Category Archives: Commentary

Pro-paving letter misquotes water quality study

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , , ,

It seems we can’t let a month go by without saying something about the road.

Anyway, if you are going to use science to support your position, it’s best to ensure you’re using it properly or you run the risk of annoying an actual scientist. A recent letter to the editor in the Hungry Horse News promoting paving the North Fork Road drew the ire of Jack Potter for editorial misuse of an out-of-context quote. Jack, Glacier Park’s former chief of science and resource management, sent the following response . . .

Dear Editor,

A disturbing trend is the misuse of scientific information through misquoting, taking something out of context, or altering text on the internet and/or in the press.  In his letter to the editor, Ray Brown of a “pave the North Fork Road” group in the annual spring offensive, says to support his contention that road dust is polluting the North Fork, thus paving is necessary:

“In addition, according to the 2007-2008 U.S. Geological Survey of water quality in the North Fork of the Flathead River, co-author E. William Schweiger, Ph.D. ecologist, Rocky Mountain Network, National Park Service, wrote in part that nearly all of the major western tributaries of the North Fork have previously been listed on Montana’s 303d list of impaired streams for cold-water fisheries owing to sediment-loading associated with erosion of unpaved roads.”

Ray goes on to say:

“This last finding in interesting in that our own Glacier National Park superintendent, who should have had access to the survey, either never got the memo or disregarded it out of hand. Perhaps the best way for the Park to address an issue like water and air quality along their western boundary is to pretend there is no problem to begin with.”

In fact taken in context Dr. Schweiger and his coauthors say:

“Clear-cut timber harvesting activity was relatively widespread in the western tributaries of the North Fork Basin in Montana from 1960 to 2000 (Gildea and others, 2004). Currently (2011), nonintensive timber harvesting occurs throughout the Flathead National Forest on the western side of the North Fork Basin (Paul Donnellon, Operations – Timber Management Flathead National Forest, written commun., 2011). Additionally, population growth and related construction activities on private land in the western portion of the basin are of concern. Construction of access roads associated with residential development, and subsequent erosion of road material, can be a substantial source of suspended sediment to streams (Ahtiainen and Huttunen, 1999; Gildea and others, 2004). Waste material from forest harvesting and sewage effluent from residential developments can cause an increase in the concentrations of nutrients in receiving streams, resulting in a reduction in biodiversity and loss of species habitat (Harr and Fredriksen, 1988; Zampella, 1994; Carpenter and others, 1998; Hauer and others, 2007). Suspended sediment in spawning areas can cause a reduction in fish embryo survivorship (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 2004).

Nearly all of the major western tributaries of the North Fork have been previously listed on Montana’s 303(d) list as impaired for cold-water fisheries owing to sediment loading associated with erosion of unpaved roads. Adoption of “Best Management Practices” for timber harvesting and forestry roads in the North Fork Basin, as well as reclamation of clear-cut areas, has greatly reduced the associated effects on water quality (Hauer and others, 2007). As a result, many of the western tributaries have been removed from Montana’s 303(d) list (Gildea and others, 2004). Existing and potential future residential development in the North Fork valley also is of concern. The western portion of the North Fork Basin in Montana has become increasingly popular as a vacation destination, and construction of vacation homes on private land in the North Fork valley has increased by about tenfold over the past 20 years (Hauer and others, 2007). These developments could affect the water quality and aquatic biology of the North Fork.”

The study doesn’t even come close to supporting Ray’s position, nor his fatuous statement about the park Superintendent.

If you  are interested in increasing your property values, maybe developing some of those hundreds of lots, or if you are a transplanted suburbanite living in Polebridge and want a smoother, faster commute, or you have a construction company in the North Fork as Ray Brown does, it would be better to be honest about paving.  Slow down, drive less.  With the uncertainty regarding the federal (dominion) coal blocks in the North Fork that were left out of the BC/Montana energy development moratorium, paving and subsequent development would be a great message to Canada, in addition to a long-term, irreversible, negative impact.  The National Park Service is correct in opposing paving.

Full citation of the above article:

From p. 2; Mills, T.J., Schweiger, E.W., Mast, M.A., Clow, D.W., 2012, Hydrologic, water-quality, and biological characteristics of the North Fork Flathead River, Montana, water years 2007–2008: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011–5221, 67 p.

Jack Potter
Columbia Falls, MT

Note: Jack Potter’s letter appeared on the Hungry Horse News web site almost immediately.

Brian Peck: Wolves and unintended consequences

Commentary, Environmental Issues, ,

Brian Peck just submitted the following excellent op-ed to the Daily Inter Lake. It should appear in the paper later this week . . .

Recently, the Montana Legislature, in its seemingly infinite lack of wisdom, passed HB 73, a measure to allow more people to kill more wolves more easily, cheaply, and in more places — even right up to the doorsteps of Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

As the 2012-2013 wolf season nears its conclusion it’s accounted for almost 200 wolves, while kills by Wildlife Services and private citizens takes the kill number past 300. It seems to me that Montana hunters generally, and the wolf haters in the legislature specifically, may well have overlooked some unintended consequences in their unrestrained zeal for wolf slaughter.

First, is the possibility that an excessive wolf kill will provide the ammunition for a petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to relist wolves as a Threatened species. Montana says it has no quota for its hunt, but with perhaps 700 wolves initially, and a stated desire for a population of 425, it seems clear that the unstated “quota” is 275 wolves — a number now exceeded.

Add to that the 2011 Idaho kill of 379 wolves (50% of its population), and the recently approved Wyoming plan that allows wolves to be killed anywhere, anytime, for any reason in 82% of the state, and you can see where the body count is headed. While this may have the hater crowd cheering, there aren’t a lot of Americans or federal courts – “activist” or otherwise – that will look favorably on this kind of overkill.

Second, the most recent figures indicate that only about 5% of the U.S. population still hunts, and even in Montana, with the highest number of hunters per capita, the number is only around 33%. So, what does that have to do with wolves?

Well, polls of Americans consistently show that while 82% support hunting for meat, that number plummets to 20% for trophy hunting, and if trapping is involved, support drops off a cliff. Clearly, wolf hunting is the very definition of Trophy Hunting, and by including trapping in the mix, Montana FWP and Montana hunters give themselves a black eye with those 292 million Americans who no longer hunt — the same Americans who control the public lands on which you and I hunt and fish.

Having hunting guaranteed in the Montana Constitution will do us little good if our irresponsible actions and attitudes toward wolves turn those millions of non-hunters into anti-hunters, who decide we can’t be trusted to responsibly and ethically hunt on federal public lands.

Third, wolves are highly social animals that hunt in family groups. There’s considerable evidence that hunting, by removing larger adult animals, tends to create a younger, less experienced population — and younger, less experienced wolves are more likely to be involved in livestock depredations. So, those who advocate ever larger wolf kills as a way to lessen livestock losses may well be causing the exact opposite result.

More than 70 years ago, hunter, conservationist, and biologist Aldo Leopold said, “Conservation is a state of harmony between men and the land. By land is meant all of the things on, over, or in the earth. Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators; you cannot conserve the waters and waste the ranges; you cannot build the forest and mine the farm. The land is one organism.”

Montana hunters and legislators would do well to heed those words and consider the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Groups want action on Forest Jobs and Recreation Act

Commentary, Environmental Issues,

According to an editorial in today’s Flathead Beacon, a bunch of the groups behind the development of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act are getting cranky about its slow passage through the halls of Congress . . .

Yet another year of gridlock has passed. It’s time for our lawmakers to finally come together and pass the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (FJRA). If implemented, here’s what will happen locally on the Kootenai National Forest (KNF)…

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: Racking up the bear encounters

Commentary, News, ,

Larry talks about the start of hunting season and some recent bear encounters . . .

In my neighborhood, Trail Creek, the early snow translated to hunter success. Although I have yet to get my winter’s meat, my close neighbors have harvested two bull elk and at least four whitetail bucks.

I don’t know whether other North Fork neighborhoods have been as successful, but apparently not. I accompanied a neighbor to town with his elk last Sunday, and R.J. at the checking station said it was the first elk he’d seen, and he’d checked only two deer in the first two weekends of the hunting season. The checking station is only open on weekends, so animals taken out during the week are not recorded.

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: Group meets on Flathead National Forest Plan

Commentary, News,

Larry reports on a recent meeting of folks interested in the upcoming revision of the Flathead Forest Plan . . .

Updating the Flathead National Forest Plan is almost as much of a controversy as what to do with the North Fork Road. Same thing with the passage of a Montana wilderness bill.

Apparently the Forest Service is going to try again to create a new, updated Forest Plan. According to Flathead Forest supervisor Chip Weber, the Forest is taking preliminary steps, and the process will probably gear up for action in mid-2013.

At least three environmental groups with a big interest in the Whitefish Range have decided to put together a diverse collaborative group to try and influence what happens in the Whitefish Range. The group includes North Fork residents — all three presidents of North Fork organizations plus a few others, Whitefish Mountain Resort representatives, logging interests and a couple of recreationists. Also present for the first meeting were two representatives from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The Kootenai people have strong historical ties to the upper North Fork.

After a two-hour meeting moderated by former Montana Secretary of State Bob Brown, the group decided it was worth meeting again to explore reaching some agreement that would aid the Forest in writing a new plan.

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: North Fork patrols will stop poachers

Commentary,

Larry talks about the start of hunting season and puts poachers on notice . . .

Hunters should be satisfied if not downright ecstatic. The first day of the general hunting season, we had nearly an inch of fresh snow on the ground. The usually wrong weather bureau predicts more of the same for the next several days. We shall see.

I didn’t go out hunting the first day, but I did keep a good watch out my front windows in case a careless whitetail buck wandered in. My watching was supported by my chocolate lab, Buddy, who has finally learned to not bark at deer or elk. No easy deer the first day, but we still have several weeks.

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: Fifth-generation North Fork wedding

Commentary, History, , ,

Larry spent a few days in Seattle last week, officiating at a fifth-generation, North Fork-connected wedding . . .

I spent most of last week in the Seattle area officiating at a wedding. I have had the honor of doing this several times, and this is only the second time I felt it was worthy of mention in this North Fork column.

The first, which was the first ceremony I ever performed, was when I officiated at John Fredericks’ latest wedding when he married Sharon Costantino. That ceremony was performed in a meadow south of Polebridge, and the bride was delivered in the back of a pickup. Also, the ceremony was mostly attended by family and North Fork friends.

This most recent wedding took place more than 500 miles from the North Fork, but the groom is the fifth-generation of his family with North Fork ties. That makes his wedding of interest to North Forkers.

Continue reading . . .

Wolverine trapping a bad idea and bad science

Commentary, Environmental Issues, ,

And while we’re jumping on the wolverine trapping issue, here is a letter from Bob Nelson, Vice President of the North Fork Preservation Association. It went out the the editors of several regional papers a couple of days ago. The “petition” referenced in his letter has just been pre-empted by yesterday’s lawsuit, but his comments are still very much to the point . . .

To the editor

The Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission recently authorized the trapping of five wolverines (or three females) during this trapping season. The Western Environmental Law Center, on behalf of a number of nonprofit organizations, including the Friends of the Wild Swan, Helena Hunters and Anglers Association, and the Wild Earth Guardians, petitioned the commission. The petition requested that the trapping of wolverines be stopped this season and that all wolverine trapping be suspended until the wolverine is no longer a candidate or protective species under the US Endangered Species Act.

The North Fork Preservation Association (NFPA) supports that petition and asks that the public contact the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission to support that petition.  The NFPA is composed of citizens living in or concerned about the ecosystem of the North Fork of the Flathead River. We are dedicated to protecting the natural resources that make the North Fork an unparalleled area for wildlife and people.

The petition provides ample reasons and supporting research for canceling wolverine trapping. Currently, the total population of wolverines in Montana is estimated to be between 100-175 individuals. That number is expected to decline as climate change shrinks the available snowpack habitat in Montana. The trapping of wolverines when the population is small and at risk makes a bad situation worse. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) states that the trapped wolverine populations likely live at densities that are lower than are necessary to maintain their population unless wolverines from untrapped populations are added. Currently, the Service believes the wolverine population is inadequate for maintenance of genetic diversity of the species.

Montana is the only state in the contiguous US that allows wolverine trapping. Idaho and Wyoming designate wolverines as a protected non-game species while Washington lists the wolverine as an endangered species. Under Montana law, the state is required to manage wolverines in a manner that assists with the maintenance or recovery of the species.  Instead, trapping may put that species at risk. Trapping does not distinguish which animal will be trapped; if a nursing mother wolverine is trapped, both the female and her young are dead.

Wolverines are an integral part of the Montana ecosystem. They are strong, robust, will eat anything, are afraid of nothing, and can climb the highest peak with ease.  Their large snowshoe-like feet give them an edge over most competitors and prey during the winter months. Putting this species at risk so that five trappers can “harvest” a pelt worth about $260 is a poor decision, both for the wolverine and the people of Montana.

The NFPA is dedicated to maintaining and preserving the plants, animals, and water that exist within the North Fork region. The wolverine is one of those animals and deserves protection from trapping.

Bob Nelson
Vice-president, NFPA
135 Rainbow Drive
Polebridge, MT 59928

Larry Wilson: A scenic cruise down the Inside Road

Commentary, Travel Articles,

Larry talks about driving the Inside North Fork Road, which was recently re-opened all the way from the Fish Creek campground to Kintla Lake. I took the same route a few days earlier and it is, indeed, a beautiful drive . . .

When I tell people that when I was first on the North Fork (1947) that the Inside Road from Polebridge and the West Side road each took the same time to drive to Belton or Columbia Falls, they have trouble believing me.

Nevertheless, it’s true . . .

Continue reading . . .

Larry Wilson: On gardening, wood-cutting and hunting

Commentary, , ,

Larry talks about fall activities on the North Fork . . .

My lone aspen tree is now adorned with bright yellow leaves, and the larch are beginning to turn gold. Daytime temperatures have remained in the 70s, but frost is common most nights. It’s definitely fall with fall activities.

Gardening on the North Fork has seen an upsurge in recent years…

Continue reading . . .