From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the recent shooting of two wolves on the Flathead National Forest.
The carcasses were found on the same day, Nov. 6, in different locations on the forest.
One was found along Coal Creek Road in the North Fork Flathead drainage and the other in the Miller Creek area west of Olney.
The Missoulian also posted an article on this incident.
The Merc will be closed — at least, officially — from Dec 1, 2010 through Apr. 30, 2011. According to a letter Flannery & Stuart sent out a few days ago, ‘We will be working on the Merc – so please consider us “neighbors with benefits” regarding message service, emergency gas and anything else you might need that we might have.’
British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell announced his resignation today due to widespread dissatisfaction with recent tax policy. Perhaps “dissatisfaction” is too mild a word; his approval rating plummeted to nine percent.
What’s the North Fork connection? Premier Campbell and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer signed a Memorandum of Understanding last February banning mining and energy development throughout the trans-boundary Flathead Valley. Campbell’s resignation shouldn’t have any effect on the MOU, but will no doubt be a matter of concern in some quarters anyways.
The Flathead Beacon has a good vest-pocket summary of the situation. If you live on the U.S. side of the border, better read their article first or you’ll likely have no clue what “HST” means.
For greater detail, see the Vancouver Sun’s more extensive coverage.
Patti Craig-Hart lit up a new web site this month called the North Fork News. It is, as she puts it, “an independent newsite with the goal of providing everyone who loves the North Fork with information that they can use to make their time in paradise more enjoyable and productive.” She’s got lots of good stuff posted already.
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks wants to reintroduce mountain goats to the Whitefish Range where they were pretty much hunted out by the 1960s. The plan is to capture an initial population of about 15 goats from a large herd in the Crazy Mountains near Big Timber and release them near Stryker Mountain on the west side of the Whitefish Divide. The project is scheduled to start this January.
For more information, see the write-up in this week’s Hungry Horse News, as well as the story in the Daily Inter Lake.
Check out the draft environmental assessment for project-specific details. If you want to put your oar in, the project is open for public comment through Wednesday, Nov. 3.
This is going to stir things up. A just-released scientific study concludes that the wolf population is more than high enough to maintain genetic diversity throughout the Northern Rockies. This from the same team that earlier concluded that the wolf population in Yellowstone was genetically isolated, a finding used to argue against removing wolves from Endangered Species Act protection.
Some old research is providing new insight into the genetic diversity of wolves in the Northern Rockies.
Authored by well-known names in the world of wolf reintroduction, the newly published study concludes that as far back as six years ago, wolf numbers were high enough to avoid genetic stagnation in the region.
Mark Hebblewhite, a University of Montana ecologist and longtime wolf researcher, said the study is the most comprehensive paper ever completed on a wild population of carnivores. . .
The study was authored by the same team that earlier reported wolves in Yellowstone National Park were genetically isolated. That information was used to argue against delisting the Northern Rockies population in 2008. . .
For more detail, read the related “News and Views” item from Molecular Ecology, as well as the full scientific paper referenced in the above article. (Both documents are in PDF format and will open in a new window.)
Despite broad-based support from North Fork residents and landowners, the Flathead County Commissioners decided not to decide on a zoning amendment that would restrict the size of “extractive industries” (gravel pits, basically) in the North Fork.
The Daily Inter Lake has a good write-up, including a fair bit of background information . . .
A zoning proposal to limit the size of extractive industries on private land in the North Fork failed to win approval Tuesday from the Flathead County commissioners.
A motion by commissioner Joe Brenneman to approve a zoning text amendment to limit sand and gravel operations and other extractive industries to five acres and 20,000 tons annually failed for lack of a second.
The commissioners left the door open, though, by deciding to take the proposal under advisement and deal with it again “within a reasonable length of time.”
The Flathead County Commissioners will consider a zoning change for the North Fork District this Tuesday concerning “extractive industries.” For the North Fork, this amounts to regulating the size of gravel pit operations.
The proposed zoning regulation would limit gravel operations on private land (the county has no jurisdiction over the feds) to five acres in size or an annual production of 20,000 tons of material. The zoning change falls under conditional uses, meaning a review is necessary before any gravel pit could be established.
The County Commission hearing will be held on Tuesday, October 19, at 10:30 a.m. at the Commissioner’s offices at 800 S. Main Street in Kalispell. North Fork residents and land owners unable to attend the meeting can make their voices heard by emailing the commissioners prior to the meeting: Joe Brenneman (jbrenneman@flathead.mt.gov), Jim Dupont (jdupont@flathead.mt.gov), Dale Lauman (dlauman@flathead.mt.gov).
A bit of excitement just north of Polebridge. The Daily Inter Lake has the story . . .
A Polebridge man was arrested Thursday after allegedly assaulting a neighbor and later setting fire to the man’s outhouse and shelter.
Kent Royce Johnson, 60, has been charged with felony arson and misdemeanor assault following the apparent escalation of an ongoing dispute between the two North Fork residents.
Wolves have been getting enough press the last couple of days to turn a seasoned PR flack green with envy.
Here’s an overview of the more notable local and regional coverage . . .