Debo Powers, NFPA President, is presenting an original poem at the event in Whitefish. Look for it here, right after the event closes!
Celebrate the Wild Flathead! Join Montana Wilderness Association and Whitefish Review for an evening of poems and stories from the wild backcountry of the Flathead National Forest on Thursday, September 15 from 5:30 – 8pm at Bonsai Brewing Project in Whitefish. Local authors will share works that were inspired by the beauty of the places in our own wild backyard such as the Whitefish Range, the majestic Swan Range and the beloved Bob Marshall Wilderness. As we reminisce about another glorious summer on the trail, MWA encourages those who care about these areas to add their comments on the Flathead National Forest’s new management plan, which is currently being revised. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be provided and a FREE GIFT for new and current MWA members. This is a FREE event that is open to the public. Join us to listen, share, and protect the future of our wild legacy!
Huckleberries on Moran Creek Trail (T2) in Flathead NF – W. K. Walker
Researchers have launched a serious effort to learn more about huckleberries.
The North Fork Preservation Association is supporting this investigation. The NFPA has a huckleberry team of seven people, led by Suzanne Danielle, who checked two sites in the North Fork every week throughout the season . . .
We know the least about the plant we love the most in the mountains.
When Tabitha Graves took up carnivore research for the U.S. Geological Survey base at Glacier National Park, one of the biggest puzzles needing attention was the role huckleberries play in the food chain. Although creatures from grasshoppers to grizzlies like the purple fruit, we know little about what the berries themselves like.
“The more I’ve gotten into this, the more I’ve realized how important they are,” Graves said. “All kinds of birds eat them, as do small mammals. We’ve found coyote scats with berries in them. We’ve seen wasps eating them. And of course, humans eat a lot of them.”
The Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation (WPEF) is partnering with the Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park to hold the Foundation’s 2016 science meeting in Whitefish on September 16th. The event is being held at the O’Shaughnessy Center, 1 Central Avenue, and includes both a full day of science presentations and an evening program for the public. There will also be an event on Saturday recognizing Whitefish Mountain Resort as the first certified “Whitebark Pine Friendly Ski Area”. The formal presentation ceremony recognizing the ski area’s efforts to protect and restore whitebark pine will occur at the resort’s Base Lodge at 10:30 a.m.
Whitebark pine is a keystone species, whose large seeds provide a critical food source for over 110 species of birds and animals at high elevations. Its presence allows other tree species to establish under the harsh conditions near the tree line, and helps retain snowpack and regulate runoff. Outdoor enthusiasts know whitebark pine as a familiar companion that enriches their high mountain experiences.
Whitebark faces several threats, primarily human caused, that have decreased the number of whitebark pine in Northwest Montana by over 90 percent. The science program being held on Friday, the 16th from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. will feature presentations by many of the premier experts in whitebark pine research, policy and restoration efforts. The public is welcome to attend; go to http://whitebarkfound.org/ for more information.
An evening program for the public, covering whitebark pine ecology, threats and local restoration efforts, will be held after the science meeting from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. The evening program will feature presentations by whitebark pine and Clark’s nutcracker researcher, Dr. Diana Tomback, and Flathead National Forest reforestation specialist, Karl Anderson. Evening events will also include a no-host bar and silent auction. The public is encouraged to attend and learn more about whitebark pine and why it is such an important species to the people living in northwest Montana.
For more information on any of the events, please contact Melissa Jenkins, WPEF Secretary, at (406) 260-6500.
Wildlife managers continue to work on a plan to remove grizzly bears from the Endangered Species List. Meanwhile, there’s evidence of contact between the two main grizzly population centers . . .
Federal plans to delist the grizzly bear from Endangered Species Act protection will get a second round of public comment.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Tuesday announcement follows its release of a peer-review report generally approving its management plan for allowing state management of grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Coincidentally, it also arrives on the heels of reports that Yellowstone grizzlies may be making contact with their fellows in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem north of Missoula.
Montana, Idaho and Wyoming state wildlife managers have all proposed plans for both protecting and hunting Yellowstone grizzly bear populations, assuming they leave federal management. Northern grizzlies are considered a separate population, although they are undergoing a similar delisting process that isn’t as far along as the Yellowstone one.
Travelers on the Graves Creek-Trail Creek Road, Forest Road #114, may encounter delays up to an hour or more on Monday, September 12th through Wednesday September 14th, from 8:00 through 5:00 pm.
A retaining wall, approximately 6 miles west of the North Fork Road and 3 miles east of Tuchuck Campground is being repaired and maintained. Crews and equipment will be working to remove mud and debris from the road and wall to ensure that drainage works properly. Please watch for trucks hauling on this narrow road.
For additional information please contact Flathead National Forest Road Manager, Ron Krueger at 406-387-3838.
The Copper King Fire makes its initial run on Sunday, July 31, 2016
Locally, the Coal Ridge Fire, a small, 0.2 acre blaze on the south face of Coal Ridge about 6 miles southwest of Polebridge, was declared out yesterday afternoon.
The Flathead Beacon has a good summary of other fires in the Flathead Valley . . .
The storm system that passed through the Flathead Valley earlier this week sparked several new wildfires on the Flathead National Forest in the Swan Lake Ranger District, the agency announced.
Smoke has been visible this week throughout the valley due to the Copper King Fire, which has burned 27,788 acres near Thompson Falls. More than 838 personnel are battling the blaze.
The Cold Lake fire is on the ridge just south of Lower Cold Lake and is approximately 10 acres in size, in sub-alpine fir, and has several small spot fires. There are seven smoke jumpers and a 21-person initial attack crew assigned to the fire. A Type 1 helicopter and a Type 3 helicopter were conducting bucket work to help suppression efforts.
Coal Ridge – remains of old lookout – W. K. Walker
According to a recent report, the Coal Ridge Fire is now “controlled.” It is located 6 miles southwest of Polebridge (or 1.5 miles ESE of the location pictured above), high up on the south face of the ridge above Coal Creek Road.
The 0.2 acre blaze was spotted late Tuesday afternoon. Fire personnel dropped on it the next day.
The Flathead National Forest is having another in a series of open houses on September 8 regarding their “forest plan, plan amendments and draft environmental impact statement.”
This is a fairly big deal. They’re deciding how to manage the forest for the next 20 years or so, including such things as timber management, wilderness, recreation, travel and, in conjunction with surrounding forests, items like how to handle grizzly bear de-listing.
Here’s the announcement . . .
Open House Notice
Flathead National Forest Plan Revision, Plan Amendments, and Draft Environmental Impact Statement
You are invited to attend an open house on the Flathead National Forest draft forest plan, plan amendments, and draft environmental impact statement.
The purpose of the draft forest plan is to provide for long-term sustainability of ecosystems and desired ecosystem services. The draft forest plan describes the Forest’s distinctive roles and contributions within the broader landscape and details forest-wide, management area, and geographic area desired conditions, objectives, standards, and guidelines. The revised forest plan identifies suitable uses of National Forest System lands and estimates of the planned timber sale quantity for the Forest. The draft revised plan identifies priority watersheds for restoration, and includes the evaluation of recommended wilderness areas and eligible wild and scenic rivers. The purpose and need for the four forest amendments for the Helena, Lewis and Clark, Kootenai, and Lolo National Forests, along with the revised forest plan for the Flathead National Forest, is to ensure the adequacy of regulatory mechanisms regarding habitat protection across the national forests in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in support of the de-listing of the grizzly bear.
During the open house the planning team will be available to answer any questions you may have. There will not be a formal presentation. You can plan to stop in at any time during the open house.
Thursday, September 8, 2016, 4:30-7:00 p.m., Flathead National Forest Supervisors Office, 650 Wolfpack Way, Kalispell MT 59901
Documents and maps are available on-line, as well as information about how to comment, at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/flathead/fpr. The comment period ends on October 3, 2016.
State wildlife biologists aren’t ready to say whether the grizzly bear or bears spotted this year in the Upper Big Hole area originated in the Yellowstone ecosystem or traveled from northern Montana.
“We can’t honestly say yet, north or south,” said Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Kevin Frey on Monday. “The Big Hole is kind of the gray zone between the two ecosystems.”
The two confirmed grizzly sightings this year are the first in the area in nearly a century. Biologists aren’t certain whether the two sightings, roughly 40 miles apart, were of the same bear. Even though the range makes it entirely possible, Frey has his doubts.
Morel mushrooms near West Glacier, Montana – Cathy McCoy
Yesterday’s (Wed., Aug. 31) NPR “Morning Edition” ran a piece on mushroom pickers in our region . . .
At a campground in northwestern Montana, 30 people are groggily gearing up for a day of mushroom picking.
Most are here because they want an excuse to get outside and taste some of Montana’s more exotic wild mushrooms. But others, like Matt Zaitz from Kansas, are here to turn a profit…
Zaitz can sell a pound of morel mushrooms for about $20. On a good day, which is by no means every day, Zaitz says he can bring in a harvest worth $500. He says there’s potentially millions of dollars to be made off mushrooms in Western public lands, especially in burn zones the summer after a big wildfire.
Debo Powers, NFPA President, is presenting an original poem at the event in Whitefish. Look for it here, right after the event closes!
