From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a group of conservation photographers is giving the Flathead an ample voice as an exhibit on the values of and threats to the valley heads to Washington D.C.
Fantastic Glacier Park photo series by Chris Peterson
Folks, you have got to check out the photos from Chris Peterson’s “100 days in Glacier National Park” project.
Related reading/viewing . . .
Lido Vizutti of the Flathead Beacon has a nice write-up.
Boston.com’s “The Big Picture” section has a nice selection from the series at somewhat better resolution than the ones in Chris Peterson’s official web log for the project.
Did I mention that you have got to check this out? Oh, right . . .
State FWP insists wolves recovered enough to be delisted
From today’s Missoulian . . .
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks claims wolves are recovered sufficiently to be delisted from the federal Endangered Species Act.
“The delisting of this population in Montana is a well-deserved victory for the ESA,” attorneys for FWP wrote in a brief filed in a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year by conservation groups looking to overturn the delisting. “The delisting accomplished two fundamental goals of the ESA, to recover a species and transfer the care of the wolf from federal oversight to state management.”
Tester wilderness bill to get Senate hearing soon
From yesterday’s Missoulan . . .
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s plan to both create more wilderness and mandate more logging is going to get a Senate hearing.
The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests will look at the “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” on Dec. 17.
1979 killer of Roy Cooper denied parole
An update on some North Fork history posted to yesterday’s Flathead Beacon . . .
The man responsible for a 1979 murder in Polebridge has been denied parole.
J.R. Fletcher had a parole hearing on Tuesday.
The 59-year old Fletcher was convicted of stabbing Roy Cooper to death and sentenced to 100 years in prison.
Eastbound grizzlies
Other than the grizzly connection, this is not really North Fork related, but it’s pretty interesting. According to an article in last Thursday’s New West, a whole new group of people are going to have to get used to having grizzly bears in the neighborhood . . .
Montanans living along the winding Teton River, well east of the Rocky Mountain Front were quick to notice their new neighbor this summer. As early as the beginning of July, ranchers and other landowners along the prairie began intermittently spotting a solitary grizzly bear journeying east, away from the mountains.
Wolf hunt did not kill Kintla Pack alpha female
From this week’s Hungry Horse News . . .
Contrary to rumors, a wolf killed up the North Fork by a hunter was not the alpha female of a Glacier Park pack.
Kent Laudon, wolf management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said the wolf was a 2-year-old and was wearing a radio collar, but it was not the alpha female of the Kintla Pack.
NFLA Road Committee issues year-end report
As many of you know, the North Fork Landowners’ Association Road Committee has been doing an exceptional and balanced job collecting and presenting well-researched road maintenance and dust abatement information. They recently completed and posted their Final Road Report for 2008 – 2009, summarizing all their activities for the past two years. For more detail, including links to all their postings, check out the NFLA North Fork Road Page.
Wolf hunt shut down after quota filled
That’s it for Montana’s wolf hunt this year . . .
Montana is shutting down its first public hunt for gray wolves since their removal from the endangered species list after state officials said they expected to meet the season’s quota of 75 by Monday evening.
The quota was met two weeks before the season’s scheduled close. The 75 killed equals about 15 percent of a statewide wolf population estimated at 500.
Yet even with the success among hunters, the number of wolves in Montana is expected to increase this year by 20 percent or more because wolves are such prolific breeders.
Despite high-profile kills, griz recovery on-track
Despite a rash of high-profile poaching and self-defense kills this year, Grizzly bears are doing OK . . .
Despite several high-profile, human-caused grizzly bear deaths in recent months, experts from across the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem said Friday the overall trajectory of conflicts between humans and grizzly bears showed little increased cause for alarm — and some cause for celebration.
“What I’m seeing is a nice trend where communities are really pulling together and making a concerted effort to do the right thing with regard to grizzly bears,” said Jamie Jonkel, a Region 2 bear management specialist at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, at the semi-annual meeting of the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.