Montana FWP releases 2023 wolf report; population strong despite increased harvest

Documents, Environmental Issues, News,
Gray wolf - John and Karen Hollingsworth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Gray wolf – John and Karen Hollingsworth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

From the press release . . .

HELENA – The wolf population in Montana remains healthy, according to the 2023 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Wolf Report. Increased harvest during the 2023 wolf season has not yet resulted in an estimated decline to the statewide total. However, FWP biologists expect to see a moderate decline in wolf numbers next year resulting from the increased harvest in early 2024.

“We are committed to following the law to reduce wolf numbers to a sustainable level, which means ensuring Montana has a healthy state managed population,” said Quentin Kujala, FWP Chief of Conservation Policy. “The statewide wolf population estimate for calendar year 2023 is approximately 1,100 wolves, similar to 2022. However, we are seeing declines in the estimated number of wolves and wolf packs in Regions 3 and 4, which suggests the combination of hunting, trapping, and conflict management removals can effectively reduce wolf numbers.” Continue reading Montana FWP releases 2023 wolf report; population strong despite increased harvest →

National Old-Growth Amendment making good progress; comments requested

Action Alerts, Documents, Environmental Issues, News

Old-Growth Forest Value graphicThe proposed National Old-Growth Amendment is making steady progress. It is designed to protect forests that are “…in late stages of stand development, as identified by tree size, canopy layers, large dead woody material, species composition, and ecosystem function.”

The amendment is currently in the stage of accepting comments on a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Comments are open until September 20, 2024.

A brief overview is available as a PDF document.

Visit the project website for more details.

Reminder: NFPA Annual Meeting, Sat., July 23rd at Sondreson Hall!

News

NFPA Annual Meeting
July 27, 2024, at Sondreson Community Hall
Whale Creek Bridge & North Fork Road

John Fraley poster for NFPA 2024 Annual Meeting

For this year’s annual meeting we’ve invited John Fraley, a well-known local writer, to make a presentation on his recent book My Wilderness Life.

John has explored the three forks of the Flathead for more than 45 years. He served as a fisheries biologist for the state and is an avid wildlife enthusiast. He holds wildlife degrees, both from Montana universities. John has written five books about outdoor adventures in the backcountry. His latest book, My Wilderness Life, published in 2022, features special lore about the westslope cutthroat trout and other wilderness species. John’s wife, Dana, and his children Kevin, Heather, and Troy have accompanied John on many wilderness treks.

We would love for you to be among our honored guests.

5:30pm:           Potluck supper

6:45pm:           Short business meeting to elect officers and members of the Board of Directors and report on the work of NFPA

7:30pm:           Speaker

We are excited to spend an evening with all of you, share with you what we’ve been up to, and look forward to a great presentation.

Roads ruling in Flathead Forest lawsuit favors grizzly advocacy groups

Environmental Issues, News,
Grizzly bear strolling along a road
Grizzly Bear strolling along a road

Excellent summary of the current status of the suit challenging the Flathead Forest’s rules for decommissioning roads . . .

A federal judge in Missoula issued a June 28 order recognizing that logging roads intensify pressure on grizzly bears and can displace them from their habitat even if forest managers have closed the roads to motorized use and deemed them “impassable,” an ineffective standard the agencies employ when approving new roadbuilding for timber projects on the Flathead National Forest.

Barring an appeal from the plaintiffs, the ruling concludes a legal saga that began in April 2019 when two local conservation groups, Friends of the Wild Swan and Swan View Coalition, sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Flathead National Forest (FNF) over the road-building provisions in FNF’s revised forest plan. The new ruling by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen acknowledged that grizzly bears have learned to avoid roads — even closed roads — and are often displaced from habitat that features them. The ruling builds upon a favorable decision for conservation groups in March, when a federal magistrate found that the FWS and FNF failed to lawfully examine the impacts to grizzly bears and bull trout from motorized trespass on closed roads.

Although Christensen acknowledged that the ongoing chronic problem of ineffective road closures and unauthorized motorized access can negatively impact grizzly bears, he stopped short of prohibiting approval of any future timber projects under the revised plan as currently written. Instead, Christensen remanded the provisions of the plan that violated the Endangered Species Act back to the agencies for further consideration.

Continue reading . . .

Glacier Park and Flathead Forest restart management planning for Three Forks of the Flathead River — finally

Environmental Issues, News, ,

From the official joint press release . . .

Joint Release: New Project Leader Joins the Comprehensive River Management Planning Effort for the Three Forks of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River

North Fork of the Flathead River - ©Mark LaRowe
North Fork of the Flathead River – ©Mark LaRowe

Release Date: 

Kalispell, MT, May 6, 2024 — The Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park are working together to reengage in the Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP) for the three forks of the Flathead River. “We are bringing on a new project leader who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in Wild and Scenic River planning” says Rob Davies, Hungry Horse-Glacier District Ranger. “Our aim is a cohesive interdisciplinary, interagency team with aligned vision, working together on a plan for all the three forks, now and going into the future”. Our new team leader has experience with river management plans from across the nation and joins us from the U.S. Forest Service Washington Office’s Wilderness, Wild and Scenic Rivers Program.

The Flathead National Forest began the planning effort in 2018 and released a proposed action in 2019, which included public scoping and a series of public meetings. While plan development experienced periods of delay in 2020 and again in 2023, the Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park continued to analyze public input from the 2019 public engagement efforts and work towards drafting a plan for the next phase of public participation. Continue reading Glacier Park and Flathead Forest restart management planning for Three Forks of the Flathead River — finally →

Roads lawsuit brings split decision

Environmental Issues, News
Grizzly Bear - Montana FWP
Grizzly Bear – Montana FWP

A more nuanced discussion of the lawsuit over some road provisions in the Flathead Forest Plan . . .

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto March 12 recommended that two local environmental groups partially prevail in their claims against the Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over road management on the Flathead National Forest.

The recommendations, if they hold, could drastically alter the way the Forest Service manages closed roads in the future.

Continue reading . . .

Federal court strikes down portions of Flathead National Forest plan

Environmental Issues, News,
Grizzly bear in early fall - Montana FWP
Grizzly bear in early fall – Montana FWP

Oops! This one almost slipped past me this week . . .

A federal court magistrate has found that the Flathead National Forest has failed to consider the impacts of new road-building projects on grizzly bears and bull trout, saying the United States Forest Service is ignoring science in order to arrive at its approval for the project which has been contested since 2018.

Magistrate Kathleen DeSoto said that, like a previous court decision, the Flathead National Forest ignored roads that had been “decommissioned” but still exist and allow for motorized vehicle travel, which is technically illegal, but the USFS acknowledges happens. In the Forest Service’s 2009 plan, officials called for removing many of those roads, but opted to “decommission” them by blocking them, which severely curbed, but didn’t eliminate their use.

Swan View Coalition and Friends of the Wild Swan sued the Forest Service, saying that it couldn’t ignore the roads in its calculations and plans, which said that in 2009 the federal agency agreed that any new project could not add to motorized vehicle use in the forest. DeSoto found that even though those roads were decommissioned, they were still usable, and should have been considered and addressed in the plans. Doing that, the citizens’ groups argued, would then have rendered the Forest Service’s plan in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Continue reading . . .

Finally! Pollution in Elk-Kootenai watershed referred to the IJC

Environmental Issues, News,
Lake Koocanusa - Ryan Fosness (Idaho Water Science Center)
Lake Koocanusa – Ryan Fosness (Idaho Water Science Center)

Here’s some good news to start the week. The Elk-Kootenai watershed cross-border water pollution from Teck Resources’ coal mining operations has finally been referred to the International Joint Commission (IJC). The Flathead Beacon has excellent coverage . . .

Federal governments in Canada and the U.S. have agreed to ask the International Joint Commission (IJC) to study and take steps to mitigate the inflow of mining pollution to the Elk-Kootenai River watershed through a joint reference, signaling a breakthrough in bilateral talks that have stalled for years, even as the company that owns the mines expands its footprint along the border with Montana.

The agreement was announced Monday by tribal and First Nation governments in Montana, Idaho and British Columbia (B.C.) who cheered the development after years of intensifying pressure on the U.S. and Canada. The reference means that an independent governance body representing both nations will convene to craft solutions to address the contaminants spilling into a watershed that crosses the international boundary at Lake Koocanusa and spans traditional Aboriginal territory.

The federal governments of both U.S. and Canada also confirmed the reference on Monday and issued a joint statement from the Ambassador of Canada to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, and the Ambassador of the United States to Canada, David L. Cohen. According to Pierre Cuguen, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada (GAC), both countries “have reached an Agreement-in-Principle (AIP) on next steps to further bilateral cooperation to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution” in the transboundary watershed.

Continue reading . . .