Things looking up for black-footed ferrets

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Black-footed ferret

A lengthy but interesting article on efforts to reintroduce the black-footed ferret . . .

No one said trapping black-footed ferrets at night in the remote Wyoming plains was easy. Even biologists admit spotlighting the nocturnal 3-pound critters hiding among sagebrush and tall, cured grass is probably not the most effective method.

But for right now, it’s the only way to survey one of a handful of colonies of an animal once thought extinct.

“We’re looking for eye shine of ferrets,” said Nichole Bjornlie, Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s nongame biologist, as she bumped along a dark, rutted road in late August. “They have a very, very bright blue turquoise.”

Read more . . .

The rise of the conservative conservationist

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

Tristan Scott over at the Flathead Beacon has a long, very interesting article discussing the conservation movement on the right side of the political spectrum. . .

It’s late August in Montana and the North Fork of the Flathead River is running low and slow, snaking through a chalky corridor of wildfire smoke, its steep banks inscribed with the tracks of deer and grizzly bears, wallpapered with a mix of blackened snags and young lodgepole pine, and scored with clusters of radiant fireweed.

The smoke blotting the sky overhead hangs in contrast against the transparency of the water below, magnifying the burnished bottom-stones and the shimmering flashes of bull trout, rainbows and cutties.

Somewhere downstream from the Glacier Rim river access, about 10 miles north of Columbia Falls, a ClackaCraft drift boat cuts through the glassy surface, which longtime fly-fishing guide and oarsman Irv Heitz navigates from his perch in the middle of the boat, rowing and setting his clients up on fish. At the bow, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, dressed in zip-off Columbia cargo pants and a T-shirt, leans against the boat’s leg bracket, casting a dry fly at the tail of a riffle that’s usually filthy with trout.

Read more . . .

Yaak-to-Cabinet migration good news for grizzly recovery

Environmental Issues, News,

Bear Checkup near Libby - courtesy Montana FWP

A big, mature grizzly migrated from the Yaak Mountains to the Cabinet Range, a major cause for celebration among the bear recovery folks . . .

Finally, there’s some good news out of bear country. Following a spate of bear-human conflicts in Northwest Montana… one recent grizzly encounter has prompted some cause for celebration.

On Oct. 5, a 500-pound male bruin was captured south of Libby after it cleared a non-functioning electric fence that was fortifying a beekeeper’s honey supply.

And while being caught with its paw in the honey jar is classic bad bear behavior, this 6.5-year-old grizzly’s journey to get to the Cabinet Mountains makes him special. It makes him the first documented bear to cross from the Yaak Mountains to the Cabinets in history, which is a boon for bolstering the isolated and relatively scant Cabinet Mountain grizzly population and promoting better genetic diversity there.

Read more . . .

Former Glacier Park supers want drilling leases cancelled

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Badger-Two Medicine Region

A group of former Glacier Park superintendents want the Badger-Two Medicine drilling leases canceled . . .

If one were to hike in the Badger-Two Medicine region of the Lewis and Clark National Forest right now, they’d likely come upon a sign warning of a grizzly bear prowling in the Sawmill Flats area. The sign is not unusual. The 160,000 acre region on the Lewis and Clark National Forest is not wilderness and isn’t Park Service land, but it is no less wild.

Six retired Glacier Park superintendents want the Department of Interior to keep it that way. In a letter to the Hungry Horse News and other newspapers across the state, they’re asking the Department of Interior to cancel oil and gas leases in the Badger Two Medicine as an energy company pursues legal action to drill exploratory wells on a 3,000-plus acre tract in Hall Creek.

“Industrial energy development of this world-class resource would represent an intolerable assault to the ecological and cultural values of Glacier National Park, as well as to the Blackfeet people,” the superintendents argue. “On behalf of the millions of visitors who cherish the Crown of the Continent, and on behalf of our colleagues whose careers were spent working for the best interests of Glacier National Park, we ask the Department of Interior to exercise its authority to cancel the Badger-Two Medicine leases.”

Read more . . .

Also read: Letter to the editor from regarding drilling in Badger-Two Medicine region

Judge wants Badger-Two Medicine drilling decision by Thanksgiving

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Two Medicine Lake

Federal officials were told to make a decision on canceling drilling leases in the Badger-Two Medicine before they sit down for their Thanksgiving dinners . . .

A federal judge wants the government to speed up its consideration of a long-stalled drilling proposal near Glacier National Park that’s on land sacred to American Indians in the U.S. and Canada.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered the Interior Department to decide by Nov. 23 whether to start the process of canceling the energy lease at issue, or move to lift a suspension on drilling.

Louisiana-based Solenex LLC sued the government in 2013, challenging the three-decade suspension.

Read more . . .

Notice to sue filed over bull trout recovery plan

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

Bull Trout

As mentioned last week, the recent federal bull trout recovery plan is not universally admired, making a lawsuit almost inevitable . . .

A pair of environmental groups announced Wednesday they will sue the federal government unless a recovery plan for threatened bull trout is amended to address violations of the Endangered Species Act.

The groups, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Wild Swan, filed the 60-day notice to sue a little more than a week after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife released its final Bull Trout Recovery Plan on Sept. 28.

A 60-day notice to sue under the ESA is required in order to provide enough information to the FWS so that it has the opportunity to identify and address alleged violations in order to make the plan sufficient.

Read more . . .

Lots of bear activity down-valley right now

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Patti Bear

A lot of bears are foraging at lower elevations right now, getting ready for winter . . .

Grizzly and black bears are roaming the Flathead Valley in greater abundance as they prepare to den up for the winter, scouring the valley floor for lower-elevation food sources after exhausting this year’s scant supply of berries.

The bears’ seasonal sate is known as “hyperphagia,” but this year’s drought has led to a dearth of natural foods. Meanwhile, as the ever-expanding human-wildlife interface continues to overlap, the bears are increasingly running into conflict with people, exasperating wildlife officials who urge residents in bear country to reduce conflicts by taking simple steps, like picking their fruit trees, locking up trash and storing pet and livestock feed indoors.

“This has been an extremely busy year,” Erik Wenum, bear and lion specialist with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said. “We are receiving an average of 35 to 45 calls per day. They’re everywhere – downtown Whitefish, Kalispell, Columbia Falls. All the bears are at low elevations now and they’re looking far and wide for trash, birdseed and of course the ever-present fruit trees.”

Read more . . .

Report: 6th Annual Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent

Environmental Issues, Member Bulletins & Information

Here is Randy Kenyon’s report on the NFPA’s attendance at the recent Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent meeting in Missoula. Also note note that a conference summary in PDF format was just released by the meeting organizers.

 

UofM Campus

Report on the
6th Annual Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent
September 16-18, 2015
University of Montana
Missoula, MT

By Randy Kenyon

The theme of this year’s conference was “New Ideas and Enduring Values: The Next Generation of Leadership in the Crown.”

The core mission is to connect people to enhance culture, community and conservation, with three objectives in mind: exchange information and ideas, connect people working on similar issues and foster a sense of regional identity; celebrate the links among the culture, community and conservation values and how people are working to enhance these values; and finally examine some of the most compelling issues facing the Crown and build collective capacity to address them on a local and regional level.

This year the overriding emphasis was encouraging and enhancing opportunities for the next generation of conservation activates.  The conference was consistently attended by university natural resource and other students from a variety of countries.

The Crown consists of a vast and complex ecosystem straddling the continental divide, reaching south from Missoula’s Rattlesnake Wilderness north along the Flathead Reservation through the Flathead and Kootenai Forests across the boundary at Cranbrook, continuing on north until heading east to the Front where it continues south, all the way down to the Scapegoat Wilderness – including, of course, Waterton Glacier National Park – encompassing 18 million acres.

Board members John Frederick, Annemarie Harrod and Randy Kenyon attended the conference. Continue reading Report: 6th Annual Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent →

Montana FWP: Grizzly bear management update for Northwest Montana

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Cinca - 5 May 2015

Here’s the latest report from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on the status of grizzly bear management in this corner of the state . . .

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks grizzly bear management biologists and wardens have seen an increase in grizzly bear activity and conflicts during the month of September. Both black and grizzly bears are looking for food that will provide them with the layer of fat they need in order to survive the winter in their dens. Female grizzly bears with young are especially in need of additional food because they have been nursing their cubs and need the extra calories.

The following is an overview of the grizzly bear management activities that MT FWP has been involved with in the Tobacco, Flathead, and Swan Valley areas during the month of September.

Near Eureka, at least one young grizzly bear has been observed feeding on apples and walking through yards. Traps were set for that bear, but it hasn’t been captured yet.
West of Fortine, landowners buried a dead horse and noticed something had dug it up. They put up a trail camera and 3 different grizzly bears were photographed. One of the grizzly bears was wearing a radio collar that isn’t functioning properly. In an attempt to capture that bear and change the collar, two culvert traps were set. The horse was reburied and an electric fence was installed around the site along with remote cameras. On September 6th, an unmarked, young adult male grizzly bear visited the site and was captured. This male was radio-collared and translocated into the Whitefish Range. The radio-collared grizzly we were attempting to capture did not return to the trap site and the traps were pulled.

During that same week, a grizzly bear was breaking branches on fruit trees west of Lake Blaine. A temporary electric fence was installed and a culvert trap was set. The male grizzly bear returned, but was not captured. The electric fence was effective in preventing any additional damage to the trees and the trap was removed.

Right after Labor Day, an adult male grizzly bear was captured near Coram after killing chickens and eating apples. The 473 pound, 12 to 14 year old adult male grizzly had never been captured before. He was radio-collared and translocated to the Puzzle Creek drainage south of Marias Pass. The electric fence on that chicken coop has been upgraded to be more effective in deterring bears.

Continue reading Montana FWP: Grizzly bear management update for Northwest Montana →

Montana FWP: Update on efforts to trap black bear Involved in attack on a woman west of Kalispell

Environmental Issues, News, ,

Black Bear

This tragedy is proving to be a real object lesson on why people should not feed bears.

From the official press release . . .

According to FWP Investigator Brian Sommers, the investigation into the black bear attack on the elderly woman in her residence between Batavia and Ashley Lake is continuing. The investigation to date shows that the woman was attacked inside her residence, that she was actively feeding bears, and that numerous bears have been frequenting the property.

FWP set traps to capture the bear involved in the attack and to address the hazard of food-conditioned bears roaming in a residential area. Over the past two days, two food-conditioned black bears were captured and euthanized at the residence. The two bears were anesthetized and then euthanized. Necropsy performed on the bears revealed extensive artificial feeding of sunflower seeds and millet. One young female black bear weighed 99 pounds, and an adult female weighed 162 pounds. Investigators believe that neither of these bears were the one involved in the attack.

According to Bear and Lion Specialist Erik Wenum, who performed necropsies on the bears, the evidence is clear that someone in the area is still feeding bears. “Someone is hampering our investigation by continuing to extensively feed bears, making our efforts to attract and trap the offending bear that much more difficult.” He noted that large amounts of millet and sunflower seeds were found in the digestive tracts of both bears.

Sommers note that people feeding bears can be cited for obstruction of an investigation. He pointed out Montana Law prohibits feeding of bears. Sommers further states that bears that are fed become habituated and food conditioned which can lead to aggressive behavior and the inability or desire to fend for themselves once the supplemental feed is removed. This in turn can lead to bears breaking into buildings, trailers and vehicles in search of food producing a large public safety issue. The act of breaking into structures or vehicles and endangering humans, pet, or livestock is grounds for removing the bears from the system.

Continue reading Montana FWP: Update on efforts to trap black bear Involved in attack on a woman west of Kalispell →