Grizzly bear taste for chicken makes for conflicts — and dead bears

Environmental Issues, News, ,

We mentioned this last year, but it bears repeating: Human-bear conflict is not just caused by garbage, dog food and bird feeders. There is a growing problem these days with unprotected chicken coops. The New York Times ran a story a couple of weeks ago . . .

Longing for fresh eggs, Levi and Nauni Griffith began raising chickens in their backyard. They started with a few, and eventually had 116. Until late last summer, that is, when a grizzly sow and her cub, filling the night with fearful growling, got in among the shrieking chickens and then lumbered off, leaving bits of 99 birds behind…

In northwestern Montana, as in much of the country, more people are keeping chickens. And bears of all kinds are developing a taste for poultry that lures them into populated areas, presenting a dangerous situation for both people and, especially, for bears.

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Montana FWP Commission approves new wolf hunt rules; allows trapping

Environmental Issues, News, ,

To no one’s surprise, the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Commission approved new wolf hunt rules late last week, including a provision for trapping . . .

Montana wildlife commissioners approved new wolf hunting rules Thursday that allow trapping and the killing of up to three of the predators by one trapper.

The move came after the officials waded through thousands of written comments regarding management of the species that evokes strong emotions…

Wildlife managers will allow some trapping, lift most quotas and expand the length of the season…

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Park Service acquires Doody Ranch property in Glacier’s Middle Fork

News, ,

The Park Service has bought out the second largest remaining inholding in Glacier Park . . .

The National Park Service has acquired the second largest privately owned property remaining in Glacier National Park, the park service announced Monday.

The Trust for Public Land bought the 120-acre homestead property named Doody Ranch on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River near Harrison Lake. The property was purchased for $900,000 and sold to the park service for the same amount using royalties from offshore energy leases.

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North Fork Inter Local Agreement meeting this Wednesday

News,

This summer’s North Fork Inter Local Agreement meeting will be held this Wednesday, July 11 at Sondreson Community Hall near Whale Creek.

Programs for Fire Wise Day begin earlier at 9:30 am and run until noon.

The Inter Local Agreement provides for face-to-face contact with representatives of agencies whose policies and actions affect the North Fork. Inter Local Agreement meetings are held in the winter (in town) and summer (at the hall). Signatories to the agreement include the Flathead National Forest, Glacier National Park and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Hamburgers/sausages will be provided at noon. You bring side dishes.

This meeting is hosted by the North Fork Preservation Association.

Here’s the agenda . . .

Inter Local Agreement Landowner Updates:

North Fork Compact
North Fork Landowners’ Association
North Fork Preservation Association
North Fork Road Coalition for Health & Safety

Agency Updates:

US Fish & Wildlife Service
MT FW&P
MT Department of State Lands
Flathead County
Flathead National Forest
Homeland Security (US Border Patrol)
Glacier National Park

Montana’s wolf trapping plan draws big response

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

This year’s Montana wolf hunt proposal stirred things up a bit . . .

The public response to the plans for this year’s wolf hunt in Montana has been staggering: A whopping 6,500 comments have been received on the proposal set for approval Thursday by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission.

That far outnumbers the 1,500 comments received on the 2011 wolf hunt plan and just about doubles the comments FWP took on last year’s hotly debated proposal to relocate Yellowstone National Park bison, agency officials said.

Driving the renewed interest is a proposal to expand the hunt to include trapping for the first time, along with bow and rifle seasons.

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Flooding closes Inside North Fork Road

News, ,

Logging Creek got over its banks a while back and closed the Inside North Fork Road . . .

The Inside North Fork Road, Glacier National Park’s oldest road, will need some repair work this spring before it can fully open. Logging Creek has braided into several channels just south of the Logging Creek Ranger Station, and the road is closed between Logging and Fish creeks.

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Idaho wolf season ends, sort of…

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The Idaho wolf season has ended, but not really . . .

The day after Idaho’s 2011-12 wolf hunting season ended, some parts of the state started hunting for 2012-13.

Private lands in the state’s northern panhandle region are allowed to keep the pressure on wolves through the summer, according to Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Tony McDermott. The new season started Sunday, just after the June 30 ending of last year’s Idaho wolf hunt.

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Larry Wilson: Another outhouse bites the dust

Commentary, News, ,

Larry relates a good outhouse story . . .

I don’t know why outhouses are the subject of so many stories. Maybe because they’re slowly disappearing from rural America, and even where they still exist, they have been replaced by indoor plumbing — even on the North Fork. Whatever the reason, there is one less outhouse on the North Fork today, and its demise is an interesting, and hilarious, story.

A Trail Creek summer resident went outside early one morning this week and immediately noticed that her frame outhouse was missing an entire wall. On closer examination, two walls had been ripped off the small building, and the firewood which had been in the otherwise unused outhouse was scattered on the ground.

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Scientists sorting out relationship between beetles and other wildfire factors

Fire Information and Status, News,

Researchers are putting a lot of effort into studying the relationship between beetle killed and damaged tress and wildfire intensity . . .

Inside university laboratories and government research facilities across the country, scientists are playing with dozens of variables — mixing and matching and rearranging — to gain a better understanding of what makes wildfire go.

They’re busy building computer models as firefighters toil on steep mountainsides to put out more than a dozen new blazes in what has already become a vicious summer of destruction.

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Western Montana OK so far, but wildfire risk is rising

Fire Information and Status, News

As temperatures rise and humidities drop, fire management officials are starting to get nervous abut fire conditions in Western Montana . . .

Western Montana seems to have misplaced its ticket to the bonfire season that’s torching the eastern half of the state, but fire officials remain braced for trouble over the Fourth of July week.

“We certainly came out of the chute pretty quick this year,” said Paula Short at the state Department of Natural Resources on Friday. “At least we’ve got all our large fires staffed with incident management teams now. With this early start, we’re expecting above-average temperatures and below-average humidity in the southeast and all along the bottom of the state.”

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