Think conservation threats to the trans-boundary Flathead drainage have settled down? Maybe not…
The leader of one of four Ktunaxa First Nations in B.C. says she’s lost confidence in ongoing discussions between the nations and the federal and provincial governments over land management and potential conservation measures in the Elk and Flathead valleys.
“It boils down to trust,” Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it First Nation Nasuʔkin (Chief) Heidi Gravelle said in an interview. “We definitely do not have that sense of trust right now with how this process has broken down.”
Recent discussions have centred on two parcels of land known as the Dominion coal blocks, which together cover 200 square kilometres in the Elk and Flathead valleys in Ktunaxa Nation territory in southeast B.C. The Flathead Valley, in particular, is an area where Gravelle wants to see Indigenous-led conservation.
Biologist Diane Boyd with a tranquilized wolf in the field
Our own Diane Boyd got some more ink, this time in a long-form article with lots of photos published in ‘Nautilus’…
Diane Boyd walked along the North Fork of the Flathead River. It was a clear blue summer day, and the wolf biologist relished being in this Rocky Mountain valley in northwestern Montana. She set foot here 45 years ago to track the first known gray wolf to wander into the western continental United States from Canada in decades. Humans had exterminated the last of them in the 1930s.
The river wove through pine, aspen, and willow trees that rose along the edge of a sprawling grass meadow. The mountain peaks in the distance were topped with snow. Boyd grew up in suburban Minnesota, where she was the neighborhood kid who could be found at the wild edges of the subdivision putting caterpillars in jars.
“I always wanted to go more and more wild in my life—wildlife, wild places—and it doesn’t get a lot wilder than here,” Boyd said to me last summer, as we walked through the quiet meadow.
At age 69, dressed in jeans, running shoes, and a T-shirt picturing a dog lazing on a lake pier, Boyd seemed very much the innately independent biologist who settled here at age 24. She spoke with a directness that had little room for sentimentality. The meadow area is called Moose City and was originally a 1910s homesteader ranch with six log cabins. Boyd lived alone in one of the tiny cabins without electricity or running water for 12 years.
The NFPA has submitted an extensive set of comments to the Flathead National Forest regarding the Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP) for the Flathead Wild and Scenic River (WSR) System.
We’re starting to see some real movement on the Comprehensive River Management Plan (not so affectionately known as the CRMP). The text of the official press release follows, but here are the highlights…
There are two opportunities to join the Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park for informational sessions on developing the Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP); specialists will provide background on river management, information on the development of the CRMP, and history of the three forks of the Flathead River and the Wild & Scenic designation.
Details on the agenda and options to attend are listed below. Additional information on how to join a Teams meeting, the CRMP, and the development of the plan to date can be found at our webpage.
Agenda:
5:45 PM Doors Open 6:00 PM Welcome, Introductions and Agenda Overview 6:10 PM Overview of Proposed Action 6:30 PM Open House Session – resource and fork-specific tables will be available to facilitate discussion
(There will be no virtual presentation during this time)
7:30 PM Question & Answer Session
The question & answer session is intended to facilitate public comment submission on the proposed action. Virtual attendees can view this session live, but there will be no option to submit questions. If you have a question that was not answered during the sessions, you may contact Chris Prew at 406-758-5322 or christopher.prew@usda.gov prior to the deadline of February 7, 2025. Sending a question cannot be considered as a formal comment submission. To submit a comment on the project, visit the project webpage.
7:50 PM Closing Remarks 8:00 PM Adjourn To attend the sessions in-person:
Tuesday January 21 at 6pm – 8pm
Wednesday January 22 at 6pm – 8pm
Flathead Valley Community College, Arts and Technology building, room 130 (AT-130) To attend the sessions virtually: Click here to join the teams meeting
An excellent article by the inimitable Ron Chaney on the update to Endangered Species Act protection for grizzly bears . . .
All grizzly bears in the Lower 48 United States would be federally managed as a single population under a proposed U.S Fish and Wildlife Service rule released on Wednesday.
That DPS, or distinct population segment, would retain the grizzly’s threatened status under the Endangered Species Act and reject petitions from the states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming to delist the bears. In its Wednesday announcement, FWS said it found the states’ petitions “not warranted” for the two largest concentrations of grizzlies surrounding Yellowstone National Park and Montana’s Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.
“After a thorough review of the best scientific and commercial data available, the Service found grizzly bear populations in those two ecosystems do not, on their own, represent valid DPSs (distinct population segments),” the FWS announcement stated.
A pair of grizzly bears forage in Glacier National Park – Chris Servheen
This sounds like a really good idea. If they can make it stick . . .
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on Wednesday rejected petitions by state governments in Montana and Wyoming to delist grizzly bears in their respective recovery zones, moving instead to establish a single distinct population segment encompassing grizzly habitat in both states, as well as in Idaho and Washington.
“This reclassification will facilitate recovery of grizzly bears and provide a stronger foundation for eventual delisting,” FWS Director Martha Williams said in a prepared statement. “And the proposed changes to our … rule will provide management agencies and landowners more tools and flexibility to deal with human/bear conflicts, an essential part of grizzly bear recovery.”
The agency announced it is publishing an independently peer-reviewed updated species status assessment that compiles the best available scientific information, which helps to inform decision-making.
Absolutely excellent write-up by the Flathead Beacon on the rebooted and long-awaited process of developing the Comprehensive River Management Plan . . .
Resource managers tasked with managing the Flathead River’s three forks under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act announced Monday they’re rebooting a public-engagement process despite falling short of a goal to have completed the draft plan and environmental assessment months ago.
The Flathead National Forest published its “proposed action” document for public review on the agency’s project website while project leaders laid plans to host a pair of open houses on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Flathead Valley Community College’s Arts and Technology Building. The public comment period will be open for 30 days, concluding on Feb. 7. Comments may be submitted electronically here.
The “proposed action” document is different than the draft river management plan, which was due out last fall but is still being developed. The document released Monday will be modified throughout the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis process, according to Kira Powell, public affairs officer for the Flathead National Forest. Another round of public input will also be considered during the environmental analysis (EA), which Powell identified as the most likely level of analysis under NEPA.
This significant “Viewpoint” article recently appeared in the Montana Current and will probably show up at other Montana newspapers . . .
We are 40 retired state, Federal and Tribal Montana biologists with a combined 1280 years of professional experience. We are extremely concerned about the Fish and Wildlife Commission’s conflicts of interest, lack of due process to involve the public in decisions, and rejection of science and facts in favor of personal opinions when developing wildlife management regulations. Fifteen of us worked at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP).
At their last meeting, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission made a last-minute amendment to eliminate the 37% cap for females killed during black bear seasons in Montana. They made this change with no prior notice and therefore little opportunity for public comment.
This female cap was based on earlier research by Dr. Richard Mace of FWP showing that black bear populations would decline if the female proportion in a legal harvest reached 40%. The cap was instituted in spring 2024 in response to the Commission lengthening the spring black bear hunting season by 2 weeks. The female harvest cap would balance the Commission’s desire to extend season length while minimizing the risk of population declines in black bears.
Montanans expect the Commission to provide for public comment on wildlife management decisions. But this policy to reduce Montana black bear numbers by eliminating the female harvest limit was not proposed prior to this meeting or subject to public input. Instead, it originated with some Commissioners who’d heard anecdotal reports from hunters about black bears, as well as unsupported assertions that black bears were depressing Montana elk and deer populations.
This is management based on the whimsy of Commissioners rather than on data, analysis, and consultation with biologists on the ground. A particular irony in this case is that FWP recently initiated research to update our understanding of both black bear abundance and elk population dynamics in northwestern Montana. Rather than awaiting the results from FWP staff tasked with providing objective information, the Commission moved forward based on some anecdotes they heard and their obvious personal bias against predators.
In addition, one of the Commissioners, Pat Tabor has a family that runs an outfitting business. Commissioner Tabor has a direct conflict of interest in extending black bear season lengths and removing the female harvest cap because his family outfitting business will benefit from these changes. He should recuse himself from all Commission issues that directly affecthis family outfitting business, but he refuses to do so.
Montana needs a responsive Fish and Wildlife Commission that listens to and considers all public input, not just those who dislike predators or those who can profit by commercializing wildlife. Montana needs a Commission that always bases their wildlife management decisions on science and facts and who listens to the recommendations of the wildlife professionals at FWP. Sadly, we do not have such a Commission today.
Chris Servheen, Rick Mace, Tim Manley, Chuck Schwartz, Kate Kendall and 35 other Montana wildlife and resource management professionals
North Fork Flathead River at Ford Landing, May 16, 2018 – by William K. Walker
OK, let’s try this again . . .
A second attempt at a proposed action for the long awaited Comprehensive Management Plan is expected to be released in early January Flathead National Forest spokeswoman Kira Powell confirmed last week.
The plan is a blueprint for the management of the 219 miles of Wild and Scenic waterways of the North, Middle and South forks of the Flathead. The plan is being crafted by the Flathead National Forest in cooperation with the National Park Service.
The North and Middle Forks make up a large portion of the boundary of Glacier National Park. An initial proposed action and public scoping was released in 2019, but it never became a final plan. Since then the plan has progressed in fits and starts, marked by delays, which included a pandemic and an historic surge in summer river usage.
Roger Sullivan questions witnesses at the Held v. State of Montana trial in June 2023. Photo via Roger Sullivan.
Well, now, here’s some upbeat holiday season news! . . .
The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a district court ruling in Held v. Montana, affirming the young plaintiffs have a “fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment.”
In a 6 to 1 ruling, Montana’s high court ruled the public’s right to a clean and healthful environment under Montana’s constitution was violated when the state legislature passed a law removing the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from environmental reviews under the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). Chief Justice Mike McGrath authored the opinion.
“Plaintiffs have standing to challenge the injury to their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment,” wrote McGrath. “Montanans’ right to a clean and healthful environment was violated by the MEPA Limitation, which precluded an analysis of [greenhouse gas] emissions in environmental assessments and environmental impact statements during MEPA review.”
