Montana FWP thinking about predator control and hunt quotas . . .

This fall’s Montana wolf hunt will face critics who say it’s too extreme and not extreme enough.

State Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials got a taste of the divide on Tuesday during a Missoula listening session. While not ready for formal public comments, Region 2 Supervisor Mack Long invited the roughly 50 people in the audience to lay out the issues that should be considered. They obliged.

“It’s not too late to turn things around, but we’ve got to do it quick,” Long said. “This is one of the most dynamic times we’ve ever seen in wildlife management.”

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Grizzly population study to start in Cabinet-Yaak region

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A DNA-based grizzly bear population study is slated to being this summer in the Cabinet-Yaak area . . .

A small army will soon begin a summer of scouring the woods of extreme Northwest Montana and northern Idaho, collecting grizzly bear hair for a genetics-based population study.

The project is being led by Kate Kendall, a U.S. Geological Survey researcher who pioneered a similar large landscape grizzly bear population study in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in 2004.

On Wednesday, Kendall was on her way to lead 70 field workers in a nine-day training session at a Forest Service work station in the upper Yaak Valley not far from the Canadian border.

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Improvements to Quartz Creek fish barrier on the way

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The battle to keep non-native lake trout out of the Quartz Creek drainage continues . . .

Following National Park Service approval and an environmental analysis, Glacier National Park officials will move forward with modifications and improvements to the existing Quartz Creek fish barrier to try and suppress lake trout and other non-native fish from getting into Quartz Lake, the park announced Monday.

Located in the North Fork of the Flathead River drainage and the park’s North Fork District, Quartz Lake is believed to be one of the last remaining strongholds for bull trout in park waters west of the Continental Divide. The lake was believed to be the largest on the west side of the park accessible to lake trout but not yet colonized by them. However, lake trout were detected in 2005, threatening the long-term persistence of the Quartz Lake bull trout fishery.

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Grizzlies declared “Species of Special Concern” in Canada

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Rachel Potter drew attention to this nugget. The grizzly bear is a “Species of Special Concern” in Canada, with the highest concentration of these bears being in the Canadian Flathead and, of course, points south . . .

Canada has a “major responsibility for safeguarding remaining grizzly populations,” according to a new federal government report.

Canada’s Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) met at the beginning of May and assessed thirty-five Canadian wildlife species as at risk, declaring grizzly bears a “Species of Special Concern.” . . .

British Columbia’s Flathead River Valley has the greatest density of grizzly bears in the interior of North America. As part of a wildlife corridor that stretches from Yellowstone Park in the U.S. up to the Yukon, the Flathead is a crucial habitat link for grizzlies and other animals.

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Green cards for caribou?

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Well, yet another Canadian caribou has wondered into Montana. Montana FWP found the last one and sent it home. This new one may be pregnant. Excitement all around . . .

Montana wildlife officials say a Canadian caribou has wandered into northwestern Montana for the second time this spring, and this one has the potential to make history.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife manager Jim Williams tells KCFW-TV the possibly pregnant cow is from a herd that biologists brought to British Columbia to augment an existing herd.

He says if the caribou gives birth, it would be the first known caribou birth in Montana in over 50 years.

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Wolves, aspen, elk and fire

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Cristina Eisenberg gave a presentation on her research into the interrelationship between predators, prey and landscape May 2. The Hungry Horse news has an interesting write-up on this report . . .

There are things one knows to be true in the natural world of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. There are wolves, there are elk, elk are chased down and eaten by wolves, and elk do everything they can to avoid being eaten. It’s nature.

Add a wild card to the mix, like the huge wildfires that have grazed the landscape in the North Fork of the Flathead, and one sees something else — lush growth of new stands of aspen, a tree coveted not only for its aesthetics but as a food resource for elk.

Oregon state researcher and author Cristina Eisenberg has been studying the relationships between elk, aspens, wolves and fires for several years in the adjoining national parks. Over the years, she’s compared the density of elk and wolves in three different but similar regions — the North Fork, St. Mary and Waterton valleys. She talked about her findings at the Glacier National Park Community Hall on May 2.

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District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera retiring June 1

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As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Jimmy DeHerrera, the District Ranger for the Hungry Horse-Glacier View District of the Flathead National Forest is taking a well-deserved retirement June 1. The Hungry Horse News has a nice write-up on Jimmy’s career and future plans . . .

Even if you didn’t see eye-to-eye with Jimmy DeHerrera, he was always willing to listen to concerns about issues on the Flathead National Forest.

On June 1, DeHerrera will retire as the Glacier View/Hungry Horse District Ranger, a post he’s held since July 1998.

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