Category Archives: News

State FWP insists wolves recovered enough to be delisted

Environmental Issues, News, ,

From today’s Missoulian . . .

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks claims wolves are recovered sufficiently to be delisted from the federal Endangered Species Act.

“The delisting of this population in Montana is a well-deserved victory for the ESA,” attorneys for FWP wrote in a brief filed in a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year by conservation groups looking to overturn the delisting. “The delisting accomplished two fundamental goals of the ESA, to recover a species and transfer the care of the wolf from federal oversight to state management.”

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Eastbound grizzlies

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Other than the grizzly connection, this is not really North Fork related, but it’s pretty interesting. According to an article in last Thursday’s New West, a whole new group of people are going to have to get used to having grizzly bears in the neighborhood . . .

Montanans living along the winding Teton River, well east of the Rocky Mountain Front were quick to notice their new neighbor this summer. As early as the beginning of July, ranchers and other landowners along the prairie began intermittently spotting a solitary grizzly bear journeying east, away from the mountains.

Read the entire article . . .

Wolf hunt did not kill Kintla Pack alpha female

Environmental Issues, News, ,

From this week’s Hungry Horse News . . .

Contrary to rumors, a wolf killed up the North Fork by a hunter was not the alpha female of a Glacier Park pack.

Kent Laudon, wolf management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said the wolf was a 2-year-old and was wearing a radio collar, but it was not the alpha female of the Kintla Pack.

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NFLA Road Committee issues year-end report

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

As many of you know, the North Fork Landowners’ Association Road Committee has been doing an exceptional and balanced job collecting and presenting well-researched road maintenance and dust abatement information. They recently completed and posted their Final Road Report for 2008 – 2009, summarizing all their activities for the past two years. For more detail, including links to all their postings, check out the NFLA North Fork Road Page.

Wolf hunt shut down after quota filled

Environmental Issues, News,

That’s it for Montana’s wolf hunt this year . . .

Montana is shutting down its first public hunt for gray wolves since their removal from the endangered species list after state officials said they expected to meet the season’s quota of 75 by Monday evening.

The quota was met two weeks before the season’s scheduled close. The 75 killed equals about 15 percent of a statewide wolf population estimated at 500.

Yet even with the success among hunters, the number of wolves in Montana is expected to increase this year by 20 percent or more because wolves are such prolific breeders.

Read the entire article . . .

Despite high-profile kills, griz recovery on-track

Environmental Issues, News

Despite a rash of high-profile poaching and self-defense kills this year, Grizzly bears are doing OK . . .

Despite several high-profile, human-caused grizzly bear deaths in recent months, experts from across the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem said Friday the overall trajectory of conflicts between humans and grizzly bears showed little increased cause for alarm — and some cause for celebration.

“What I’m seeing is a nice trend where communities are really pulling together and making a concerted effort to do the right thing with regard to grizzly bears,” said Jamie Jonkel, a Region 2 bear management specialist at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, at the semi-annual meeting of the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.

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North Fork wolf hunt quotas draw debate

Environmental Issues, News,

This week’s Hungry Horse News provides some good background concerning wolf hunt quotas on the North Fork . . .

The recent poaching of three wolves up the North Fork didn’t count toward the hunting quota, but it has raised concerns from a conservation group about the way wolves are being managed.

The wolf quota for the North Fork was two wolves — a comparatively low number. Hunters have now shot two wolves in the North Fork, the last one on Monday in the headwaters of the Big Creek drainage. With three poachings added to that, five animals have been killed. The season for wolves in that subdistrict is now closed.

Read the entire article . . .

Trophy seekers fuel poaching increase

News, , , ,

Today’s Missoulian has an article on the increased number of poachers this year who seem to be killing game just to get a little ego boost . . .

The poacher who pulled the trigger on Maximus — one of Montana’s greatest grizzlies — left the big bear to waste.

So did the poacher who shot two wolves up near Glacier National Park. And the poacher who killed the big bull elk north of Columbia Falls. And the poacher who dropped the trophy bull moose down along the Jefferson.

Read the entire article . . .