Montana and the federal government signed the paperwork to establish a formal federal-state logging and restoration partnership . . .
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock signed an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service on Monday for the state to play a bigger role in forest management on federal lands, which officials say will speed up backlogged logging projects.
Forest management and the declining timber industry have emerged as major issues in this year’s governor’s race, with Weyerhaeuser announcing last month that it would close a Columbia Falls lumber and plywood mill. The closure will put about 100 people out of work in addition to 100 administrative jobs that are being eliminated or moved with Weyerhaeuser’s purchase of Plum Creek Timber.
With the Chessman Reservoir as a backdrop, Bullock, Forest Service Regional Forester Leanne Marten and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Director John Tubbs signed the Good Neighbor Authority agreement, which was authorized under the 2014 federal Farm Bill.
Little brown bat affected by white nose syndrome – Marvin Moriarty-USFWS
The Flathead Valley along both sides of the border is a significant bat study area, so another report of white-nose syndrome in the Western U.S. is cause for concern . . .
White-nose syndrome fungus has shown up in a second species of bat in Washington, adding to the concern that the problem could be expanding west of the Rocky Mountains.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists reported finding a silver-haired bat that tested positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans – a fungus that has killed millions of bats in 27 states and five Canadian provinces.
While the silver-haired bat was not made ill by the fungus, researchers worry it may be spreading spores to more vulnerable populations.
Bison herd grazing at the national bison range – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The idea of transferring the National Bison Range back to tribal control is gaining traction . . .
More than a century after the federal government removed more than 18,000 acres of land on the Flathead Indian Reservation to establish the National Bison Range, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are working to return the wildlife refuge to tribal management.
Such an action would require federal action, and last month the tribes released a legislative proposal that would remove the range from the National Wildlife Refuge System and place it back into federal trust ownership for the tribes.
Nearly 150 people attended a Tuesday night meeting at the Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, where representatives from the tribes’ natural resources and legal departments were on hand to discuss the proposal with community members and explain the draft legislation.
Parks Canada and the U.S. National Park Service will host the 13thannual Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day at the Falls Theatre (near Cameron Falls) in Waterton Lakes National Park on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. This international event, held annually on the last Tuesday in July, is free of charge with park entry fees.All are encouraged to attend.
Science and History Day is an incredible way for people to learn about the latest research directly from the scientists and historians working in and around the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Experts will discuss their work in a non-technical style, with presentations grouped into themes of aquatic resources, landscapes, history and wildlife.
Some of this year’s subjects include: the threats facing salamanders, cross-boundary work on climate change, the parks’ lesser-known past, and how remote cameras are used to track wildlife movement.
Jeff Mow, Glacier National Park Superintendent, said “The peace and friendship of the Peace Park is captured in the many cooperative projects carried out in our scientific community.”
“Science and History Day is an outstanding opportunity for all people to learn about some of the research in the Peace Park and personally connect with our environment and history,” commented Ifan Thomas, Waterton Lakes National Park Superintendent. “We look forward to welcoming everyone to Waterton for this special learning oppo
rtunity.”
The program celebrates the U.S. National Park Service’s Centennial with a viewing of the 1954 film “Wardens of Waterton” featuring cooperative work with Glacier National Park’s Rangers. Science and History Day provides participants with an excellent opportunity to learn about their national parks and connect with the heritage of their protected places. Attendees are encouraged to bring a sack lunch for the 45-minute lunch break, so as not to miss the film viewing at 12:45 p.m.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to use drones to inoculate black-footed ferrets against sylvatic plague . . .
The US government is set to unleash drones that fire vaccine-laced pellets in a bid to save the endangered black-footed ferret, a species that is facing a plague epidemic across America’s great plains.
The US Fish and Wildlife (FWS) has developed a plan to bombard ferret habitat in Montana with the vaccine, which will be administered via specially designed drones that will be able to shoot pellets in three directions simultaneously.
The vaccines will be targeted at the prairie dog population at the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge in north-eastern Montana. Black footed ferrets – North America’s only native ferret – are completely dependent upon prairie dogs, which are a type of burrowing rodent, for their food and shelter.
A biker on Glacier Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road photographs a black bear, May 2016 – Butch Larcombe
Here’s a pretty good article by Rob Chaney of the Missoulian on the issue of ‘high speed recreation’ in backcountry areas. Despite the title, it’s not just about mountain bikes . . .
Two weeks before a Kalispell man died in a bicycle collision with a bear near Glacier National Park, an ultra-marathon runner in New Mexico was mauled by a bear she encountered on a New Mexico trail…
On Thursday, an estimated 2,500 people paid their respects to Brad Treat at a memorial service in Kalispell’s Legends Stadium on Thursday. The 38-year-old Forest Service law enforcement officer died on June 29 after colliding with a bear on his bicycle while pedaling on a trail near Halfmoon Lake.
That same Thursday in Missoula, grizzly bear advocates were warning U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acting Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator Wayne Kasworm about the dangers posed by high-speed recreation in bear habitat.
For those of you who can’t wait on the mail, the North Fork Preservation Association Summer 2016 Newsletter is now available online in the “Newsletters” section of the website. Enjoy!
Here’s a partial table of contents:
Watershed, Wilderness and Wildlife (President’s letter)
Working Group Reports:
– Watershed Issues
– Wildlife Issues
– Wilderness Issues
Room for Debate: Grizzly Delisting (two exceptional essays)
Website Report: Wildlife, Land Management and a Long Fire Season
Gate Across Hay Creek Rd, Flathead NF, April 16, 2016 – W. K. Walker
Even something as commonplace as roads is a hot topic in the new forest plan . . .
The Flathead National Forest will likely change the way it manages its roads when a new Forest Plan is adopted and at least one environmental group isn’t happy with the change.
Three of the four alternatives listed in a recently released draft forest plan will not utilize provisions in Amendment 19, the controversial standard that has resulted in the closure of more than 700 miles of roads across the forest in the past couple of decades.
Under Amendment 19, biologists divided the Forest habitat into grizzly bear subunits and in each subunit, the Forest was to strive for a formula that allowed for 19 percent open roads, 19 percent total roads, and 68 percent core grizzly habitat with no roads.
Grizzly bear recovery is still a contentious issue . . .
A listening session on future grizzly bear management in northwest Montana drew lots of criticism from both bear advocates and livestock proponents.
“While the (U.S. Fish and Wildlife) Service claims it will maintain bear habitat security levels that existed in 2011, it is instead lowering the goal posts on what is considered secure bear habitat,” Keith Hammer of Swan View Coalition said in Missoula at Thursday’s workshop. He accused FWS of “lying” about grizzly population recovery to justify removing the bear from federal Endangered Species Act protection.
From the other direction, Montana Board of Livestock member Nina Baucus said the agency wasn’t doing enough to protect people from a growing population of grizzlies.
