Category Archives: News

Winter Trails Day in the Flathead Valley, Jan. 9

December 31, 2015NewsWinter Trails Daynfpa

The Flathead Community of Resource Educators (CORE), a network of individuals and organizations working together to increase awareness and understanding about the natural, historical and cultural resources of the Flathead Region, is celebrating Winter Trails on Saturday, January 9 with several free outdoor activities.

These free activities are a great way to enjoy the outdoors in winter and discover the fitness and social benefits of snowshoeing in Northwest Montana. All activities are suitable for beginners and families. Be prepared with warm clothing and wear sturdy hiking shoes or boots.

A snowshoe walk on the Flathead National Forest, hosted by the Swan Lake Ranger District, Flathead Audubon and Foy’s to Blacktail Trails, will be held at the Blacktail Mountain cross-country ski trails near Lakeside, 10a.m. to Noon. Participants may bring snowshoes, or a limited number of children and adult shoes will be available by reservation. Please meet at the upper trailhead parking area. Reservations are not required. For more information or to reserve snowshoes, please contact the Swan Lake Ranger District at 837-7500.

Explore Lone Pine State Park on snowshoes. From 10a.m. to 5p.m., park visitors can borrow snowshoes and explore the many park trails. Adult and children’s snowshoes are available on a first-come, first-served basis. A ranger-led snowshoe walk takes place at 11am. Please contact the park at 755-2706 for more information and to reserve snowshoes for the 11am walk.

Ranger-led snowshoe hikes at Glacier National Park will take place at 10:30am and 2:00pm. Each hike will last approximately two hours and reservations are not required. Snowshoes are available for hike participants. Visitors need to purchase a park entrance pass. Please meet at the Apgar Visitor Center. Call 888-7800 for more information.

For more information about local events and Winter Trails visit, www.wintertrails.org

Regional bird count reflects climate change

December 31, 2015Environmental Issues, Newsbird count, Flathead Audubon Societynfpa

The Daily Inter Lake posted a pretty thorough article on the regional annual bird count. Our own Steve Gniadek gets a mention . . .

Rare visitors to Montana, a pair of Pacific loons bobbed along in the gentle swells of Flathead Lake on a chilly morning Dec. 19.

About 1,000 feet from the shore, the vivid black-and-white stripes along the birds’ backs and necks would appear momentarily in Craig Hohenberger’s spotting scope, then vanish behind another wave.

“They’re more of a fall bird,” Hohenberger, a retired ornithologist, explained, automatically adding “golden-crowned kinglet” as he picked up the barely audible call from an unseen bird. “It’s normally around October you might see them.”

Read more . . .

Montana governor allows bison to roam outside Yellowstone

December 24, 2015Environmental Issues, Newsamerican bison, buffalo, Steve Bullock, Yellowstone National Parknfpa

Well, the guy’s last name is “Bullock” after all . . .

Wild bison will be allowed to migrate out of Yellowstone National Park and stay in parts of Montana year-round under a Tuesday move by Gov. Steve Bullock that breaks a longstanding impasse in a wildlife conflict that’s dragged on for decades.

The Democratic governor’s decision likely won’t end the periodic slaughters of some bison that roam outside Yellowstone in search of food at lower elevations. But it for the first time allows hundreds of the animals to linger year-round on an estimated 400 square miles north and west of the park.

The move has been eagerly sought by wildlife advocates — and steadfastly opposed by livestock interests. Ranchers around Yellowstone are wary of a disease carried by many bison and the increased competition the animals pose for limited grazing space.

Read more . . .

Kootenai Forest stakeholder group reaches accord

December 24, 2015Environmental Issues, Newscollaboration, Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition, Kootenai National Forestnfpa

This is a decent summary of the status of the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition, including a discussion of a couple of rather contentious lawsuits stirring the pot over there . . .

A collaborative group representing stakeholders in and around the Kootenai National Forest announced an agreement last week that will guide its input on proposed land management projects.

The Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition includes representatives from environmental, industry and recreation groups that often are at odds on forest policy. Robyn King, executive director of the Yaak Valley Forest Council, said the group was formed in 2006 to come up with a set of shared objectives to minimize litigation blamed for slowing down projects in the national forest.

“This is the guiding document that we would use, as a group, to make our comments to the U.S. Forest Service,” King said. “This is an organic document, so as we get out on the ground and see different applications being proposed by the U.S. Forest Service, we may make changes over time.”

Read more . . .

LWCF makes it into spending bill; ‘fire-borrowing’ does not

December 17, 2015Environmental Issues, Newsfire-borrowing fix, Land and Water Conservation Fund, LWCF, omnibus spending billnfpa

Reauthorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund made it into the pending omnibus spending bill, but the ‘fire-borrowing’ fix for funding large wildfires did not. The wildfire measure was tied to a set of logging measures that raised opposition on both sides of the aisle . . .

Proposals to speed up logging projects apparently killed chances for fixing the U.S. Forest Service’s “fire borrowing” problem as Congress moved an omnibus budget bill toward passage Wednesday.

The 2,009-page bill does include re-authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was a bipartisan goal of Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines, Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. But the Montana delegation’s push for categorical exemptions and expedited approvals of logging projects ran into opposition from both national environmental groups and Senate Republican leadership.

Both Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., opposed including the Forest Wildfire Funding and Forest Management amendment that was backed by a large coalition of logging, recreation and conservation groups as well as members of Congress from both parties and the Agriculture Department.

Read more . . .

Update: Activity summary for August – December

December 15, 2015News, Site Updatesactivities, NFPA, North Fork Preservation Associationnfpa

Wonder what we’ve been doing since August? Head over to the newly updated activities page for a summary.

Diving artist-in-residence gains unique view of Glacier National Park

December 12, 2015Newsartist-in-residence, Glacier National Park, underwater photographynfpa

This article from the Hungry Horse News is best viewed in the print edition . . .

There have been plenty of artist-in-residence at Glacier National Park. Chris Gug is the first to dive right into his project, however — literally.

Gug recently spent a solid month photographing the Park’s underwater landscape. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida photographer has been diving and taking underwater photos since he was 15. He said he stumbled upon the application for Glacier Park’s program after he did a Google search for artists and Fort Lauderdale airport expansion.

Thanks be to Google, the Park’s artist program popped up in the search. “The more I talked to the Park, the more I wanted to do it,” he said.

Read more . . .

Climate impacts to hunting, fishing and wildlife heritage

December 12, 2015Environmental Issues, Newsclimate change, fishing, hunting, National Wildlife Federation, wildlifenfpa

Over at the Flathead Beacon, Tristan Scott posted an article on a recently released report by the National Wildlife Federation . . .

Montana’s hunters and anglers have as much vested in the Paris climate negotiations as the state’s abundant suite of wildlife, according to research compiled by the National Wildlife Federation, which recently released a report detailing what’s at stake culturally, ecologically and economically if a solution is not forthcoming.

As 150 world leaders at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference hash out a binding agreement for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, scientists studying moose, cutthroat trout, mountain goats, and other wild animals in Montana are sounding the alarm about climate impacts in the Treasure State.

The National Wildlife Federation’s report is entitled “Game Changers: Climate Impacts to America’s Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Heritage,” and outlines the historic role of hunters and anglers in conservation and the many ways in which the changing climate is affecting hunting and fishing opportunities and the state’s robust outdoor economy.

Read more . . .

Feds aim to maintain current Greater Yellowstone grizzly numbers

December 10, 2015Environmental Issues, Newsbear management, greater Yellowstone ecosystem, grizzly bearsnfpa

Federal wildlife managers edge closer to delisting the grizzly bear . . .

Wildlife managers will seek to maintain grizzly bear numbers in the three-state Yellowstone region near current levels as they move toward lifting protections for the threatened species, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The agency has set a management goal of 674 grizzly bears across the 19,300-square-mile region. That’s enough of the animals to “ensure a sustainable and resilient population,” spokeswoman Serena Baker said.

The population target is consistent with the average number of bears between 2002 and 2014. But it’s about 6 percent below the most recent tally of 714 bears at the end of 2014.

‘Through Glacier Park’ a century later

December 9, 2015History, NewsChris Peterson, Glacier National Park, Mary Roberts Rinehartnfpa

As if you didn’t already have a full schedule in December, here’s another worthwhile event, courtesy of the inimitable Chris Peterson’s love of hiking and photography . . .

On Dec. 16, local author and Hungry Horse News editor Chris Peterson will give a community presentation on Mary Roberts Rinehart’s book, “Through Glacier Park in 1915.”

Rinehart’s classic is a travelogue of her 300-mile journey through Glacier Park, during which she traveled on horseback through the park with a party of 40 people, including famed artist Charlie Russell.

A century later, in 2015, Peterson recreated Rinehart’s journey and her photographs, hiking 240 miles between April and September, meeting snow, rain, wind, heat, bears, and wildfires.

Hosted by the Glacier National Park Conservancy, Peterson’s free presentation will feature stories from his travels, and autographed copies of his book will be available for purchase, proceeds benefiting the conservancy.

The event takes place at Flathead Valley Community College’s Art and Technology building, at 7 p.m.

Keep reading . . .