North Fork District Ranger Scott Emmerich to retire

Environmental Issues, News, ,

This week’s Hungry Horse News has nice things to say about Glacier Park’s soon-to-retire North Fork District Ranger Scott Emmerich . . .

North Fork resident Clark Helton was a hunter and a photographer, and he loved Glacier National Park. But he wasn’t in love with some of the Park’s management decisions — biologists were radio-collaring bears and wolves — even elk and deer, and Clark was no fan of man’s intrusion into the natural world.

So whenever Helton saw the Park’s North Fork district ranger, Scott Emmerich, he’d give him an earful — often for an hour or more. It got to the point that if Emmerich saw Clark’s pickup approaching, he’d hide lest he be caught up in chat he didn’t have time for.

Then one day Emmerich decided to meet Clark on his own terms. He went to Clark’s house at Red Meadow, and the two sat and had coffee, which was unusual because Emmerich didn’t drink coffee. Over the years, the two became friends and went on hunting trips together until Helton’s death.

Emmerich continued to manage the North Fork area of the Park with an emphasis on keeping the place rustic. There are no commercial operations in the North Fork, no flush toilets, no cell phone service and no paved roads.

That’s how Emmerich likes it.

Read more . . .

U.S. Forest Service chief favors wilderness conservation

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The Forest Service chief weighs in on wilderness at the “Room to Roam” Wilderness Issues Lecture Series in Missoula . . .

The U.S. Forest Service was founded on the idea of conserving the nation’s wild country, and it will continue that mission even as the opportunities to do so shrink, according to agency Chief Tom Tidwell.

“Once you use wilderness for something else, for our generation or future generations it’s gone,” Tidwell said during a lecture at the University of Montana on Tuesday. “It can shrink, but not grow.”

But Tidwell said we need blank spaces on the map to, as conservationist Wallace Stegner put it, preserve the challenge against which we as a people were formed. Those places defined by the Wilderness Act of 1964 serve as both places of human refreshment and ecological reserve in a landscape that’s getting ever more crowded.

Read more .  . .

North Fork Watershed Protection Act passes U.S. House

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

Well, now. The North Fork Watershed Protection Act just passed the U.S. House this afternoon . . .

The House of Representatives passed the North Fork Watershed Protection Act by voice vote on Tuesday afternoon, passing the issue back to the Senate for final approval.

Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told his colleagues the bill was the first landscape protection act in nearly 30 years to get support from the whole state congressional delegation. Senators Jon Tester and John Walsh, both Democrats, have also pushed it on their side of the Capitol.

“Sen. Max Baucus began working on this bill since his very first year in Congress, in 1974,” Daines said of the state’s former senior senator, who retired in February. “I’m proud to be part of the effort to get it done and across the finish line.”

Read more . . .

Further reading: North Fork Watershed Protection Act Passes U.S. House (Flathead Beacon)

Glacier Park needs to replace historic Swiftcurrent Bridge

News, ,

Glacier Park’s historic Swiftcurrent Bridge is falling apart . . .

The majestic Many Glacier Hotel is an awfully iconic part of Glacier National Park to not be able to get to.

But that’s what lies down the road, according to a 79-page environmental assessment that proposes replacing the park’s historic Swiftcurrent Bridge with a new, clear-span bridge.

Public comments on the proposal are being taken through March 17. The bridge is the only way to access the Many Glacier Hotel Historic District and the hotel itself, a National Historic Landmark.

Read more . . .

Further reading: the official press release.

Lex Blood: North Fork watershed protection moving closer

Commentary,

Lex Blood has an op-ed in the Hungry Horse News this week praising the progress in pushing the North Fork Watershed Protection Act towards passage . . .

After four decades of collaborative effort, protection of the watershed of the North Fork of the Flathead River from mineral or energy development is almost a reality.

On June 5, 2013, Congressman Steve Daines introduced the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013 to our nation’s House of Representatives and made a commitment to “lead the charge” to pass the bill.

“It’s important that we work together to protect these valuable resources so that future generations can enjoy them for years to come,” he said. “I’m glad to be part of this important bi-partisan effort.”

Read more . . .

Wildfire science has moved beyond Smokey Bear

Commentary, News, ,

Wildfires are handled a lot differently than they were a few decades ago . . .

Smokey Bear taught a simple message: “Only you can prevent forest fires.”

Modern fire science has grown far beyond that slogan, according to Tom Zimmerman, president of the International Association of Wildland Fire. But the public that breathes the smoke and the politicians who control the funding have trouble seeing fire as something other than an unnatural event that needs to be stopped.

“There are a lot of jokes out there about Smoky and drip-torches,” Zimmerman said. “We’re still coming out of that era when all fire was harmful. And there’s no good six-word message to replace it.”

Read more . . .

2013 Jack Potter Award winner announced

News, ,

Headwaters Montana just announced the winner of the second annual Jack Potter Glacier National Park Stewardship Award. Here’s the announcement . . .

Headwaters Montana is pleased to announce the 2013 recipient of the second award made for the protection of Glacier Park’s natural resources.  The winner, the Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates (GNPVA), is credited with marshaling the volunteer help of hundreds of citizen-volunteers to help with many facets of Glacier Park’s operations and protection of resources.

The park’s Volunteer Associates has functioned for years with the best interests of Glacier at its core mission.  In 2013 alone the Association’s volunteers logged over 6,000 of free public service to Glacier.  We think that commitment and what it represents to Glacier merits recognition and celebration.

The Associates has been an active partner with Glacier National Park for almost 25 years, and continues to increase its commitment to the park each year.

Headwaters Montana received five strong nominations for the award in 2013.  Glacier Park finds itself in the care of many dedicated people who cherish the park for its own sake and who recognize the contribution the park makes to our quality and way of life.

This year’s award citation notes that the Volunteer Associates gathers the collective energy and dedication of many citizens and has provided opportunities for service to the public and the park over decades of time that include but are not limited to backcountry and river patrol, backcountry preservation and internships, operation of the Discovery Cabin learning center, assistance to the Native Plant Greenhouse, Transit Center, and restoration projects like the Mount Brown Lookout and Lower Nyak Cabin.

“This award to the volunteers of the Associates is a real honor.  We are a one hundred percent volunteer organization dedicated to stewardship and conservation of Glacier Park,” said Tom Nelesen, volunteer president of the GNPVA. “To my knowledge we have never been recognized like this over the many years of service to Glacier Park,”

The Jack Potter Glacier National Park Stewardship Award is given to an individual, park service employee, or non-governmental organization who demonstrates courageous or above average commitment to the stewardship and protection of the natural resources of Glacier National Park.

The award was established in 2012 to honor the 40-year service of its name-sake, Jack Potter, who retired from public service in Glacier Park as Chief of Science and Resources.

In a very real sense the Volunteer Associates and its many volunteers deserved this award a long time ago.  We’re very pleased to provide this recognition at this time.

The award consists of $200 and a hand-blown glass sculpture of a water ouzel by Bigfork artist Lee Proctor.  The award presentation will occur at the February board meeting of the Associates.

‘Winter Ecology and Animal Tracking in Glacier National Park’ class offered March 1

News, ,

Here’s an interesting winter course coming up at Glacier Park the first Saturday in MArch . . .

The Glacier Institute and instructor Beau Servo are offering a course titled, “Winter Ecology and Animal Tracking in Glacier National Park” on Saturday, March 1.

Servo will lead a day of adventure in the snow-covered forest to study ecological concepts from a winter perspective. The day will begin with a short classroom session at the Glacier Park Community Building behind Park Headquarters in West Glacier. Discussion will focus on predator/prey relationships, evergreen plant species and animals’ adaptations to winter.

A field session will follow, concentrating on hunting behaviors, prey escape strategy, specialized adaptations, tracks and trails and wintering birds of prey. The class will travel on snowshoes…

Read more . . .

A Montana perspective on the Milky Way

Commentary,

A very nice essay on “dark skies” posted to the Missoulian via the Billings Gazette . . .

When I stepped out from the canopy of trees along the Appalachian Trail into a meadow, I walked into a sea of lights.

Fireflies danced in the night above the midsummer grass. Their larval offspring — the glow worms — hung from the surrounding trees, and like spectators at a giant amphitheater, they watched their parents dance.

Above, stretched over the length of open field, the Milky Way blazed across the moonless night.

Read more . . .

BNSF gears up to move a million barrels of oil this year

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

BNSF is getting braced to haul a lot of oil this year . . .

Less than a mile from Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow’s office is one of America’s fastest growing pipelines for Bakken crude oil: BNSF Railway.

Oil trains have become a common sight in West Glacier and the Flathead Valley, due in large part to the oil boom in North Dakota and Eastern Montana. Recently, BNSF CEO Matt Rose said his 32,000-mile railroad was projected to haul 1 million barrels of oil every day by the end of 2014. According to BNSF, the railroad operates one crude oil train every day through the Flathead Valley to refineries in Washington and Oregon. However, a recent rash of accidents has brought scrutiny to the practice.

Now, the railroad company is preparing a detailed hazardous materials response plan if an oil train were to derail near Glacier National Park. According to spokesperson Matt Jones, the plan will be available to local first responders in the coming weeks.

Read more . . .