IDFG: Wolves not causing most elk losses

Habitat and hunting play big role in declines

I don’t think this is news to many people here but wolves haven’t had the effect many people claim and their role in the ecosystem is much more complex than many would like you to believe.

The IDFG has issued a public report that explains that wolves may play a role in the decline of some elk populations but habitat also plays a role as well.

You can read the report here: August 2010 – Study Shows Effect of Predators on Idaho Elk

F&G: Wolves not causing most elk losses.
By Laura Lundquist – Times-News writer

Good News. Feds Call Off Oregon Wolf Hunt

NEPA process could take several months

Wildlife Services has agreed to conduct an Environmental Assessment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. This could take several months and the August 12th hearing would be cancelled.

BREAKING: Feds Call Off Oregon Wolf Hunt.
Natural Oregon

Judge Molloy: FWS plan excluded possible lynx habitat

USFWS arbitrarily failed to include vast acreage of lynx habitat as “critical habitat”

This is a very important decision for the future of the lynx, which had been added to ESA protection.

Molloy rules lynx plan arbitrarily excluded possible ‘critical habitat‘. By Michael Jamison. Missoulian.

This is the second go round on the size of the lynx habitat . Politics played a critical and unlawful role in keep the designation of habitat smaller than needed.

Researchers can’t find Lookout Pack’s mother wolf

Researchers can’t find Lookout Pack’s mother wolf
By K.C. Mehaffey
Wenatchee World staff writer

Governor Stands Up For Mexican Wolves

Governor Richardson Issues Trapping Restrictions in Lobo Country

Governor Stands Up For Mexican Wolves .
WildEarth Guardians – Press Release

Payette NF supervisor decides to end sheep grazing in bighorn country

Despite full court press by Idaho woolgrowers, reason prevails-

Payette supervisor decides to end sheep grazing in bighorn country. Submitted by Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman.

By email I learned about 30,000 acres will still be open, but this is a big victory for Idaho  bighorn over an very entrenched political interest.

Bear mauling. One said to be dead, 2 injured at Cooke City campground

Reports show one dead after bear mauling at Cooke City campground. Reports  are still sketchy of a

Update on attack. Bear attack leaves one dead near Yellowstone. By Laura Zuckerman. Reuters

Update no 2. (July 29). Male dies in bear attack at campground near Yellowstone. By Brett French. Billings Gazette.
It is still not clear if this was a black bear or grizzly attack and if more than one bear.  The tents appear not to have had bear attractants.

Update  no. 3 (July 29). Grizzly bear and cubs captured after fatal campground attack near Yellowstone. LA Times.

Update no. 4 (August 2). Montana grizzly attack cubs malnourished. Matt Brown. Associated Press.

Numerous forest fires breaking out in northern rockies

Much delayed forest fire season now upon us-

Although there have been a few large range fires, such as the 110,000 acre Jefferson fire on the Arco Desert (INL) in Eastern Idaho, now forest fires are quickly emerging in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, etc.

Wildfire breaks out in Packer Meadows, atop Lolo Pass. Missoulian.

Fire in Bob Marshall Wilderness now burning 1,200 acres. Missoulian.

Yellowstone Park: Beach Fire continues in the Bridge Bay area. Jackson Hole Daily

Oregon: 2,000 lightning strikes spark about 30 fires. Bend Bulletin

East Idaho: Firefighters close in on controlling Blacktail wildfire. Idaho State Journal

Wyoming: Lightning sparks multiple fires in Bridger-Teton. Star Valley Independent

Here is the master source for national forest fire information.

3/4 billion dollars stimulus funds now spent on national parks

About $15-million on Yellowstone-

My opinion.

Anyone who has traveled extensively will find many Park and public land projects were originally built with stimulus funds from the Great Depression. You will often find a cabin, amphitheater, trail, etc. was built by the New Deal’s CCC or WPA.  Despite the controversy over the stimulus funds for the “great recession,” similar projects have finally been undertaken 75 years later.

Story. Biden touts stimulus projects in national parks. By Matt Volz.  Associated Press Writer

Why have elk declined in the Bitterroot River area?

There have been many large scale changes to the land in recent years, including wolf restoration , but not just wolves-

Predator puzzle. Study raises questions over what’s killing Bitterroot elk. By Alex Sakariassen. Missoula Independent.

People tend to approach these questions with their minds made up.  What I see when I visit compared to 20 years ago is the effects of vast forest fires.

Grousing at windmills

Vodpod videos no longer available.
Grousing at windmills | Need to Know | PBS

Kathie Lynch: Mid-summer 2010 Yellowstone wolf report

Kathie says mid-summer watching is better than she expected-

Here is Kathie Lynch’s latest wolf update.

Ralph Maughan

– – – – – – – –

Copyright © Kathie Lynch

Watchers must rise very early on the long summer days in Yellowstone to try to see wolves before they bed down in the shade to escape the heat of the day. Sometimes all of the action ends by 8-9 a.m. Watching generally picks up again in the evening, if an afternoon thunderstorm or the mosquitoes don’t chase you away. The up side is that the park is still quite green, and wildflowers abound–I counted 22 different kinds in the first half mile of a hike up Mt. Washburn!

Mid-days are best filled with hiking or watching other wildlife, like the badger and coyote who worked together to hunt Uinta ground squirrels (which, incidentally, had the badger and coyote surrounded!) or the pronghorn buck who galloped to the rescue, emphatically ending two coyotes’ tackle of a tiny pronghorn fawn.

Bear sightings at lower elevations have decreased, but the grizzly sow with two cubs of the year (COY) still delights visitors on Dunraven Pass almost daily, and the sow with three COY is still being seen a long way off in Hayden Valley.

The bison are preparing for their big August rut. Things got off to a rousing start recently with a never-before-seen parade of several hundred bison past the Northeast entrance station and along Highway 212 through Silver Gate and Cooke City, destination unknown. Apparently not finding greener pastures, they returned to the Park the next day, causing massive traffic jams.

Reintroductions have moose thriving on lofty Grand Mesa in Colorado

Great news!  Moose were already spreading southward, but they got an assist-

Moose on the rise in Colorado, Summit County. Colorado’s moose populations are growing, thanks to sky-high reintroduction operations. By Julie Sutor. Summit Daily news

Put the brakes on massive trucks on the U.S. 12 corridor in N. Idaho

Most scenic highway in Idaho is not the place for an industrial transportation corridor for tar sands monster modules-

(opinion) Put the brakes on massive trucks on the U.S. 12 corridor in N. Idaho. Pete Zimowsky. Idaho Statesman. Link fixed

– – – –
My view.

Butch Otter thinks this is the way to perk up Idaho’s feeble economy. Is closing down Highway 12 the way to do it?

Am I going to visit the Selway, Lochsa, or Lolo this year? Not to spend a day stuck behind oil equipment moving at 5 mph.
– – – –
More on July 26. Idaho, Montana Groups Challenge Oil Equipment Transport. By Associated Press.

We need full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund

Its monies come from royalties paid by offshore oil and gas producers in federal waters-

The money for land and water acquisition has never been needed so much. The money comes from the oil companies, and they have been paying it for years. The only thing stopping its full authorized expenditure level has been Congress and/or the President who like to see the money just sit idle in the fund to make the federal deficit appear smaller.

Land and Water Conservation Fund deserves full funding. By Jim DiPeso.* The Daily Caller.

– – – – –

*Jim DiPeso is the Vice President at Republicans for Environmental Protection

Kudos to Oregon for Funding Non-Lethal Work to Prevent Wolf-Livestock Conflicts

Oregon Fish and Wildlife hires a rider to keep wolves and livestock apart-

This worked in Idaho and Montana back in the days before state wolf management. The states don’t even try.  Defenders is still doing something a bit like this in Idaho with the Phantom Hill Pack under the grudging toleration of Idaho Fish and Game.

Kudos to Oregon for Funding Non-Lethal Work to Prevent Wolf-Livestock Conflicts. Matt Skoglund’s Blog. NRDC.

Bison herd makes unusual visit to Cooke City area

This hasn’t happened for about 50 years-

We are used to bison leaving the Park to the west and the north, and the great, stupid controversy it causes. The approximately 150 bison moving out of the NE Entrance was most unusual.

It appears the herd has now returned to the Park.

Bison herd pays visit to tourist towns. By Billings Gazette staff.

Report of investigative team on Erwin Evert death in Kitty Creek (grizzly attack)

This is a long pdf file, but interesting-

Most will will glance at this, but some will read it all.

There are a lot of facts I didn’t know, such as Erwin was not killed on or adjacent to the Kitty Creek trail.

Wildlife officials respond to flurry of calls about problem bears around Missoula

Up to 30 calls a day about “bruin problems”

Wildlife officials respond to flurry of calls about problem bears around Missoula. By Rob Chaney. Missoulian

Abundant spring rains served to keep bears down low where vegetation was thick and nutritious rather than up in the mountains where summer sustenance is.

Feds to consider endangered status for whitebark pine

Critical pine in grizzly nutrition is in steep decline. May get endangered listing-

Whitebark pine is in dire straights and it may well get on the endangered species list, but what then?  How do you save a tree so beset with disease and insect attacks with an ESA listing?

Story in the LA Times. Feds to consider endangered status for whitebark. By Mead Gruver. Associated Press Writer.

– – –

I have been doing a lot of backcountry traveling this summer, and while I have written numerous posts about pine beetle attacks, not just the whitebark pine, almost all Western pines are in serious trouble, mostly from insect attacks. Winters too warm are causing vast proliferation of the pine bark beetle, killing pine forests, especially the much more abundant lodgepole pine from the Yukon south to New Mexico.  In some places like northern Colorado, 95% of the lodgepole is now dead.  It seems to me that it will be a short time until most pines will be functionally extinct, even though some may persist in highly protected enclosures.

Spruce, Douglas fir, true firs, and other conifers are not under such attack, but the lodgepole is a huge component of the fish, wildlife, watershed and scenery of the Rocky Mountains. Like the whitebark pine, it is hard to think of any effective large scale human effort to conserve these forests.

Bark beetle infested mountain at Lower Slide Lake, WY. Although the mountain looks fairly green, most of the lodgepole on it are turning red. In two or three years the entire character of the mountains will be changed. Copyright Ralph Maughan July 19, 2010

Heads up. Commission Meeting discussing this fall’s wolf hunt set for August 16.

Increased quotas, trapping, snaring, and electronic calls are being considered.

If you want your voice to be heard this is your opportunity. Don’t be intimidated and speak your mind.

F&G Commission To Meet In Idaho Falls In August

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will meet August 16 in Idaho Falls.

Commissioners will consider proposed seasons, harvest limits and methods of take on gray wolves. They also will consider proposed seasons on waterfowl and sage-grouse.

Routine agenda items also include falconry seasons and limits and Fish and Game’s fiscal 2012 budget.

F&G Commission To Meet In Idaho Falls In August.
IDFG Press Release

Update: It turns out that there is no public hearing at this meeting. Only written comments will be accepted and the public may sit in on the meeting.  To comment try: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/inc/contact.cfm

Petition seeks to have wolves howl across US

Petition calls for reintroduction to all suitable habitat – a national recovery plan.

A petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity asks that wolves be returned to suitable habitat in New England, California, the desert West and the Great Plains.

The Introduction of the petition reads:

Gray wolves are one of the most adaptable mammals on Earth. They previously inhabited most of North America – excluding only portions of the driest deserts and today’s southeastern United States, which is the historic range of a separate species, the red wolf (Canis rufus). Wolves are incredibly important to the ecosystems they inhabit; studies of wolves in Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere demonstrate that the wolf is a keystone species that profoundly shapes ecosystems. Wolves limit elk herbivory of saplings in sensitive riparian areas and thereby aid beavers, songbirds and fish whose habitat is enhanced through growth of riparian trees (Ripple and Beschta 2003). Wolves have also been found to aid fox (vulpes ssp.) and pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) populations by controlling coyotes (Canis latrans), which are intolerant of foxes and disproportionately prey on pronghorn fawns (Berger and Gese 2007; Smith et al. 2003, Berger et al 2008). These results indicate that broader recovery of wolves would benefit many species and overall ecosystem integrity.

Undercover taxidermist busts illegal Missouri hunters

One has to wonder how widespread this is.

Wow! 425 wildlife violations committed by 68 people from 62 percent of the wildlife brought in to the shop.

“As it turned out, 62 percent of the wildlife brought in for mounting at the undercover taxidermy shop had been killed illegally in some manner, Cravens said.”

Undercover taxidermist busts illegal Missouri hunters
By DAVID A. LIEB – Associated Press Writer

Whitebark Pine May Gain Federal Protection

Tree, important for grizzly bears, affected by global warming, insects, and fungus

The whitebark pine is a tree that lives at high elevations and was historically unaffected by pine beetles but due to global warming this has changed. Also, blister rust, an introduced fungal infection has taken a large toll on the trees.

The pine nuts of the trees are collected by squirrels and Clarke’s nutcrackers who’s caches are an important food source for grizzly bears. With their decline the bears are being affected too.

Whitebark Pine May Gain Federal Protection
From KTVZ.COM

Payette National Forest Bighorn Sheep Decision Imminent

The Payette National Forest will be releasing its Record of Decision on July 30th

Hells Canyon Bighorn Sheep © Ken Cole

After several years of litigation, the decision on how to manage domestic sheep on the Payette National Forest to maintain viability of bighorn sheep populations will be released on July 30. Several options were considered but few actually meet the so called “purpose and need” of the decision. Regardless of the decision, litigation will likely follow as there is a lot at stake.

Bighorn sheep, which have struggled with disease outbreaks caused by contact with domestic sheep, in Hells Canyon and the Salmon River Canyon will be affected by the decision. There are estimated to be approximately 1,000 California Bighorn Sheep and 1,800 Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in Idaho and only 700 of those are native Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep which live in central Idaho. This is approximately half of the population that existed in the late 90’s and trends indicate further declines.

Of greatest concern to the bighorn populations in Idaho is contact with domestic sheep and the fatal diseases which they carry. The limiting factor in the populations continues to be pneumonia and not weather, habitat, or predation. If the adult bighorn sheep are not dying outright from disease through contact with domestic sheep then their lambs are dying within weeks of being born thus, the bighorn are not replacing themselves at a rate fast enough to keep up with other mortality factors and are continuing to decline in population. For years after an outbreak lamb survival is the limiting factor.

From an email sent today by Forest Supervisor, Suzanne Rainville:

“The Record of Decision for the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and Forest Plan Amendment Identifying Suitable Rangeland for Domestic Sheep and Goat Grazing to Maintain Habitat for Viable Bighorn Sheep Populations will be available to the public July 30 when it will be posted in the Federal Register. We plan to have documents available on the Forest website by July 27. I will be hosting a briefing of my decision on July 28 at the Boise National Forest Supervisor’s office at 10:00 AM in the Sunset and Bear Valley Conference Rooms. The address is 1249 S. Vinnell Way, Suite 200 (second floor above Social Security).”

Palouse earthworm gets second look for protection

The saga continues

After the rediscovery of living specimens, and I’m sure a threat of litigation, the USFWS is taking another look at whether the giant Palouse earthworm deserves protection.

Palouse earthworm gets second look for protection.

The wolves in their own voice.

Everyone wants to give wolves a voice that represents their interests but wolves rarely have a voice of their own. Here is their voice.

Gray wolf shot in AZ; officials probe use of radio tracking

More on the dead Mexican wolves

One possibility that might be considered by the investigators is the possibility that those with government issued telemetry equipment may not be using it to kill the wolves but they may be giving the frequencies to those who are.

Gray wolf shot in AZ; officials probe use of radio tracking.
Tony Davis Arizona Daily Star

USFWS PRESS RELEASE

ANOTHER MEXICAN WOLF FOUND ILLEGALLY SHOT IN ARIZONA

USFWS contact: Tom Buckley, 505-248-6455
Arizona Game and Fish Department contact: Bruce Sitko, 928-367-4281

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Law Enforcement Agents recovered the body of another dead Mexican wolf on Thursday July 15, 2010. The wolf, AM 1189, is the second adult male of the Hawks Nest Pack found shot, and the third Mexican wolf found dead within the past month. Killing a Mexican wolf is a violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.

The carcass of male wolf 1189 was located northeast of Big Lake, within 2 miles of where the carcass of another wolf from the hawks nest pack, 1044, was found on June 18. The pack traditionally uses the area east of Big Lake on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests as their spring-summer breeding territory.

Idaho National Engineering Lab Fire has not released contamination

Fire on the Big Desert now contained. Radioactive contaminated areas did not burn-

Two stories:

INL: Fire has not released contamination. Blaze skirts Materials and Fuels Complex. By TERRY SMITH. Idaho Mountain Express Staff Writer.

Grizzly bear that ate hens euthanized

Grizzly that wandered the Montana plains commits a final unpardonable sin-

Yes, and a year ago it ate some sheep. Two chickens this year were two too many.

It makes me sad because it reminds me that no matter what we fantasize, the bears and us are stuck in a depressed, overpopulated, bureaucratized world with little chance of change.

Grizzly bear that ate hens euthanized. Missoulian. AP

Upper Green River grizzly bear closure lifts on July 16

Park lifts camping ban forced by bear activity. Casper Star Tribune.
Related. Grizzly bites Casper man near Union Pass. Jackson Hole Daily. This isn’t all that far from the upper Green

– – – – – –
Posted earlier on July 10. Grizzly bears prompt camping closure in popular Upper Green River area

IDFG adopts rules allowing trapping, snaring, baiting, and electronic calls for wolves and other predators

Inexperienced trappers will likely trap pets and other non-target animals.
Backlash will ensue

I think people should be prepared for many non-target animals to be taken with snares and traps including pets. It takes years and years for government employees to learn how to properly trap and snare wolves without taking non-target species and there have been incidents where pet dogs have been trapped even by experienced trappers.

Snares are another story altogether. Stories of pet dogs being snared around the neck are heart-wrenching and death ensues quickly. Oftentimes the owners don’t realize what is happening and are unable to release their dogs from these killing devices.

This being said, I think there will be an increase interest in wolf trapping by inexperienced trappers who will trap on or near heavily used trails and roads. I’m sure that you can imagine the bad press that will ensue if this does happen. This is a very misguided decision and it will possibly result in a strong backlash even from those who aren’t paying attention to the wolf debate.

Montana FWP more than doubles wolf hunt quota for 2010

186 allowed to be taken in an attempt to reduce MT wolf population to between 411 and 488.

This has been in the news for a while but we didn’t report it here because we all have been traveling.

Montana wants to reduce the population of wolves to between 411 and 488. They have decided to allow hunters to kill up to 186 wolves of which 111 could be taken from northwest Montana, 34 in western Montana, and 34 in southwest Montana.

It’s still a very hot debate as was pointed out by the commissioners:

Commissioner Ron Moody of Lewistown described many of the comments as expressing a “narrow, culturally bigoted point of view which expresses an inflexible ideological” contempt for people with other viewpoints.

Montana FWP more than doubles wolf hunt quota for 2010.
By JENNIFER McKEE Missoulian State Bureau

Range fire at Idaho National Laboratory has burned 109,000 acres since Tuesday

Important sage grouse and pygmy rabbit habitat burning

Jefferson Fire from http://www.geomac.gov/

Range fire at Idaho National Laboratory has burned 109,000 acres since Tuesday
By KATY MOELLER – Idaho Statesman

Update on July 15.  This huge fire is still burning!

Oregon’s Imnaha pack has four pups

Photos of pups from Oregon’s first reproducing pack.

More photos may be seen here.

Imnaha pups - Courtesy Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

‘Loma Bear’ returns, caught near Carter Carter area

Rare grizzly living on the Montana plains likely to be killed

A grizzly bear that was relocated from near Loma, Montana to west of the Continental Divide last year has been recaptured on the plains of Montana after being accused of killing more sheep and some chickens. Authorities have approached the Bear Center at Washington State University to see if they can accept the bear. He will likely be killed if a home cannot be found for him.

‘Loma Bear’ returns, caught near Carter Carter area
BY KARL PUCKETT • Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer

Anthrax again detected on Turner’s ranch, outbreak not expected

Ranch near Green Ranch which holds quarantined Yellowstone bison.

A yearling bison on Ted Turner’s Flying D Ranch has been found to have died from anthrax. The bison is not one of the quarantined Yellowstone bison transferred to Turner but this is nearby Turner’s Green Ranch where the quarantined bison are being held. This concern was brought up by those who opposed the transfer that will result in the privatization of 75% of the bison progeny after 5 years.

There was an outbreak on the Flying D Ranch in 2008 which killed more than 200 domestic bison. The Montana State veterinarian Dr. Martin Zaluski doesn’t expect there to be a further outbreak because Turner’s bison have been vaccinated for anthrax.

Anthrax again detected on Turner’s ranch, outbreak not expected.
By DANIEL PERSON, Bozeman Daily Chronicle Staff Writer

USFWS investigates Mexican wolf killings

Two Dead, another missing

Two alpha males Mexican gray wolves have been found dead under suspicious circumstances and another collared alpha male wolf is missing. This is a disaster for the struggling population of wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.

US investigates wolf killings.
Tony Davis Arizona Daily Star

Wolf Recovery Coordinator Recalls the Call of the Wild

Roy Heberger, former coordinator of the wolf recovery program in Idaho, writes of his experiences with wolf recovery while with the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Wolf Recovery Coordinator Recalls the Call of the Wild – Roy Heberger – WWPblog

Before my retirement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in July 2000, I directed the wolf recovery program in Idaho. The work was the most rewarding, challenging, frustrating and stressful experience of my 33 years with the FWS.

Wolves and Oil

Another great article by George Wuerthner:

Wolves and Oil – NewWest

Just as the financial interests of the judges in the Gulf Coast region may distort and bias their ability to make fair judicial decisions regarding issues surrounding the oil industry, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency has a similar financial conflict of interest when it comes to management of predators. A conflict that the department does not publicly disclose.

A “carp rodeo”

Nevada ‘Carp Rodeo’ aims to cull invasive species. Associated Press

Wolves in Oregon: Don’t be so quick on the trigger

Opinion in the Oregonian-

The Oregonian is the state’s leading newspaper. They printed an editorial telling the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife not to be so quick to kill wolves just because some livestock were killed.  That is fine with me, but I’d really see the additional argument that in deciding to kill from among the small number of Oregon wolves, there ought to be some attempt to kill those wolves likely to actually have done the deed, and to do so within a reasonable time.  Otherwise it is just revenge.

Unlike what the paper writes of Idaho and Montana which they think of as places where experience has been gained in controlling wolves, these states now make almost no attempt to match depredations with wolves.  They just go in and kill entire packs for any tiny reason.

Presumably we are not medievalists who believe in retribution against animals of a species because of the acts of one or two of the members, but all we have to do is examine some of the policies now in force to see that those in power are not far from that mindset.

Wolves in Oregon: Don’t be so quick on the trigger. Saturday, July 10, 2010, 3:35 PM. PDT
The Oregonian Editorial Board

A Valles Caldera National Park At Long Last?

Famed former Baca Ranch could emerge as national park after failed “free market” experiment-

I have never been to this famous New Mexico supervolcano area with its scenic, but degraded grasslands and forests.  The area is notable for its elk, but the herd is much smaller than it could be due to the competition with livestock.

In 2000 this former ranch was purchased by the U.S. government to become a national preserve, but under the rules of right wing ideology.  The former ranch, as a preserve, was to be managed by the Valles Caldera Trust.  It was supposed to be run much like a ranch — generate its own income by grazing, logging, oil and gas, and maybe geothermal development, and expensive visitor fees. These are hardly the rules the public expects for land it bought for scenic and environmental protection.

At the time, I wrote the whole thing off as a waste of money doomed to fail, and I forgot about it.  I was right. The area could not support itself financially without destroying its amenities. Today it is overgrazed and too expensive to use, and the local public wants it transferred to the National Park Service to restore it and allow affordable public access.

There is a bill before Congress (S.3452) by Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Tom Udall (D-NM) to transfer it to the Park Service.  If it becomes a national park, or some other public land unit, it will have to be rehabilitated.

RLMiller at Daily Kos has written a number of articles about it. Here is his latest. Hike On: A Valles Caldera National Park At Long Last? July 3, 2010

Grizzly bears prompt camping closure in popular Upper Green River area

Varied and numerous grizzly activity closes national forest camping from forest boundary to well past Green River Lakes-

I remember when the nearest grizzlies were 20 miles to the north of here.  I am glad to see grizzlies have returned in strength to the Wind River Mountains.  I hope they get these problems worked out before long.  This is a very scenic area.

Story from the Casper Star Tribune.

Livestock–the elephant in the room when it comes to weeds

The role livestock plays spreading wildlife harming weeds in the Rockies should be obvious-

Livestock–the elephant in the room when it comes to weeds. By George Wuerthner. New West.

– – – – –

My comments:

Weeds are of great harm to ungulates.

Rangeland cattle in particular are culprits. They cause bare patches of soil where weeds get started. They trample the seeds in.  They move them to new places in their cow flops. I took this photo last year and posted it here.  I think it makes the point.

First wolf killed in SE Idaho

While the headline is not accurate, it is gratifying to see a wolf in Franklin Basin-

A sheepherder killed a wolf in the Bear River Range, east of Franklin, Idaho. This is right on the Idaho/Utah border and is certainly good news for wolves traveling south. I have had reports of wolves in the Franklin Basin area for ten years now. To avoid putting those killer radio collars on them, I have not reported them.

The headline in the story below (Idaho Statesman) is wrong. The body of the story below in fact indicates that. A wolf was shot by a Pocatello man back in 2003 in SE Idaho near Weston, Idaho, also right on the Utah border, but one mountain range to the west of this. That was in the foothills of the Bannock Range.

Wolf killed in Franklin Basin. Idaho Statesman. Note that there is a longer story in the Idaho State Journal (Pocatello), but it is not on line.

For those familiar with scenic Franklin Basin, they know it is overrun by domestic sheep.  I have been going there since I was a boy and the Logan (UT) Ranger District just lets it get worse and worse, harming recreation, scenery, and especially elk and deer habitat.  The Basin is mostly reduced to dust by mid-summer and inedible forbs like western coneflower and tall larkspur.  If folks would donate to the Western Watersheds Project, it should be known they have the goods on this disgusting situation and will sue their sorry butts.

Here is a photo of a nice spot in the Idaho portion of Franklin Basin.

U.S. appeals court rejects moratorium on deepwater drilling in Gulf

Documents shows all judges had ties to the oil industry-

So do we have a problem with the neutrality of our federal courts?  The judge of the original jurisdiction in Louisiana’s federal district court who rejected the moratorium was loaded down with oil and gas stocks too.

Fortunately, the Administration said the Interior Department would immediately issue a new moratorium if it lost this appeal.

Story in the New York Times. Court Rejects Moratorium on Drilling in the Gulf. By John M. Broder.
________________
I have a problem with Governor Bobby Jindal saying the oil gusher has caused widespread job loss.  Therefore, let’s go full speed ahead with deepwater drilling on what are probably more botched permits so we can have jobs.  Oh yes, and he will want plenty of financial aid to deal with oil washing up.

“Bio-bullets” for vaccinating Yellowstone bison. How many ways is this a bad idea?

Draft environmental statement for this brucellosis vaccine finds many negatives, few benefits-

It (RB-51 vaccine) barely works as a vaccine. If it does work at all, it will take generations to make a difference. It might make the brucellosis bacteria more robust instead.  Bison will soon become wary of people. It is expensive. Vaccinated bison will be painted. That won’t look good in a national park.

The benefit is it might increase tolerance to bison outside Yellowstone Park, although based on many years of past experience  there is not one bit of empirical evidence that this is so. The great battle over bison and brucellosis is not really even about brucellosis, but about who has the political and cultural power to dominate wildlife in the Yellowstone area.

Story in the Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Bison vaccine no magic bullet, Park Service says. Inoculating some in Yellowstone herd to protect cattle could make brucellosis bacteria stronger.
By Cory Hatch.

Here is a link to the actual draft environmental impact statement. You can comment on it until July 26, 2010

They’re baaaack!

Washington Cattlemen want to try an “experiment” on your wildlife management areas

It seems that bad ideas just never go away. Even after they’ve been spanked in court, the Washington Cattlemen still want to waste tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of taxpayer dollars on this ridiculous exercise which is damaging to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife owned and managed, wildlife management areas in Washington State. More welfare grazing disguised as an “experiment”.

Do you want to help WWP stop this again?

Cattlemen work to restart pilot project.
By DAN WHEAT – Capital Press

S.D. ranchers fear wilderness act steals control

Ranchers complain about losing control while accepting government handouts.

The Buffalo Gap National Grassland of South Dakota doesn’t have buffalo any more but it certainly has a handful of ranchers with a strong sense of entitlement. They are worrying that wilderness designation will “steal” control that they seem to believe they should have over these publicly owned lands. Amazingly, the new wilderness designation leaves their control in place and allows them to continue grazing.

In the article ranchers bring up the tired old argument that Easterners are telling them what to do with “their” land but it’s not their land and the idea to designate it as wilderness, as the article points out, came from people who live there too.

“These outsiders from New York and New Jersey are telling us what to do, all these special interests,” Hermosa rancher Denise Baker said. “They’ll get the designation, pat themselves on the back and leave. And us? We’re stuck with it.”

The latest on oil and gas atrocities in the Gulf of Mexico

27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells, many probably leaking and more capable-
Gov’t and oil companies ignore them-

Gulf Awash In 27,000 Abandoned Oil And Gas Wells. By Jeff Donn and Mitch Weiss. Associated Press (reproduced in the Huffington Post)

I think many Americans are trying to ignore this ongoing disaster, but it will continue.  Findings like this say hundreds or thousands of smaller leaks are likely.

This didn’t just begin in the Bush Administration, but the Bush/Cheney Administration thoroughly corrupted the leasing and oversight of oil and gas. Then Obama’s Salazar didn’t fix it, though he promised when speaking on his first day as Secretary of Interior.

Idaho congressman addresses Governor Otter’s concerns about Boulder-White Clouds bill

Simpson writes Otter a letter-

Rocky Barker has an important column on this many-years-in-the-making-“wilderness” bill.

Simpson addresses Otter’s concerns about wilderness bill. Letters from the West. Idaho Statesman. By Rocky Barker.

It looks to be that Rep. Simpson mostly just reassures the governor and promises him no changes in the language of the bill.  After all Otter will not support a Wilderness bill anyway, regardless. The important people who have to go along are Idaho Senators Crapo and Risch and national conservation groups, especially the Sierra Club, who can probably have the bill killed if funny language shows up.

Well, Well, Well

N. Idaho outfitter reports 4 wolves killed

The outfitter shot at 4 wolves but only recovered 2 of them. Were the other 2 killed or just wounded?

The IDFG specially sanctioned wolf hunt for outfitters in the Lolo Zone has resulted in the death of 2 wolves and possible wounding of 2 others. Two of the wolves were not recovered. I guess that is good enough for some people but I think this is terribly unethical.

The IDFG is unhappy that more wolves weren’t killed, maybe this is an indication that there aren’t as many as they think there are in this area. If it’s not good elk habitat then it’s not good wolf habitat either and the numbers just don’t add up. It takes a lot of elk to feed the number of wolves that the IDFG claims are there yet they say that there are just a few elk in the Lolo. Even if the IDFG does kill as many wolves as they are hoping to do it doesn’t change the underlying fact that the habitat cannot support as many elk as it once did.

Gulf oil spill threatens birds migrating south from Montana

The effects of the continuing oil gusher have been localized so far. It will not remain that way-

This from the Missoulian. Gulf oil spill threatens birds migrating south from Montana. By Rob Chaney

It seems like the Texas coast is the most important for migrating birds from Montana.

Plans are being made to try to quickly create some artificial wetlands to attract wintering birds.

Alternate habitats for migrating birds considered. By Amy Wold  Advocate (Louisiana) staff writer

Have you seen interesting wildlife news. July 5, 2010

This replaces the 12th edition. That edition has now gone down into the depths of the archives-

Oregon Wolves Earn Reprieve as Hunt Halted

Wildlife advocates celebrate short-term victory for endangered wolves-

A temporary victory for the Imnaha Pack.

News release from the plaintiffs.

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I borrowed the info below from email. It is a news summary from Oregon on the lawsuit (before the reprieve).

Here are the other press hits:

La Grande Observer:
http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Local-News/Wolf-kill-order-prompts-groups-to-file-lawsuit
Oregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/environmental_groups_file_fede.html
Natural Oregon:
http://www.naturaloregon.org/2010/07/01/lawsuit-filed-to-stop-oregon-wolf-hunt/
Longer AP story as printed in the Seattle PI:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_or_wolf_lawsuit.html
OPB on June 30th Rule Change
http://news.opb.org/article/7742-groups-object-changes-wolf-kill-rules/
Press release on all plaintiffs websites
http://www.oregonwild.org/about/press-room/press-releases/lawsuit-filed-to-stop-federal-state-sanctioned-killing-of-endangered-wolves

Perhaps the best was in the Bend Bulletin, but that is by subscription only.

Conservation groups sue feds (Wildlife Services) on Federal Wolf Management Actions in Oregon

Groups argue federal animal killing agency has no business killing 2 of the 13 known wolves in Oregon-

Revenge wolf killing threatens to make its way to Oregon.  In Idaho the attitude is of WS is “their are so many damn wolves who cares if we kill the wrong ones?” “We have lots of leeway to indulge our 16th century urges.”

Oregon is different with just a few wolves. The wolves responsible for killing the livestock have moved well away from the area. There is still a kill order for two of the pack.  Any two will do as long as they have no radio collars. Thus, it is simply revenge killing, not an attempt to solve a problem.

NEWS RELEASE-
Here is the text of the suit.
Oregon-wolves-NEPA-complaint

Josh Laughlin, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495
Greg Dyson, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, (541) 963-3950 x 22
Rob Klavins, Oregon Wild, (503) 283-6343 x 210

Lawsuit Filed to Stop Federal, State-sanctioned Killing of Endangered Wolves

PORTLAND, Ore.­ Four conservation groups sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s predator control branch, Wildlife Services, today for its role in killing wolves at the behest of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). The state has issued, and now extended to Aug. 31, a permit to the federal agency to hunt, track and kill two wolves across a 70-square-mile area in eastern Oregon. According to the conservation groups’ lawsuit, Wildlife Services never conducted the environmental analysis required to disclose the impacts of killing a substantial portion of Oregon’s wolves. Cascadia Wildlands, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Oregon Wild and the national Center for Biological Diversity brought the suit, and are also strongly considering suing the state for its role in authorizing the kill permits.

First major Idaho wildfires of the summer

There is a lot of drying grass due to the long wet spring-

Calmer winds ease firefighting on BLM fires west of Twin Falls, ID. Magic Valley Times News.

Judge Molloy blocks 3 timber sales in grizzly country

Issues restraining order on sales in the Cabinet-Yaak where 45 bears live-

Good news for this struggling, but now finally increasing, grizzly population up against the Montana-Idaho-B.C. border.

Story in the Missoulian. By Rob Chaney.

Kathie Lynch. Wolf watching good for two packs. New pup news.

Kathie Lynch has sent her first report of the summer. The new packs on the Yellowstone Northern Range occupy similar locations as those in days gone by.

Thanks Kathie!    Ralph Maughan

– – – – – –
Puppies! Yellowstone’s summer wolf watching season got off to a wonderful start with the debut of four pups each for the Silver pack and the (unofficially named) Lamar Canyon pack, also called 755’s Group. To add to the excitement, both packs denned within easy viewing distance of the road, offering the amazing opportunity to watch wolf pups grow up in the wild.

Unbelievably, both packs chose to den in the exact same areas used by famous Yellowstone packs in the past. The Silvers denned in the Druid Peak pack’s Lamar Valley rendezvous site, and the Lamar Canyon pack denned in the Slough Creek pack’s former home at Slough Creek. In fact, the Lamar Canyon pups were even born in the old Slough natal den!

The Silver pack (named after the silvery white alpha female) consists of five adults and four gray pups. Although the pack probably came from outside of the Park to the east, the alpha female had been seen in YNP several times previously over the last two or three years. When she returned in February 2010, she brought along an old gray alpha male, a gray yearling daughter and a gray female pup.