Tag Archives: wolverines

Chadwick interview: ‘Keeping the Wolverine Wild’

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

Last month, the inimitable Doug Chadwick gave an interview on Wolverines to Jessica Knoblauch, content producer at Earthjustice. As always with Doug Chadwick, it was interesting stuff. The conversation is available as a podcast or in transcript. Here’s the lead-in and link to the interview . . .

Doug Chadwick is a wildlife biologist and journalist for National Geographic. As a volunteer for the Glacier National Park Wolverine Project, Doug helped researchers track wolverines, fierce members of the weasel family who regularly face down grizzly bears and eat entire bones for dinner. Despite their ferocity, both climate change and trapping threaten the wolverines’ existence.

Continue to “Keeping the Wolverine Wild” . . .

Feds asking for comments on giving wolverines Endangered Species Act protection

Environmental Issues, News,

As reported last week, the federal government is proposing that wolverines be given Endangered Species Act protection as a threatened species.

If you want to put in your comments, now is the time to do it.

The proposed rule can be viewed in the Federal Register here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/02/04/2013-01478/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-threatened-status-for-the-distinct-population-segment

The direct link for submitting a public comment online is here:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FWS-R6-ES-2012-0107-0001

If you wish to mail comments, the address is:

Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R6-ES-2012-0107
Division of Policy and Directives Management
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-PDM
Arlington, VA 22203

The deadline for comments is May 6.

It’s official: Feds want wolverines on Endangered Species List

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As expected, the federal government will propose giving wolverines Endangered Species Act protection today. The recommendation includes a proposal to reintroduce wolverines into Colorado and, of course, would permanently ban trapping and hunting of wolverines in the lower 48 states . . .

The tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving carnivore sometimes called the “mountain devil,” is being added to the list of species threatened by climate change — a dubious distinction that puts it in the ranks of the polar bear and several other animals that could see their habitats shrink drastically due to warming temperatures.

Federal wildlife officials on Friday will propose Endangered Species Act protections for the wolverine in the lower 48 states, a step twice denied under the Bush administration.

Continue reading . . .

Judge temporarily halts wolverine trapping

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Wolverine trapping in Montana is blocked — for now, at least . . .

The wolverine trapping season in Montana has been halted after a Helena judge approved the request by eight conservation groups and an individual.

District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock issued a temporary restraining order Friday morning that suspends the trapping, snaring or killing of wolverines in Montana until after a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Jan. 10.

The wolverine trapping season was scheduled to begin Saturday, Dec. 1 . . .

Continue reading . . .

Weekend wrapup: Lake trout, wolverines and roadless area squabbles

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Here are a few nuggets kicked up over the past few days . . .

Proposal to release roadless, wilderness study areas gains backers, opponents

A proposed bill to release federal roadless and wilderness study areas to local management and development is gathering lengthy lists of supporters and opponents, even though it’s stalled in Congress . . .

Flathead Lake biological station examines netting, cascading effects

How would Flathead Lake’s complex food web and ecology change if an aggressive netting project started removing 140,000 lake trout every year?

That is considered an important question that has yet to be answered, but it is a subject being addressed in a study being conducted for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes as part of an environmental review for a proposed lake trout netting project on the lake . . .

Wolverine spotted at Whitefish ski resort

A handful of skiers had the rare opportunity to see a wolverine Monday on the front side of Big Mountain.

The sightings later were confirmed by tracks and scat found around a deer carcass . . .

 

Elusive wolverine photographed in Montana

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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.

 

Wolverine, other animals jump to top of endangered review list with recent agreement

Environmental Issues, News,

Here’s an excellent article by Rob Chaney posted to today’s Missoulian. Recommended reading . . .

In part because they’re so good at evading biologists, Montana’s elusive wolverines nearly escaped a bureaucratic roundup – and a chance at earning federal Endangered Species Act protection.

Now they’re at the top of the “to-do” list.

Continue reading . . .

‘Wolverine Way’ a humorous, informative book

Environmental Issues, News,

While we’re on the subject of Wolverines, here’s a nice review of local author Doug Chadwick’s recent (May, 2010) book, The Wolverine Way . . .

“Wolverines belong to the carnivore family Mustelidae, more commonly called the weasel family after its most familiar members. From a public relations standpoint, this is a bit unfortunate, considering how corporate shills, spammers, faithless lovers and hedge fund managers keep giving weasels a bad name.”

That quotation is from “The Wolverine Way” by Doug Chadwick, a surprisingly funny yet keenly informative book about Glacier National Park’s mysterious wolverine population.

“I’m a biologist. It’s been really hard for me to get it through my thick head that people aren’t as interested in all those geeky facts,” Chadwick said from his rural Whitefish home last week. “Wolverines are fun and exciting. If I don’t get that across, I’m not conveying the real information about the animal. I’m a superfan.”

Continue reading . . .

In Glacier, volunteers help track secretive wolverines

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Here’s another article on the wolverine study in Glacier National Park. This one, from the Hungry Horse News, is based on an interview with Doug Chadwick — reasonable enough, since he has published a book on wolverines . . .

A creature long-maligned is finally getting some positive attention. The wolverine, one of Glacier National Park’s most rugged animals, is the subject of an ongoing study by biologists to learn more about the mysterious animal.

“We’re trying to get out there an learn everything we can,” said volunteer and local author Doug Chadwick. “The single most concentrated, vigorous population we know of in the Lower 48 is in Glacier National Park and we’re only talking about 40 to 45 animals.”

Continue reading . . .

Glacier National Park home to about 40 wolverines

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Although not as extensive as yesterday’s Wolverine story in the Missoulian, this article posted to the Flathead Beacon has a bit of additional information . . .

A recent ongoing study indicates that about 40 wolverines are living in Glacier National Park, a U.S. Forest Service biologist says.

Rick Yates said that a study that started in January to collect wolverine fur samples is providing DNA samples from the secretive mammals.

Continue reading . . .