Alan Gregory’s Conservation NewsBush administration rushing to open Utah lands to energy development. By Patty Henetz. The Salt Lake Tribune.
Bush Administration Christmas Gift to Oil Companies Will Be Announced on Election Day. Sale of Pristine Wilderness Slated to Happen Six Days Before Christmas. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Kempthorne announces federal bison initiative. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
It seems to me that on the basis of what JB and others have commented here, that this plan (assuming it to be real) could withstand a petition for putting the bison on the endangered or threatened species list.
More news on this announcement. Bush Adminstration Proposes 2nd Interagency Group for Bison. ENS. “Bison conservationists are not impressed. . . “
– – – –
Secretary Kempthorne Launches Bison Conservation Initiative
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced an initiative that will work with state, tribal and agricultural interests to strengthen bison conservation efforts to help this iconic species recover and thrive.
“One of the classic symbols of the American frontier is the image of vast herds of bison grazing on the western plains,” Kempthorne said. “Americans today still find inspiration in bison ranging freely on the landscape, as Yellowstone National Park demonstrates.”
As folks pretty much all know, the Bush Administration, mostly likely at the initiative of Secretary Kempthone and cronies, is trying for one last quick stab at delisting the wolf before a new President replaces them.
If folks work hard, they will probably be defeated again; but their era of extremism and backward thinking may not end quite quick enough, so this delisting thing has to get your attention.
Here is the notice from the Federal Register indicating how to send in your comments beginning now. They are all due by Nov. 28.
Notice of reopening of comments on delisting. Federal Register. Don’t be deterred by having to go to regulations.gov to submit your comments.
They claim that if wolf population genetics deteriorates (a major objection from Federal Judge Molloy who shot down their delsiting), now they will shuttle wolves around to Wyoming to improve the genetics.
The have an unsigned MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) on this. Draft MOU. (note that Jeff commented and posted this earlier in a comment).
Because Wyoming needs to make changes, their Department of Game and Fish is trying to engage in some emergency state rulemaking. They just issued this news release.
Game and Fish Releases Draft Revised Wolf Plan for Public Comment. Wyoming Dept. of Game and Fish.
Their emergency rules. Wyoming Dept. of Game and Fish. Hearings are scheduled and soon. This is rush job.
My impression of the emergency rules is that they are not much of a change because the Department can do little without a change in Wyoming’s wolf hostile statute on wolf management. Their state legislature doesn’t meet until January, which would be best time to make Wyoming’s wolf plan acceptable, but the presidential election dictates action now.
Little doubt what Kempthorne wants is to decouple Idaho and Montana, where they manage wolves “so well” from Wyoming — just delist 2 states and let Wyoming wolves limp along indefinitely, maybe with what amounts to a “put and take” translocation of fresh wolves whenever the state kills too many. Kempthorne proposed this to the Secretary of Interior when he was governor of Idaho. Now as the Secretary, this is his last shot.
Do be fooled, however. Idaho has a bad wolf plan and Montana, which had earned some applause, has been killing wolves this year with a vengeance despite incredibly minor depredations.
– – – –
Brief AP news story. Wyoming proposes changes in its wolf plan. By Bob Moen.
The sad truth is the agency (USFWS) that reintroduced the wolves to Idaho and Wyoming has now become their enemy. Only an election victory can alter this, IMO.
Feds Hounding Rocky Mountain Wolves. From Backpacker Magazine’s Daily Dirt.
I guess we would call them “old-timers” now — folks like myself — but I remember there used to be many more ponds on the Northern Range of the Park. From the road the loss is especially apparent near Junction Butte, “Little America,” and the lower part of Slough Creek. “Little America” as a place name came from a large pond that had the general shape of the United States when viewed from Specimen Ridge.
How long since there has been water in Phantom Lake?
There are many backcountry losses too.
I don’t know if it is warming per se, but there is no longer any carryover water in the ponds at the end of the year, and there isn’t enough snow in the winter to refill them. They are dry by the end of June if they hold water at all.
Science News has just written a popularized version of the paper Climatic change and wetland desiccation cause amphibian decline in Yellowstone National Park.
How did moose get CWD? Star Valley deer, elk likely have the disease as well. By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Maybe Idaho should sue Wyoming for wildlife malpractice?
Two grizzly bear cubs shot in NW Wyoming. AP. Oct. 27
The brief article doesn’t mention the ESA implications, but my earlier post certainly leads to the conclusion that both male and female grizzly mortality quotas for the year have been exceeded for the delisted Greater Yellowstone population.
-More- $10,000 offered in grizzly shooting case. Jackson Hole Daily. Oct. 28
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is offering up to $10,000 for information about the shooting of two yearling grizzly cubs near Union Pass Road on Oct. 19.
George Wuerthner asks: Is Ranching Sustainable ? (As featured on Red State Rebels)
In case you didn’t guess; it’s a rhetorical question. The article also appears in Western Watersheds Project’s Fall ’08 Watersheds Messenger
be
This happens every year,
Hunter mauled by grizzly north of Gardiner. By Jessica Mayrer Bozeman Chronicle Staff Writer.
Update: I found out today the incident was in Eagle Creek. That’s hardly “north” of Gardiner. It’s between Gardiner and Jardine, just up the hill from downtown.
This article covers some of the same ground as my ealier report on the current situation with the Yellowstone Park wolves. In fact we don’t even know that the decline is limited to the Park boundaries. I doubt that it is.
What a great time to try delisting! Typical Bush-Kempthorne inattention to reality.
Wolf decline thought to be disease-related. By Brett French. Billings Gazette.
That didn’t take long – and it comes on the hip of troubling news about population numbers in general in the Northern Rockies – and even the recent sobering news about Yellowstone’s wolves. I guess they figure they better jam this thing into gear before the next administration – I don’t remember seeing any news about Wyoming having a sudden change of heart… or about rectifying any number of the other variables contributing to the recklessness of the prior rule.
Check out the 6th paragraph (2nd to last) of the news release – it’s as if they’re still clinging to the strict numbers (30 breeding pair 300 wolves for 3 years) claim.
brian ertz
– – –
Added Administration Reopens Effort to De-List Endangered Gray Wolves. By Joel Achenbach. Washington Post Staff Writer. Friday, October 24, 2008.
Added. Public comments reopened on delisting wolves. By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian.
Added. Feds will try again to get wolves off endangered list. Wyoming’s loose rules still pose a problem. But wolves could be delisted in other states, including Idaho, before Bush leaves office. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman.
Ralph Maughan
– – –
October 24, 2008
Contact: Ed Bangs, (406) 449-5225, x204
U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE REOPENS
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ON 2007 PROPOSAL TO DELIST
NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN POPULATION OF GRAY WOLVES
UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced it is reopening the public comment period on its proposal to delist the gray wolf in the northern Rocky Mountains. The public will have until November 28, 2008, to submit their comments to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov or via U.S. mail or hand delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: RIN 1018-Au53; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222; Arlington, VA 22203.
BOZEMAN – The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) comprised of state and federal agencies that monitor grizzly bear population trends in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, reports there were 44 unduplicated females with cubs of the year counted in the Yellowstone Ecosystem during 2008. There were 84 cubs observed with these 44 females during initial observations. Numbers of unique females with cubs tend to decrease in years following good cub production. Fifty females were counted in 2007, the second highest ever recorded, so the slight decline in 2008 was anticipated.
Population estimates are derived from counts of females with cubs. This year’s estimate of 596 bears was
higher than last years estimate of 571. Trend information suggests the population continues to grow at about 4% annually. Read the rest of this entry »
Pronghorn populations small but rising on this side of Divide, and hunting can be a challenge even where animals are abundant. By Rob Chaney. Missoulian
I think they are down just across the state boundary in Idaho.
Mountain survivor recalls bug diet on Wash. slope. By Mary Hudetz. Associated Press Writer
Custer County, Idaho and other rural counties are not of a mind to regulate housing development. It is a matter of philosophy or ideology.
This philosophy is not without public costs, however; and this might send them a message about letting people or developers build in the fire zone to do just what they want and then expect the U. S. government to protect them for free.
Story in the Challis Messinger. Feds might start billing county for wildfire structure protection. By Todd Adams.
U.S. Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva has issued a report chronicling a partial list of the Bush Administration’s assault on protections of your public lands:
A Report on the Bush Administration Assaults on Our National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
A couple examples of interest to Yellowstone :
Greatest Slaughter of Bison in the United States Since the 19th Century
Read the rest of this entry »
Feds Rush To Ease Endangered Species Rules. 15 reviewers, 200,000 comments, 32 hours to go through all of them. by Dina Cappiello. Common Dreams.
Back in 2005 after years of major population growth tapering off to stability, the Yellowstone wolf population suddenly crashed when all but 20% of that year’s wolf pups died. While the cause was not determined for sure, most think it was due to canine distemper.
The next two years, however, saw a rebuilding of the wolf population with high wolf pup survival rates. 2008 began with what appeared would be more growth with reports of very high pup counts, e.g., 24 pups in the Leopold Pack.
The first signs of trouble came, however, from the Slough Creek Pack which had a number of pregnant female wolves, but only one pup was seen. As the summer wore on, many packs seemed to have lost all of their pups and most at least some. Currently only the Gibbon Pack has a large number of pups left — ten — and it is the largest wolf pack inside the Park with 25 or more members. Despite its size it is not commonly seen. Its territory is not close to the Park roads.
Wildlife disease debate heats up. By Chris Merrill. Casper Star-Tribune environment reporter.
I have this feeling that the Forest Service and Wyoming Game and Fish are about as trusty as sub-prime mortgage investments.
Update. Oct. 22, 2008. Groups call for disease action. CWD found in moose in Star Valley a ‘wake-up call’ to Game and Fish, conservation groups say. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Old mining claims have a nasty tendency to become remote, jarring, difficult-to-service trophy homes.
For years the Trust for Public Lands has helped move old mining claims (federal lands that were privatized and perhaps mined at one time) back into the public estate.
John Miller of the Associated Press has written a story about them. Conservationists, Forest Service buy up mines. AP.
I received a second Wyoming wolf weekly in the course of two days. Here is the very latest news as reported by Ed Bangs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Note that the beginning of the report is a duplicate of the last report, but further down it does have some new news.
Ralph Maughan
– – – – – – –
WYOMING WOLF PROGRAM
WEEKLY REPORT
To: Regional Director, Region 6, Denver, Colorado
From: USFWS Wyoming Wolf Recovery Project Leader, Jackson, WY
Subject: Status of Gray Wolf Management in Wyoming and the NRM
WYOMING WOLF WEEKLY- October 13 through October 17, 2008
Web Address – USFWS reports (past weekly and annual reports) and Wyoming weekly reports can be viewed at http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov . Weekly reports for Montana and Idaho are produced by those States and can be viewed on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Idaho Department of Fish and Game websites. Information concerning wolf management in Wyoming from 3/28/08 through 7/18/08 can be found on the Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD) web site at http://gf.state.wy.us . Beginning 9/15/08, the USFWS will publish weekly wolf reports for Wyoming. All weekly and annual reports are government property and can be used for any purpose. Please distribute as you see fit.
Ed Bangs has produced another Wyoming wolf update today. Here it is.
Ralph Maughan
– – – – – – – – –
WYOMING WOLF PROGRAM
WEEKLY REPORT
To: Regional Director, Region 6, Denver, Colorado
From: USFWS Wyoming Wolf Recovery Project Leader, Jackson, WY
Subject: Status of Gray Wolf Management in Wyoming and the NRM
WYOMING WOLF WEEKLY- October 6 through October 10, 2008
Web Address – USFWS reports (past weekly and annual reports) and Wyoming weekly reports can be viewed at http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov . Weekly reports for Montana and Idaho are produced by those States and can be viewed on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Idaho Department of Fish and Game websites. Information concerning wolf management in Wyoming from 3/28/08 through 7/18/08 can be found on the Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD) web site at http://gf.state.wy.us . Beginning 9/15/08, the USFWS will publish weekly wolf reports for Wyoming. All weekly and annual reports are government property and can be used for any purpose. Please distribute as you see fit.
It looks like efforts to keep the Phantom Hill wolf pack from killing domestic sheep in the headwaters of the Big Wood River/Boulder/Smoky Mountains north of Ketchum, Idaho was highly successful. Only one sheep was killed by a wolf during the summer through the end of the grazing season. Many sheep graze this scenic mountain area.
This major project was conducted by “Four producers, USFS, USDA Wildlife Services, IDFG, Blaine County Commission, and Defenders of Wildlife.”
I should add that the Wolf Recovery Foundation, of which I am President, gave this effort a major (for us) monetary contribution.
Ralph Maughan
– – – – – – – – –
IDAHO WOLF MANAGEMENT
BI-WEEKLY PROGRESS REPORT
To: Idaho Fish and Game Staff and Cooperators
From: IDFG Wolf Program Coordinator, Steve Nadeau
Subject: Status of Gray Wolf Management, Weeks of Sept. 26- Oct. 17, 2008.
New: FWS – Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Status (WY, MT, ID): The U.S. Federal District Court in Missoula, Montana, issued a preliminary injunction on Friday, July 18, 2008, that immediately reinstated temporary Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountain DPS pending final resolution of the case. This includes all of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, the eastern one-third of Washington and Oregon, and parts of north-central Utah.
Outcome of grizzly attack a mystery, hunters urged to carry pepper spray. By John McGill. Glacier Reporter.
The New York Times describes and warns of anti-public land and anti-conservation actions underway or contemplated by the worst Administration in American history (my view) in their last 2 1/2 months in office.
Last-Minute Mischief. Editorial by the New York Times.
– – – – –
Examples of what is happening-
Oct. 13. The great giveaway. Utah BLM swings the door wide for ATVs and energy development. High Country News.
Oct. 19. Federal Officials Seek to Relax Rules for Dumping Mine Waste. AP. New York Times.
Oct. 20. Las Vegas Sun editorial. Protect the Colorado River from Kempthorne. Uranium mining claims should be delayed pending regional environmental review.
Officials worry about impact on mule deer; others excited to see new species. By Brett Prettyman. The Salt Lake Tribune.
Mule deer are more susceptible to land use changes than whitetails, putting muleys at a disadvantage.
Not surprisingly there a several Wyoming Game and Fish winter feedlots in this valley near the Idaho border for keeping elk like livestock and feeding them in the winter.
Moose in Star Valley tests positive for chronic wasting disease. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
– – – – –
For more information about CWD in North America, visit the CWD Alliance Web site.
So, naturally it doesn’t get covered on TV or the debates.
Barkers blog. Who is the West’s next federal landlord? Idaho Statesman.
I guess I’m not an “independent observer,” but Secretary Kempthorne did a good job as Secretary of Interior only in comparison with that Secretary Gale Norton and her crew, many of whom engaged out outright criminal activity such as favoring the oil industry after they had received sufficient drugs and/or sex.
If you want to think of someone scary, notice the mention of “Rep. Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican [U.S. Representative] likely to lose to Democratic Rep. Tom Udall in their race for the Senate.”
Pearce is one of the major players keeping those Catron County folks stirred up. He operates an oil field services company (like Dick Cheney, only much smaller than Haliburton).
Biologists seek answers to grizzly bear migration roadblocks. By Jim Robbins. New York Times (in the Seattle Times).
Interstate 90, which cuts through miles of mountainous country, is a huge barrier to the migration of all large wildlife species. I think remediation is in order.
Last October a number of us visited the Lost River Ranger District in an area called Pine Creek. We went with the district ranger and the Supervisory Range Conservationist. It was pretty embarrassing. Some of the awful photos went up on Google Earth. End of 2007 grazing season in an unnamed tributary called “Pine Creek.”
I guess it wasn’t embarrassing enough because this year things were as bad or worse.
End of the 2008 grazing season with 90% forage eaten by cattle on Lost River Ranger District. Salmon-Challis National Forest. Photo Western Watersheds Project
I can post a bunch more if people are interested.
Later. Folks did want to see more-
Here is what a wet meadow/riparian area should look like in similar country. I took this photo in early October about 20 miles from the photo above on an Idaho state grazing lease acquired by the Western Watersheds Project after a many year battle with the State Land Board. WWP removed all the livestock.
Wet meadow/streamside area in Lake Creek. Herd Creek Highlands. Central Idaho. Early October 2008. Not grazed for about 4 years. The grazing lease is held by the Western Watersheds Project. WWP pays to run cattle lease, but doesn
More on Pine Creek –
Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, and especially idaho Senator Larry Craig, have dropped their opposition to the bill by Wyoming’s two U. S. senators to protect the Snake River and its headwaters tributaries as parts of the national Wild and Scenic Rivers system.
The Snake River rises in Wyoming, but runs through Idaho where much of it is diverted for irrigation.
The Snake River protection plan has advanced, but over the wishes of Idaho’s Larry Craig (who will be retired in a couple months, but could yet cause problems in the U.S. Senate).
Crapo too has opposed the protection of the Snake River. One reason for the change may be Crapo’s desire to advance his “Owyhee Initiative” in Idaho, which would designae a number of canyon areas as Wilderness and give preferments and advantages to Owyhee area ranchers. Both the Snake River Bill and the Owyhee Initiative are expected to be in a massive omnibus public land bill to be taken up in the likely “lame duck” session of Congress after the Nov. 4 election.
Story in the Jackson Hole News and Guide. Idaho Senators Now Support Snake River bill. By Noah Brenner
Democrat Walt Minnick is challenging one-term Republican U.S. Representative in Idaho’s first congressional district. Polls show the race to be close.
Rocky Barker has a report this morning on a clear difference (there are many differences, but this applies to the topics commonly discussed on this forum).
Minnick and Sali disagree on climate change. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman.
Years earlier Minnick won some fame and notoriety in Idaho when as CEO of a timber-related company, he argued that it was not necessary for the timber industry to be awarded “below-cost” timber sales on public lands from the taxpayers in order to make a profit.
Bad mortgages ran the economy into the ditch, and the housing built was often very hard on the environment both directly and indirectly.
Because the finanicial part of the building industry has been largely nationalized, there is a golden opportunity to build in a way that helps all of us. The government can see to it, although this doesn’t mean it will (a new Bush Administration would just milk us and then turn things back to those who made the mistakes).
Here are some environmentally (and economically) friendly ideas. Memo To US Government: Five Ways To Fix The Housing Industry. by Lloyd Alter. Design & Architecture.
To paraphrase from the article.
1. No more low density suburban sprawl — death to new McMansions.
2. Make the housing you own energy efficient. Most of this is low hanging fruit — not expensive.
3. Put a limit on how much carbon a residence can use/emit regardless of its size — more space would require use of alternatives to coal, natural gas, oil energy.
4. No more hurricane bait — houses in places where they get destroyed every 10 or 20 years will not be insured.
5. If you don’t want to abide by these simple standards, don’t ask for a mortgage. Pay cash.
Wolves put back on endangered list. Federal officials hope to return animal to state control by ’09. By Matthew Brown. Associated Press
Ed Bangs and crew are saying they will revamp the delisting rules so they can pass muster by Judge Molloy. However, there will be an election in the meantime. It could be that the Obama Administration won’t be interesting in delisting because hatred of wolves and bears now sounds like Palinism. Perhaps she has unitentionally done these animals a favor.
Related. Wyoming state lawmakers to hold meetings to decide what to do about wolf relisting. AP
A brief look at the statistics on water use in the West tell that it is agriculture, not western cities that consume the water. Within agriculture one water use stands out. Growing feed for cattle!
Cattle are the primary reason the West is short on water. It’s almost a crime that few people realize this fact.
Guzzling the West’s Water. By George Wuerthner. Writers on the Range in New West.
Whenever I visit the area, I try to take a few photos of the disappearing rural countryside.
Story: Flathead open space bond on ballot. By Michael Jamison of the Missoulian
The disappearing rural landscape of Flathead County. Photo taken Sept. 2008 a few miles south of Kalispell, Montana. Copyright Ralph Maughan
Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks. By Tracie Cone. Associated Press.
Marijuana farming, much of it on public lands, litters the landscape with poisons, water diversions, traps and produces contaminated weed.
– – – – –
Related. Pot gardern seized in southern Nevada on public lands. Mesquite Local News.
On Sept. 1 this blog was the first to report on the big blowout on August 31. It was finally stopped in September and a Bozeman Daily Chronicle article says the excess flow is stopped for now. However, the cause is still not known. Repairs of an unknown magnitude will be made next year, or possibly the year after that, according to the article.
Hebgen secure for now. Published on Friday, October 10, 2008. By Jessica Mayrer Chronicle Staff Writer
Salon Magazine has a report on Palin as one kind of Alaskan — the kind that came north during the oil boom and changed the state’s culture for the worse (in the opinion of the Alaskan author of the piece). She is far from being “Jane, six pack;” and even her accept in not really Alaskan.
Sarah Palin: The view from Alaska. By Nick Jans.
Amid “Troopergate” and other government scandals, including killing wolf pups, an Alaskan writer explains why the Palin phenomenon rings hollow in his home state.
North Cascade signs warn hunters not to shoot wolves. AP. Seattle Times. “With deer hunting season opening Saturday, the state is putting up signs in the Methow Valley to warn hunters that federally protected wolves may be in the area and should not be killed.”
Folks may recall that the first verified wolf pack in Washington State was found this year near Twisp. It is closely monitored. There may be other wolves in NE Washington.
More than 2-million acres burned in Idaho in 2007. Less than a hundred thousand burned this year.
Story in the Idaho Mountain Express. Just 98,894 acres have burned across the state this year. By Jason Kauffman. Express Staff Writer.
The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has released a report detailing the economic value that wildlife watching contributes to the United States economy.
FWS News Release – October 9, 2008 :
In 2006, the direct expenditures of wildlife watchers generated $122.6 billion in total industrial output. This resulted in 1,063,482 jobs, a federal tax revenue of $9.3 billion, and a state and local tax revenue of $8.9 billion. The report details the economic impacts of wildlife watching expenditures by State. The top 5 States ranked by economic output include California, Florida, Texas, Georgia and New York. Direct expenditures by wildlife watchers were for items such as cameras, binoculars and bird food, as well as trip-related expenses such as lodging, transportation and food.
News story in the Arizona Daily Star. Endangered status sought for Sonoran Desert tortoise. By Tony Davis
Here is the news release from the petitioners-
– – – – – –
Federal Protection Sought for Rapidly Declining Sonoran Desert Tortoises
Take that, oh ye enemy of turtles! (Click)
Arizona, 10/09/08: Today, Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians filed a petition requesting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) list the Sonoran desert tortoise population under the Endangered Species Act and designate critical habitat to protect the animal.
The Sonoran desert tortoise population has declined by 51% since 1987.
Severe population declines were documented in a recently completed report. The study found that monitored desert tortoise populations are declining by about 3.5% per year throughout southwestern Arizona. Although to the untrained eye they may look similar, Sonoran desert tortoises show marked genetic and behavioral differences from tortoises found in the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Desert population was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1990.
Read the rest of this entry »
WYOMING WOLF PROGRAM
WEEKLY REPORT
To: Regional Director, Region 6, Denver, Colorado
From: USFWS Wyoming Wolf Recovery Project Leader, Jackson, WY
Subject: Status of Gray Wolf Management in Wyoming and the NRM
Wyoming Wolf Weekly- September 29 through October 3, 2008
Web Address – USFWS reports (past weekly and annual reports) and Wyoming weekly reports can be viewed at http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov . Weekly reports for Montana and Idaho are produced by those States and can be viewed on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Idaho Department of Fish and Game websites. Information concerning wolf management in Wyoming from 3/28/08 through 7/18/08 can be found on the Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD) web site at http://gf.state.wy.us . Beginning 9/15/08, the USFWS will publish weekly wolf reports for Wyoming. All weekly and annual reports are government property and can be used for any purpose. Please distribute as you see fit. Read the rest of this entry »
Montana probably has 3 to 4 times as many grizzlies now as Alberta.
Alberta accused of failing grizzlies. Environmental groups demand action on bears. By Kelly Cryderman, with files from Hanneke Brooymans, Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald
– – – – – – –
Related. Continuing development of Alberta oil sands will pollute Great Lakes, report warns. By Martin Hittelstaedt. The Globe and Mail.
Alberta is being trashed at an amazing rate. Ralph Maughan
Since Friday, I’ve been mostly in the central Idaho backcountry. So there have been just a few posts.
It’s incredible how much of central Idaho has burned since 2000 when I finished my last edition of Hiking Idaho.
On the other hand, at the present autumn colors are just tremendous.
Some “large” claims are yet to be paid, but this certainly isn’t much — $22,000. Millions of middle income, individual Americans have seen their retirement decline that much this year. This year the tally includes payments for bears as well as wolves over the entire state.
State pays for livestock losses due to wolves, bears– By Jim Mann. The Daily Inter Lake
Although I don’t have the figures, “control” of wolves and bears in Montana consumed far more than $22,000.
Few creeks were as polluted by mining as Silver Bow Creek near Butte, but after about a century trout, some as big as 18 inches are back.
Associated Press story. After a century, trout return to Silver Bow Creek, Montana
The man gathering and selling this unique product is not just anyone, but our own Jerry Black who regularly comments here.
I got some from him. It really does smell like willow (well sort of).
Unlikely aroma: Man’s business sells dried moose droppings as rustic-smelling incense. Missoula.com. This link also has a video of Black in the field
A supplemental draft environmental statement just released by the Payette National Forest on bighorn sheep viability proposes a 61% reduction in domestic sheep allotment acreage to separate bighorn and domestic sheep, thus clearly protecting the bighorn from disease transmission of their domestic cousins.
A public information meeting Monday in Boise begins 6 PM. The meeting, which runs until 9 PM is at the Holiday Inn Airport 3300 Vista.
The management proposed by the Payette NF is just the opposite direction from that proposed by the State of Idaho’s government, which is led by its noise by the sheep growers lobby. Rather proactive separation, the Idaho government wants to kill bighorn that get are approached by domestic sheep, or which come into contact with domestic sheep of their own accord.
Domestic sheep carry a variety of diseases that are transmitted to their wild cousins. Only brief contact with them can cause the loss of an entire bighorn sheep herd (usually from pneumonia).
This forum has had a large number of articles and discussion on this issue. To find them, go the “categories” and click on “bighorn sheep.”
Guv: ORV off-trail damage an ‘abomination,’ crackdown is coming. By Robert Gehrke. The Salt Lake Tribune
Although an off road vehicle spokesman condemned the governor, Huntsman is a dirt bike rider.
– – – – – –
Related. Oct. 7. ATV riders: Don’t be the bad apples who spoil it for all. Editorial by the Great Falls Tribune.
This popular bill to keep the drilling rigs out of the steep, unstable, scenic Wyoming Range, south of Jackson Hole has stalled due to the election campaign.
It looks like there’s going to be a lame duck session of Congress. Harry Reid says he may add this bill and also the “Craig Thomas Snake Headwaters Legacy Act,” to add 387 miles of rivers and streams in the Snake River drainage to the national Wild and Scenic Rivers System, to an omnibus public lands bill.
These bills are sponsored by Wyoming’s Republican senators, two very conservative men. The leading opponents have been the natural gas drilling interests and Senator Larry Craig (who doens’t want protection for the Snake River, which flows into Idaho).
Senators may hear energy, river bills. By Noah Brenner, Jackson Hole News and Guide.
New website: Sarah Palin’s Predator Holocaust. This was done by the Bear Viewing Association
Bill Schneider writes about McCain’s persistent campaign story about the “horrible” congressional earmark to study DNA of grizzly bears.
McCain, Palin, Earmarks, and the DNA of Bears and Harbor Seals. New West. By Bill Schneider.
This whole thing has irritated me plenty. First there is McCain’s persistent lying or ignorance of substance of his favorite earmark story. It shows him to be stupid, cynical, careless, or all of these.
Second, I’m irritated at those conservationists who dismiss the study as just an attempt to open up grizzly country to development.
The actual number of grizzlies was an important fact to determine.
You can’t use use science only when it is in your interest. Otherwise, you are hardly different than the oil companies.
Yes, the fact that there are more grizzly bears in NW Montana than anticipated will be used as an argument to open the country up, but that needs to be fought in other ways, not by attacking the science.
I’m glad a good count was done, and it was worth $3-million. McCain can stuff it.
“A recent study has concluded that wind turbines pose less of a risk to farmland birds than previously thought.”
Birds Not At Risk From Wind Turbines [misleading headline]. Red Orbit.
While the study on European farmland birds shows small effect — good news — the headline above overgeneralizes.
Groups: Snowmobile use plan still possible. Yellowstone officials say they have no authority to allow machines this year. By Corey Hatch. Jackson Holes News and Guide.
From the Washington Post. By Juliet Eilperin. Enviro Group Expands Palin Wolf-Hunting Policy Ad Buy
I notice it is slightly modified from the previous ad.
The Bush//Kemphthorne Interior Dept. of course rejected the petition to list the wolverine. The evidence is that the decision was made at high levels of Interior, not at the scientific level. Is anyone surprised?
So sue the bastards again.
Lawsuit seeks Species Act protection for wolverine. By Susan Gallagher. Associated Press.
News release from the Center for Biological Diversity. Politics Overrules Biologists’ Views in Wolverine Decision Bush Administration Continues to Ignore Science, Imperil Species
After months of no news from Wyoming (and complaints from this forum). A Wyoming wolf weekly suddenly appeared in my box, not from Mike Jimenez, wolf state wolf manager, but from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Ed Bangs!
It looks to me like the Wyoming wolf population is limping along, with a higher percentage killed than in Idaho (although the total lower because of the much smaller Wyoming wolf population base).
Some good news is a wolf pack in Dog Creek (Snake River Range) right near the the border of Eastern Idaho.
Here is the report ↓
– – – – – –
WYOMING WOLF PROGRAM
WEEKLY REPORT
To: Regional Director, Region 6, Denver, Colorado
From: USFWS Wyoming Wolf Recovery Project Leader, Jackson, WY
Subject: Status of Gray Wolf Management in Wyoming and the NRM
WYOMING WOLF WEEKLY- September 29, 2008
Web Address – USFWS reports (past weekly and annual reports) and Wyoming weekly reports can be viewed at http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov . Weekly reports for Montana and Idaho are produced by those States and can be viewed on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Idaho Department of Fish and Game websites. Information concerning wolf management in Wyoming from 3/28/08 through 7/18/08 can be found on the Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD) web site at http://gf.state.wy.us . Beginning 9/15/08, the USFWS will publish weekly wolf reports for Wyoming. All weekly and annual reports are government property and can be used for any purpose. Please distribute as you see fit.
USFWS reports (past weekly and annual reports) and Wyoming weekly reports can be viewed at http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov [this does not appear to be true. RM] . Weekly reports for Montana and Idaho are produced by those States and can be viewed on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Idaho Department of Fish and Game websites. Information concerning wolf management in Wyoming from 3/28/08 through 7/18/08 can be found on the Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD) web site at http://gf.state.wy.us . Beginning 9/15/08, the USFWS will publish weekly wolf reports for Wyoming. All weekly and annual reports are government property and can be used for any purpose. Please distribute as you see fit. Read the rest of this entry »
The roads all close (except the North Entrance) Nov. 3 at 8 AM.
Complete story. Parts of Yellowstone closing up for winter. By The Billings Gazette Staff
Recent polls show Jeff Merkely tied or ahead of GOP incumbent Gordon Smith who has supported the Bush Plan (keep the dams) on the lower Snake River in Washington state.
This is a regional (Pacific Northwest) issue, not a Washington state issue. Most fishery biologists think worthwhile salmon recovery in Idaho can’t happen with these 4 river blocking navigation dams in place. They were would to make Lewiston, ID a seaport.
Rocky Barker opins on the race and the issue. Dam breaching an issue in Oregon Senate race. “Letters from the West.” Idaho Statesman.
– – – – – –
Photo of the Lower Monumental Dam (one of the four dams) on the lower reach of the Snake River in Washington State.
 | william huard on Coyotes nail dog during Colora… |
 | Ryan on Coyotes nail dog during Colora… |
| william huard on Coyotes nail dog during Colora… |
 | WM on Megaloads video: Giant rig opp… |
| Ryan on Coyotes nail dog during Colora… |
 | jdubya on Megaloads video: Giant rig opp… |
 | JEFF E on Have you come across any inter… |
 | JB on Republican’s Climate Solution:… |
| william huard on Have you come across any inter… |
 | Peter Kiermeir on Have you come across any inter… |
Buffalo Field Campaign Blog Demarcated Landscapes
The Wildlife News 