Category Archives: News

FWP kills two human-conditioned bears near Polebridge, relocates one

Environmental Issues, News, ,

This year’s “a fed bear is a dead bear” lesson: Those grizzlies attracted to the Polebridge area by the oats in the hay field south of town eventually forced management action by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Two are dead; one was relocated to Glacier Park . . .

It’s an active season for bears as they prepare to den for winter. Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say they’ve euthanized two yearlings that had become habituated to humans, and captured two others.

From the FWP press release:

Yearling Grizzly Bears Captured Near Polebridge, Euthanized
On Sunday, Oct 21, 2018, Montana FWP staff captured two yearling grizzly bears north of Polebridge and euthanized the animals.

Landowners reported that the yearlings were ripping into a yurt, broke into a cooler, got into garbage, tried to get into bear-resistant garbage containers, and attempted to break into cars and trailers. The adult female was observed with the yearlings but mostly stayed in the background. The yearlings were very food-conditioned and habituated to human presence.

Attempts to haze the bears were unsuccessful.

Read more . . .

Alert: Public meeting to address post-delisting grizzly management in Kalispell, Sep 27

Action Alerts, Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Sow grizzly bear spotted near Camas in northwestern Montana. - Montana FWPREMINDER – Meeting Thursday, Sep 27

Assuming grizzly bears are delisted in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE, essentially Northwest Montana), Montana would take over management of the bears. The Montana department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is holding a series of meetings to discuss management objectives, including one in Kalispell at 6:30pm on September 27 at the Flathead Valley Community College, Arts and Technology Building, 777 Grandview Drive . . .

Public meetings on how the state will deal with the growing number of grizzly bears around Glacier National Park if they’re removed from the endangered species list begin this week…

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) spokesman Dillon Tabish says the meetings are not meant to address the question of whether or not to delist the bear, and are not related to a separate population of grizzlies around Yellowstone National Park, whose federal protections are currently tangled up in federal court.

“Are we comfortable with a minimum of 800 grizzly bears on the landscape? Is that too many? Is that not enough? We really, genuinely want to hear Montanans’ input on that question and that question alone.”

The meetings will feature presentations on the grizzly population by state biologists and the opportunity for Montanans to voice their opinion on the rule.

Read more . . .

RELATED: US Judge Delays Grizzly Bear Hunts in Rockies 2 More Weeks (Flathead Beacon)

Federal judge reinstates Badger-Two Medicine oil leases

Environmental Issues, News, ,
Badger-Two Medicine Region
Badger-Two Medicine Region

A D.C. District Court judge reinstated a set of disputed oil leases in the Badger-Two Medicine region. The saga continues. Expect an appeal . . .

The government’s decision to cancel an oil and gas lease in the Badger-T
wo Medicine area of Montana was “arbitrary and capricious” and the lease should be reinstated, a federal judge says.

In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia reiterated what he said in a previous order in the case in which he criticized the government for first delaying implementation of the lease for 29 years before finally canceling it.

Read more . . .

Also read…
Ruling Gives Sacred Montana Tribal Lands Back to Industry (Wilderness Society)

Judge restores protections for Yellowstone Grizzlies, scuttles hunting

Environmental Issues, News, , ,
Grizzly Bear Sow and cubs - NPS photo, Tim Rains
Grizzly Bear Sow and cubs – NPS photo, Tim Rains

Here’s an excellent article by the Missoulian’s Rob Chaney on today’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen restoring federal protection to Yellowstone area grizzlies . . .

A federal judge returned Yellowstone-area grizzly bears to Endangered Species Act protection and effectively blocked grizzly hunting seasons in Wyoming and Idaho on Monday.

“Although this order may have impacts throughout grizzly country and beyond, this case is not about the ethics of hunting and it is not about solving human- or livestock-grizzly conflicts as a practical or philosophical matter,” U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen wrote at the start of his 48-page ruling. “This court’s review, constrained by the Constitution and the laws enacted by Congress, is limited to answering a yes-or-no question: Did the United States Fish and Wildlife Service exceed its legal authority when it delisted the Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear?”

Christensen ruled the agency did err by failing to consider how delisting the estimated 750 grizzlies in and around Yellowstone National Park might affect survival of another roughly 1,200 bears in five other recovery areas. He wrote Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) also acted arbitrarily and capriciously in analyzing threats to the Yellowstone bears.

Read more . . .

Also read . . .
Grizzlies Saved: Court Stops Trophy Hunt of Yellowstone’s Iconic Bears (Earthjustice)

My wild and scenic dream wedding

News, , ,
Kascie Herron's North Fork Wedding
Kascie Herron’s North Fork Wedding

It seems Kascie Herron, who several of you may know from her activities with American Rivers, got married on the North Fork this summer . . .

No one ever tells you how fast it all goes by – the ceremony, photos, reception, eating, dancing, crying, laughing. The act of getting married will forever be a blur in my memory. All of it except the river.

My husband, Dan, and I were married on June 30 on the North Fork of the Flathead River in northwest Montana. The North Fork was designated a Wild and Scenic River in 1976. Its headwaters begin in Canada and flow south to its confluence with the Middle Fork Flathead, forming the western boundary of Glacier National Park. There are many reasons we chose this place to declare our lifelong commitment to one another. After all, our love for one another grew out of our love for rivers.

Read more . . .

Grizzly delisting faces faces many challenges

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,
Sow grizzly bear spotted near Camas in northwestern Montana. - Montana FWP
Sow grizzly bear spotted near Camas in northwestern Montana. – Montana FWP

The current court challenge to the Wyoming and Idaho grizzly hunt is only the tip of the iceberg . . .

While most stories about last week’s grizzly bear court hearing trumpeted the last-minute suspension of trophy hunts in Wyoming and Idaho, the lawsuit had nothing to do with the legality of grizzly hunting.

And while it did focus on whether grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem still need federal protection, the eventual decision will affect a far larger landscape. That points up a conundrum of the Endangered Species Act: It’s one challenge to recover a species, but quite another to delist it.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen didn’t render a decision from the bench on Thursday as many expected he might. But he did grant a 14-day restraining order blocking Wyoming and Idaho from starting their grizzly hunts on Saturday.

Read more . . .

See also…
Federal judge orders two-week delay in grizzly hunts (Missoulian)
Grizzlies Have Recovered, Officials Say; Now Montanans Have To Get Along With Them (NPR)

BREAKING: Judge suspends Wyoming, Idaho grizzly hunts

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,
Grizzly bear sow with three cubs - NPS photo
Grizzly bear sow with three cubs – NPS photo

In response to oral arguments by a coalition of wildlife advocates, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen just granted a 14-day temporary restraining order suspending grizzly bear hunts in Wyoming and Idaho while decides whether the federal government should reinstate federal protections for the bears.

Recommended reading for more background . . .

Groups Seek Temporary Restraining Order to Stop Grizzly Hunt (Sierra Club)
Wildlife Groups Press Judge to Nix Grizzly Hunts in Rockies (Flathead Beacon)

Fire status meeting at Sondreson Hall, Aug 28, 6pm

Fire Information and Status, News,
Sondreson Hall, circa 2010
Sondreson Hall, circa 2010

Heads up! There’s a community meeting at Sondreson Hall  on Tuesday, August 28, at 6:00pm, to discuss area fire control efforts.

Fire personal will provide an update on current fire conditions and then spotlight the containment features they have added for the future.

As before, BYOR (bring your own refreshments) — plus a little extra. If it goes like the last time, the firefighters will ensure there are no leftovers.

More fires expected, Naficy says

Environmental Issues, News,
Granite Fire evening of Aug 26, 2015
Granite Fire evening of Aug 26, 2015

NFPA member Cameron Naficy’s  fire research got some ink in the Hungry Horse News . . .

Following a 2017 fire season that saw significant burning in Glacier and Waterton parks, with Kenow and Sprague wildfires, scientists and researchers have been hard at work determining what the fires mean for both parks as another fire season starts cooking.

Fire ecology was the subject of a presentation by the University of Columbia’s Cameron Naficy recently at Science and History Day in Waterton. According to Naficy, recent wildfire studies have changed the scientific community’s understanding of how fire affects the Glacier and Waterton region.

“The crown of the continent ecosystem has higher fire resiliency than we were expecting,” he said. “What we have found is that, historically in this area, a high-severity fire regime will transition into a mixed-severity fire regime.”

Read more . . .

Fish and Wildlife Commission advances proposed grizzly bear population objectives for public comment

Environmental Issues, News,
Grizzly Sow with Two Cubs - Wikipedia en:User Traveler100
Grizzly Sow with Two Cubs – – Wikipedia en:User Traveler100

From the official press release (see also Grizzly rule-making process goes to public) . . .

Public hearings scheduled in Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls, Conrad

The Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved language for a proposed administrative rule that would codify population objectives for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE).

The decision on August 9, 2018 sets into motion a public comment period that will run from Aug. 24 through Oct. 26. Public hearings will be held in Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls, and Conrad. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff will explain and answer questions about the proposed population objectives at the hearings and take public comment.

The population objective is for NCDE, which is one of six designated recovery areas for grizzly bears in the lower-48 states. Grizzly bears in the NCDE are currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, although they have met their recovery criteria and may be proposed for delisting in the future.

The NCDE subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) released a revised conservation strategy for grizzly bears (found here) earlier this summer. This document summarizes the commitments and coordinated efforts made by the state, tribal and federal agencies to manage and monitor the grizzly bear population and its habitat upon delisting.

Continue reading Fish and Wildlife Commission advances proposed grizzly bear population objectives for public comment →