From today’s Missoulian . . .
Federal and state wildland fire agencies will rescind Stage I fire restrictions on Wednesday throughout much of western Montana.
Included in the order are Flathead, Lake, Mineral, Sanders, Missoula, Powell, Ravalli, Granite, Deer Lodge and Silver Bow counties.
Restrictions will remain in effect on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Customs and Border Protection has completed a draft “programmatic environmental impact statement” on the effects of its entire operation along the U.S. northern border. This would, of course, include the North Fork.
I am not making this up.
Anyways, the “Northern Border PEIS” is in its 45-day public comment period. There is even a dedicated web site where the public can find information about the study and leave comments. The web site includes the full text of the study, as well as supporting materials and a schedule of public meetings.
A hat-tip to Richard Wackrow for pointing out this fine example of government-sponsored surrealism.
Related links:
Press release announcing the comment period for the Northern Border PEIS
From the most recent Headwaters Montana newsletter . . .
When Gov. Schweitzer and BC Premier Gordon Campbell signed the historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the North Fork Flathead River in February 2010 Headwaters Montana heralded that event as an “historic breakthrough”. And indeed it was. But like all signed agreements, the MOU was only a beginning.
Unless fulfilled (i.e. made concrete with legislation and other actions) the MOU and the protections it promised could be lost for another generation to fight…
There’s no explicit North Fork connection, here, but North Forkers tend to be grizzly aficionados and this is a good griz story . . .
Could it be webbed claws? Or maybe an ancient connection to a Labrador bloodline?
In any case, a young grizzly bear has demonstrated Olympian swimming skills on Flathead Lake, proved with GPS data from a satellite collar that was recovered Monday near the town of Swan Lake…
Mace calculated that the bear traveled 1,200 miles on land and water while she was wearing the collar from June 2010 to September 2011…
Newly available in digital form . . .
“The North Fork: Living with Wildlife” is a joint NFLA/NFPA publication that outlines recommendations on how to live responsibly in wildlife habitat and suggests specific ways to minimize the chances of conflict with such animals as grizzly bears, black bears, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, deer, elk and moose. This is an excellent brochure for new and current landowners alike. It also includes some wonderful illustrations by Diane Boyd.
This brochure is available at the NFLA web site or you can download it right here (PDF format). It also has a permanent home in our archives. Please feel free to reproduce and distribute as often as you like.
From the Daily Inter Lake . . .
With the early rifle season in wilderness areas opening today, the Spotted Bear Ranger District is urging backcountry hunters to be aware of multiple trail closures caused by ongoing wildfires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
And Forest Service officials advise there could be more trail closures with future fire growth. The National Weather Service is forecasting increased westerly winds, especially in higher terrain across Northwest Montana starting later today and continuing into Friday.
Edwin Fields of Headwaters Montana has a significant op-ed in this week’s Hungry Horse News that is of particular interest to North Fork residents . . .
It’s late summer in Montana and thousands of locals and visitors from around the world have streamed into Glacier National Park every day. Make that Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. It’s an important distinction that illustrates just how special this place is.
Glacier Park is the U.S. side of the Peace Park. Waterton Lakes is on the Canadian side. But in 1932, the local Rotary Clubs of Kalispell and Cardston, Alberta, thought it would be a good idea to give the world its first International Peace Park. And after a lot of good-hearted work, they succeeded…
…Yet the case must again be made that Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is not yet complete. Just look at a map…
In his column this week, Larry Wilson discusses the fire season and getting ready for colder weather . . .
A few weeks ago, I wrote that it looked like there would not be much of a fire season on the North Fork. Like all politicians and most columnists, I did add a disclaimer – unless we have unusually dry weather. So far I am sticking with my original opinion. No big fire season on the North Fork in 2011. However, I’m going to expand on my disclaimer.
From the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Several wildfires touched off by lightning Sept. 8 made galloping runs over the weekend along the Continental Divide, most of them in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
Larry Wilson’s column this week discusses the recently-formed NFLA History Committee, tasked with preserving the history of the North Fork . . .
The North Fork Landowners Association has established a history committee, and their current project is to do oral interviews with North Fork old timers. It’s too bad the project cannot include original homesteaders of the area, all of whom have now passed over the Great Divide. Good thing is that today’s old timers knew the homesteaders.
That knowledge, coupled with the written interviews of homesteaders done by the Forest Service, Park Service and Hungry Horse editor Mel Ruder, should make a more complete picture of North Fork history from homestead days up to the 1960s.