Tag Archives: Yellowstone National Park

Trapping restrictions imposed near Glacier & Yellowstone to aid lynx

Trapping regulations have been tightened up around Glacier and Yellowstone national parks to avoid accidental lynx capture . . .

Montana wildlife officials have tightened trapping regulations outside Yellowstone and Glacier national parks to reduce the chances that threatened Canada lynx accidentally will be caught.

The changes include restrictions on the types of traps, snares and bait that can be used in special protection zones outside the parks

State wildlife commissioners approved the changes on a 3-1 vote Thursday. Commissioner Gary Wolfe of Missoula cast the dissenting vote, Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said.

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Montana looking at tighter trapping restrictions near Glacier and Yellowstone

Montana FWP wants to tighten trapping rules near national parks to protect Canada Lynx . . .

Montana wildlife officials are considering stricter regulations in an effort to reduce the chances of Canada lynx being caught in traps set for other animals outside Glacier and Yellowstone national parks.

The plan presented to the state Fish and Wildlife Commission on Thursday is part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed in 2013 by three environmental groups over trapping in the threatened species’ habitat.

Several of the settlement’s statewide restrictions are already in place, but additional changes are needed in special zones near Yellowstone National Park and a wider area outside Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks attorney Aimee Fausser said.

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Talk by grizzly expert Steve Primm this Thursday

MWA and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation are holding the second in their Winter Speaker Series this Thursday. Grizzly expert Steve Primm will share his experiences working on grizzly and wolf recovery around Yellowstone National Park.

Here are the details from their announcement . . .

Thursday, March 5, 2015
7:00-8:30  p.m.
Flathead Valley Community College
Arts & Technology Building, Room 13

777 Grandview Dr, Kalispell

Discover how Steve’s innovative work near Yellowstone and his inspiring ideas connect to wildlife and human populations around Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Steve is founder and director of People and Carnivores, a nonprofit organization in southwest Montana that focuses on building a future for large carnivores through cooperation with the people who live with them.

Sponsored by MWA’s Flathead-Kootenai Chapter and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, the Winter Speaker Series is free and open to the public.

Wolf reintroduction 20 years later

Has it been only 20 years? . . .

Twenty years after their ancestors were released here in one of the most controversial wildlife projects of the century, wolf howls punctuated the cold winter air Monday to the delight of dozens of wolf watchers…

It was 1995 when the first eight wolves live-trapped in Canada were placed inside fenced enclosures in Yellowstone to acclimate them to the area in hopes they would not immediately bolt back to their homeland – called a soft release…

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Tribes join effort to keep federal protections for Yellowstone region grizzlies

Tribes in the region want to retain full protections for grizzly bears in the area around Yellowstone National Park . . .

Leaders of American Indian tribes in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains are signing onto an effort to retain federal protections for grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to decide this year whether it will move to lift protections for the roughly 1,000 grizzlies scientists say live in the Yellowstone region.

The campaign to enlist tribal backing for continued protections — including a prohibition on hunting — is being coordinated in large part by wildlife advocates.

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Larry Wilson: Yellowstone Park slide show lined up for Jan 20

[Updated to correct time for presentation at Sondreson Hall.]

This is the seventh year Rick Graetz brings a group of his students to the North Fork and, as usual, he will be giving a presentation at Sondreson Hall. Larry Wilson’s column has the details . . .

This will be the seventh year that Rick Graetz, a University of Montana geography professor, will bring one of his classes to the North Fork.

The class will stay at the Polebridge Hostel and, as usual, Rick will present an educational program for local residents at Sondreson Community Hall. This year, the program will take place on Monday, Jan. 20, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Rick and his wife Suzie are accomplished photographers, and the program always revolves around a slide show of photos they have taken themselves.

This year, the program will feature about 100 photos of Yellowstone National Park as well as the narrative. It will illustrate the splendor of the mountains, rivers, forests, geysers and wildlife of what was once best known as “Colter’s Hell.”

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Return of wolves means more berries for bears in Yellowstone

This is pretty interesting stuff. A new report suggests that the increased wolf population in Yellowstone National Park, and the consequent reduction in over-grazing by elk, is making a lot more berries available to bears in late summer/early fall . . .

A new study suggests that the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park is beginning to bring back a key part of the diet of grizzly bears that has been missing for much of the past century — berries that help bears put on fat before going into hibernation.

It’s one of the first reports to identify the interactions between these large, important predators, based on complex ecological processes. It was published today by scientists from Oregon State University and Washington State University in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

The researchers found that the level of berries consumed by Yellowstone grizzlies is significantly higher now that shrubs are starting to recover following the re-introduction of wolves, which have reduced over-browsing by elk herds. The berry bushes also produce flowers of value to pollinators like butterflies, insects and hummingbirds; food for other small and large mammals; and special benefits to birds.

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Montana FWP gives in, will allow wolf hunting near Yellowstone this season

After evaluating their legal options, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners threw up their hands and decided to let the wolf hunt continue in areas close to Yellowstone National Park through the end of this year’s hunting season . . .

Montana wildlife officials said Monday that they were abandoning their efforts to shut down gray wolf hunting and trapping just outside the gates of Yellowstone National Park, citing a recent court ruling that threatened to drag out the issue until the season was almost over.

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Wolf hunting, trapping resumes near Yellowstone Park

Less than a month ago, Montana shut down the wolf hunt in a small area near Yellowstone National Park because too many collared, research animals were being taken. Now the hunt is back on . . .

Wolf hunting and trapping can resume near Yellowstone National Park after a Montana judge on Wednesday blocked the state from shutting down the practice over concerns that too many animals used in research were being killed.

The restraining order from Judge Nels Swandal allows hunting and trapping to resume in areas east and west of the town of Gardiner in Park County.

State officials closed the gray wolf season in those areas on Dec. 10…

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Montana shuts down wolf hunting & trapping near Yellowstone

As anticipated, Montana officials shut down wolf hunting and trapping in areas close to Yellowstone National Park . . .

Montana wildlife commissioners closed down the state’s gray wolf season in some areas north of Yellowstone National Park on Monday, in response to a spate of recent shootings of animals that had been collared for scientific research.

The move shuts down hunting and trapping in areas to the east and west of the town of Gardiner, just days before trapping season was set to begin.

But wildlife commissioners did not yield to pressure from wildlife advocates to create a permanent and more extensive buffer around the park.

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