Category Archives: News

Montana FWP Commission gives tentative approval to wolf hunt

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

As expected, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission gave tentative approval to a fall wolf hunt at today’s meeting. The Flathead Beacon has the story . . .

Montana wildlife officials tentatively approved a plan Thursday to allow hunters to kill as many as 220 wolves this fall, marking the state’s first wolf management decision since Congress lifted endangered species protections.

The unanimous vote opens the door for the public to weigh in before the commission makes a final decision in July. It would be Montana’s second wolf hunt since 2009, when 72 wolves were killed, and state Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners appeared confident the 2011 hunt will be approved.

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Western Montana waters expected to rise fast, hard once snow melts

Flood Information, News, ,

Here’s the Missoulian’s take on the start of Spring runoff . . .

Western Montana’s flood season has a lot in common with the space shuttle Endeavour: It’ll be big when it goes, but the start date keeps getting postponed.

“Even though we’re losing some water in the (snow)pack, it’s not to the level we normally see,” National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist Marty Whitmore said Tuesday. “But when that snow comes off, it will come in a fairly quick time.”

By Tuesday morning, the region north of an imaginary line along Thompson Falls, Kalispell and Browning was seeing significant melting in the mountains. But below that all the way south to Dillon and Ennis, moisture was still accumulating from storms on Sunday and Monday.

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The melt is on; rivers and streams are rising

Flood Information, News, ,

From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

A trend of warmer weather will settle in over Western Montana this week and the deep mountain snowpack finally will start to melt, with rivers and streams expected to approach or exceed flood stage by the middle of next week.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the 60s or higher through Saturday, along with a chance of showers and thunderstorms during the latter part of the week.

“We just anticipate the melt to occur,” said Marty Whitmore, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula. “We’re going to see significant rises in creeks and small streams … Some of those are going to start coming out of their banks.”

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Feds agree to clear backlog of ESA requests; eco-group agrees to stop suing

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

A good write-up from today’s Missoulian . . .

A proposed settlement could unkink the backlog of 251 plants and animals awaiting attention from the federal Endangered Species Act, including Montana’s arctic grayling and sage grouse.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and WildEarth Guardians announced an agreement on Tuesday where the federal agency commits to clearing its candidate species list within five years, while the environmental group promises to stop suing the government for missing its legal action deadlines.

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Dust control planned on 42 miles of county roads

News,

Here’s another sign of Spring: an article about gravel road dust control. From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

The placement of a dust-control product on 42 miles of gravel roads in Flathead County is scheduled to begin around June 1.

County commissioners last week awarded a contract for the work to Montana Dust Control of Whitefish…

The county has budgeted $100,000 for the work; participating property owners along the involved roads share in the cost for another $100,000.

This year, for the first time, more county residents applied for the program than the county had budgeted funds for the work, county Public Works Director Dave Prunty said.

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Spring flooding expected with record snowpack; could see historic flood levels

Flood Information, News, , , , ,

The Flathead Beacon posted a good article today on the flood potential in the Flathead River Basin, including the latest forecast estimates. This one is recommended reading . . .

The National Weather Service reported last week that the snowpack in certain areas of the Flathead River Basin have reached historic levels, likely leading to flood or near-flood levels on the basin’s major rivers in May and June.

Ray Nickless, a hydrologist for NWS, said in a spring flooding report that some rivers, such as the Swan and the North Fork of the Flathead, are forecast to reach flood levels that could place them in the top five highest flood levels on record.

In the past three weeks, the Flathead has seen a significant increase in snowpack levels. The levels were at 141 percent of average on April 15, and recent data shows the Flathead now at 183 percent of average.

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