Montana FWP wants local anti-bison judge replaced on Gardiner Basin bison case

Judge who singlehandedly stopped years-in-making decision to let bison roam, not acceptable, says FWP-

Finally, after years, state and federal government agencies agreed to let bison begin to roam the Gardiner Basin just north of Yellowstone Park, but Park County district judge Nels Swandal sided with the Park County Stockgrowers Association to put the landmark agreement aside.

The stockgrowers were effective with their tired, but still effective arguments about spread of brucellosis and danger to people (the classic children at the bus stop argument). “Large numbers of bison now regularly congregate at school bus stops and other locations, interacting with children, elderly, and other individuals that live in the area to a degree not previously encountered,” Park County’s lawsuit stated.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and other agencies are asking for a new judge, but the existing judge (Swandal) gets to pick any replacement.

State wants new judge in bison case. By Carly Flandro. Bozeman Chronicle.

Meanwhile, we haven’t heard anything more about Park County prosecuting the man cited for shooting numerous .22 rounds among the houses to kill a bison.

– – – –

Regarding the views and actions of the Park County Commissioners, here is an interesting guest editorial. Guest column: We must rein in fears, attitudes over roaming bison. By Karrie Taggart (co-founder/coordinator of Horse Butte Neighbors of Buffalo in West Yellowstone — HOBNOB)

Local judge stifles free roaming bison reforms

Park County, Montana judge issues a temporary restraining order to prevent bison from roaming Gardiner Basin–

This means trouble for the bison just released from the pens on the north boundary of Yellowstone Park. I see they are still playing the brucellosis card and the new Old West favorite, We’re scared of the animals!!

Park County judge halts bison changes. AP

Kathie Lynch on Yellowstone wolves: Cold April in Yellowstone

Kathie Lynch has written her latest Yellowstone wolf report.  It is always a cheer when Kathie writes about this place where wolves can live, wild and free. Wolf watching in April this year sounds very cold, but the wolves love it!

Ralph Maughan

– – – – – – – – –

April 2011 wolf notes by © Kathie Lynch-

In Yellowstone, “spring” break in April is not necessarily synonymous with springtime! Days of granular corn snow flurries (or worse), biting wind and morning temperatures in the teens often ended with the drip, drip, drip of water melting off the edge of receding snow banks. Even though it seemed like winter would never end, the Wicked Witch of the West was doomed.

Of course, as soil and sage replaced the diminishing blanket of snow, the wolves became even harder to spot. Considering that only three packs (Blacktail Plateau, Lamar Canyon, and Agate Creek) are likely possibilities for watching in the Northern Range these days, I felt lucky to see a wolf most days–although my first day was a “one dog day,” and that “dog” was a coyote!

The Blacktail pack provided some excellent viewing for a couple of days as they fed on a bison carcass at Blacktail Lakes. The wolves had to share the treasure with a big, dark grizzly boar who had awakened to a mother lode of winter-killed carcasses. Thanks to the extremely severe winter, the bears will have plenty to eat for a while and won’t have to usurp the wolves’ kills, as they often do.

Yellowstone’s east gate opens. Southern on Friday

There is a lot of deep snow-

The west entrance has been open for some time, but the East Entrance opened May 6 to five feet of snow. The southern gate of the Park from Jackson Hole and the Tetons will open May 13. There is deep snow here too, especially at Lewis River Divide.

The penned bison at the north boundary have been released. Hopefully they will go into the Park where grass is greening in the small lower elevation portion near the Yellowstone and Gardner Rivers.

Bison ‘managers’ kill calf

Montana Bison ‘managers’ kill calf north of West Yellowstone-

Bison are now allowed to leave the Park to the west in the winter at Horse Butte, but they are supposed to be back in the Park at an abnormally early time.

This year the Park is still under snow. The brutal Montana Department of Livestock hazed the bison toward the Park until the calf died. From the Island Park [Idaho] News- Bison ‘managers’ kill calf

Hundreds of bison were also held at the North Entrance of the Park. They have/had no grass to eat. There was talk about slaughtering a hundred of them, but that was forestalled.  Many of them were released in early May, but they went north out of the Park instead of back into it. They were recaptured. Yellowstone hopes to release bison back into park for summer.  by Adam Bell. KBZK

Meanwhile, cold and rain/snowy days continue well into May. The Park will be green when the snow finally melts and it finally warms.

Darwin Award Averted. Webcam catches tourists walking on Old Faithful

While not as amusing as the two who tried to urinate into the geyser a few years ago, this was still just as stupid.

You can watch the web cam here: Old Faithful web cam

Webcam catches tourists walking on Old Faithful.
The Associated Press

YNP snowplows encounter deepest snow in 13 years

Crews run into snow 22 feet deep on average at Sylvan Pass-

Yellowstone plow crews encounter deep snow at Sylvan. By Martin Kidston. Billings  Gazette Wyoming Bureau.

The north and the west entrances are currently open to the public.

Yellowstone bears and wolves fight over carcasses

Their ancient struggle apparently has little effect on their populations-

That’s the conclusion of Dr. Doug Smith who heads the Park’s wolf program.

I think that might well be true overall, but Yellowstone Park is a small place when it comes to major predators.  With the wolf population in the Park as small as it now is, random fluctuations of predatory effects might, in my opinion, have an important effect on the wolves as far as the Park alone is concerned. . . RM

Bears butting in on Yellowstone wolf kills. Battle of carnivores ultimately has little effect on population. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide.

Montana probes killing of Yellowstone buffalo

Park bison killed by small arms fire-

It is redundant to call this sad and dangerous. Small arms are used not primarily to cause suffering, but to avoid a loud report from the gun attracting attention. Rural neighbors who are out to settle scores kill each others livestock this way.

Montana probes killing of Yellowstone buffalo. Laura Zuckerman. Reuters US Online Report Domestic News

Addition. Here is the story in the Island Park, Idaho newspaper. Bison haters attack roam-free policy.

4/23. More. Story makes it the U. K. Hunt for the Yellowstone bison serial killer after beasts shot in protected national park. The Daily Mail.

Agreement reached to let Yellowstone Park bison to roam outside Park at Gardiner

Some good news at a time of general craziness-

A “Bison conservation area” will be established in the Gardiner Basin, and for the first time it looks like migrating bison that cross the Yellowstone Park boundary on the north end will be allowed to roam rather than be shot or trucked off to slaughter.

Although the area is a large 75,000 acres almost all of it is steep mountainslope that bison rarely use. The basin itself is a couple thousand acres along both sides of the Yellowstone River until the mountains squeeze it shut at Yankee Jim Canyon on the north.

A hunt will be established and the annual bison slaughter ended. Apparently an average of 400 bison will need to be killed each year to keep the current population in the Park about stable. In mild years, few bison migrate north, so obviously in some years no hunt is possible.

Tea partiers and cattle cranks in the Montana legislature have passed a number of anti-bison bills, so this announcement assumes that Governor Schweitzer will veto them.

I think this is something to celebrate at a time when radicals have taken over many state legislatures and weird, dangerous and mean spirited laws emerge daily.

Agreement to let Yellowstone bison roam in [Gardiner area]. Associated Press.

Snow plowing starts at Yellowstone National Park

Goal is to have most entrances open by April 15-

All roads will probably not be open until Memorial Day, or even after. It was a heavy winter.

Snow plowing starts at Yellowstone National Park. KBZK 7

Penned Yellowstone National Park bison eat a lot of hay

The 600 temporarily captured bison eat about 6 tons of hay a day-

For whatever the real reason Montana’s Governor Schweitzer spared the bison captured at the northern boundary of Yellowstone Park, most folks on this forum were pleased. The bison do eat a lot of hay and, of course, the feeding increases the chance they will return next year, although they don’t seem to like being penned.

It’s interesting that the Park Service has not ruled out killing the 40% of the bison who tested positive for brucellosis. The pointlessness of this harsh action has been pointed out many times.

Captive bison eating Yellowstone National Park’s stockpile of hay. By Brett French. ‌ The Billings Gazette |

Kathie Lynch on Yellowstone wolf mating season

Wolfish romance on the Northern Range of Yellowstone Park-

Kathie Lynch has a detailed report on amorous adventures of Yellowstone wolves observed during her recent trip to the Park.
_____________________
By Kathie Lynch. Copyright 2011

Yellowstone’s February wolf breeding season gave us have high hopes for the arrival of new pups this April.  Although only six ties (matings) were actually observed this year, they included the alphas of all three packs which are most often seen in the Northern Range (Lamar Canyon, Blacktail, and Agate)–a very good sign for wolf watching this spring and summer!

February weather ran the gamut from unusually warm, sunny afternoons of 45F temperatures and snow-free roads to biting winds and bitterly cold days when the thermometer never got above 7 degrees. Low visibility and ground blizzards sometimes made driving a white knuckle experience, with unplowed turnouts and deep, drifted snow across roads in the Lamar Valley and on the Blacktail

Despite the wintry weather and fewer than 100 wolves in Yellowstone, we still managed to see wolves, or at least one wolf, almost every day. The Lamar wolves proved to be the most reliable, although even they frequently disappeared from view for several days at a time, no doubt hunting or doing boundary checks throughout their large territory.

Yellowstone National Park Finally Has a New Superintendent. Tell him to STOP Slaughtering Yellowstone’s Buffalo! Now!

This is from Paul Richard’s blog at Alternet.

Other articles by Richards can be found at http://blogs.alternet.org/paulrichards/.

Richards is a journalist with more than 43 years’ experience in Western politics and resource issues. He has served as editor or co-editor of three newspapers, newsman and editor for The Associated Press, and elections manager for The AP, UPI, ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC.

Bison Abuse Merits Harsh Criticism

Guest editorial by Dr. Brian L. Horejsi-

Bison Abuse Merits Harsh Criticism

Harsh criticism is increasingly justified in todays world of National Park and public land management, a world in which regulatory retreat from principles and regulation is the new norm and “gut and grab” politics seem to be an every day threat. One such issue deserving of harsh review is the continuous persecution of bison in the Yellowstone ecosystem. What is happening on Yellowstone’s borders is no less offensive than the corralling and clubbing of dolphins in Japan, the clubbing of seal pups off Canada’s coast, or the indiscriminate slaughter of African elephants that eventually led to massive population declines barely a decade ago.

Judge clears way for Yellowstone bison slaughter

Decision will be appealed
513 bison at risk of being slaughtered

Western Watersheds Project, Buffalo Field Campaign, Tatanka Oyate, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Native Ecosystems Council, Yellowstone Buffalo Foundation filed for a temporary restraining order in hopes of keeping Yellowstone National Park from sending 513 bison being held in the Stephens Creek capture facility to slaughter. Unfortunately, but expectedly, Judge Charles Lovell denied our request.

The decision will be appealed to the 9th Circuit.

Judge clears way for Yellowstone bison slaughter.
By Laura Zuckerman | Reuters

Is Gardiner, Montana, the Selma, Alabama, of Wildlife Conservation?

“On bigotry and bison management at Yellowstone National Park”-

It think this is a fine opinion piece in New West. Is Gardiner, Montana, the Selma, Alabama, of Wildlife Conservation? By Michael Leach, Guest Writer.

I kind of feel the same way as Leach.

– – – –
Note that Leach, who used to work for the Park Service, but longer does, has started Yellowstone Country Guardians. It is in our blogroll. He seems to attract enthusiastic young people to learn about Yellowstone.

Bison Slaughter A Smoke Screen for Livestock Industry

George Wuerthner gives us the facts on the brucellosis fraud-

Bison Slaughter A Smoke Screen for Livestock Industry. “The on-going slaughter of Yellowstone National Park bison is justified on the basis of disease control—namely trying to prevent transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle. While the potential economic impact brucellosis is real, the likelihood is extremely rare.” Unfiltered By George Wuerthner, Unfiltered in New West.

*NEWS: Conservationists Seek Emergency Injunction To Prevent Yellowstone Bison Slaughter

Conservationists Seek Emergency Injunction To

Prevent Slaughter of Yellowstone Bison

Harsh Winter Conditions May Lead to Repeat of 2008 Slaughter

Contacts:

Tom Woodbury, Western Watersheds Project: (406) 830-3099
Dan Brister, Buffalo Field Campaign: (406) 726-5555
Mike Mease, Buffalo Field Campaign: (406) 646-0071
Glenn Hockett, Gallatin Wildlife Association: (406) 581-6352

Bison in deep snow © Ken Cole

HELENA, MONTANA – A coalition of conservation groups, Native Americans, and Montanans filed an urgent motion for injunctive relief in federal court today to prevent a repeat of the 2008 slaughter of over 1400 wild bison captured on public wildlands near the border of Yellowstone National Park in Montana.

Many of the same factors that contributed to the mass slaughter in 2008, including heavy snowpack, bison population size, and the continuing agency intolerance for migrating bison, are in place this year as well.

With the Stephens Creek bison trap inside the Park already near capacity, and more bison migrating toward their natural winter range in Montana to forage at lower elevations, Park Service Spokesperson Al Nash indicated that the agencies may begin sending hundreds of bison off to slaughter whether they carry the disease brucellosis or not.  While it is concern over the possible transmission of brucellosis to cattle that is the justification offered for preventing bison from utilizing their winter range in Montana, at the present time there are no cattle present in the bison’s winter range corridor, and no risk of transmission.  And that, according to the Plaintiffs challenging the bison management plan in federal court, perfectly illustrates why the plan needs to be scrapped.

“One of the twin goals of the bison management plan is ‘to ensure the wild and free-ranging nature of American bison’,” said Tom Woodbury, Montana Director for Western Watersheds Project, “but ten years into the plan, there is still zero tolerance for bison being bison on our public wildlands.”

300 Buffalo Captured at Yellowstone National Park’s Northern Boundary

Those that test positive for brucellosis exposure to be slaughtered

The slaughter of bison in Yellowstone has begun in earnest. Today Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers witnessed the capture of at least 300 buffalo in the Stephens Creek capture facility.

It appears that 13 of the bison captured were from the group of 25 allowed to leave the Park under a $3.3 million deal between conservation groups, the government, and the Church Universal and Triumphant. Those bison were captured and taken back to the Park on Friday and another one was shot because agents said she refused to go where they wanted her to. This leaves 10 out of the Park on those lands with another one whose whereabouts are unknown. The captured bison also probably include the 62 which were released from the Stephens Creek trap on Thursday.

This deal was touted as a “major breakthrough” by the groups who supported it but so far it has been an expensive fiasco.

Generally around 50% of bison test positive for exposure to brucellosis and Al Nash, spokesman for Yellowstone National Park, told the Buffalo Field Campaign that all of the bison that test positive for brucellosis exposure will be slaughtered. The test does not conclusively show that the bison actually have brucellosis and culture tests done in the past, which look for the actual bacteria rather than antibodies expressed by the buffalo, show that the rate of infection is actually much lower.

Yellowstone Releases 62 bison from Stephens Creek capture facility

Good news is hard to come by in this issue.
Here is today’s Buffalo Field Campaign weekly update.
______________________________________________________

Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field
and in the policy arena to protect America’s last wild buffalo.

Buffalo Field Campaign

Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
January 27, 2011

——————————
——————————
* ACTION REWARDED! Yellowstone Releases 62 Bison!
* ‘Corridor to Nowhere’ Continues to Harm Wild Bison
* Update from the Field–Bison ‘Hunt’ Continues Along Yellowstone Boundary
* VOLUNTEER!  Please Join BFC on the Front Lines!
* Just $10 for Wild Bison 2011 Calendars! Accepting Photos for 2012 Calendar
* Last Words
* By the Numbers
* Helpful Links

——————————
* ACTION REWARDED! Yellowstone Releases 62 Bison!

Buffalo Supporters,

Thank you for contacting Yellowstone’s Acting Superintendent Colin Campbell to urge him not to slaughter the 62 bison currently confined in the Stephen’s Creek trap.   After receiving hundreds of phone calls and emails on behalf of these bison, the Park announced this afternoon that all the bison will be released!  Please give yourselves a pat on the back and take a moment to contact acting Superintendent Campbell and thank him for doing the right thing.

——————————

The impending bison slaughter.

National Park Service hazing buffalo inside Yellowstone National Park © Ken Cole

The snow is deep, in fact it’s 130% of average in Yellowstone this year. That makes for a bad situation if you are a buffalo there. Do you try to stay in the Park where you can’t get to the food that you know is under all of that snow or do you follow your instincts and move to lower elevation where there is less snow? Either way, you’re screwed if you’re a buffalo.

This year, with an estimated population of 3,900 buffalo in Yellowstone, things are reaching a tipping point and a mass exodus of buffalo is likely to ensue.

What will await them when they leave the Park? Well, this year, there have been over 100 bison killed outside the Park, mostly by tribal treaty and sport hunters according to the Buffalo Field Campaign (full disclosure, I am a long time volunteer and board member of BFC), one was hit on the road as a result of being orphaned during the hunt and unable to trudge through the deep snow on its own, and another one was shot by Montana officials after it left the Royal Teton Ranch after being captured, tested and marked in an obscenely expensive program which is vaunted by the government and “conservation” groups for its greater “tolerance” towards bison outside of Yellowstone National Park.

That experiment hasn’t gone too well. The buffalo aren’t behaving the way, or staying where the government wants them to so they have been chasing them around on horseback trying to keep them on the RTR.

Northern Range Yellowstone elk count drops to record low in latest count

Latest  is 4,635 elk, count is down 24 percent from 6,070 last winter-
Wolf population was over 100, 5 years ago; now down to 37-*

Update. Leader of the Yellowstone wolf team, Dr. Doug Smith talks about the elk situation on Montana Public Radio News. Note that it is not the first story in the “evening news.”

News Release from the
Northern Yellowstone Cooperative Wildlife Working Group 

Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, & Parks – Contact:  Karen Loveless
406-224-1162
National Park Service – Contact:  Doug Smith 307-344-2242
U.S. Forest Service – Contact: Dan Tyers 406-848-7375
U.S. Geological Survey – Contact:  Paul Cross 406-994-6908

January 12, 2011

Winter Count Shows Decline In Northern Elk Herd Population
———————————————————-

Wildlife biologists say increased predation, ongoing drought, and hunting
pressure all contributed to a decline in the northern Yellowstone elk
population from 1995 to 2010.

The annual aerial survey of the herd conducted during December 2010
resulted in a count of 4,635 elk, down 24 percent from the 6,070 reported
the previous year. There has been about a 70 percent drop in the size of
the northern elk herd from the 16,791 elk counted in 1995 and the start of
wolf restoration to Yellowstone National Park.

Why are the feds paying $3.3 million to graze for 30 years on land worth only about $4 million?

More on the Royal Teton Ranch bison grazing deal

My earlier article about the Church Universal and Triumphant’s $3.3 million deal with the government and some conservation groups for bison grazing has spurred the AnimalTourism blog to do some more investigation into the value of the Royal Teton Ranch itself. What they conclude is pretty interesting. They estimate the value of the ranch to be about $3.9 million.

They ask one question though that I think can be easily answered. Why didn’t the government just buy the RTR rather than pay the exorbitant fee for 30 years of bison grazing? Well, I think that would have been a more reasonable approach too but the CUT didn’t want to sell and the government isn’t buying much anymore these days. The CUT appears to be struggling financially without these payments so they sought the best deal they could and found gullible government agencies and conservationists. It’s a shameful situation.

Why are the feds paying $3.3 million to graze for 30 years on land worth only about $4 million?
AnimalTourism News.

Latest Wyoming (federal) wolf update- Jan. 7, 2011

Federal wolf update is only official wolf news out there now-

Here is the latest update from Ed Bangs office, the only government folks in the West who seem to be regularly producing data now.  It says it’s for Wyoming, but it also gives Yellowstone Park news, Oregon news and other wolf news. There is a link to Montana FWP and they do have an Oct. 2010 update.  Interesting it shows the estimated wolf population in Montana for 2010 to be only 400 wolves, compared to the final 2009 count of 524 wolves. The number of 400 will probably go up a bit before the final report is issued, but preliminary data absolutely and flat out fails to show any explosion in wolf population even though the 2010 wolf hunt was canceled.

wyoming news-Jan7-2011. pdf file

The Royal Teton Ranch deal gets underway.

Church Universal and Triumphant paid about $285 $314 per AUM under the $3 million deal

Buffalo calf at Stephens Creek capture facility, Yellowstone National Park.

Articles about how the perennial saga of hazing, capturing, slaughtering, and hunting bison is starting once again in and around Yellowstone National Park. There is one change this year though that has left me scratching my head. This is the first year where bison leaving Yellowstone from the northern entrance of the Park near Gardiner, Montana are going to be allowed to use the Church Universal and Triumphant’s (CUT) Royal Teton Ranch (RTR) under an agreement with the National Park Service, Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, National Parks Conservation Association, and National Wildlife Federation.

The $3 million $3.3 million deal would initially allow 25 bison to use the RTR but only after they have been captured in the Stephens Creek capture facility just inside the Park boundary. They then would be subjected to squeeze chutes where they would have blood samples, fecal samples, taken from them and pregnant females would have vaginal transmitters placed in them so that biologists would be informed of the location where they give birth. Over time the deal might eventually allow up to 100 untested bison each year.

Kathie Lynch updates on Yellowstone northern range wolves. Jan. 7, 2011

Kathie Lynch reveals fascinating new landscape of the wolves of northern Yellowstone-

Kathie Lynch is now perhaps the only person writing publicly the details of the Yellowstone Park wolves.  With more change than continuity in the last year, her most recent report takes us into the wolf world of the Blacktails, Lamars, Agates, Canyon, and even a bit of Mollies and the Quadrant packs.  Ralph Maughan

– – – – – – – – – –

© Yellowstone wolf update. Jan. 7, 2011.  By Kathie Lynch, Copyright

Winter holiday time in Yellowstone glowed with magnificent mauve, apricot and pink sunrises. Hoar frost glittered on bare trees and bushes like bright, twinkling stars, while bitterly cold temperatures of -22F and mountains of sparkling snow guaranteed a white Christmas.

While finding wolves was sometimes challenging, fox watching was incredible. In the past, the hardest part of achieving a “Three Dog Day” (seeing a wolf, coyote and fox) was finding a fox. This time, foxes were everywhere.

The star of the show was a rare dark phase red fox, which looked almost black and is sometimes called a cross fox. It delighted everyone in the Lamar Valley with its careful listening for voles under the snow and head-first dives.

With only three wolf packs (Blacktail, Lamar, and Agate) as likely wolf watching possibilities in the Northern Range, I felt lucky to see wolves almost every day of my two week stay. One day I saw no wolves and one day we could only find one–a sleeping one, at that! Another day, dawn to dusk effort on the part of devoted wolf watchers only produced two black ears behind a bush.

*NEWS: Yellowstone Captures Wild Buffalo

YELLOWSTONE CAPTURES WILD BISON
23 of America’s Last Wild Bison Trapped at Stephens Creek for Royal Teton Ranch Land Lease Experiment

Bison calf being processed at the Stephens Creek Facility YNP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 5, 2011
Contacts:
Mike Mease, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-644-2499

GARDINER, MONTANA: Yellowstone National Park and Montana Department of Livestock officials captured twenty-three of America’s last wild bison yesterday afternoon at the Stephens Creek bison trap, located inside Yellowstone National Park.

This capture marks the onset of the highly controversial Royal Teton Ranch (RTR) land lease experiment, an endeavor opposed by wild bison advocates and one that Interagency Bison Management Plan agencies incongruously tout as “increased tolerance” for wild bison in Montana.

“This RTR scheme increases harm and disrespect to buffalo, not tolerance,” said Stephany Seay, a spokesperson with Buffalo Field Campaign.  “It’s a new phase in how Yellowstone and Montana aim to treat wild bison like livestock.”

Plan to protect Yellowstone Park’s fish is being developed

Comments wanted on the Park’s Native Fish Conservation Plan Environmental Assessment-

The Park’s fish have taken a real beating the last 20 years from disease and the introduction of lake trout into Yellowstone Lake. Your comments are due Jan. 31, 2011.

“The preferred alternative would conserve the Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake by increased netting of non-native lake trout. It also calls for removal of non-native fish from some streams and lakes in the park, and introduction of native fish into restored habitats. It would allow managers to take an adaptive management approach to native fish conservation, incorporating new information and lessons gained from experience in annual work and treatment plans. This plan does not propose any changes in the Madison or Firehole rivers.
The Environmental Assessment (EA) and an electronic form to submit comments on the internet can be found on the web at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/yell. A hard copy or CD of the EA is available by calling (307) 344-2874, or by writing to the Native Fish Conservation Plan EA, National Park Service, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190.”

News release. Plan To Protect Yellowstone’s Native Fish Open For Public Review

More on close wolf encounters

What does wolves close up mean?

If a wolf approaches you, you should certainly not assume it wants to eat you.  On the other hand, watch it closely, it isn’t necessary benign.

Some people can “read” dogs, cats, horses, and other animals.  People who can’t fill in the blanks with their hopes, fears, and generalizations from other animals.

This last month we witnessed the fearful reaction of two Montana hunters to a pack of wolves nearby. Flathead Valley hunters shoot wolf, say they were surrounded. By Tristan Scott of the Missoulian. Over the years, we have posted a number of other accounts where people had “scary,” close wolf encounters.  Some folks will recall the humorous story of the Forest Service employees (from Utah) who encountered howling wolves in the middle of the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho (I don’t recall if they even saw one of the wolves), but they were so frightened by the howls they had a Forest Service helicopter fly into the designated Wilderness area to be evacuated.

I have heard no “scary” stories from people except from those already hateful or frightened of wolves, and who had a close encounter.

I’ve had two close encounters.  With the first (1997) I was so overconfident, I was just stupid. We (five of us) repeatedly approached the Rose Creek Pack on Specimen Ridge in Yellowstone when they had about 18 members.  The wolves kept trotting 50 to 100 yards ahead, stopping and bark howling. At the time I didn’t know a bark howl is a much different message than a howl.

I have posted the story how being circled by wolves was thought to be a wonderful experience.

Here is another interesting close encounter. Ken Cole posted this story today too.  It ended just fine, but it’s hard to know what the wolf was doing. Calm of the wild. Living with wolves takes some practice by Tim Lydon. Writers on the Range in the  Missoula Independent.  Ken also posts his own experiences.

I think if people have a scary wolf experience it is probably because they interpret most wolf behavior as something to be frightened of.  To take it step farther, a frightened person might look like prey to an otherwise uninterested wolf.

Maybe some people are natural prey.

The snowmobile issue in Yellowstone Park has died down

It’s still there, but rules have changed, use patterns changed and the economy too-

In a feature article in New West, journalist Brodie Farquhar looks at the changes over times. Snowmobiling in Yellowstone: Past and Present

Greater Yellowstone grizzly numbers top 600 for first time

Record population is reached amidst a year of bear food stress and many mortalities-

This is a replacement of the original article (it’s more complete). Grizzly numbers hit new high in Yellowstone region. By Matthew Brown. AP

Because of the late spring, just average berry crop, and failure of the whitebark pine nut crop (there will be no more successes), the record number of grizzlies (603) have been very hungry and have come into lots of contact with humans. The death toll of grizzlies is getting close to 50 just before hibernation.

Latest: Hunter shoots grizzly in the South Fork Shoshone. Wyoming Bureau, Billings Gazette

Here are the details on grizzly mortality (up to number 47). 2010 Known and Probable Grizzly Bear Mortalities in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK). USGS.

Here is the sorry news on Whitebark Pine nut production. http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/files/norock/products/IGBST/2010Wbp_FINAL.pdf

Suzanne Lewis, Yellowstone superintendent, to retire

Dan Wenk, former interim director of the National Park Service, to oversee Yellowstone-

A new superintendent of Yellowstone Park is always an event of major conservation importance. The Park’s super for the last 8 years has been Suzanne Lewis, a person not particularly favored by conservationists. She is retiring.

High-ranking park official to take Yellowstone reins in 2011. By Daniel Person. Bozeman Chronicle.

Rare Oasis of Life Discovered Near Geothermal Vents on Floor of Yellowstone Lake

How did these get started in the lake?

Rare Oasis of Life Discovered Near Geothermal Vents on Floor of Yellowstone Lake. ScienceDaily

This discovery is from research by Montana State University.

Yellowstone is already one of the world’s greatest site for research into heat tolerant extremophiles

Fire crews make progress on Yellowstone blaze

Progress on Antelope Creek blaze, but smoke hinders tourism-

Antelope fire now over 3000 acres. Island Park News.

The Yellowstone country is just getting too crowded to use in the summer, but every fall natural and prescribed fires are making that time of year bad too. Any opinions on this?

Fires in northwest Wyoming

Both prescribed and wildfires are burning-

I think the Antelope Fire on Mt. Washburn is reburning the burn from 1988 or at least some spots immediately nearby that were missed by the big fire. I took many photos of the 1988 burn on the mountain, during and after.

Fires grab attention. Jackson Hole Daily. By Thomas Dewell, Jackson Hole, Wyo

– – – – –
Late season fires sweep Wyoming. By Jeremy Pelzer. Casper Star-Tribune.
From a modest beginning a few days ago, wildfires have increased greatly in Wyoming and at a time  they are usually ending for the year.

Yellowstone Park visits soar in August

All time visitation record for a month-

With the sorry economy it is surely good we have Yellowstone Park in our area. Visit are also up at Grand Teton NP.

Yellowstone visits soar. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole Daily.

Kathie Lynch: Late summer Yellowstone wolf viewing is sparse

Below Kathie Lynch has another fact filled report on Yellowstone wolf watching and summary of the packs’ seasonal activity.  Right now the Canyon Pack is the only one still being seen. The wolves will return with the elk in October.

Thanks for your report, Kathie.

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Late summer wolf report by Kathie Lynch (copyright © )

End of the summer wolf watching in Yellowstone always presents a challenge. When the elk head to greener pastures in the high country, the wolves follow. Often they don’t return until early snows bring the elk back down to lower elevations for the fall rut.

Our wolf watching luck in the Northern Range ran out on August 17 when the trusty Lamar Canyon pack of three adults and four pups could no longer be found at Slough Creek. After honoring us with their presence since denning there in April, they have moved up higher and out of view.

Just before they departed, the alpha “’06 Female,” beta male 754M, and the four gray pups casually followed a herd of 19 elk up the hill behind the diagonal and horizontal forests. The adults slowly shepherded the almost four-month-old pups along in what looked like a scent trailing lesson.

Yellowstone National Park – Summer 2010 Bison Population Estimate Released

Bison Population estimated to be 3900

Yellowstone National Park – Summer 2010 Bison Population Estimate Released.
U.S. National Park Service Press Release

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

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

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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.

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.

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.

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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

“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

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

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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.

Many skeptical of bison vaccination proposal

$9 Million plan won’t bring more tolerance by livestock industry.

The plan to dart bison in Yellowstone with vaccine is just another money pit in an unending battle against bison by the livestock industry. It is inconceivable that the government wants to waste even more money on a plan that even they say won’t rid Yellowstone bison of brucellosis or bring more tolerance for wild bison by the livestock oligarchy of Montana.

This is just another money pit that won’t accomplish anything. Quit pushing the rancher’s problems onto the taxpayers, let bison be bison and vaccinate the damned cattle instead.

Many skeptical of bison vaccination proposal.
By DANIEL PERSON – The Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Young Grizzly Victim of of HIt-and-Run in Yellowstone National Park

Second Collision in a Week

Highway 191 is deadly to wildlife and a number of elk, wolves and bears have been hit along this stretch over the years. It is likely the most deadly stretch of road for wildlife anywhere in Yellowstone National Park. The stretch of highway 191 between Bozeman and Big Sky to the north is also the most deadly stretch of highway for motorists in Montana. I’ve been passed a few times on snowy roads where there was a double yellow line.  It pays to drive carefully on this highway.

Highway 191 through Yellowstone

Young Grizzly Victim of of HIt-and-Run in Yellowstone National Park, Second Collision in a Week
National Parks Traveler.

Grizzly bear with rare four cubs delights visitors in Yellowstone

Grizzly bear with rare four cubs delights visitors in Yellowstone.
San Francisco Examiner

9 injured when lightning strikes Old Faithful watchers

Just one needed hospitalization!

9 injured when lightning strikes Old Faithful watchers. AP

Yellowstone to Look at Ways to Improve Park’s North Entrance

Do you have ideas?

Yellowstone National Park is doing an environmental assessment and thinking of ways to improve the historic entrance to Yellowstone Park— “An environmental assessment will be prepared in coming months, looking at subjects including vehicle circulation, congestion, and parking; pedestrian safety; signage, and vegetation challenges; all while preserving the historic nature of the area.”

They want your ideas. You have until June 18 to let them know. Here is the full news release from the Park: http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/10035.htm

There is also an open house June 8 in Gardiner, MT.

Montana Stockgrowers’ Suit Over Bison Management Dismissed

I’d say this is a minor victory. The Stockgrowers wanted even more severe “management” of bison that we already have to witness.

Stockgrowers’ Suit Over Bison Management Dismissed. Matt Gouras. Associated Press Writer

Buffalo Roam Into Controversy

The privatization of public bison has spurred quite the controversy in Montana

Buffalo Bull © Ken Cole

The insanity of bison mis-management in and around Yellowstone National Park has prompted the privatization of this iconic wildlife species.

Buffalo Roam Into Controversy ~ (Audio) ~ NPR – On Point

Bison from the park have been hazed and quarantined for ‘study’ under the promise that they would later be released.  But where ?

Mangy Druid wolf shot south of Butte, MT

Druid 690F shot by rancher south of Butte-

She was sick and beaten up by attacks from other wolves. She was trying for some livestock.

Butte, of course, is quite a distance from Yellowstone Park.

Yellowstone Park wolf killed near Butte. By Nick Gevock. Montana Standard

Official disagreement whether Interagency Bison Management Plan is worthwhile

In fact, the Montana state veterinarian and MT Dept. of Livestock are the only ones who think it has worked-

Interagency Bison Management Plan or IBMP is the controversial bison management plan adopted in 2000 to keep brucellosis from spreading from Yellowstone Park bison to cattle outside the Park.   No brucellosis has spread from bison, so a few Montana state officials say that means it has worked. However, there are almost no cattle in the area that the bison would occupy if they were allowed to leave the Park.  It is a great irony that the disease itself has spread from the area’s wide ranging elk to cattle on several occasions.

The IBMP has cost over $20-million and taken a huge toll on what could be free roaming bison.  It has also been a great cost by generating public resentment and conflict and violations of local people’s private property rights, civil liberties and the wild integrity of Yellowstone Park itself.

The plan should be abandoned.

Hazy results: Officials disagree on whether program to keep park’s bison from spreading brucellosis has been successful. By Eve Bryon, Helena Independent Record.

Notes on Jim Beer’s many hour long speech at Bozeman, May 16

Bozeman naturalist’s notes on the event-

There has been a lot of discussion on the blog of the speech Jim Beer’s gave Sunday May 16th, 2010 at the Gran Tree Inn in Bozeman, from 1 PM to 5 PM. The speech was sponsored by Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd, which has been complaining about wolves since it was organized in 1999.

The approximate text of the speech was posted here

Norm Bishop of Bozeman attended. Bishop worked for the National park Service for 36 years. His last 17 years were at Yellowstone, 1980-1997. He is an expert on the Northern Range elk herd, wolves, and many other aspects of the area’s wildlife. He was a contributor to the 1994 environmental impact statement, “The Reintroduction of Gray Wolves to Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho.” This is important because Beers was speaking to a crowd 15 years after the event and no doubt many who attended were children when the wolves were reintroduced and so they were open to anyone’s version of the history of the event. This version is a very strange one based on my experience which goes back to the event and the years leading up to ti.

The news media didn’t cover the event, which is probably one reason Lee Enterprises was condemned at the event, although judging from the political nature of event and a 3 hours plus speech, little coverage by major media is what you usually expect.
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Notes on the speech by Norm Bishop

Wolf Introduction is a criminal enterprise based on scientific fraud was the title of a talk I attended Sunday May 16th, 2010 at the Gran Tree Inn in Bozeman, from 1 PM to 5 PM. Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd (Friends) sponsored the presentation by (James M.) Jim Beers, retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Biologist turned whistle blower and Congressional investigator. The talk was intended to prove that the U.S. FWS and state fish and game agencies broke the law in the implementation and administration of forced wolf introduction. Purpose: to unify those that have been harmed and to fund a lawsuit. The announcement of the talk appeared in April (Vol. 1 No. 7 of The All American Patriot, a paper whose editor is listed as Robert T. Fanning Jr. (founder and chairman of Friends). Its address is P.O. Box 16129, Big Sky, MT 59716.

Fanning said the paper has a distribution of 5,000. [I have seen it mainly in the entrances of convenience or grocery stores. Based on the attendees, I presume much of the circulation of the Patriot is to small towns in southwest Montana.]

[Content that is not attributed by quotation marks, but follows the words of the speaker, should be understood as coming from the speaker, as nearly as I could record it. Some lines are paraphrased as I recall them. If I make a comment, I will enclose it in brackets. Notes in parentheses are inserted for continuity and clarity. No doubt I missed, or mis-heard some things. I accept the blame for that. NB]

Bob Fanning opened the meeting at 1:20 PM with a prayer by Barry Coe about freedom from the ruling class, and ending with, “bless this assembly of patriots.” He said he founded Friends in August 1999 with Bill Hoppe (A fifth generation rancher and co-owner of North Yellowstone Outfitters). (Fanning cites former membership in the Chicago Board of Trade 1981-1994, and the New York Stock Exchange). He said he’d hired Park County Attorney Karl Knuchel to represent them. He said he and Bill Hoppe recruited 3,742 members for Friends.

Firsthand witness account of Tuesay’s Buffalo haze

Jim McDonald’s Account of Montana’s DOL pushing bison into Yellowstone Park-

This is the time of year when Montana’s Department of Livestock pushes bison back into the Park for no real reason except to demonstrate that they run things in the area. Activist Jim McDonald has written a long essay on a blog describing the disgusting event from his perspective on the ground.

Buffalo torture 2010: Firsthand witness account of Monday’s haze. Buffalo haze 2010: Firsthand witness account of Tuesday’s haze. by Jim Macdonald. Jim’s Eclectic World

Yellowstone bison drive planned through this week

To hell with private property rights, to hell with wildlife, we must protect cattle that aren’t even here.

Hazing bison inside Yellowstone National Park on Madison River ©Ken Cole

The ridiculous annual event of hazing bison during their calving season is underway even though this year the bison are likely to come back out of the Park because the green-up of grass hasn’t started there due to late season snowstorms.

Each year the residents of the West Yellowstone area have to endure this fiasco on behalf of a few ranchers who whine and cry that their cattle might get brucellosis from bison when they don’t even bring them to the area a until after the buffalo have all calved. This year, due to the late green-up, it will likely be even later.

On numerous occasions I have witnessed Montana’s helicopters chasing buffalo deep into the Park even beyond the border of Wyoming in front of bewildered tourists. Last year, while hazing herds of newborn calves and their mothers off of private property where there never will be cattle again, Buffalo Field Campaign filmed a calf that had broken its leg in the malay of the hazing operation. These kinds of incidents are a common occurrence and there is no justification for it.

A Letter From: The Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park

British Painter Julie Askew Ventures Into The Dale Of Wild Wolves and Goes ‘Eye to Eye’

Rather than post the story about the ignorant Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks new wolf quota for 2010, I am running this story and artwork by an English painter published in the latest Wildlife Art Journal. Todd Wilkinson of the WAJ has made this available for free for several days. It lifts my spirits to see the beauty portrayed by someone who seems more than cattle.

A Letter From: The Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park. By Julie Askew. Wildlife Art Journal

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Here is another photo essay from the Wildlife Art Journal. The Great Aerial Plains: Christopher Boyer’s Amazing Views From The Sky. These are beautiful and horrible photos of how the Plains actually are. It’s horrible ones — not fun to take, but are probably the most important.

Kathie Lynch: Reconfigured Yellowstone Packs at denning time

Kathie Lynch provides us with another detailed update on the wolves of northern Yellowstone Park.
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Yellowstone field notes. April 10 -18, 2010. By © Kathie Lynch.

During my Spring Break in Yellowstone National Park (April 10-18, 2010), I managed to see at least one wolf every day, but it wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

There are really only 17 wolves that might typically be visible in the Northern Range (nine Blacktails, five “Silvers,” and three in 755M’s Group). Sometimes the three Canyons or some of the seven or eight Quadrants help out by dropping in to the Mammoth area for a visit.

The most exciting happening was the rediscovery of the Druid Peak pack two-year-old “Black Female” (formerly called the “Black Female Yearling”). She had not been seen since March 9. So, on April 17, we were delighted to find her taking turns with a grizzly scavenging on a carcass below Hellroaring.

Before that it had been almost a month since a Druid had been seen (571F on March 24). The other missing Druids and last confirmed sightings include: alpha 480M (February 9), 690F (March 10), “Dull Bar” (March 9, with the “Black Female”), “Black Bar” (end of January), and “Triangle Blaze” (January).

Yellowstone Park’s goal is to boost native fish

Park hopes to reduce invasive trout species

The only native trout in Yellowstone National Park are Yellowstone and Westslope Cutthroat, and Arctic Grayling. Over the years those species have been reduced in population due to competition, predation, and hybridization due to other introduced trout.

Lake trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout have become well established throughout the Park and now the Park Service is developing a Native Fish Conservation Plan which they hope will reduce their numbers and increase the numbers of native cutthroat and grayling. Right now the plan is in the scoping phase so you can find out more about it here: Native Fish Conservation Plan/EA Project Home Page

Yellowstone Park’s goal is to boost native fish
Billings Gazette

Yellowstone Cutthroat © Ken Cole

Day in the life of Doug Smith, Yellowstone wolf biologist

Feature on Yellowstone’s lead wolf biologist-

Dr. Smith has run the Park’s wolf program for about 14 of the 15 years since wolves were restored to the Park. He helped me learn much of what I know about wolves, especially in the early years.

Day in the life of Doug Smith, Yellowstone wolf biologist. By Michael Gibney. Bozeman Daily Chronicle Staff Writer

Groups File Suit to Protect Quarantined Bison & Public Trust

Lawsuit Seeks to Secure Public Access to Bison and Prevent Privatization of Calves

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 23, 2010
Contacts:
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign 406-646-0070, bfc-media@wildrockies.org
Summer Nelson, Western Watersheds Project, 406-830-3099, summer@westernwatersheds.org
Glenn Hockett, Gallatin Wildlife Association, 406-586-1729, glhockett@bresnan.net

Buffalo in quarantine - Kim Acheson

GALLATIN COUNTY, MONTANA: Four conservation organizations filed a legal challenge today against the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ (FWP) decision to complete one phase of its Quarantine Feasibility Study on a private ranch of Turner Enterprises, Inc. (TEI), and to give TEI a percentage of the public’s bison at the end of the study. The groups assert that this action violates the state’s public trust responsibilities to protect and manage wildlife for public and not private benefit. The decision privatizes a full 75% of any offspring born to the 86 bison now held on TEI’s Green Ranch. Throughout earlier phases of the study, FWP indicated all bison, including offspring, would be managed as public wildlife and could never be privatized. The plaintiffs assert FWP’s final decision goes against these promises, and against FWP’s public trust duties.

Yellowstone bison population stable too

Both elk and bison currently stable-

Yesterday I did a long post on the stabilization of the elk population on Yellowstone’s northern range, but I didn’t mention another important development, the recovery of the bison population to a bit over 3000 animals. Growth between 2008 and 9 has been slow. In the past years, the bison population has swung wildly, often climbing to near 5000 only to be killed off by the brutal Montana Department of Livestock as the bison literally began heading for greener pastures outside the Park.

One big change is the distribution of the bison population. It has grown strongly on the northern range, but not with the herd in central Yellowstone.  In fact, the northern range bison have largely made up for the decrease in elk in terms of forage consumption.One bison eats about as much as 3 elk.  So about 2/3 the bison are now living on the Northern Range.

Right now bison on the west side of the Park are getting ready to migrate out of the Park onto Horse Butte, just west of the Park.  Last fall it appeared the bison would be welcomed for the first time, at least grudgingly, onto this vital calving ground. All the government agencies were lined up as was the enthusiastic major private landowner.  The Forest Service even officially closed the Horse Butte cattle allotment. This allotment had already been bovine free for a number of years. However, not being officially closed, opponents of bison could use the vacant cattle allotment to persist in their false argument about the danger of bison spreading brucellosis to cattle.

At the last minute, however, the agency that is the source of all the trouble, Montana’s DOL, went back on the deal.  Knuckle-dragging DOL agents are already lurking in the area. There will be trouble.

Winter Count Shows Yellowstone Northern Elk Herd Numbers Remain Stable

Stability not unexpected as wolf numbers fall and hunting permits just north of Park are reduced-

In January I heard there would be no elk count this year because the lack of snow made counting pretty much impossible. I’m glad the amount of snow increased because these numbers are important. Gaps in the data are harmful.

Wolves were introduced in 1995 shortly after the highest elk population ever recorded on the Northern Range in 1993-94 (19,045 elk).  Unfortunately, no elk count was made during the very severe winter of 1995-6 and the next year too.  When the count resumed, the elk  population was well down (13,400 in Nov. 1997).

I think the real (wolf x hunter x grizzly bear) effect on elk should date from when they resumed the count. Unfortunately, it is not known how many perished in the severe winter and the year just afterword. Interestingly, the elk count taken 3 months before the first wolves came back had already dropped from 19,045 to 16,791. This shows that 19,045 was a spike and should never be used as a starting point.

I think the restored wolf population did probably overshoot, but it has now died back naturally rather than through human interference.

My impression is that the present elk and wolf population on the Northern Range is pretty favorable, although these numbers can never be stable over any long period time. Nature has too many variables.  At any rate, the elk herd is strong and healthy.  The vegetation on the Northern Range is recovering. Pronghorn, beaver, and, I think bighorn, are increasing. These things were part of the goals of the wolf restoration in the Park. Of course, the Park is always changing. For example, like almost everywhere else, the pines are being killed of by the bark beetle. The Park’s near future will be a landscape even more open than today.

Here is the elk count news release from the Northern Yellowstone Cooperative Wildlife Working Group

Tough winter for wolf darting in Yellowstone Park

Wolf numbers in Yellowstone are way down, but that doesn’t mean more of what are left wear collars-

Tough winter for wolf darting. By Brett French. Billings Gazette (reprinted in the Star-Tribune)

Kathie Lynch: Druid wolf pack likely to fade away

Only one Druid is known to remain-

Down to one wolf. I guess that means the end of the wolf pack. The Druid Peak wolf pack was formed in the release enclosure back in 1996.  Most of the wolves came from the same pack in British Columbia, but not all.  For example the big alpha male came from another pack.  The Druids immediately set about trying, and then finally succeeding to dominate the Lamar Valley. It was a good 14 years with hundreds of thousands of people seeing them.

Kathie has all the details.

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By © Kathie Lynch.  “And then there was one.”

And then there was one… From the Druid Peak pack’s beginning in 1996 and through its glory years as Yellowstone National Park’s most famous wolf pack (with an incredible 37 members in 2001), it has come to this: yearling black Druid 690F may be the sole survivor. Mange-ridden and alone, her situation is grim.

In the last few weeks, three others (691F, the “Thin Female,” and “White Line”) have been killed by other wolves, often as they scavenged on other packs’ kills.

Six other Druids are missing, including alpha 480M, “Dull Bar,” 571F, the “Female Yearling,” “Black Bar,” and “Triangle Blaze.” We can only hope that they are somehow surviving on their own, but they are ravaged by mange, and scavenging is a dangerous business.

Leaderless after the death of alpha female 569F last fall and the subsequent dispersal of alpha 480M, the once mighty Druid Peak pack may soon be just a memory.

She Runs With The Wolves

Todd Wilkinson profiles Laurie Lyman-

Those of you who know Kathie Lynch will probably know Laurie Lyman, and vice versa.  Lyman has amazing talent for spotting wolves and getting that data.

She Runs With The Wolves. A tale of devotion from Yellowstone National Park. By Todd Wilkinson.

Wolves back to Yellowstone and changes it made

After 15 years, a look at the effects-

This interesting article appeared in print maybe 5 days ago. I’m glad they put it online.

After 15 years. By Ben Pierce. Bozeman Chronicle OutThere Editor

Summary of the February 2010 Yellowstone Earthquake Swarm

Now it’s over and the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory has a summary-

Summary of January – February 2010 Yellowstone Earthquake Swarm. USGS.

This was the second biggest earthquake swarm recorded in the Park. Note that detailed records don’t go back all that far.

Yellowstone Wolf Numbers Drop for Second Year

Park now has only 55% as many wolves as at the peak population-

I predicted this, and the same thing was happening to the wolf population of Idaho and Montana. Without any intervention they would have peaked and dropped. With the big campaign against them in Idaho and Montana, we will never know.  At any rate,  growth of the wolf population has now stopped in all three states.

Yellowstone Wolf Numbers Drop for Second Year. By Yellowstone National Park, via New West.

Just one bison was killed in Montana’s bison hunt

State hunt relies solely on bison migration from Yellowstone Park. Few migrated-

Single bison shot in state’s winter hunt. By  Matthew Brown. Associated Press |

Now, however, Montana’s Department of Livetock is completely out of control and wants to kill any bison that leave the Park even in cattle free areas, in violation of the new tolerance by the Park Service and the Forest Service.

Brown writes:

“Now that the three-month hunt has ended, animals leaving the park will be subject to hazing, capture and possibly slaughter under a program meant to prevent the spread of animal disease to cattle.
And, after being criticized by ranchers last year for what they saw as a migration that got out of control, state livestock officials are planning a more aggressive response this year.
Montana state veterinarian Marty Zaluski said that ‘proactive’ plan will apply even in areas where cattle aren’t present, starting immediately.” [emphasis added]

I can’t see how the Dept. of Livestock is allowed to do this — violate the public lands of the American people and the private property rights of Montanans. As I have said many times before, the only rational explanation of the DOL is it is the agency that shows who really rules over the people and land of the area.

PBS program on wolves, bears, bison and the ESA

This is a good national television treatment of the issue-

Salle put this link on the “have run across any good stories” page, but it should be a full post.

Hunting Wolves, Saving Wolves. PBS

Salle. I know you tried to call me about this, but I was out in the hills most of the day. Ralph

Additional info on wolves, etc. from PBS. I have to wonder about some of it like “On a calm night, howls can be heard from as far as 120 miles away.” They must have meant twelve miles.

Old mining cleanup at headwaters of Soda Butte Creek almost done

Great progress on the mining mess of the New World Mining district above Cooke City-

Although the article below writes of the headwaters of the Yellowstone. It is actually Soda Butte Creek and the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone.

They have been poking around and doing some mining here since the 19th Century. In the 1990s, there was a serious attempt at a giant gold mine right there on Henderson Mountain. One of the crowning achievements of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition was killing this mine and securing money for a general cleanup of the area.

This mining area his leaked acidic, heavy metals into Yellowstone Park for over a hundred years.

I’m very pleased to read this.

Cleanup at Yellowstone headwaters hailed. By Brett French. Billings Gazette.

DOL looks at stemming bison migration out of Yellowstone

Montana DOL throws cold water on several years of progress-

This was to be a year when bison could legally migrate freely out of Yellowstone into the area west of the Park, especially Horse Butte where they are welcome.  All the cattle are gone from area.  The Gallatin  National Forest approved of the migration. Now Montana DOL says “no.”  Of course, it is apparent to almost everyone not associated with livestock now that brucellosis is just a smokescreen for retaining the unbridled power of the cattle industry in Montana.

This sad development was reported earlier by the Buffalo Field Campaign.

DOL looks at stemming bison migration. By Daniel Person. Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Yellowstone National Park Scoping for New Long Term Winter Use Plan Begins

Should the Park road from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful be plowed?

Earlier today “Salle” posted in our new  “Have you run across any interesting news” section her views and a large number of links relating to this important (if judged by the huge amount of litigation) set of rules for using Yellowstone in the winter. There is an interesting view that rather than snowmobiles/snowcoaches, maybe it would be better to plow from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful in the winter. This would be similar to the long-standing plowing of the road from Mammoth Hot Springs out the northeast entrance of the Park to Cooke City, MT.

At any rate, an entire new set of rule-making for Yellowstone winter use is about to begin.

I thought it was an important enough news story to bring in as a “regular” post. Ralph Maughan
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“Salle” wrote on Feb. 5, 2010 at 8:29 AM

This past week Yellowstone NP has opened up for comments on winter use in the park. Recently there was a decrease in oversnow travel limits for the next two winters while this issue is addressed, once again. A big concern for the general public is that only those who can ~$150/person/day can go in to enjoy the park during winter, unless you are near the north entrance and can only go to Lamar Valley area between Mammoth Hot Springs and Cooke City. The rest of the park is only open to oversnow travel at the price noted above.

There is a massive decline in business activity for the gate communities and the only businesses that have any business to speak of are the (less than a dozen) permitees who facilitate oversnow travel.

Many, including some park officials, have been pushing for the park to just plow the road during the winter. Such a plan includes plowing from the west gate to Madison jct; Madison jct. to Old Faithful and to Mammoth HS. this would allow the general public to enter the park year round and with the regular fees that apply during the summer months. It also allows the general public to get to Old faithful and the northern sector in a couple hours rather than a five hour drive, one way, from the west gate – the major entrance to the park.

Kathie Lynch: Yellowstone wolf notes Dec to Jan 2010

It looks like the Blacktails are now the largest pack on the Northern Range-

Kathie Lynch has written another report on the Yellowstone wolves (actually those on the Park’s northern range). My subhead above is just one of the many interesting facts I read in her report such as the Mollies alpha male is largest wolf in the Park.

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Yellowstone Wolf Notes. Dec. 09; Jan. 10. By Kathie Lynch
© Kathie Lynch

♦ Trips to Yellowstone in December 2009 and January 2010 provided better than expected wolf watching, considering the continuing decline in population size.

January 12, 2010, marked the fifteenth anniversary of the reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park. The year 2009 ended with less than 100 wolves in Yellowstone Park, down from 124 a year ago and close to half of the 171 counted just two years ago. The number has not been this low since just a few years after 31 wolves were reintroduced in 1995 and 1996.

The biggest current challenge some wolves are dealing with is sarcoptic mange, caused by a mite. It causes terrible itching and can kill through infection or hypothermia due to hair loss. However, wolves can recover from even severe cases, as the Mollies pack did last year.

The famous Druid Peak pack is currently the most severely affected. Every Druid wolf exhibits some degree of hair loss, especially on the tail, rear, back, legs and abdomen–anywhere they can bite and scratch at the itchy mite. It is a common sight to see them trying to sleep standing up to avoid exposing their bare spots to the cold, snowy ground.

The Druids have undergone big changes since the death of alpha female 569F last fall and the subsequent dispersal of alpha male 480M. These two wolves deserve immense credit (along with Druid 529F and Leopold/Druid/Blacktail 302M) for resurrecting the Druid Peak pack after it dwindled down to only legendary alpha 21M’s last two daughters (529F and 569F) in 2004.

Official Wyoming wolf numbers for ’09 released

319 wolves in Wyoming, but as in ’08 only six breeding pairs in Yellowstone Park-

I think it’s clear that Wyoming’s anti-wolf legislature had hoped that the requirement of ten breeding wolf pairs in the state could be met by Yellowstone Park alone, but yesterday’s USFWS release of the 2009 wolf figures for the state show that to be a pipe dream.

The official estimate is 319 wolves in the state, including just 96 in Yellowstone. Several years ago there were over 170 wolves in Yellowstone. As the Yellowstone population has been shrinking the Wyoming wolf population outside the Park is growing. There are now 223 wolves outside the Park with 21 breeding pairs.

If we look at wolf packs (groups of wolves + groups of wolves with a breeding pair) there were 30 packs outside Yellowstone and 14 inside the Park. The average Wyoming pack size is about 7 wolves. The Park size is also about 7 wolves.

At the end of 2008 there were 178 wolves outside Yellowstone in Wyoming and 124 wolves inside Yellowstone for a total of 302. As in 2009, in 2008 there were only 6 breeding pairs in Yellowstone.

Because of the much greater observational accuracy of packs inside Yellowstone Park, I would judge the number of official breeding pairs there (six) to be more accurate than those outside the Park (officially 21).

If you look at the Wyoming wolf pack map, you will see that the NW corner of the state is pretty well saturated with wolves. Any significant future wolf population growth will depend on reduced  mortality in the numerous and usually transient small packs south of Jackson Hole which are continually disrupted by WS livestock control actions.

Yellowstone quake swarm continues

After dropping off some, quakes increase again-

This time around, fortunately,  fewer folks are predicting doom. 😉

These swarms happen every year or so. With the development of the Internet, blogging, and the realization of the catastrophic potential of the Yellowstone supervolcano, news of these earthquake swarms began to spark alarm when they were reported.  In fact they have come and gone each time making little observable difference.

Large quakes are possible in and near the Park, but not common. The largest since seismology developed was in 1959. This 7.4 quake just northwest of West Yellowstone caused a huge landslide at the mouth of the Madison River Canyon. It dammed the river, buried a number of campers, and created what is now named Quake Lake. In total 35 people died. More information on that quake.

There have been a number of moderate quakes since, and one other large one, a 6.5 quake in 1975 centered near Norris Geyser Basin. None have resulted in any volcanic activity.

More than 1,200 tiny quakes hit Yellowstone Park, but jitters are few.  By Mead Gruver. Associated Press.

~more~

Link to current Yellowstone earthquakes. Yellowstone National Park Special Map

Feb. 10, 2010. Yellowstone earthquake swarm dwindles. Series of quakes is the largest in park since 1985. Jackson Hole News and Guide.

New Yellowstone Park earthquake swarm

No. It doesn’t mean the end is near 😉

University of Utah seismic station.

Earthquake swarm in park tops 1,000. Billings Gazette.

Note added 1-24.  As expected, the swarm has dropped off a lot.

Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton manage roadside griz differently

Which method works best?

Actually it seems to me that there are too few differences in result so far to make a determination.

Glacier hazes roadside bears; Grand Teton, Yellowstone let people close. By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole News and Guide.

Back in the days before 1970, Yellowstone let people feed sandwiches and twinkes to bears along the roadside. About 60 tourists were injured a year as a result. Yet there was a great outrage from the public when the practice of roadside feeding was stopped.

Today bears are coming back to the edge or roads, but feeding is not allowed. Injuries are few to none. If injuries increase, how will the public and Park Service react?

Some Yellowstone wolf news-

I’ve been in the Park the last several days, the first time in well over a year.  I didn’t expect to see wolves because their number is down and until Jan. 19 I hadn’t visited Lamar Valley.  Yesterday I did show up in the Lamar just after mid-day. Using my “expert wolf spotting skills,” I quickly found an unusual mid-day collection of vehicles and people with spotting scopes. It had to be a major wolf appearance. It was!

Rick McIntyre filled me in, while his scope showed me a view similar to the famous acceptance of wolf 21M by the all female Druid Pack, way back in the day, although the actual interactions were not a new acceptance ritual.

The wolves were visible under some cottonwood about a half mile away — four Druid females, who had been without an alpha male in the pack, were facing a big black. healthy-looking  male wolf.  He actually had first appeared with the pack on December 2. Then on January 17, an equally glossy black fellow joined him. They are probably brothers.  His apparent brother was bedded in the snow 50 yards away. The Druid females themselves were not the prettiest wolves because they suffer from mange. McIntyre told me it appeared to be mostly on their tails, but in fact had also infested some of their rears and bellies. Nevertheless, they are hanging on.  The origin of the two fine black wolves is not known, but the one I saw with the females seems to have become the new alpha. The Druid alpha female is thought to be a wolf informally called “white line.”

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

Buffalo Battle: BFC Will Be on TV’s Planet Green!

Below is this week’s Buffalo Field Campaign Update from the Field. I’ve been holding my tongue about “Buffalo Battle” which is a pilot episode for a possible new series about the bison issue and the Buffalo Field Campaign. The episode will air on December 5th on Planet Green.

I’ve seen two early cuts of the episode and I think it does a great job of explaining the issue and showing how the Buffalo Field Campaign conducts its field operations. It was filmed this past spring during the big hazing operations which moved the buffalo off of Horse Butte back into Yellowstone National Park.

Buffalo Battle is directed by Matt Testa who produced The Buffalo War, another documentary about the buffalo issue and the Buffalo Field Campaign, in 2000.

We are excited and hoping that this will become a series so that the light of day will shine on this issue and the plight of the buffalo. I hope you can watch.

Ken Cole,
BFC Board Member

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Buffalo Field Campaign

Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
November 19, 2009

BFC Klean Kanteen Water Bottles Make Perfect Gifts. Order Yours Today While They Last!

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* TAKE ACTION: Help the Buffalo with Your Comments to APHIS
* Buffalo Battle: BFC Will Be on TV’s Planet Green!
* Do You Like to Cook? BFC Needs You!
* Buffalo Field Campaign Wish List
* Last Words
* Kill Tally
* Important Links

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Judge Molloy rejects feds request to reconsider his relisting of the Yellowstone area grizzly bear

So feds, live with it and start protecting the bear’s habitat better-

link fixed! Judge keeps Yellowstone grizzly on threatened list. AP

Western Watersheds puts up a bison page

A new resource page for the case Western Watersheds Project, et al. v. Salazar

I hope this new page will prove to be another site for good information on efforts to compell the Park Service and Forest Service to stop cooperating in the bison slaughter and eventually allow a significant number of bison to live on the open range outside Yellowstone Park in Montana.

See Yellowstone Bison. Western Watersheds Project.

Americans flock to the nation’s “best idea”

Record Number of visits to Yellowstone Park in 2009-

This has been in the news the last couple days. Rocky Barker blogged today about it, tying it to the recent popular PBS television film, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”  Here is Barker’s blog in the Idaho Statesman. Americans flock to nation’s “best idea.”

My comment is that it’s true Americans love their national parks, except for a relative handful of anti-government types. I also know from experience in the field and teaching that most Americans are generally clueless about the rest of the public lands they own: national forests, national wildlife refuges, and, especially the BLM lands.  Granted people will say, “Oh yes, the national forests, but it doesn’t come to mind quickly. This gives a great opportunity for special* interest groups to dominate how these other public lands are used. Lack of public knowledge makes hard to organize folks to defend what we might call “the public interest” in these matters.

Politicians and interest groups that have big plans for the public lands often try to smooth folks by saying “our plans in no way involve our wonderful national parks.”  What they don’t say is their plans will affect maybe millions of acres of BLM lands.

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* As a political scientist I prefer the more neutral term “interest group, which simply means an organized group that seeks to have the government do (or not do) something over which it has jurisdiction.

Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team — raise GYE grizzly mortality limits?

IGBC has hard time understanding Judge Molloy ruled against them not because of grizzly mortality, but lack of food for grizzly in the area-

Perhaps the bear population could withstand more deaths; and, hey why not acquiesce with what is already happening? Bear bureaucrats could call that “adaptive management.” However, Judge Molloy didn’t relist the greater Yellowstone grizzly because too many bears were being killed. Oh well, here’s the story . . .

Link fixed! Grizzly group [IGBC] eyes raising bear death limits. Conservationists contest idea that more bruins could die without hurting regional population. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide.

And grizzly conservation groups need to push not so much on holding down the mortality limits as enlarging the great bear’s primary conservation area.

October was a bad month for grizzly bears in NW Montana

October is always bad; this year worse.

Even so,  NW Montana grizzly mortality is low compared to that in Greater Yellowstone. It’s pretty clear to me that the Yellowstone grizzly needed to be put back on the list, just as Judge Molloy did. Fortunately, grizzly deaths are down this year in the Greater Yellowstone.

Grizzly bears fared poorly this October in Montana.  By Rob Chaney. The Missoulian

Shooting of collared wolves impacts research

Game managers may make changes in hunting season for next year-

Wow! The stories about the shooting of the Park wolves who happened to be just north of the Park keep coming. This is another one.

This one today is by Brett French in the Billings Gazette.

Actually we don’t know that this hasn’t happened in Idaho too.  Idaho’s “Upper Snake” wolf hunting zone wraps around the SW corner of Yellowstone Park and almost touches Grand Teton NP where the wolf population seems to have been expanding a bit lately.

Idaho doesn’t report where the wolf kills took place  except by zone. Last week I called Idaho’s wolf manager for additional info, but he never returned my message. You have to wonder.

Yellowstone roads close Monday – Nov 2

Road from Gardiner to Mammoth to Cooke City remains open–

Standard Yellowstone closing comes. Details.

Yellowstone Park wolves to decline for second year in a row

27 % decline in 2008 will be followed by another decline in ’09-

At the end of 2007 there were 171 wolves that lived primarily inside Yellowstone Park, but very high pup mortality due to disease (distemper) along with the natural attrition of adult and sub-adult wolves caused a 27% decline (124 wolves). Disease had hit the pups two other years since wolves beginning in 1995 were restored to Yellowstone. In each case, pups and the population rebounded the next year. Not so in 2009.

Once again pup mortality is very high. The Druid Pack lost all 8 of its pups, for example. There is one important pup mortality difference from 2008. This year the poor pup survival does not appear to be due to a distemper outbreak or other obvious disease.

Mortality of adult wolves is increasing from the mange infestation that seeped into the Park. Mollies Pack was the first pack known to have become infested, although Park border packs in Montana in eastward in Wyoming have suffered from the debilitating mite for years now. Doug Smith, Park wolf team leader, told me that Mollies still has mange, but is showing some improvment. Perhaps the most infested pack is the famous Druids. On the northern range, the Mt. Everts Pack also struggles with mange, but the Blacktail Pack, Agate Pack, and Quadrant Packs are mange free. It is expected that at the end of the year there will probably be 6 “breeding pairs” of wolves in the Park (the same as 2008).

For the first time there are more Park packs living south of famous Northern Range. Packs inhabit all corners of the Park, although the Bechler Pack in Park’s  southwest corner lost its only radio collar when its big white founding male finally died this summer. He originally migrated from the Northern Range all the way down. He was born to the once famous Rose Creek Pack, which was slowly driven northward out of the Park by other packs to eventually disappear as a discrete entity.

The decline of Park wolves has management implications for Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Wolf managers in the states are generally quick to say,”Oh, studies show you can manage for 30% wolf mortality a year” (note that unlike with other animals, the word “manage” when used by state wolf managers always means to kill). Even some non-affiliated biologists say 30% wolf mortality a year and a stable population go together.

Data from Yellowstone Park shows this generalization has one big exception, and it would be wise to expect that more will happen on other places.

In other news, wolves have been visible inside Grand Teton National Park, with the Antelope Pack being particularly out in the open where visitors can watch them.

Wolves in hunters’ sights as Montana big-game season opens

Until now only limited parts of the state have been open of wolf hunting-
Now many hunters will be looking for wolves statewide along with many elk and deer hunts-

Hunters being given chance to manage wolves. By Rob Chaney. The Missoulian

Montana’s wolf quota of 75 is small compared to Idaho’s 220, despite Idaho’s 1/3 larger wolf population.

Controversy continues over the death of Yellowstone Park wolves that were north of the Park during the early wolf hunt. Montana wolf hunt is stalked by controversy.  The demise of a much-studied pack raises questions about lifting the hunting ban in areas bordering Yellowstone park. By Kim Murphy. Los Angeles Times. The article confirms what I have been saying, “Wolves often stalk elk outside the park and are attracted by entrails the hunters leave behind. But this year, the elk season coincided with the opening of the state’s first wolf hunt in modern times.” [emphasis mine]