This article from today’s Hungry Horse News offers a little more information about the October 9th wolf poaching incident near Whale Creek . . .
A Columbia Falls man has pleaded guilty to poaching two wolves near Whale Creek up the North Fork.
Randy Houk, whose age wasn’t released, paid fines totaling $1,135.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks is offering up to a $1,000 reward for information on the shooting death of a wolf found Oct. 25 in the Red Meadow drainage of the North Fork Flathead.
From today’s online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Federal officials did a good job of balancing road work and grizzly bears in the Flathead National Forest, according to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“It’s a very significant victory for us,” Flathead forest planning staff officer Rob Carlin said Wednesday. “It supports us in the direction we’ve been taking at the Flathead.”
The court combined two cases involving road removal in areas burned in the 2003 wildfires. One was in the Roberts/Wedge fire along the North Fork of the Flathead River, and the other was along the west side of Hungry Horse Reservoir. Both areas have large grizzly bear populations and are covered by special forest plan rules for how many miles of road are allowed in grizzly habitat.
From yesterday’s Flathead Beacon . . .
Wildlife officials say a Columbia Falls man has been cited for killing two wolves during a closed season in northwestern Montana.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens say the wolves were shot and left along Whale Creek Road in the North Fork Flathead drainage on Oct. 9.
From yesterday’s Flathead Beacon . . .
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says fellow Montana Sen. Max Baucus has co-signed a proposal to both add more wilderness and require more logging on federal land.
Tester made the announcement Monday during a public meeting in Missoula meant to answer questions about the “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.”
From the Wednesday, October 14, 2009 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
There’s a renewed push for wilderness in the North Fork. Headwaters Montana, a relatively new conservation group has released a plan for land conservation on both sides of the border.
Tucked in that plan is a call for 140,000 acres of designated wilderness in the Thompson-Seton and Mount Hefty areas.
But the plan doesn’t end there. It includes a wilderness designation for Glacier’s backcountry, expansion of Waterton Lakes National Park to the Canadian Flathead and wildlife management zones west of the Waterton expansion.
Although the Missoulian posted some initial coverage of last month’s visit by a U.N. scientific delegation investigating mining and other resource development threats to Waterton-Glacier Park, the only local paper that paid significant attention to the subject was the Hungry Horse News — a fact that slipped past your friendly webweenie.
Herewith are lead-ins and links to the articles published by the Hungry Horse News.
From the September 24th edition . . .
U.N. scientists: Glacier on ‘pedestal’
Two scientists from the United Nations are touring the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and the Canadian Flathead to see for themselves the potential impacts of proposed mines in the region.
“We plan to consult as widely as possible with all stakeholders,” said Paul Dingwall, a New Zealand scientist with the World Conservation Union and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Dingwall and Keshore Rao, deputy director of the United Nation’s World Heritage Center, spent most of Monday holed up in Glacier Park’s community building, hearing report after report about the Park and its native flora and fauna.
From the October 7th edition . . .
Scientists here say they made an impression on U.N.
After a solid week of meetings and tours, American scientists and conservationists feel good about their recent visit with a delegation from the United Nations.
It looks like fire season is winding down. Here’s a good overview of the situation from today’s online edition of the Missoulian . . .
Cold rain and snow dampened Montana’s long-running fire season on Wednesday, soaking the last of the forest fires still smoldering across the state.
The Forest Service has reported no significant changes to the Ninko Creek Fire since Sunday, but they did post a new, more detailed topographic map today. According to the map legend, they’ve bumped the size of the burn up to 662 acres from the previously estimated 500.
The Ninko Creek Fire didn’t generate much in the way of news Tuesday. Apparently, it is still at about 500 acres and, with cooler, moister weather moving in, isn’t likely to do anything exciting very soon.
The Flathead National Forest posted a couple of aerial photos to the Inciweb log.
Also, here is the latest (September 29th) GeoMAC map showing the extent of the burn:
According to this morning’s InciWeb update, the Ninko Creek Fire is about 500 acres in size. From the “remarks” section of the report . . .
The west flank is holding well. The center of the fire is burning the hottest in steep and hazardous terrain. The north side of the ridge is holding well. The fire has burned into a portion of the 2003 Wedge Fire.
Check the InciWeb Ninko Creek Fire page for further details, including road closure information . . .