Tag Archives: Waterton Lakes National Park

Waterton-Glacier butterfly bioblitz announced

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From the official press release . . .

The Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center (CCRLC) is pleased to announce its inaugural Waterton-Glacier Butterfly BioBlitz July 10th and 11th at Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks. Visitors will work alongside taxonomic experts to document butterfly diversity, and learn more about butterflies, and other lepidopterans in the Crown of the Continent. Participants will use the iNaturalist app to record field observations, and are encouraged to download the app prior to the event.

Glacier National Park’s Butterfly BioBlitz will be July 10th from noon to 3:00 pm at both Apgar Village, and Two Medicine. Participants are not required to stay until the close of the event. The event is free, and open to people of all ages, and skill levels. Registration is required. Visit https://www.nps.gov/rlc/crown/bioblitz.htm to register. Contact CCRLC at (406)-888-7944 or email Evan Portier at evan_portier@nps.gov for more information.

Waterton Lakes National Park’s Butterfly BioBlitz will be July 11th from 11 am to 5 pm. Contact william.greene@pc.gc.ca for more information. Remember to bring a valid passport if traveling across the border.

Conservationists from around the globe gather in Glacier Park

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St. Mary Lake
St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park

A world-wide assortment of conservationists met in Glacier Park . . .

What many European visitors to the United States encounter on their first trip to America, the woman from Croatia noted, is New York City.

One of the first things Maja Vasilijevic saw on her first trip to the U.S. was a little different than the bright lights and teeming crowds of Times Square. No, one of Vasilijevic’s first encounters with America included a large herd of bison thundering across a lonely stretch of U.S. Highway 2 on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

“It’s unique,” said Vasilijevic, who had never in her life seen one of the animals in person. “Not only the bison – the whole landscape.”

Read more . . .

Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day in Waterton Lakes National Park

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Waterton Lake
Waterton Lake

From the official press release . . .

Parks Canada and the U.S. National Park Service will host the 13thannual Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day at the Falls Theatre (near Cameron Falls) in Waterton Lakes National Park on Tuesday, July 26, 2016. This international event, held annually on the last Tuesday in July, is free of charge with park entry fees.All are encouraged to attend.

Science and History Day is an incredible way for people to learn about the latest research directly from the scientists and historians working in and around the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Experts will discuss their work in a non-technical style, with presentations grouped into themes of aquatic resources, landscapes, history and wildlife.

Some of this year’s subjects include: the threats facing salamanders, cross-boundary work on climate change, the parks’ lesser-known past, and how remote cameras are used to track wildlife movement.

Jeff Mow, Glacier National Park Superintendent, said “The peace and friendship of the Peace Park is captured in the many cooperative projects carried out in our scientific community.”

“Science and History Day is an outstanding opportunity for all people to learn about some of the research in the Peace Park and personally connect with our environment and history,” commented Ifan Thomas, Waterton Lakes National Park Superintendent. “We look forward to welcoming everyone to Waterton for this special learning oppo

rtunity.”

The program celebrates the U.S. National Park Service’s Centennial with a viewing of the 1954 film “Wardens of Waterton” featuring cooperative work with Glacier National Park’s Rangers. Science and History Day provides participants with an excellent opportunity to learn about their national parks and connect with the heritage of their protected places. Attendees are encouraged to bring a sack lunch for the 45-minute lunch break, so as not to miss the film viewing at 12:45 p.m.

Continue reading Waterton-Glacier Science and History Day in Waterton Lakes National Park →

Canada putting serious money into its national parks

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Waterton Lake
Waterton Lake

Unlike the U.S., Canada is getting serious about renovating its national parks . . .

WEST GLACIER – Less than 50 miles north of here, as the crow flies, officials at Waterton Lakes National Park announced this week they had chosen a location for a new $7.6 million visitor center inside the park. It will replace an old (1950s-era), tiny (600-square-feet) visitor center that park officials call “wholly inadequate to meet the needs and volumes of today’s visitors.”

It’s a big deal for Waterton, Glacier National Park’s next-door neighbor and, since 1932, half of the world’s first international peace park.

Perhaps even more noteworthy, however, is that the visitor center is just one of 17 major infrastructure upgrades or replacements being completed in Waterton over a five-year period.

Read more . . .

Crown of the Continent Conference in Waterton Lakes National Park

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Waterton Lake after snow storm
Waterton Lake after snow storm

Debo Powers sent in this report on the recent Crown of the Continent Roundtable. Thanks, Debo! . . .

On September 5-7, three NFPA board members (John Frederick, Annemarie Harrod, and Debo Powers) attended the 5th annual Crown of the Continent (CoC) Conference, which was held in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada this year. The conference began with a snow storm that covered Waterton with more than a foot of snow. When the sun appeared on Thursday morning, the surrounding mountains showed the beauty and majesty of the Crown at its best.   The CoC Conference brings together a diverse group of people who live and work in the Crown on both sides of the Border to connect with each other and discuss issues facing the Crown.

One highlight was the pre-conference Tribal/First Nations Roundtable to discuss perspectives and initiatives on Tribal lands. All of the presenters and speakers were indigenous people, but observers were welcome to listen and learn.

The organizing theme of this conference was “A Balancing Act.” The conference explored how our businesses, cultures, and communities are taking forward-looking actions to balance values in the face of changing economic, demographic, political, and climatic conditions. During the conference, there were numerous presentations and discussions on a variety of topics. Another highlight of the conference was small group discussions on weeds and invasives management, watershed monitoring and management, geotourism, and forest management practices. Doug Chadwick added his insights and humor during the Thursday dinner presentation where he showed pictures from the new publication “Crown of the Continent: The Wildest Rockies.”

What ‘completing’ Waterton Park would mean for Glacier Park and the North Fork

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Harvey Locke’s presentation at the upcoming NFPA annual meeting gets a mention in this NPR piece . . .

Waterton-Glacier International Peace park connects over the US-Canada border between Montana and Alberta. However, the two parks don’t match up in their cross-border boundary.

Glacier Park stretches west to encompass the North Fork Flathead River Valley, but the Canadian Flathead is not part of the Park. The Canadian Flathead is Provincial land, akin to state or forest service land in the US, and offering the potential for logging or mineral development. Conservationists have been angling to “Complete the Park” by expanding Waterton into the North Fork Valley.

This idea of completing the Park is not new. Executive Director of Headwaters Montana Dave Hadden said it’s an effort about as old as the Park itself.

Read more . . .

Canadian Flathead Valley scheduled for ‘BioBlitz’

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A team of scientists will be conducting a biological survey in early August of the area being proposed as an expansion for Waterton Lakes National Park in the Canadian Flathead drainage . . .

British Columbia’s North Fork Flathead drainage will soon be swarming with scientists looking to document as many forms of life possible in a first-ever “BioBlitz” for the area.

The search will involve about a dozen scientists and support personnel combing the drainage for birds, bees, bats, fish, fungi, flowers, lichens, trees, reptiles and mammals of all types…

The scientists will be working in an area of southeastern British Columbia that is proposed as an expansion area for Waterton Lakes National Park…

Continue reading . . .

Conservationists seek addition to Waterton-Glacier Park

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More on the meeting earlier this week in Whitefish . . .

Conservationists are urging government leaders to add a 100,000-acre piece of Canadian wilderness to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

Leading ecologists meeting in Whitefish earlier this week said extending the park’s boundaries will connect wildlife corridors and help preserve one of the most intact ecosystems in North America.

“The idea is to fill in that missing piece of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and create a wildlife corridor that would extend from Whitefish to Banff,” Michael Proctor, the lead researcher for the Trans-border Grizzly Bear Project said.

Continue reading . . .

Ecologists urge increased protection for Canadian Flathead

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Efforts to extend Waterton Lakes National Park westward to increase protection of the Canadian Flathead are gaining momentum . . .

On a map, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park resembles a slightly-misshapen topographic pizza with a big slice missing.

This week, three leading ecologists with varied backgrounds converged on Whitefish to explain why extending national park protections to that missing piece – which represents a 100,000-acre chunk of Canadian wilderness – is critical to preserving one of the most intact aquatic ecosystems in North America.

The transboundary Flathead River, which on the Montana side is known as the North Fork, is the ecologically potent “Garden of Eden” that straddles the U.S.-Canada border, extending from the Flathead Valley to southeast British Columbia. And while conservationists agree that the region is one of the best protected watersheds in the United States, the missing pie piece north of the border remains independent of Waterton Lakes National Park.

Continue reading . . .

Superintendent discusses future challenges for Glacier National Park

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Today’s Flathead Beacon has a pretty good write-up on a recent talk by Chas Cartwright, the Superintendent of Glacier National Park . . .

As the superintendent of Glacier National Park, Chas Cartwright has his eyes on the future, as well as the challenges it could hold for conservation and construction in the Crown of the Continent.

Cartwright spoke on Feb. 23 at an event hosted by the Glacier National Park Fund at Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, discussing the major issues the park currently faces and how he envisions those issues playing out.

Continue reading . . .