Kayaker rescued from Flathead River

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A number of local emergency responders, including North Valley Rescue, were called out to help with a woman who took a tumble into the Flathead River yesterday . . .

A woman in her 30s was rescued after falling out of her kayak Friday afternoon on the Flathead River.

According to Brian Heino, search and rescue coordinator with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, she was able to get to shore but not up the bank. Heino said Glacier National Park employees had a boat available nearby and were able to pick her up.“I don’t know where they got [the boat],” Heino said. “They don’t normally have one.” The woman was cold but uninjured and OK.

The incident occurred between Blankenship Bridge and the Coram railroad trestle.

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Big Creek water quality restoration complete

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Here’s the Missoulian’s report on the Big Creek water quality restoration project . . .

A major tributary to the North Fork of the Flathead River was removed from a list of impaired Montana water bodies Friday, becoming the first state stream to meet the standards for delisting. Officials with the Hungry Horse Ranger District and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality announced that Big Creek is the first water body to complete a full water quality restoration process after it was added to a list of sediment-impaired waters in 1996.

Hungry Horse District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera said the delisting is a major accomplishment, and the result of a watershed restoration plan that began nine years ago. The plan involved decommissioning some 60 miles of forest logging roads, removing 47 culverts and replacing an additional 19, improving 89 miles of roads to decrease storm water runoff, and replanting 25 acres of eroding uplands.

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More roads open in Glacier Park

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Glacier National Park is making steady progress opening roads this spring. The Inside North Fork Road is now open north of Logging Creek Ranger Station, making Bowman and Kintla Lakes accessible on the west side of the park. Also, another section of Going-to-the-Sun Road opened up, permitting public access as far as Avalanche on the west side and to Jackson Glacier Overlook on the east.

See the park’s road status page for details, as well as information on hiker/biker access.

Big Creek officially completes water quality restoration

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Big Creek, a major tributary of the North Fork, has now officially completed a restoration process aimed at reducing sediment contamination. . . .

Big Creek is the first stream in the state to have completed a water quality restoration process aimed at reducing sediments.

the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Flathead National Forest announced the news Thursday that Big Creek had been removed from the state’s list of impaired waters.

Recent monitoring data has shown that sediment and stream conditions in Big Creek, a major tributary to the North Fork of the Flathead River, now are similar to conditions in streams with minimal human impacts.

That wasn’t the case in 1996, when Big Creek was added to a list of Montana waters with impaired water quality.

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Wandering wolf settled in Northern California — for now

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“OR7,” the first wild wolf to enter California in almost 90 years (see earlier story), seems to have settled down in Northern California for now after a brief excursion back into Oregon . . .

A young male wolf from Oregon that has won worldwide fame while trekking across mountains, deserts and highways looking for a mate has had what appears to be his first close encounter with people, and got his picture taken, to boot.

A federal trapper, a state game warden and a state wildlife biologist were visiting ranchers in Northern California on Tuesday to notify them that GPS signals showed the gray wolf was in the area, when they stopped to look over a sagebrush hillside with binoculars, said Karen Kovacs, wildlife program manager for the California Department of Fish and Game in Redding, Calif.

“There, all of a sudden, out pops a head, and there he is,” she said. “He appeared very healthy.”

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Montana FWP gives tentative OK to wolf trapping

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The FWP commissioners voted tentative approval for wolf trapping this hunting season, as well as elimination of quotas . . .

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners have given their initial approval to the 2012 wolf-hunt proposal that would allow trapping and eliminate quotas.

After a nearly four-hour hearing Thursday in which more than 60 people spoke, the commissioners voted to put the proposal out to public comment until June 25.

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National forest campgrounds start opening as weather warms

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Here’s another sure sign of spring: The area’s national forest campgrounds are beginning to open up . . .

Warm temperatures are expected to return this week and just in time for the opening of several campgrounds throughout the Flathead National Forest.

Campgrounds at Big Creek, Emery Bay, Holland Lake, Swan Lake, and Tally Lake will open to the public Friday, May 11, along with the Doris Point Boat Launch, according to the Forest Service. Other sites will open later in the month. The Doris Creek and Lost Johnny Campgrounds are scheduled to open May 18. Depending on weather conditions, the Lid Creek Campground is scheduled to open May 24…

Most campsites are first-come first-serve but other can be reserved beforehand. This year reservations can be made online. Or call 1-877-444-6777.

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Montana FWP considering wolf-trapping season

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There’s been some loose talk recently about introducing a wolf trapping season . . .

State wildlife managers want to substantially liberalize the 2012-13 wolf-hunting season in another attempt to decrease pack numbers in Montana.

Trapping wolves, allowing the taking of up to three wolves, using electronic calls, lengthening the hunt and eliminating quotas are among the proposals to be introduced at Thursday’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission meeting.

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Controversial bill that aims to shift authority over federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S. border nears House vote

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From the Missoulian . . .

A controversial bill that aims to shift authority over federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S. border to the Department of Homeland Security could be nearing a vote on the House floor, a development that has renewed debate over the measure’s applicability in places like Montana, where it would strip dozens of environmental protections from Glacier National Park and designated wilderness areas.

The proposed legislation, called the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, or H.R. 1505, would exempt Homeland Security from compliance with 36 federal environmental protection laws in order to expedite border security, including the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

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Al-Qaida magazine pushes terrorists to trigger Montana wildfires

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You just can’t make this stuff up.

A fumbling article in an English-language Al-Qaida publication is urging wanna-be terrorists to set wildfires in Montana. Here’s the write-up, including the obligatory tough-talking response from local law enforcement . . .

Terrorists who want to strike fear in the hearts of Americans would do well to set wildfires in Montana, al-Qaida advises in the most recent issue of its English-language magazine, Inspire.

“It is difficult to choose a better place other than in the valleys of Montana where the population increases rapidly,” Inspire’s “AQ Chef” columnist writes.

The magazine disappeared for a while after its founders, Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, were killed last year in a U.S. missile strike.

But it recently reappeared online, its grammatically challenged cover urging “It is of your freedom to ignite a firebomb.” Inside, the AQ Chef gives three pages detailing the recipe for an “ember bomb” – along with the suggestion to deploy such bombs in Montana.

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Bonus: For extra-snarky commentary on this story, see the Huffington Post’s take on the subject.