WWP, Advocates for the West post another victory regarding land baron grazing

Judge Winmill largely rules in favor of plaintiffs on the Nickel Creek case-

From Western Watersheds Project v. Department of Interior:

“For the reasons explained below, the Court will grant WWP’s motion in part, finding that the decision of the Interior Board of Land Appeals is arbitrary and capricious, and remanding the matter to the BLM to (1) include the Management Guidelines as mandatory Terms and Conditions, and (2) render a new decision on the Nickel Creek FFR allotment.”

Doubtful many here have heard of the Nickel Creek allotments in the Owyhee Country of SW Idaho, but this is cause for New Year’s cheers. WWP might have a news release by the end of the day. Here is the decision.  Winmill Nickel Creek decision 12-30-09

The battle over Mt. Jefferson in Tester’s Wilderness bill

Continuing fight by Idaho snowmobile interests to keep a small area in Montana out of Senator’s Tester’s Wilderness bill-

We have covered this battle before. Dec. 13, 2009. Idaho Senators try to pressure Tester to remove an area from his “wilderness bill”

Photo of Mt. Jefferson from the Montana side. It is the highest mountain in the Centennial Range. Photo of Lilian Lake at the top of Hellroaring Creek.

Mount Jefferson access rises to forefront of forest bill controversy. By Ben Pierce. Bozeman Chronicle “Out There” Editor

From the standpoint of wildlife, the Centennial Mountains have long been know for terrific elk hunting. They are also a key corridor of wildlife migration from the Greater Yellowstone area to central Idaho. The biggest problem is the Sheep Experiment Station, but very high snowmobile use causes damage too. See photo of how busy it is at high elevation.

More about the Thanksgiving Wolf Massacre of the Basin Butte Pack

Alpha female’s body retrieved

Last week I received a fundraising email from Living With Wolves, a 501c3 non-profit group run by Jim and Jamie Dutcher, who’s mission is “dedicated to raising awareness about the social nature of wolves, their importance to healthy ecosystems, threats to their survival and the essential actions people can take to help save wolves”. In the email was a story about the massacre of the Basin Butte Pack over Thanksgiving which shed some light on the aftermath of the incident. I asked them to put this on their website so that I could post it here.

Warning there are graphic images of a dead wolf.

The Thanksgiving Wolf Massacre
Living With Wolves

Update: Lynne Stone writes this:

I was part of the “recovery” team on Dec. 11th that found B171 Alpha Fe in Goat Creek Meadows in the Sawtooth Wilderness. I put my wolf tag on her, hoping that one less wolf would be killed in the Sawtooth Zone. I phoned the IDFG wolf kill number and reported it. Several days later I called local IDFG to “process her”.

Unfortunately, IDFG took her away from me, saying that any wolf killed by Wildlife Services is property of the state. IDFG has not heard the end of this yet. Alpha Fe is in Jerome. I am filing state records request every few days to know what IDFG has planned for her … if I can’t get her back (lawyers are being consulted since WS left her in the woods, not wanting her), then maybe eventually she will go to auction. She was a magnificent, beautiful wolf, even when the life had gone out of her. I am so heartsick over this. I tried for four years to keep this pack alive and it’s a miracle they lasted as long as they did – due to the hatred of wolves of Challis ranchers who run a sloppy cattle business near Stanley from June to Nov.

Looking Back Two Decades On Managing The Greater Yellowstone Ecoystem

Todd Wilkinson remembers how far we’ve come . . . not all that far-

Looking Back Two Decades On Managing The Greater Yellowstone Ecoystem. By Todd Wilkinson. National Parks Traveler.

I was at that meeting in Jackson in 1983 to form the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. It is such a struggle against the entrenched bureaucracy with their ties to extractive interests!

Detailed summary of the Montana wolf hunt

Here is a detailed report. Will Idaho do the same?

Montana FWP just released a detailed summary of their wolf hunt with a lot of numeric data — good.  I hope Idaho has a report with this much information, but it probably won’t come until June when it might be too late to be used to adjust the 2010 wolf hunt, if there is one.  It is my impression that it is easier to hunt wolves in Montana than in Idaho.

Here it is (pdf). 2009 Wolf Hunting Season Summary

Cougar shot after killing Utah family’s dog

This should so much not be news!

Park City, Utah (up in the mountains). Cougar shot after killing Utah family’s dog. AP.

This event is so common. People build in cougar habitat and stock their yards with tasty morsels.

There is a similar story in the Bitterroot Valley (actually foothills) of Montana. It seems a cougar killed a pooch on a porch in a Bear Creek dispersed subdivision that is (I looked on Google Earth) hard up against the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, which with the Frank Church Wilderness, is the largest (save one dirt road) Wilderness area in the lower 48 states. That story full of twists and turns and neighborly conflict.

North America’s biggest freshwater fish slips toward extinction

Harmed by the effects of the Libby Dam, the Kootenai River sturgeon haven’t spawned for 35 years now-

North America’s biggest fish slips toward extinction. By Matthew Brown. Associated Press.

The Libby Dam on the Kootenai River, Montana. Copyright Ralph Maughan

Controversial roundup of wild horses underway

BLM roundup of wild horses in Nevada is heated-

Los Angeles Times on the Nevada “roundup”

My view on wild or “feral” horses and burros is that they are non-natives species that, like cattle, damage the range and harm native wildlife. The BLM’s preoccupation with them, rather than making sure the land barons properly manage their cattle on public lands, is excessive.

Although I’d like to see them kept in relatively low numbers, I generally stop and watch them. They do look good.

–  –  – –
Related story. BLM to put over 800 wild horses on Spanish Q Ranch near Ennis, Montana. By Daniel Person. Bozeman Chronicle.

Mexican wolves have as bad a year in ’09 as in ’08

Hope for the future with plans to reduce “controls” for livestock depredations?

High mortality for the small population of Mexican wolves continued this year with the population again ending at about 50 wolves. Under new management plans it is hoped that government wolf removal for killing livestock will abate.

Another deadly year for Mexican wolf. By Associated Press

12/29. Note: An informed comment indicates 2009 was a bit of an improvement.

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Recently on this blog. Federal officials [said to] look for ways to make Mexican wolf recovery a success in the Southwest. Dec. 7, 2009.

Northern Rockies wolf population has stopped growing

Increased mortality brings an end to wolf population growth at about 1650 wolves-

Sean Ellis of the Idaho State Journal deserves some credit for digging out the information.

Wolves resilient: Total number in region stable despite hunting. By Sean Ellis.

Now perhaps all sides should just call it even? Doesn’t look like it.

Fate of Idaho salmon plays out in tiny Marsh Creek

Wild salmon increasingly spawn in tiny Marsh Creek and other small central Idaho waters-

Fate of Idaho salmon plays out in tiny Marsh Creek. The fish that spawn here are among the most vulnerable in the region. Will Obama’s plan help if the population plummets? By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman.

About 5 years ago, I saw my first spawning wild salmon in Idaho in Marsh Creek. Great!

Marsh Creek Meadows and the distant Sawtooth Mountains. Copyright Ralph Maughan

High latitude clouds seen at night are getting brighter

Have you seen noctilucent, or “night shining,” clouds?

These clouds can be seen for several hours after the sun has set. They form in the summer at high latitudes, but they are getting denser and appearing farther south. The shine at night because they are 50 miles above the ground and reflect the sun’s rays hours after the sun has disappeared on the ground. They are still above the Earth’s curve.

They are made of ice particles and might be increasing because of the build up of carbon dioxide and the warming lower atmosphere which might have caused the stratosphere to get even colder. However, this hasn’t been proven.

At any rate, have you seen them while camping or whatever?

Pictures: “Night Shining” Clouds Getting Brighter. National Geographic News.

Mountain lions in Virginia?

First posted on Feb. 28, 2007

The cougar has not been confirmed in Virginia since 1882, but there are increasing signs they have returned to the state. Motion-sensitive infrared cameras have been deployed near  Appalachian Trail to try to determine whether cougars are back.

Thursday, April 21, 2005. Mountain Lions are back, maybe. By Bill Cochran. The Roanoke Times.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008. Mountain Lions in Virginia: How They’re Here and Why It’s Denied. The Locavore Hunter

Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries web site on the eastern cougar.

Sylvan Pass opens for winter travel

It’s still open!!

I thought this money-wasting imaginary benefit to a few Cody businesses died when Dick Cheney went away.

Sylvan Pass opens for winter travel. Billings Gazette.

Montana: Sled grooming to end in West Pioneers

Action was meant to protect wolverine and the wilderness quality of this wilderness study area-

The Forest Service has settled a lawsuit by Wildlands CPR of Missoula and Friends of the Bitterroot regarding the terms of the Montana Wilderness Study area act of 1977 regarding allowed uses of one of the study areas in the Act. Snowmobile grooming will end. Snowmobiles are still permitted.

Story in the Montana Standard. Sled grooming to end in West Pioneers. By Nick Gevock.

Large state park protecting wildife corridor might be created in western Montana

Heavily logged area could heal to be become economically and ecological important-

$14M, 41,000-acre land deal could create second-largest Montana state park. ByRob Chaney. Missoulian |

The Moral Call of the Wild

A study suggests that spending time in nature changes our values-

The Moral Call of the Wild. By P. Wesley Schultz. Scientific American.

Being outside almost always improves my mood, and a lot of my best ideas have come in the wide open spaces, not sitting at a desk or computer.  The outdoors seems more real and time passes more slowly because events are not so repetitive that one days blurs into the next. I can tell what I did each day during my February and March trip to Arizona, Nevada, and California. I can’t remember what I did last Wednesday here at home.

Too many people don’t have a real life. They watch reality TV hoping that someone does 😦

Salt Lake Tribune doesn’t like coal strip mine between two UT national parks

Proposal is for a six square mile strip mine between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks-

Initial plans are for 635 acre mine (one square mile) and would expand to over 6 square miles. The notion of a mine here has been floating around for years. Now it is serious.

Coal mine. Trucks could hurt Kane tourism. Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

Three-state wolf death tally passes 500 for year

Majority have been killed for livestock losses-

Despite controversy over the wolf hunt, about 60% of those killed were because the wolves killed livestock, usually just one or two animals. The large majority of the livestock retribution killing was done by Wildlife Services, not by the owners of the livestock.  I would like to see how many of these depredation incidents were on public lands where livestock are grazed almost for free under the theory that their owners suffer loses from predators and bother from recreationists.

Wolf death tally passes 500. By Matthew Brown and John Miller.  Associated Press writers.

At the end of 2008, the official wolf count in the 3 states was 1650.

The writers data on the Basin Butte Pack is wrong if you believe Lynne Stone. It is good that they acknowledge this.

Forest Services issues the decision memo on the helicopter landings

Well they finally issued it. People I talk with are really stirred up about this. It is not a wolf thing. It is the integrity of Wilderness. The Forest Service needs to have their hat handed to them on this one. We need to kick their sorry ass. RM

Decision Memo. Special Use Authorization to Idaho Fish and Game For Helicopter Landings and Aerial Darting To Support Gray Wolf Capture and Collaring In the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

USDA Forest Service. Intermountain Region. Payette and Salmon-Challis National Forests. Idaho, Custer, Lemhi and Valley Counties, State of Idaho. Various locations in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

Rocky had a story on it yesterday in his blog. State biologists may soon dart wolves from helicopters in Frank. Rocky Barker.

Sheep Experiment Station produces its first environmental analysis (EA) in its history

After many years in existence, Sheep Experiment State does NEPA analysis on their operations-

According to their web site the Sheep Experiment Station’s mission is  “to develop integrated methods for increasing production efficiency of sheep and to simultaneously improve the sustainability of rangeland ecosystems.” OK, but maybe folks would like to know the details.

For 90 years this large “research” operation in the Centennial Mountains on the Idaho/Montana border (Continental Divide), headquartered at Dubois, Idaho, has been a mystery to me.  It was also a mystery to Western Watersheds Project, NRDC, and the Center for Biological Diversity. So they sued and settled when the Station agreed to do an environmental analysis.

Now the EA is available for your information and comments (due by January 12). Here is the link to the EA.

The Station occupies a critical wildlife travel corridor between the greater Yellowstone area and central Idaho/SW Montana. It is vital for grizzly bears. We think there are also bighorn sheep on Mt. Jefferson, or at least used to be. I haven’t read the EA yet, but one person who has told me the analysis of this matter is poor.

This seems to be a once in a lifetime opportunity. So hopefully folks will take the time to look through it and comment. They only gave a one month comment period, although the NRDC has asked for an extension.

12-23-09. The comment period has been extended for two more weeks (to Jan. 25). Comments should be sent to USSES@ars.usda.gov

Federal agents hunt for wolves from 5 Montana packs

Up to 22 wolves could be killed in Montana

“Carolyn Sime with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks says it is unusual to have so many livestock attacks this late in the year.”

This couldn’t be what happens when you disrupt pack structure with a hunt could it? These questions need to be asked of wolf managers.

See: Wolf hunt information and effects that need to be collected

Federal agents hunt for wolves from 5 packs. Associated Press – Idaho Statesman

So far this year 91 Montana wolves were killed by livestock owners directly or Wildlife Services (mostly WS). 112 were killed in the hunt, natural causes, etc. This is a total of 203 dead wolves. If this action is carried out the dead wolf total for the year could reach 225, or 45% of the state’s wolf population. The rule of thumb, meaning it isn’t a hard and fast percentage, is that somewhat over 30% of the wolves in a state can die during a year with no decline in the wolf population.

Senator Feinstein to introduce bills for 2 new national monuments in Mojave Desert

Mojave Trails National Monument would protect 941,000 acres of public land. 314,000 acres of existing ORV areas would also be protected-

The article says environmentalists, hunters, and off-roaders support the legislation. Part of these areas had been targeted for big solar power developments.

The total list is: Mojave Trails NM, 941,000 acres; Sand to Snow National Monument, 134,000 acres; 250,000 acres near Ft Irwin as Wilderness; 41,000 acres to the southern boundary of Death Valley National Park; 2,900 acres to northern portions of Joshua Tree National Park.

Story on Feinstein’s bill. By Louis Sahagun. LA Times.

Update 12-22-09

A more detailed article on the politics and economics of the bills. Desert Vistas vs. Solar Power. By Tom Woody.  New York Times.

I think Feinstein’s bill is very good in directing solar farms into appropriate locations. Without her kind of “NIMBYism,” developers of big projects will just naturally gravitate toward pristine public lands because it makes their land-intensive projects cheaper by means of an indirect subsidy. Now they are more likely to seek out sunny derelict lands already destroyed by cattle or some other passing harmful use.

Wolf hunt closes in another Idaho hunting zone

Wolf quota is met in the Palouse-Hells Canyon zone on the Idaho/Oregon border-

The fourth Idaho wolf hunt zone has its quota of wolves killed. Eight zones are still open and four are now closed.  The quota for the newly closed zone was 5 wolves.  So far the reported kill overall is 129 131 wolves with 91 89 more to go, although it is likely that the fulfillment of sub-quotas, as just happened, will make the full quota of 91 more unattainable.

The Middle Fork Zone and the Southern Mountains will probably be the next zones to close because their quotas will be filled when one or two more wolves are killed in each of the zones.

http://www.fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/hunt/wolf/quota.cfm

– – – – –

12-22. More. Several hunting zones continue to lag in the number of wolves killed compared to their quotas. They are Panhandle where 14 of 30 tags have been filled, Lolo 7 of 27, and Salmon where only 4 of 16 have been killed.

Most interesting is the Lolo. This is the area where we have been told time and time again there are incredible number of wolves feasting on the chronically depressed elk herd. If so, why not more tags filled? Mark Gamlin has already pointed out that the hunting unit is rugged and remote. That is mostly true. However, it does have motorized access and a number of roads. It is not designated Wilderness. Units actually inside designated Wilderness, Selway 6 out of 17 and Middle Fork, 15 out of 17 are having better hunting success. By law these have no roads. I suspect the answer is that they have more wolves. I don’t know how wolves can persist in any great number in the Lolo year after year when the elk herd is so depressed (and I don’t doubt that the herd is depressed). In other words, I don’t think there are all that many wolves in the Lolo.

The Salmon hunting unit has been controversial. From the very beginning we have been told that wolves are all over the place just west and northwest of the town of Salmon. This unit has a lot of road access. It also has a lot of deer, elk, moose that winter in the Salmon River Canyon and its tributaries. Salmon City has always had an excitable element in its population — quick to speak loudly about all natural resources/environmental issues.  I think he Lolo and Salmon unit quotas are most likely political quotas rather than quotas based on wolf abundance.

American Prairie Foundation is building a wildlife reserve larger than Yellowstone Park

“Prairie Project” is buying up ranches in NE Montana-

We have been posting about the natural restoration of wildlife to the high plains as its human population reaches a critical point after generations of population decline. I was not aware of the Prairie Project. Of course, the down-in-heels land barons don’t like it, but they sell their holdings because they are not economically viable in this part of the country.

Ranchers wary of group’s effort to create wildlife reserve bigger than Yellowstone. By Tom Lutey. Billings Gazette.

American Prairie Foundation

On the progress of the Prairie Project

Western states take aim at antler gatherers

More people are gathering antlers. The recession makes some of them desperate for money. The end result is trouble for wildlife-

About a month ago I posted an article about this in Wyoming, but the issue is bigger than that.

Overzealous antler gatherers face a new flurry of regulation by U.S. Western states trying to stop harassment of deer and elk during critical, food-scarce months. By Laura Zuckerman. Reuters.

Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act Gets First Hearing

Senate committee gathers testimony on the Senators “wilderness bill”-

Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act Gets First Hearing. By Courtney Lowery. New West.

Here is the video of the full hearing.

Facts revealed on the killing of the Basin Butte Pack

Idaho Fish and Game lists the facts behind the kill order-

There are a small number of livestock owners that run most of the cattle in the Stanley area, and not surprisingly it was because of losses of their cattle. All told, ten wolves were shot in the Basin Butte Pack over the course of the year.  Some say there might be a couple left.

The Piva family lost 3-4 cows and maybe 1 calf. Jay Neider lost one calf. Jay Neider is closely related to Nate Helm, head of Idaho’s Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife. 2 wolves were shot in response to Neider’s cow calf.

– – – – –
There is a rumor that the uproar over the killing of Basin Butte Pack has caused WS and IDF & G to back off on their plans to kill 20 or so so-called “chronic depredating wolf packs” this winter.
– – – – –

Addition on 12-18

I got most of this information above from a spreadsheet Idaho Fish and Game sent. Here are the owner’s names and dates of the “wolf depredations.” The information is below and was put into a more reader friendly form by Lynne Stone.

8/3/09  one cow, 1 mile north of Stanley, Julian Piva

8/4/09  one calf, 1/2 south of Stanley, Jay Neider Arrow A Ranch

10/5/09 One cow, 1/2 mile south of Stanley, Bob Piva; one probable cow or calf (report doesn’t say)

11/3/09 One cow, 1/2 mile south of Stanley, Bob Piva

Victory for Western Watersheds Project on cutthoat trout

Western Watersheds Project wins appeal in Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest overturning a grazing decision for the Franklin Basin Allotment in northern Utah-

Over the years the popular Franklin Basin area of the Cache National Forest in Bear River Range just south of the Idaho border has been increasingly pummeled by cattle and sheep. One result has been a serious decline in the Bonneville cutthroat trout.
– – – – –

Bonneville Cutthroat © Ken Cole

Dr. John Carter, Utah WWP Director writes:

Friends,

The Franklin Basin Allotment covers over 20,000 acres in the Bear River Range and on the Logan River, a critical Bonneville cutthroat trout fishery in northern Utah. The Bear River Range is the most critical wildlife corridor connecting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to the Uintas and southern Rockies.

The Bear River Range in Idaho and Utah is heavily grazed by livestock, has extremely high road density, and is overrun with dirt bikes and ATVs during the summer and snowmobiles during the winter. Cattle and sheep dominate the habitat, removing forage that would support thousands of deer or elk and many more sage grouse and other forms of wildlife.  Plant communities such as aspen, sagebrush and conifer are dysfunctional, having lost much of their native flora with undesirable species remaining.  Erosion is severe due to the loss of ground covering vegetation.

The Decision by the Forest Service continued unchanged the current stocking rate of 607 cattle from June until October each year and does little to restore the admittedly degraded conditions even though their own data shows the current stocking rate is 6 times what can be supported by the available forage. [boldface mine. RM] The Forest Fishery Biologist report recognizes that Bonneville cutthroat trout populations are declining and admits that the proposal will not improve their habitat.

The WWP Utah Office filed an appeal of this decision.   We were joined by our partners in the Utah Environmental Congress and Wild Utah Project.

The decision by the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest Supervisor remands the decision back to the Logan Ranger District to address improving the unsatisfactory conditions that they admit exists on the allotment.   We will continue to press the Forest Service to do an objective job.

Wyoming wolf numbers increase and offset the decline in Yellowstone Park

YNP Park wolves are down another 6 % this year, but there was a 12% increase outside the Park in ’09-

Story in the Jackson Hole News and Guide. By Cory Hatch.

There are 4 full-time packs in Jackson Hole and one part-time pack.

The year’s population results appear to be a small increase in wolves in Wyoming. Everyone should recognize that those 20% increase years in any of the 3 states are gone. There will probably be about 375 305 wolves as the official figure for Wyoming at the end of this year.

It’s good to see a recognition that well established packs are less of a threat to livestock than new packs.  One should note that this is some evidence that hunting wolves at random may be counterproductive in terms of livestock losses. Of course, livestock losses to wolves are so small in the big scheme of things it probably doesn’t matter.

Wolves to be tracked, darted, collared in Frank Church Wilderness

Forest Service will cave to Idaho Fish and Game’s plan to grossly abuse the concept of Wilderness-

Even though 90% of the comments received were opposed to Idaho Fish Game’s plan to violate the Wilderness Act because they want a better count of the number of wolves in the Frank Church Wilderness, this week the Forest Service told interested parties they were approving the request.

In 2006 Idaho Fish and Game was fended off, but this year they were back again claiming they needed to use high tech methods to count wolves in Wilderness. Because they have promised to maintain a population of 500 wolves in Idaho, well above the 100 required by the wolf restoration plan, their plan for unnecessarily exact counting is hard to understand. It makes folks very suspicious about their motives.  Worse this is a threat to the entire American Wilderness System on behalf of a one-state interest.

The purpose of the Wilderness System is to maintain wildness. Having high tech monitoring of the individual animals located by flying low, darting, and landing in this supposedly forever protected land is an abomination.

The Forest Service is advancing this plan by means of an non-appealable “categorical exclusion.” That type of document  is for public land matters so unimportant that an environmental analysis is not needed. The only remedy is to go immediately to court. The whole thing is a fraud. If it is so unimportant why did they fly up from Ogden, Utah to tell people their intentions?

The radio collaring is expected to begin in March.

Update added late on 12-17. Will helicopters land in Church wilderness? State seeking Forest Service approval to help collar wolves. By Jon Duval. Idaho Mountain Express Staff Writer

– – – –
Past stories on this.

Dec. 16. Scott Phillip’s LTE. No helicopters in wilderness. Idaho Mountain Express.

October, 2, 2009. Idaho again wants to land choppers in wilderness. By John Miller. AP
Sept. 18, 2009. Idaho Department of Fish & Game Moves to Collar Wolves in the Frank-Church Wilderness. By Brian Ertz
August 2006. Captive Wilderness. Discover Magazine.

Scotland’s deer are changing shape due to hybridisation

Scotland’s wild red deer have bred with Japanese sika deer, serving to reduce their size-

Red deer are similar to American elk, wapiti. Ironically a concern in the U.S. is red deer from “hunting” ranches escaping to breed with elk.

Scotland’s deer are changing shape due to hybridisation. By Jody Bourton. Earth News reporter. BBC

Hunter kills cougar in Iowa!

This was the fifth killed in a decade-

Hunter kills cougar in Iowa. By Bob Eschliman. World-Herald News Service.

Idaho politicians enter into Montana Wilderness debate

Idaho Senators shill for snowm0bile industry-

” . . . Mount Jefferson is a tiny portion of Tester’s plan, it is one that many supporters of the bill hold dear.”

Read the rest in Idaho enters . . . By Daniel Person. Bozeman Chronicle.

This is one where Idaho residents can really help. I’m emailing Tester, “As an Idahoan, Senators Crapo and Risch don’t speak for me. Please keep Mt. Jefferson in your bill. My senators only represent the  snowmobile industry which already totally dominates the area south of Mt. Jefferson.” Added. Email Senator Tester.

The hearing on the bill in the Senate Committee is tomorrow.

Mt. Jefferson is a key part of the Continental Divide wildlife migration corridor to central Idaho, which is already messedup in part by the [domestic] Sheep Experiment Station on the Continental Divide in Idaho.

Wolf pack killed by government on Senator Baucus ranch

Vicious beasts kill 2 goats and 3 or 4 guard dogs over a year’s time-

I saw this story Dec. 8, but it said the Mitchell Mountain Pack had over the space of several years killed two goats and a guard dog here and there at the “Sieben Ranch.” I just figured that was a typical wolf overreaction story that hardly merited reporting.

Then I learned maybe there is a reason this massive 125,000 acre ranch is just called the Sieben Ranch. It is owned by Montana Senator Max Baucus.

FWP plans to take out entire Mitchell Mountain wolf pack. By Eve Byron. Helena Independent Record.

Oh yes, this was done by Wildlife Services at taxpayer’s expense.

National media discover the decline of wolves in Yellowstone

Although it is old news here, it is good to see these facts being widely disseminated-

Wolves decline in Yellowstone. By Janice Lloyd.  USA Today

As predicted, the remaining elk in the Park are tough critters that can beat up on the wolves.

Montana Wood products industry losing a big player

Smurfit-Stone to close and leave over 400 jobless-

Two stories:

Montana Wood products industry losing a big player. By Rob Cheney of the Missoulian.
Western Montana forest fuel reduction projects will take a big hit. By Perry Backus. Ravalli Republic

Events like this may make the mandatory logging goals in Senator Tester’s “wilderness bill” completely irrelevant. In fact, the anticipation of this effect of the recession may be one reason some conservation organizations are supporting his bill.

Basic economics. When the supply is huge (all the dead wood) and the demand low (due to recession), price will drop and the industry will shrink.

Are there grizzly bears in Washington state?

The efforts to re-introduce grizzlies to Washington and Idaho have been stalled for political reasons

Grizzly feeding on elk © Ken Cole

Joel Connelly talks about the rate of recovery efforts for grizzly bears in the country, and specifically the North Cascades and Bitteroot Mountains of Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Are there grizzly bears in Washington state?. By Joel Connelly. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Lessons from Aldo Leopold’s historic wolf hunt

The nation’s legendary conservationist saw the value of preserving wildness. Perhaps someday politicians will too-

Opinion in the LA Times. By James William Gibson

Are more deer killed on Utah roadways than by hunters?

Both seem to be around 20,000 a year, but the road kill number is less exact-

Females are 72% of the road kill. Human fatalities are 4 – 6 a year

Roadkill threat: Utah deer herds taking a hit. It’s possible that more of the animals are killed by vehicles than hunters. By Brent Prettyman. Salt Lake Tribune

Greedy ranchers; livestock pushing out fish and wildlife. How about a year end donation?

Do you want to really put your $20 to $2-million to work?

At this time of year every charity and conservation organization sends out pleas for a year end donation. Given the condition of the economy, most of them really need it. On the other hand, you want to make a cost/effective donation.

Only a few conservation groups expend much going after public land grazing. Maybe it doesn’t sound sexy. Foundations are risk-aversive to giving in a way that would offend our precious landed nobility in the West. Many conservation groups rely very heavily on the good will of these foundations. They are encouraged one way or another to play smileyface with these posers of the “Tradition of the West.”

A few groups do not. As a result they need more income from private donations to make up for the relative lack of foundation giving. If you are irritated enough to give some money, I’d suggest the Western Watersheds Project, Advocates for the West and the Buffalo Field Campaign.

This doesn’t mean there are not other groups, especially smaller ones, that merit a donation. I like the low overhead, high output, uncompromised efforts by these groups.

Nevada: Rancher greed has no limits

They even resent wildlife guzzlers–

“Members of the [Nevada] state Board of Agriculture argue that as their numbers increase, guzzlers are altering the landscape and taking precious resources, whether water or forage, from ranchers. They want to stop the Nevada Department of Wildlife from constructing any new guzzlers and are exploring possible legal challenges. Some ranchers say they are ready to sue over infringing wildlife.”

Guzzlers gouge rift between Nevada state agencies. By Sandra Chereb.- Associated Press Writer.

They are so greedy they oppose the direct collection of rainwater and snow by guzzlers.

– – – –

Added.

John Ralston is the most important political commentator in Nevada.

It’s not just greedy ranchers in the state.

Commentary: Marveling at the conflicts of interest, corruption tolerated in this state. By Jon Ralston. Las Vegas Sun

Idaho Senators try to pressure Tester to remove an area from his “wilderness bill”

Idaho snowmobile interests “own” the Idaho side of the Centennial Mountains, yet still want Mt. Jefferson on the Montana side removed from bill-

Conflicting Interests. Written by Mark Menlove. Backcountry Magazine.

I see that conservation groups who support Senator Tester’s  “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (FJRA)” (a.k.a. “wilderness bill”) are waging a campaign to keep the area in the bill. The Idaho-based Blue Ribbon Coalition is using the Idaho senators to try to get Tester and Baucus to fold.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer Boasts about Buffalo Slaughter

2808 bison killed under the Schweitzer Administration

Bison calf being processed at the Stephens Creek Facility YNP

In an address to the Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer boasted that “No governor in Montana history has sent more bison to slaughter than this governor.” During Schweitzer’s administration he has the dubious distinction of presiding over the deaths of 2808 wild bison, 1,616 of which were killed in a single year. This from a Governor who campaigned on the promise that he would work for more tolerance towards buffalo in Montana.

Schweitzer tells livestock group that lobbyists have stalled help
Matthew Brown – Associated Press

WY “Sportsmen for Fish and Wildife” still donating hay

Despite brucellosis and chronic wasting disease, they can’t seem to kick this bad habit-

Wyoming group donates hay to feed elk this winter. AP in the Billings Gazette.

Kathie Lynch. Yellowstone Wolf Update. Thanksgiving 2009

A detailed northern range wolf update-

At a time when the wolf population in Yellowstone is declining and interest from the news media down, Kathie Lynch has put together a most detailed report on the activities of the Park’s northern range wolves.

– – – – – –
Thanksgiving 2009 wolf update. By © Kathie Lynch

Thanksgiving in Yellowstone included being thankful that I was able to see wolves on three out of four days. With the deaths of many wolves and poor pup survival, population numbers are down, and packs are more difficult to find and observe.

The visit did yield several unexpected surprises, however. Mollie’s pack wolf 586M journeyed from the south to pay a visit to Lamar Valley. We were so surprised to discover this gorgeous, dark gray wolf one morning north of the Druid’s traditional rendezvous site.

He was absolutely beautiful, with an excellent hair coat and no sign whatsoever of the terrible mange that he and the rest of the Mollie’s had endured last winter and spring. The sight of 586M looking so magnificent offered hope that the wolves, at least those with strong immune systems, can overcome the scourge of mange.

Geothermal Project in California Is abruptly abandoned

It caused earthquakes!

Geothermal Project in California Is Shut Down. By James Glanz. New York Times.

The person who emailed this story to me wrote, “Boy – If you’ve ever read a geothermal EA to destroy the nearest hot springs  – BLM never says anything about the earthquakes …”

– – – – –
I have been skeptical of geothermal energy using hot springs and geothermal anomalies, which this seems to have been. No hot spring seems safe, nor even Yellowstone Park when there is a boomlet for geothermal power.

Re-imagining Mexican gray wolf recovery

A fine essay from the blog “Wild Muse”-

When other web sites link to this one, I can see it in the statistics page (accessible to the blog’s editors). I noticed Wild Muse (not to be confused with our frequent commenter “Wilderness Muse”) had linked to a story. I followed it back and found this excellent story Re-imagining Mexican gray wolf recovery

Bacteria Engineered to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Liquid Fuel

This is much better (on paper) than other biofuels or hydrogen gas-

This is an amazing development. Hopefully it won’t be difficult to move it from the lab to sources of carbon dioxide gas such as coal, oil and natural gas fired power plants.

Bacteria Engineered to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Liquid Fuel. ScienceDaily

Open forum

This is for open discussion.

One more British Columbia threat to Glacier National Park

Gold deposit discovered on ridge visible from Glacier in the North Fork Flathead River-

First it was coal mining, then coal bed methane, now gold; and all the pollution runs into the United States.

Canadian company claims rich gold find north of Glacier National Park, raising concerns. By Michael Jamison. Missoulian

Official: Montana Wolf hunt was effective

The real story is that 40% of the wolves in Montana were killed this year-

Official: Wolf hunt was effective. By Matthew Brown. Associated Press

The rule of thumb is that wolves can withstand annual mortality of about 30 per cent of the adult wolves, and the population will remain stable. The article below indicates that hunters killed 14% of Montana’s wolf population this year. On the other hand, 26% were killed by Wildlife Services, poachers, ranchers defending their livestock, and natural mortality. They aren’t done yet either. There was just an article about them taking out a wolf pack near Helena because the wolves killed a couple sheep dogs and a goat or something. These officials, not named in the article, want to increase the number of wolves  taken in the hunt next year, but what the figures show is that it’s not the hunt that threatens the wolves, but the killing of wolf packs for mostly trivial livestock losses.

I’m not sure why the article ended with this: “Ranchers like Jerry Ehmann, 63, counter that the state’s hunt is not doing enough. Ehmann said he used to run about 200 head of cattle on 25,000 acres of public land in southwestern Montana’s Bitterroot Range. After wolves started harassing his animals this year and five calves went missing, Ehmann decided to cut back to only 72 animals and keep them fenced in on his ranch near Sula. He sold off the remaining cattle in November.”

Are we really to believe that the only reason this rancher reduced his herd of 200 to 72 is because “5 calves went missing” — not killed by wolves, but just missing. Calves too, not cattle. Isn’t there a recession or something going on too?  😦 And isn’t this rancher getting toward retirement age?

Update editorial in the Great Falls Tribune. Highly regulated wolf hunt does seem like the right track. The Tribune looks at the Montana hunt and finds it to be sucessful and not a threat to the wolf population. What Tribune hasn’t looked at, what few look at, and what cause dispute between some hunters and wolf advocates, is the focus on hunting.

The Montana problem is not wolf hunting, it is Wildlife Service killers shooting wolves for usually minor offenses like killing a couple sheep or cow calves or maybe someone just ” a couple of my livestock gone missing.”

Bighorn reintroduced to central Wyoming’s Seminoe Mountains

Reintroduction a generation ago slowly failed-

I haven’t been to these low, but rugged, little known mountains. The bighorn are coming from Oregon rather than the more alpine stock in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

More sheep, more hunting? By Jeff Gearino. Casper Star-Tribune.

Forest Service finally closes Horse Butte to livetock grazing

There haven’t been cattle on it for 8 years, but now it is officially closed to grazing-

Despite the absence of cattle on the butte, its official status as a grazing allotment allows Montana Department of Livestock and the Montana Stockgrowers Assn. to bleat about the dangers of brucellosis from the bison that migrate out of Yellowstone every winter (and especially spring) onto the butte. Now their propaganda is even more just thin vapor.

Horse Butte is used by all kinds of rare species the Forest Service says in addition to bison. Much of the Butte is also private and owned by a family that supports free roaming bison.

The difficulty closing this area officially to grazing underscores how hard it is to get livestock off any public lands regardless of the other more important values of a place.

National Forest closes Horse Butte grazing. By Daniel Person. Bozeman Chronicle Staff Writer.

The south side of Horse Butte in April. The snow melts earlier here than anywhere else. Photo copyright Ralph Maughan

Added. Here is the actual Forest Service Horse Butte-suitability analysis

Two Views of the Tester Forest Jobs and Recreation Bill, a.k.a., “Wilderness Bill’

Prominent Montana economist discusses bill on Montana public radio-

Tester Forest Bill. Two Views of the Tester Forest Jobs and Recreation Bill. By Dr. Tom Power. Montana Public Radio.

I’m not sure what to think about the logging part of Tester’s bill either. If you look at it one way, it represents the worst top down mandated logging since the days of the “lawless logging” rider of 1995. On the other hand, wilderness supporters who support this “wilderness bill” might figure correctly that very little logging will really be done because the demand for logs, especially dead lodgepole pine is weak because of the economy.  Meanwhile the supply of these logs is overwhelmingly large, coming from the bark beetle-killed pine from the Yukon south to New Mexico. There are many billions of board feet of logs from better places than the remote Beaverhead National Forest.

Yellowstone hotspot’s giant magma plume slowly eats its way northeast

Scientists confirm 500-mile finger of molten rock under Yellowstone-

Park’s giant magma plume eating up mountains. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole Daily.

Actually the hot spot is probably stationary. The apparent surface movement is due to the North American plate drifting to the southwest over the spot. The new information (at least to me) that is interesting is that the top of the plume is deformed like the wind blows smoke from a fire. So while the internal origin of the actual hotspot may still be under what is now SE Oregon, the magma rises at an angle. It rises toward the northeast.

I was also interested to learn that the source of the hot spot is very deep in the Earth. It is at least 500 miles deep. It might go all the way to the core.

The fact that the plume rises at an angle might well explain geologically recent volcanic activity well to the southwest of Yellowstone Park, e.g., the Craters of the Moon lava flows and cinder cones and the lesser known Willow Creek cinder cones and lava flows to the north of Soda Springs, Idaho. It might take a long time for the continental plate to pass completely over the magma plume.

My photos of the Willow Creek Lava Field.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4245367
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12549114

Second brucellosis case found in Idaho cattle herd

State Veterinarian quick to blame it on elk or bison

Another cow, this time a 15 year-old, has tested positive for brucellosis in a herd that resided in eastern Idaho. This is the second from the same herd so Idaho retains its brucellosis-free status. The herd was assembled over the last two years and the origins of the animals have not been reported.

It is very important that epidemiology studies look closely at the samples taken so that the true source of the infection can be found, even if it came from other cattle. It is premature to say what the source of infection is yet when infections occur people sympathetic to the livestock industry are very quick to point fingers at wildlife.

Second brucellosis case found in Idaho cattle herd
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS – Capital Press

Ranching, recreation collide in the great outdoors

The story of what happened when a sheep guard dog attacked a mountain bike rider in Colorado.

Domestic Sheep © Ken Cole

A woman who was attacked by sheep guard dogs took her case to court and won.

Ranching, recreation collide in the great outdoors
By NICHOLAS RICCARDI – Los Angeles Times

Investigation of cause of death of Idaho wolf pack ends

Cold case: Wolves cause of death remains a mystery. By Jody Zarkos. Idaho Mountain Express.

The investigation into the death of six juvenile wolves found near Fairfield, Idaho has been closed, but the cause of their death was never determined.

Sweden allows first wolf hunt in 45 years

Killing wolves will build public support says Swedish environmental protection agency-

Sweden allows first wolf hunt in 45 years. Times of the Internet
– – – – –

Peter Kiermeir called this hunt to our attention. He wrote:  “More or less unnoticed by the rest of the world another controversial wolf hunt is planned for 2010 in Sweden. After nearly half a century of full protection Sweden is going to hunt 20-40 wolves (out of a population of around 200, recovered from “almost zero” 30 years ago, to put the numbers into the right perspective). Sweden intends to limit overall wolf numbers to max 210 despite a statement of scientists that at least 500 would be needed for a healthy population. Officials say that this hunt is intended to raise the “acceptance of wolves in the public” and to “cut down the many poaching incidents”. Its remains questionable if it is wise to surrender to criminality (always assuming that this the true reason behind), but they pretend that a similar hunting scheme for bears cut poaching of bears to nearly zero. Another question not answered is how the handful of wolves that in a mathematical manipulation are “shared” with Norway count here. Latest news from Finland is today, that the Swedes intend to import wolves from Finland at a price of about 48000 Euros each, because they need to boost the population a little bit. In other words: They admit, they do not even have that 210 wolves. At least they get a little fresh blood into packs they have. I think the whole thing could be called “management”. What a crazy world….or does this sound all too familiar?”

– – – – –
Yes. It sounds all too familiar. Ralph Maughan

Hunters angry over dwindling elk need historical perspective

A historical perspective on the Gallatin Canyon elk “decline” controversy-

The following is by Norman A. Bishop of Bozeman, a member of our Board and long time naturalist in the Greater Yellowstone area of Montana.

– – – – – –
Hunters angry over dwindling elk need historical perspective

“Hunters vent anger over dwindling elk” in Gallatin Canyon (Chronicle, Dec. 4) took me back a few decades to an insightful 44-page Montana Fish and Game Department report by Allan L. Lovaas, “People and the Gallatin Elk Herd.”  In that 1970 report, Lovaas chronicles the history of the area, its elk, and the many factors affecting their numbers. The factors he lists include hunting (including for the market), trapping and feeding (elk), eliminating predators, removing Indians, grazing of livestock, controlling wildfires, creating wildlife preserves Yellowstone), and, mostly, through permitting the herd to burgeon out of control on its depleted range.

FWP biologists Kenneth Hamlin and Julie Cunningham compiled comprehensive report in 2009, “Monitoring and assessment of wolf- ungulate interactions and population trends within the GreaterYellowstone Area, southwestern Montana, and statewide.”  Item 4 in their Executive Summary is: “The number of grizzly bears in Southwest Montana and the GYA has increased more than 3-fold since 1987, concurrently with the increase in wolf numbers, affecting the total elk predation rate.”  And item 8, “In areas with high predator (grizzly bear and wolf) to prey ratios, …elk numbers have declined…”

In a 2003-2004 study, researchers noted that predation, hunting, and drought contributed to a decline of elk in northern Yellowstone.  They traced 151 newborn elk calves for 30 days, and found that predators caused more than 90% of their deaths.  Bears killed 55-60%; coyotes and wolves each took 10-15%.  The authors said it remains to be seen if wolf predation is additive to other mortality sources.

Lovaas saw the larger picture in 1970, and so do astute wildlife managers today.  They recognize the rarity in natural systems of single-cause effects, and don’t just blame wolves.

Norman A. Bishop

Bozeman, MT 59715

Federal officials [said to] look for ways to make Mexican wolf recovery a success in the Southwest

A lot of this article is just blue sky exaggeration-

This article’s URL was emailed to me by someone familiar with the Mexican wolf program. Federal officials look for ways to make wolf recovery a success in the Southwest. By Susan Montoya Bryan. LA Times.

My email friend wrote: “I read these stories and I can’t keep a straight face.  Mexican wolves have killed hundreds of cattle in the last decade?  At best they got 52 of the “little buggers” so any talk of hundreds of dead cattle is absurd.  I certainly hope that someone . . . makes a stand on this kind of misinformation.  If any ranchers have gone out of business or plan to in the future I would think they could come up with a believable story rather than a laughable one………..”

Timber law becomes vast entitlement for some states

Law to help logging communities after the spotted owl-induced logging reductions now pours money into areas where there have never been spotted owls-

Timber law becomes vast entitlement. By Matthew Daly and Shannon Dinninny. Associated Press Writers

Elk herd troubles Idaho neighborhood

Feeding that started in the ’70’s now attracts more than just elk

This is an interesting story about what feeding elk in the Elkhorn subdivision of the Wood River Valley has led to.

Elk herd troubles Idaho neighborhood
By Ariel Hansen – The Magic Valley Times-News

Groups target Nevada predators

Mountain lions, coyotes, badgers, skunks and ravens will all be targeted in an effort to improve deer and sage grouse survival using $866,000 from the Nevada Department of Wildlife’s Heritage fund.

Rather than tackle the main issues related to sage grouse declines, livestock grazing, sagebrush killing projects, and energy developments, groups in Nevada are going after predators instead. Guess who will do the killing? Wildlife Services.

Just another subsidy to the livestock industry.

Groups target Nevada predators
JEFF DELONG – RGJ.com

Sage Grouse © Ken Cole

Wildlife Services: The Most Important Wildlife Agency You’ve Never Heard Of

Wildlife Services, the agency that does the killing

“The USDA’s own statistics show that most livestock losses come from weather, disease, illness, and birthing problems, not predation.”

Wildlife Services: The Most Important Wildlife Agency You’ve Never Heard Of
Andrew Wetzler NRDC Switchboard

Chuck Carpenter is the district supervisor for central Idaho for the U.S. Wildlife Services.

Homeless on the Range

An article about the ill-conceived bison quarantine program that will likely be turning the majority of the progeny of these bison into privately owned livestock.

Buffalo in quarantine - Kim Acheson

The Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks’ bison quarantine project started several years ago in an attempt to create a brucellosis free heard of Yellowstone bison from captured calves which had been repeatedly tested for the disease. These calves were separated from their mothers who were slaughtered and placed in pastures just north of Gardiner, Montana where they were fed out of troughs. They have no connection to their land and have not been exposed to experienced, older animals so they haven’t learned buffalo social skills. There is a big problem though. The program wasn’t thoroughly thought out, the FWP didn’t have any takers for the bison before the program was started.

The original, and often vaunted, intent was to create herds which would be used to repopulate the western public and tribal lands with genetically pure bison. There is a requirement to keep the bison that leave the quarantined facility fenced away from other animals for an additional 5 years in case brucellosis, a bacterial disease, re-emergerges. That’s expensive and nobody wants to do it so proposals to take the bison have been limited.

Enter Ted Turner. He has offered to keep the bison fenced, at a cost, for five years but he wants 190 of the progeny expected to be produced during those 5 years so that he can improve the genetics of his own commercial buffalo operations. This is the polar opposite of what was originally required of the recipients of the bison. The plans specifically mandated that the bison would not be mixed with hybrid bison and that they would remain in the public trust.

The Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks has said that the other major proposal to take the bison to Fort Belknap is not serious in nature and that they would have to slaughter them if they can’t give them to Ted Turner. They frame the issue as if slaughter is the only other option.

Government wolf updates

Recently, there have been a few government wolf updates published.

Wyoming Status Reports (which sometimes have information from states like Washington, Oregon, Utah and Colorado):
11/27/2009
11/13/2009
10/30/2009

Idaho, as has been the case since wolves were delisted in the first time in 2008, has provided little information other than numbers. Their reports don’t mention the areas where incidents occur or the packs involved. They also don’t mention information about new packs or other interesting information. This information exists but is rarely published anymore.

There has also been no update to my knowledge about the 6 Soldier Mountain wolves killed near Fairfield this summer. Tissue samples were sent to the USFWS lab in Ashland but I am unaware whether there have been any results from the testing. One BLM law enforcement officer claimed that the wolves may have died from drinking water that may have had chemicals linked to an illegal marijuana growing operation discovered in the area but there has been no official explanation of the incident.

Idaho Report
November 2009 Management Progress Report

Recent Montana Reports:
2009-11-13 Montana Wolf Weekly
2009-11-20 Montana Wolf Weekly
2009-11-27 Montana Wolf Weekly

Feds kill 7 wolves near Stanley

Here is the longer story from the Mountain Express about the killing of the Basin Butte Pack near Stanley.

Basin Butte Wolf just across the river from Stanley, Spring 2006 © Ken Cole

Livestock do not winter in the Sawtooth Valley so there was no imminent danger of livestock losses. This was a revenge killing.

On public lands allotments there are no mandatory terms and conditions requiring livestock permittees to do anything proactive to protect their livestock. There are several non-lethal methods of avoiding conflict with wolves on public lands but there are no requirements to do so. Cracker rounds, turbo fladry, guard dogs, more herders, and better management of livestock are effective ways but they are resisted because of cost. It appears that ranchers would rather have the taxpayers pay to shoot livestock from the air.

Maybe it would be better for the taxpayer if livestock grazing on public lands ended, especially where there is a history of conflict due to the presence of livestock in wolf habitat.

Feds kill 7 wolves near Stanley
Jon Duval – Idaho Mountain Express

Turbo fladry © Ken Cole

FWP files brief against relisting wolves

Montana does not want wolves to be relisted

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks has filed its brief in the wolf delisting lawsuit arguing that wolves should not be relisted under the Endangered Species Act.

Two stories:
FWP files brief against relisting wolves
Billings Gazette

State FWP to Molloy: Wolves are recovered, should be delisted
Missoulian

Big game animals scarce in once-popular hunting district along Gallatin River

This is the story about hunting district 310 that a lot of SW Montana hunters are upset about-

Big game animals scarce in once-popular hunting district along Gallatin River. By Brett French. Billings Gazette.

The coywolf, a product of evolution

The wolf was not the gray wolf, however, it was the Eastern wolf — canis lycaon-

Dr. Jon Way has been telling us this for some time. I see he has changed his suburban coyote page to the “coywolf page.”

Broken link now fixed. Coywolves’ a product of evolution. By Lawrence Pyne. Burlington Free Press.

Gros Ventre habitat plan would help swans

Restoration proposal would cover more than 600 acres, bring back streamside vegetation-

Wildlife habitat keeps getting better in the Gros Ventre river drainage.

Gros Ventre habitat plan would help swans. Halpin restoration proposal would cover more than 600 acres, bring back streamside vegetation. By Angus M. Thuermer. Jackson Hole News and Guide

Shooting Wolves in a Barrel

About the shooting of the Basin Butte Pack.

Wildlife Services Helicopter

Todd Grimm from Wildlife Services and Suzanne Stone from Defenders of Wildlife were interviewed for a segment on BSU Radio.

“One of the main concerns we had is that a hunter may take a collared wolf from this pack. If that happened we would no longer be able to find the wolf responsible if we waited longer. So we knew which wolves were involved in the depredations and we needed to remove as many of them as we could.”

“The number of depredations in the state of Idaho have increased to an almost unmanageable level. Our argument has been that if we can reduce the wolf population in Idaho there will be fewer depredations, there will be fewer ranchers that have wolf problems and there will be fewer wolves that have to be killed after the depredations.” Todd Grimm APHIS Wildlife Services.

This is the future of wolf management in Idaho. It now seems certain that those 26 “chronically depredating” wolf packs will be targeted this winter in Idaho long after livestock leave many of the areas they inhabit.

Shooting Wolves in a Barrel
Adam Cotterell – BSU radio

Report on Idf&G Commissioner’s Coeur D’alene Meeting, Nov 2009

“The Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times”

by Ken Fischman, Ph.D.
Vice Chair & Spokesman
Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” (first sentence in Charles Dickens’ novel, “A Tale of Two Cities.”)

It was the “best of times” because NIWA and other wolf advocates accomplished all their objectives at the Idaho Fish & Game (IDF&G) meeting in Coeur d’Alene, in November. It was the “worst of times” because due to the Commissioners’ actions there, Idaho wolves are now in greater danger than ever.

When I learned that IDF&G Commissioners were holding their quarterly meeting at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, I thought it presented an excellent opportunity for the Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA) to present their views on the Idaho wolf hunt face to face with the Commissioners and to learn more about how IDF&G functions. The other NIWA members were enthusiastic about the idea & we gathered allies from Defenders of Wildlife, The Kootenai Environmental Alliance(KEA), and other groups. We made arrangements that we thought would be helpful in making our case for the wolves. As it turned out, we accomplished all of our goals, but learned more about the inner workings of IDF&G than we perhaps wanted to know.

FWP biologists, volunteers cull sick bighorns in East Fork of Bitterroot

Pneumonia in important SW Montana herd spreads-

FWP biologists, volunteers cull sick bighorns in East Fork of Bitterroot. By Perry Backus. Ravalli Republic.

Damn those domestic sheep!

– – – –

This story earlier on this blog. Bighorn sheep near Darby, MT dying of pneumonia.

Invasive carp threatens Great Lakes

These are the fish seen in YouTube videos leaping out of the water when disturbed by boats. Water skiers have been injured by them and they are rapidly taking over waterways in the midwest.

Fish and wildlife officials will poison a 6-mile stretch of water near Chicago on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to keep one of the most dangerous invasive species of fish, the Asian carp, out of the Great Lakes.

Invasive carp threatens Great Lakes
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

More water release from dams could bring new cottonwoods on the Upper Missouri River

Cottonwood along the Upper Missouri in Montana all date before the dams. Some are two centuries old-

More flow could bring back trees. By Karl Puckett. Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer

Ted Turner gets OK for Yellowstone bison on ranch

Ted Turner gets OK for Yellowstone bison on ranch. By Matthew Brown. Associated Press Writer.

Earlier Robert Hoskins had criticized this. Illegal plan just makes Turner richer

Wolf work mounts: With 1st Montana hunting season done, canine hides in taxidermists’ hands

On mounting a wolf for display-

Wolf work mounts: With 1st Montana hunting season done, canine hides in taxidermists’ hands. Written by Rob Chaney. Missoulian.

The rogue greenhouse gas emission country

China? Russia? India? The United States? No, it’s Canada-

Canada’s image lies in tatters. It is now to climate what Japan is to whaling. The tar barons have held the nation to ransom. This thuggish petro-state is today the greatest obstacle to a deal in Copenhagen.  George Monbiot. U.K. Guardian.

We have posted several articles on oil sands development. It is said to be the single biggest greenhouse gas polluter on the planet.

New York Times doesn’t like Idaho’s extension of the wolf hunt

Media help arrives from a big gun-

A lot of people said Idaho Fish and Game Commission really screwed up when they extended the wolf hunt. Rumor is that Ed Bangs got bald tearing his hair out after learning about Idaho’s gift to anti-delisting groups.

“. .. when protections were lifted earlier this year in Idaho and Montana the states immediately approved wolf hunting seasons. But what seemed to be an ordinary big-game hunt, with licenses and duly apportioned quotas (75 in Montana, 220 in Idaho), now looks like the opening of a new front in the age-old war on wolves.” Read the rest of the NYT editorial.

Interior Chief Slams Oil and Gas Groups’ ‘Election-Year Politics’

Salazar condemns oil industry lies about leasing on public lands-

Well good for the Secretary of Interior!

I don’t watch much television, but when I do, I’m amazed at the number of ads energy companies are producing. I’d bet 90% of the population believes that “BP” stands for beyond petroleum, not the company’s actual name — British Petroleum.

Interior Chief Slams Oil and Gas Groups’ ‘Election-Year Politics’.  By Noelle Straub. Greenwire in the New York Times.
– – – –

For a great blog on the future of energy, visit the Oil Drum.

I am adding it to my blogroll. RM

Idaho’s Silver Creek is pristine after all — mercury scare was based on faulty data

One of Idaho’s most famous fishing streams has always been safe-

This is certainly good news.

I know the first time I ever saw Silver Creek I had been to a meeting with the Idaho Department of Transportation in Boise. The stream looked so amazing, I got out my rod and waded in wearing my meeting cloths and shoes. The report several years ago that the fish were now contaminated was devastating.

Idaho’s Silver Creek is pristine after all — mercury scare was based on faulty data. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman

Livestock disease found in eastern Idaho cow

The infected animal had been vaccinated.

This has been a perennial issue in areas surrounding the elk feedlots in Wyoming. It now seems that brucellosis has once again infected cattle in Idaho but it is too early to say where the disease originated. If brucellosis is found in another cattle herd in Idaho within a year then Idaho, once again, will lose its brucellosis free status and all cattle that are exported will have to be tested for the disease.

For years this scenario was held over the heads of people who support free roaming bison in Montana yet, when it came to pass, it turned out to be more of a minor inconvenience rather than the catastrophe the livestock industry claimed it would be.

This issue has been used rather effectively against wildlife for years but the disease is much less of a threat to human health than it was before the pasteurization of milk became the standard. The only way to contract brucellosis is by coming into direct contact with infected fetal tissue or by drinking unpasteurized milk. You cannot become infected by eating cooked beef.

Livestock disease found in eastern Idaho cow
By REBECCA BOONE (AP)

The need to manage national forests as carbon sinks

Forest fire prevention? Thinning? Maximize size of individual tress? Leave it alone? It’s hard to say

The article below is related to the one posted about “Sen. Udall sponsors bill to attack pine beetles.”

It’s good to finally see some attention to the role of forests as carbon sinks, but it is not clear how to maximize their role as sinks, or even how to prevent them from becoming carbon sources.

On thing the article doesn’t discuss the the amount of carbon stored in forest soils. In the dry interior forests with shallow soils, it probably isn’t much. In the wet, big tree  forests west of the Cascades up into British Columbia and coastal Alaska , the kind of logging done in the past, clearcuts followed by burning slash, has a horrible effect on the carbon storage.

Every kind of forest probably needs to have a different carbon management plan.

Story in the New York Times by William Yardley. Note that the Times headline is misleading as a description of the article’s content.