Tag Archives: North Fork Flathead River

Big Creek water quality restoration complete

Environmental Issues, News, , , , ,

Here’s the Missoulian’s report on the Big Creek water quality restoration project . . .

A major tributary to the North Fork of the Flathead River was removed from a list of impaired Montana water bodies Friday, becoming the first state stream to meet the standards for delisting. Officials with the Hungry Horse Ranger District and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality announced that Big Creek is the first water body to complete a full water quality restoration process after it was added to a list of sediment-impaired waters in 1996.

Hungry Horse District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera said the delisting is a major accomplishment, and the result of a watershed restoration plan that began nine years ago. The plan involved decommissioning some 60 miles of forest logging roads, removing 47 culverts and replacing an additional 19, improving 89 miles of roads to decrease storm water runoff, and replanting 25 acres of eroding uplands.

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Big Creek officially completes water quality restoration

Environmental Issues, News, , , , ,

Big Creek, a major tributary of the North Fork, has now officially completed a restoration process aimed at reducing sediment contamination. . . .

Big Creek is the first stream in the state to have completed a water quality restoration process aimed at reducing sediments.

the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Flathead National Forest announced the news Thursday that Big Creek had been removed from the state’s list of impaired waters.

Recent monitoring data has shown that sediment and stream conditions in Big Creek, a major tributary to the North Fork of the Flathead River, now are similar to conditions in streams with minimal human impacts.

That wasn’t the case in 1996, when Big Creek was added to a list of Montana waters with impaired water quality.

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North Fork River monitoring and patrol — sign up by May 21

News, ,

Rachel Potter thought people might be interested in helping Glacier National Park and the U.S. Forest Service with river management, so she passed along the following information. “North Fork River monitoring and patrol” sounds like a pretty neat volunteer opportunity, but anyone interested needs to jump on it pretty quickly . . .

Description: River monitoring is part of the Glacier National Park (GNP) Backcountry Patrol volunteer program.  Duties include:  visitor educational contacts, pulling weeds, picking up trash, conducting surveys, and completing River Use monitoring forms.

Date/s time: Spring-Fall.

Registration Deadline: Contact Kyle Johnson ASAP but you must be signed up before training starts May 21.

Where:  All segments of the North Fork Flathead River

Sponsor: Glacier National Park

Web page: http://www.nps.gov/glac/supportyourpark/volunteerdescriptions.htm for general Glacier volunteer info and application.

Contact: Kyle Johnson kyle_johnson@nps.gov, 406-888-7838

Training dates/info: You need to be certified as a GNP Backcountry Patrol Volunteer first and then additional river training in conjunction with the USFS will be conducted. Those without extensive experience will be in an apprentice program until skills are developed. Backcountry Ranger Training is May 21-23. River training dates are loose, but will be roughly June 25-28.

What to bring/equipment needed: You will need your own boat, lifejackets, etc. for your own patrols, or ride along with agency staff.

Who should participate: Excellent fitness as well as strong swimming and boating skills are required, especially during high water.

Minimum Commitment: Your involvement is flexible but you may be expected to commit at least 1-3 days/week.  Check with Kyle.

Crown of the Continent makes list of “Top 5 American Treasures to Protect in 2012”

Environmental Issues, News, ,

The “Crown of the Continent” area in Montana, including the North Fork of the Flathead River, made the list of “Top 5 American Treasures to Protect in 2012” published on Earth Day by the Center for American Progress . . .

The United States is home to some of the most stunning and unique natural areas in the world, including 397 national parks, 101 national monuments, and 556 national wildlife refuges. But many more public lands—managed by the federal government and owned by all Americans—are worthy of protection for future generations. This Earth Day it’s worth thinking about the places that have strong local coalitions calling for protection that should be granted this year.

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Larry Wilson: North Fork boat ramps won’t work

Commentary, , ,

This week, Larry has some observations about the U.S. Forest Service bureaucracy . . .

As promised early in the summer, the Forest Service has rebuilt boat access sites at the Canada border and at Ford Ranger Station. Although it will be easier to launch at Ford due to the removal of the wooden terraces, I have mixed feelings about the new boat ramps…

The Forest Service is my favorite government agency. They have many excellent employees who are unable to do their best due to stupid regulations written in Washington, D.C. Mostly, they are no longer really involved in timber management but have been pushed into managing tourists. As a result, they make funny decisions which give columnists something to write about…

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Biologist tells Glacier employees that 1.3 million acres of roadless lands vulnerable

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

From the Missoulian . . .

Despite a legacy of conservation in the Crown of the Continent ecosystem, a biologist told Glacier National Park employees Tuesday that 1.3 million acres of roadless public lands remain vulnerable, and with them a suite of fish and wildlife species…

Although the core of the ecosystem is protected by the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Great Bear wildernesses – as well as the first-ever Tribal Wilderness in the Mission Mountains – 1.33 million acres of roadless area “is still up for grabs,” Weaver said…

…he stressed the importance of habitat connectivity along the periphery of conservation lands in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, and in particular on the Rocky Mountain Front, along the North and Middle Forks of the Flathead River, and in the Swan Range.

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‘Unlikely accident’ claims kayaker’s life on North Fork

News, , ,

From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

The woman who drowned on the North Fork Flathead River on Wednesday afternoon has been identified as Shawna Thomas, 51, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Thomas and her husband were in a rigid-framed collapsible kayak when they came around a corner on the North Fork four miles south of Polebridge, encountering tree root balls as obstacles on both sides of the river channel.

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Kayaker drowns in North Fork near Polebridge

News, , ,

A tragedy on the river yesterday, a couple miles south of Polebridge. The Daily Inter Lake has the story . . .

An Idaho woman drowned in the North Fork Flathead River on Wednesday afternoon after her inflatable kayak got tangled in tree roots.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said the woman and her husband were floating in a double-seated inflatable kayak about two miles south of Polebridge in the Home Ranch Bottoms area when the accident occurred shortly after 1 p.m.

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‘If Glacier leaves you speechless, speak up’ – ProtectGlacier.com launched

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

Many of you already got an email from the National Parks Conservation Association announcing the opening of the “Protect Glacier” website. For those who haven’t seen the big announcement yet, here it is:

More than 30 years ago, fans of Glacier National Park were alarmed to learn of Canadian coal mining plans that would tear down entire mountains along the park’s northwestern border.

Today, after decades of international negotiation and diplomacy, those plans finally have been scuttled, with Canada pledging to protect the park’s world-class waterways from upstream mining.  Today the United States is working to do the same.

Even as major energy companies (including Chevron, BP, Exxon and ConocoPhillips) volunteer to retire their mining and drilling leases on Glacier’s western fringe, lawmakers struggle to pass protective measures prohibiting future mining of public lands in the North Fork Flathead River drainage.

That’s why a coalition of concerned citizens and Glacier Park lovers  — with help from the National Parks Conservation Association — has brought this historic issue into the dot.com future, with a website and clearing house dedicated to resolving land-use conflicts in the transboundary Flathead.

ProtectGlacier.com went live this week, a virtual world where visitors can explore maps and photographs from the Flathead, can learn about what’s at stake and flipthrough years of reports and research. They can read the latest park news, Tweet and re-Tweet and link to Facebook, and they can listen to what people are saying about the North Fork Watershed Protection Act.  That legislation (S.233) has been introduced by Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, and would withdraw public lands adjacent to the park from future drilling – just as the Canadians have done on their side of the border.

Online visitors to the site can sign a ProtectGlacier.com letter of support of the legislation, adding their voices to the thousands who already have spoken up on behalf of America’s finest alpine park.

This Website represents the future – our future, Glacier Park’s future – but it’s also just the latest chapter in a very old story, a story that Glacier’s advocates have been helping to write for decades. This is, in fact, how history gets written. So pick up that keyboard, and be sure to add a few lines of your own at ProtectGlacier.com.

Further reading: The National Parks Traveler website also has a good article about the ProtectGlacier.com site.

Rain, warm weather to bring new flooding to parts of western Montana

Flood Information, News, ,

Some of the discussion below doesn’t match the current North Fork flood gauge forecasts, but it behooves everyone to keep an eye on the river for the next two or three days. Also, the flood watch released yesterday is still in effect.

From the Missoulian . . .

Warm weather and a deep mountain snowpack will continue to cause concern for western Montana in coming days.

Flooding is expected across the region, starting late Thursday for many smaller tributaries and creeks. Flooding along major rivers is expected late Friday and early Saturday, said Dan Zumpfe, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula…

As for the Flathead, snowmelt from Canada will push the river to flood stage, likely causing problems for communities such as Polebridge and Columbia Falls.

“All (of the rivers) will be going at or above flood stage in the late Friday/early Saturday time frame,” Zumpfe said. “The good thing about this warmup is that it is short lived.”

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