Tag Archives: Montana

Rally for public lands packs Capitol Rotunda

Last Monday’s rally to support public lands was quite successful, with plenty of supporters willing to make the trip to Helena and quite a few speakers, including Governor Steve Bullock.

This article from the Missoulian even includes video . . .

A packed Capitol rotunda on Monday became the latest battleground over transferring of federal lands to state ownership with hundreds rallying in opposition to the plan.

Opponents to the transfer blasted the idea as a political stunt and waste of resources while about a dozen transfer supporters held up signs and handed out literature…

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New fish species found in Idaho and Montana

U.S. Forest Service researchers discovered a new species of fish, the cedar sculpin, living in mountain rivers in Montana and Idaho . . .

A tiny fish characterized by a disproportionately large head and previously unknown to scientists has been found in mountain rivers of Idaho and Montana, in what biologists said on Thursday marked a rare discovery.

The new aquatic species is a type of freshwater sculpin, a class of fish that dwell at the bottom of cold, swift-flowing streams throughout North America and are known for their oversized head and shoulder structure.

“The discovery of a new fish is something I never thought would happen in my career, because it’s very rare in the United States,” said Michael Young, co-author of a scientific description of the find that has been published in the latest edition of the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.

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Researcher investigates U.S. and Mongolian wolverines

Here’s an interesting article on a wolverine researcher who splits her time between the U.S. and Mongolia . . .

She was told not to get her hopes up, that some people had worked on wolverine studies for 20 years and never seen one of the creatures in the wild.

So Rebecca Watters wasn’t expecting much on the backpacking trip into Montana’s Absaroka Mountains six years ago — a scouting trip seeking signs of wolverines.

While washing dinner dishes near a stream she heard her trip leader, wildlife biologist Jason Wilmot, screaming at his dog. “Dusty! No!” he yelled. Watters couldn’t imagine what was happening, but her senses went on high alert. The Absarokas, after all, are grizzly and black bear country. As it turned out, Wilmot’s pup was on a collision course with a curious wolverine that had wandered over to investigate the campers along the talus slope.

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Judge blocks three more timber projects over lynx rules

More lynx-related lawsuits on the docket . . .

A federal judge this week blocked three Montana logging projects in two national forests, saying the U.S. government did not properly examine the effects the projects might have on lynx and the threatened animal’s habitat.

That makes four timber projects since May in which U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen found fault with the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’ conclusion that cutting and burning in those areas would not significantly harm the big cats’ territory.

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Wolf hunt totals up in Montana, down in Idaho

It looks like the final numbers are now in for the Montana and Idaho wolf hunts. Montana, which added a trapping season this year, is up by about a third. Curiously, Idaho’s totals are down quite a bit.

Here are the stories . . .

Wolf Hunt Ends with 36 Percent Increase Over Last Season – Flathead Beacon

Idaho officials report 245 wolves killed this season, down from 379 – Missoulian

U.S. Forest Service to purchase and restore lands

The U.S. Forest Service is spending money on several land acquisition projects, including two in Montana . . .

The Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Forest Service will dedicate $40.6 million for land acquisition projects in 15 states including Montana in an effort to help safeguard clean water, recreational access and wildlife habitat and wilderness areas.

The money is made available through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, created by Congress in 1964 to provide funding to federal, state and local governments to purchase land, water and wetlands. The fund receives the majority of its money through royalty payments from offshore oil and gas revenues to mitigate the environmental impacts of those activities, the DOA said. Those funds also are augmented by additional money or in-kind services of a variety of partnerships.

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Elusive wolverine photographed in Montana

The Wildlife Conservation Society snagged a camera trap photo of a Wolverine recently. No word on where in Montana it was photographed. Here’s the original image and press release . . .

BOZEMAN (February 29, 2012) – A baby bear on stilts, perhaps? Nope. Conservationists with the Wildlife Conservation Society recently released this camera-trap photo of a wolverine retrieving bait placed in a tree in Montana. The frame upon which the animal climbs is designed so that the unique markings on the underside of the wolverine are revealed to the motion-sensing camera. Scientists use these markings to identify individual animals and document their distribution and range. WCS’s eight-year study of wolverines in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has led to a better understanding of wolverine ecology and will help inform conservation strategies so that this rare species can survive despite the 21st century conservation challenges it faces. An estimated 250-300 wolverines remain in the “lower 48,” where they occupy about half of their former range in high alpine peaks of the western United States.

 

Public forum on ecological value of Waterton-Glacier Park to be held March 12

(Text and images shamelessly stolen from the latest Headwaters Montana newsletter. . .)

Leading Scientists to Talk about Griz,
Critters with Teeth, and Wet-and-Wild River Things

 ~ Please Join Us for an Informative Evening ~

_____________________________________________

When: Monday, March 12, 2012, 7-9pm
Where: Grouse Mountain Lodge, 2 Fairway Dr., Whitefish
Cost: $10 suggested donation
Cash Bar / Seating Limited ~ come early!

____________________________________________

Headwaters Montana is co-sponsoring an important science forum on the ecological value of Waterton – Glacier International Peace Park and the importance of completing Waterton Park by expanding the park into British Columbia.

Three leading researchers will make presentation on transboundary grizzly bear populations, aquatics, fisheries, ungulates and predator wildlife species.

The three researchers will focus on recent scientific discoveries and insights made in the vicinity of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

  • Dr. Richard Hauer is director of the recently formed Montana Institute on Ecosystems of the University of Montana, will speak about the biological richness of the transboundary Flathead River (aka the North Fork Flathead River), and make the case that the Flathead River system is one of the most ecologically intact rivers in the Lower 48.
  • Dr. Michael Proctor is the Principal Investigator for the Trans-Border Grizzly Bear Project based in British Columbia.  Dr. Proctor recently published a ground-breaking study published in the Wildlife Monographs that documents the challenges facing grizzly bears in the transboundary region of the Rocky Mountains between Montana and British Columbia.

Headwaters Montana is co-sponsoring the event with Wildsight, National Parks Conservation Association, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, and Sierra Club BC.

Appeals court to hear request for emergency injunction against Idaho & Montana wolf hunts

From today’s Missoulian . . .

With more than 150 wolves shot in the Northern Rockies so far this fall, a panel of federal judges on Tuesday is scheduled to consider an emergency halt to public hunts for the animals.

Congress cleared the way for the hunts last spring, when lawmakers took the unprecedented step of stripping Endangered Species Act protections from more than 1,300 wolves in Montana and Idaho.

Wildlife advocates sued to reverse the move and want the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to suspend the hunt while the case is pending. They claim Congress violated the Constitution’s separation of powers mandate by reversing prior court rulings that kept protections in place.

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Longer Montana wolf hunt proposed to reach quota

From an AP article posted to today’s Missoulian . . .

State wildlife officials want to extend Montana’s wolf hunting season to give hunters enough time to fill a 220-wolf quota that is intended to sharply reduce the predator’s population.

Ken McDonald with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Wednesday the season would be extended by a month, to Jan. 31, 2012.

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