Category Archives: News

Reminder: Comprehensive River Management Plan public meeting, March 6

Environmental Issues, News,
Elk Crossing North Fork of Flathead River, north of Camas Bridge, March 4, 2016 - Greg Evans
Elk Crossing North Fork of Flathead River, north of Camas Bridge, March 4, 2016 – Greg Evans

The first public meeting on development of a Comprehensive River Management Plan for the three forks of the Flathead River is on March 6, 6:00pm, at Cedar Creek Lodge in Columbia Falls. This is a pretty big deal given the steep increase in recreational traffic over the past few years. The current plan is dated, at best.

Here’s the text of Flathead Forest’s press release, which does a good job of summarizing the issues at hand . . .

The Flathead National Forest, in coordination with Glacier National Park, has begun the process to prepare a Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP) for the 3-Forks of the Flathead River.

The river and surrounding lands offer recreational opportunities and access to outstanding resources for a variety of public lands users. The CRMP will address the current status of these resources, outline goals and desired conditions, determine user capacities, and create a monitoring strategy and plan to carry forward. The public is encouraged to contribute to this planning effort that will secure the outstanding remarkable values of the 3-Forks of the Flathead River for future generations. The planning team will be reaching out to the public to provide information on background of the statutory requirements of a CRMP under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, describe the need for change from the current river management plan and to gather public input on management issues for the CRMP. The first public meeting introducing the project will be held on March 6th from 6 to 8 pm at the Cedar Creek Lodge Conference Room in Columbia Falls, Montana. Additional meetings will follow allowing for further participation and opportunities to comment, that will help develop the CRMP.

Continue reading Reminder: Comprehensive River Management Plan public meeting, March 6 →

Helping wolverines by tracking humans

Environmental Issues, News
Wolverine on rocks - Photo by Hans Veth on Unsplash
Wolverine on rocks – Photo by Hans Veth on Unsplash

Wait. What? . . .

Wolverines don’t make themselves easy to study. In addition to being able to gnaw their way out of log-cabin-like traps, they’re shaped kind of like a traffic cone. Even if you catch one, the radio collar tends to slip off.

So how do you study what snowmobiling and skiing do to wolverine habitat? Collar the humans.

“This was the biggest radio-collar project with wolverines ever,” said University of Montana wildlife biologist Mark Hebblewhite, one of the study co-authors. “The part I didn’t think would work was collaring humans. A friend tried this in Canada, and everyone was, ‘Get out of my face.’ But we wound up with better data on the humans than on the animals.”

Read more . . .

Daines’ bill triggers dispute over wilderness study areas

Environmental Issues, News,
Blue Joint Wilderness Study Area in western Montana - photo by Zack Porter
Blue Joint Wilderness Study Area in western Montana – photo by Zack Porter

Here’s a pretty good overview by the Flathead Beacon of Senator Steve Daines’ top-down attempt to close several Montana wilderness study areas.

By the way, take a close look at the photo accompanying the Beacon article. The guy handling the oars of that drift boat should look familiar . . .

Scrolling through the Instagram account managed by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, a conservative Republican from Bozeman, it’s clear he’s hewed a well-established groove in the firmament of Western outdoors pursuits.

Populating the first-term senator’s social media feed are pictures of him on backpacking trips deep in the Beartooth Mountains; him bagging ungulates on sunbaked foothills with his wife, Cindy; the family’s mini-Aussies, Reagan and Ruby, chasing mice; and Daines plucking native cutthroat trout from the Yellowstone River. The pictures often bear captions championing public-land access as a cornerstone value in Montana, and they leave behind the politicking inherent to Daines’ work in Washington, D.C.

Daines’ views on public-land access have led him to call for opening up nearly 450,000 acres of federally protected parcels — currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service as wilderness study areas — to a suite of new uses, including logging, grazing and motorized use.

Read more . . .

Flathead Forest studying 74 objections to forest plan

Environmental Issues, News,

Flathead National Forest

The Flathead National Forest is busy dealing with objections to their new forest plan. Some are a few paragraphs, some run hundreds of pages . . .

With one deadline past and another looming, Flathead National Forest officials will be working weekends to identify the issues raised in objections filed on a proposed land-use plan.

They tallied 74 objections when the objection period ended Monday [February 19] on the plan that will guide future management decisions on the 2.4 million-acre forest for the next decade or longer.

Over the next 90 days, the agency will work with different groups in an effort to resolve a variety of issues raised during a process that will be closely watched by those who care about the future of that landscape.

Read more . . .

Lynx delisting proposal triggers conflict

Environmental Issues, News, ,
Canada lynx - USFWS
Canada lynx – USFWS

Here’s a pretty good, locally focused backgrounder on the USFWS proposal to delist the Canada Lynx. You’ll encounter several familiar names . . .

The new millennium brought a new challenge for Lorin Hicks.

For years, Hicks has worked as a wildlife biologist for Weyerhaeuser and its predecessor, Plum Creek Timber Co., studying the inhabitants of Northwest Montana’s sensitive forests.

He gained a new research focus in 2000, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Continental U.S. population segment of Canada lynx as a threatened species. That move required the agencies that manage area forests to take the lynx’s well-being into account.

Read more . . .

No Montana grizzly hunt in 2018

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

As expected, Montana Fish and Wildlife Commissioners voted not to allow hunting of Yellowstone grizzlies this year. Basically, they are waiting for the dust to settle before they make a move . . .

Montana won’t hold a grizzly bear hunt in 2018 after state officials said Thursday they want to avoid complicating lawsuits over the animal’s legal status.

Federal officials last year lifted Endangered Species Act protections for about 700 bears in and around Yellowstone National Park, opening the door to potential hunting in the three-state region.

Montana wildlife commissioners said letting hunters kill some of those bears could give momentum to pending legal challenges that seek to restore protections.

Read more . . .

Update: North Fork Interlocal Agreement meeting on Feb. 21; location changed

News,
Bob Dunkley explains Park plans for the Polebridge Ranger Station, post Red Bench Fire, at the 1988 Interlocal at Sondreson Hall.
Bob Dunkley explains Park plans for the Polebridge Ranger Station, post Red Bench Fire, at the 1988 Interlocal at Sondreson Hall.

The 2018 winter North Fork Interlocal Agreement meeting will be held Wednesday, February 21 at the Glacier Park Community Center in West Glacier (not  the Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger Station, as previously announced). Start time is 10:00 a.m. The meeting usually lasts abut three hours.

The Interlocal Agreement provides for face-to-face contact with representatives of agencies whose policies and actions affect the North Fork. Interlocal Agreement meetings are held in the winter (in town) and summer (at Sondreson Hall). Agency attendees include Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Montana Department of State Lands, U.S. Border Patrol, Glacier National Park, Flathead National Forest, U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service and Flathead County..

This is always a very interesting meeting, with reports from a range of government agencies and local organizations and often some quite vigorous discussion.

1990 Interlocal at Sondreson Hall
1990 Interlocal at Sondreson Hall – Mike Conner talking; Bruce Hayden is next to him. See who else you can spot – that is Bonny Ogle to the left…

Historical note: Although the agreement wasn’t formally signed until 1985, this year marks the 35th anniversary of the first North Fork Interlocal meeting. Here’s what Larry Wilson had to say about it in 1987, some four years after things got rolling . . . Continue reading Update: North Fork Interlocal Agreement meeting on Feb. 21; location changed →

Montana FWP recommends not hunting Yellowstone grizzlies in 2018

News, ,
Grizzly Bear - courtesy NPS
Grizzly Bear – courtesy NPS

Montana FWP is recommending against a grizzly hunt in 2018. The official press release has the details. The Flathead Beacon posted a less bureaucratic summary of the issues . . .

Montana wildlife officials are recommending against holding a grizzly bear hunt in 2018 after the animals lost their federal protections across a three-state region around Yellowstone National Park.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Martha Williams said Thursday the state wants to demonstrate its commitment to the grizzly’s long-term recovery.

State wildlife commissioners will consider the matter Feb. 15.

Read more . . .

Montana FWP press release: Department proposes not hunting Yellowstone grizzlies in 2018

More press coverage…

Montana FWP wants to hold off on a Yellowstone-area grizzly hunt this year (Montana Untamed)
Montana won’t recommend Yellowstone grizzly hunting this year (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)

 

River management plan meeting March 6

Environmental Issues, News,
Elk Crossing North Fork of Flathead River, north of Camas Bridge, March 4, 2016 - Greg Evans
Elk Crossing North Fork of Flathead River, north of Camas Bridge, March 4, 2016 – Greg Evans

Now that the Forest Plan is in its final stages, the Forest Service and allied agencies are rolling up its sleeves and getting to work on a management plan for the three forks of the Flathead River. Here’s a good overview by the Hungry Horse News. See also the official Comprehensive River Management Plan announcement . . .

Columbia Falls will host the first of several meetings on a new comprehensive river management plan for the three forks of the Flathead River.

The meeting is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. March 6 at the Cedar Creek Lodge Conference Room.

The Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park are embarking on a joint plan to track river use on the three forks of the Flathead, with the eventual goal of crafting management plans for the Wild and Scenic rivers.

Read more . . .

Press release: Flathead Wild and Scenic River: Comprehensive River Management Plan

US FWS considering lynx delisting

Environmental Issues, News,
Canada lynx sitting - US Fish and Wildlife Service
Canada lynx sitting – US Fish and Wildlife Service

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing the Canada lynx from the threatened species list . . .

Wildlife officials in the United States declared Canada lynx recovered on Thursday [January 11] and said the snow-loving wild cats no longer need special protections following steps to preserve their habitat.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said it will begin drafting a rule to revoke the lynx’s threatened listing across the Lower 48 state under the Endangered Species Act. Wildlife advocates said they would challenge the move.

First imposed in 2000, the threatened designation has interrupted numerous logging and road building projects on federal lands, frustrating industry groups and Western lawmakers.

Read more . . .