Larry Wilson: Snowcats needed for winter rescue

Commentary, ,

Larry expands on his previous comments about the importance of proper search and rescue snowmobile training, even in areas normally closed to motorized transport . . .

Most of the North Fork, north of Canyon Creek, is now closed to snowmobilers. There are some exceptions, where unplowed roads are open.

I stand by my statement that search and rescue training has been limited by the closures. SAR training requires space so that actual missions have operators experienced in backcountry snow conditions. You can not adequately train on groomed trails or even on unplowed roads. Very often, backcountry missions involve heavy powder, steep hillsides and running through trees. Extreme skill is important, but so is being familiar with the area.

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Aerial survey indicates pine beetle infestation tapering off in Montana

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

The pine beetle infestation may finally be tapering off . . .

Mountain pine beetle activity is declining in Montana, a U.S. Forest Service official says.

The finding is the result of aerial surveys last year and analyzed in the 2011 Montana Forest Insect and Disease Conditions report prepared by the Forest Service and state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

But the report also found emerging problems with western spruce budworm and pine butterfly.

The report covers about 20.5 million forested acres in Montana, including federal, state and private lands.

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Montana snowpack increased through March

News, Snow Conditions,

Montana snowpack is about average most places and continued to accumulate throughout March . . .

There may not be gold in them thar’ hills, but there’s snow.

In fact, even as we creep into spring, the statewide snowpack increased for the third month in a row in March, adding as much as 24 percent to February totals in areas of western Montana.

But don’t go filling sandbags, says Brian Domonkos, water supply specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“Snowpack is really not a driving factor for high stream flows,” says Domonkos, whose agency released its March numbers Friday. “Weather is the driving factor. If we have a cool, dry spring, flooding is not so likely.“

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Snow plowing under way in Glacier National Park

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More information on this year’s snow removal challenges in Glacier Park . . .

The chorus of whirring snowplows in Glacier National Park joined western Montana’s spring interlude this week as crews began the annual work of forging through deep snow along Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Plowing on the 50-mile Sun Road began April 2, according to park spokeswoman Denise Germann. Crews immediately encountered between 12 and 30 inches of snow and up to a half-foot of ice on the first two miles of road beyond Lake McDonald Lodge . . .

“The region around Glacier National Park has definitely been making gains in the last month,” Domonkos said.

Measurement data show that as of April 1, basin totals for the entire North Fork of the Flathead River are 111 percent of average . . .

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U.S. Forest Service to purchase and restore lands

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The U.S. Forest Service is spending money on several land acquisition projects, including two in Montana . . .

The Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Forest Service will dedicate $40.6 million for land acquisition projects in 15 states including Montana in an effort to help safeguard clean water, recreational access and wildlife habitat and wilderness areas.

The money is made available through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, created by Congress in 1964 to provide funding to federal, state and local governments to purchase land, water and wetlands. The fund receives the majority of its money through royalty payments from offshore oil and gas revenues to mitigate the environmental impacts of those activities, the DOA said. Those funds also are augmented by additional money or in-kind services of a variety of partnerships.

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Snow plows get started on Going-to-the-Sun Road

News, ,

Glacier National Park is starting to dig out from under the past season’s snowfall . . .

Glacier National Park snow plows started churning their way through snow on Going-to-the-Sun Road this week.

Plows on the west side reached just beyond the Avalanche Creek area to the Red Rock slide.

Plows encountered 12 to 30 inches of snow on their path from Lake McDonald Lodge.

The road surface from the lodge to Avalanche remains covered with 2 to 6 inches of ice, while Camas and Fish Creek roads have 1 to 4 inches of ice . . .

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Larry Wilson: Bear meat was his main diet

Commentary, ,

This week, Larry talks a bit about another old-timer: Frank Liebig . . .

Even before Norton Pearl made his snowshoe circuits of Glacier National Park, Frank Liebig was there. They must have known each other since Liebig worked for the Forest Service for 33 consecutive years, from 1902 until 1935, when he retired.

From 1902 until 1910, when Glacier Park was established, Liebig’s “district” was the area which became Glacier Park, and his home at the north end of Lake McDonald was reached by a trappers trail that extended to the Canadian Border.

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Investigating a grizzly bear attack in Yellowstone

Environmental Issues, ,

Slate posted a very lengthy, detailed piece by Jesicca Grose on Monday centered around the investigation of a pair of fatal grizzly bear attacks in Yellowstone National Park last year. Boing Boing, a very popular web log, just picked up on this, so there’s likely to be quite a bit of discussion of this article over the next few days . . .

A grizzly was ambling along the Yellowstone River on a clear day in late September 2011, when she lifted her nose up and smelled something familiar in the air. She couldn’t tell quite what it was, but it smelled like food. Maybe the shredded remains of a bison taken down by a wolf pack, its innards sloughing out of its stomach and onto the riverbank. The sow may have spent the day digging up pocket gophers, but a feast like this would really help her to pack on weight. Within eight weeks she’d be taking her two young cubs into a den in the side of a slope for the long Western winter. They needed fat, and soon.

After months of a diet consisting mostly of grass and nuts and roots, the scent of dead meat was impossible to resist. The mother grizzly walked in the direction of the carrion with her cubs scrambling along behind her. The bigger one, with the blond face, was probably closer on his mother’s heels, with his brother, the color of burnt sienna, lagging behind. The sow had to keep a close eye on her offspring. There was always the threat of male bears trying to kill her family. They knew she wouldn’t go into heat again as long as her cubs were with her.

Annual Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex public meeting scheduled for April 14

News,

From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

The annual public meeting about the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is scheduled for April 14 at the Seeley Lake Community Hall.

The public is being encouraged to attend and meet the National Forest Wilderness Managers and state Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff.

“This year is the 25th year that we will be collecting monitoring-data based on public participation and partnerships in managing the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and the wilderness plan,” Deb Mucklow, BMWC lead district ranger, said in a statement . . .

For more information about the public meeting, contact the Spotted Bear Ranger District at (406) 387-3800.

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“It’s time to pull in the bird feeders and secure the trash”

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

The bears are off to an early start this year . . .

Bears are stirring earlier than usual and have already resumed behavior that led to a record number of captures last year.

Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks recently relocated a 535-pound male grizzly bear that killed seven calves in four nights near Lincoln. The local FWP office has also been receiving reports of bear sightings near Whitefish and Columbia Falls.

The reemergence of bears has led to a campaign by wildlife officials reminding residents to clean up attractants that increase the likelihood of conflicts.

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