The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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HELENA – Working with the 68th Legislature, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) simplified licensing requirements on state lands as part of Governor Gianforte's Red Tape Relief Task Force. The two agencies consolidated the conservation license and state lands recreational use license into one annual conservation license, supporting the maintenance of places like fishing access sites, wildlife m...
HELENA – The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Snowmobile Advisory Committee will meet in Helena on June 23, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Montana WILD, 2668 Broadwater Ave. The mission of the committee is to advise FWP on snowmobile grooming issues related to funding, provision, development, renovation, maintenance, management, usage and promotion of snowmobile trails. Agenda items include: Snowmobile Program Standard Budgets Grooming grants Training/Education Topics 2023 l...
HELENA-When recreating on Montana's waterbodies this spring, summer and fall, be on the lookout for harmful algal blooms (HABs) that can occur on Montana's reservoirs and lakes. While not all algal blooms contain toxins, the blooms can impact human health and the health of freshwater ecosystems. Report suspected HABs at HAB.mt.gov to help others be alert and prevent illness. How to identify a HAB: A coloration or scum on the surface of the water that can look like grass...
HELENA – This hunting season, two Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks programs will open up access to more than a million acres of private and inaccessible or under accessible public land. At its meeting on June 8, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approved 49 Elk Hunting Access Agreement (EHA) applications, which will allow access to a half million acres of private land. In addition to this, in 2023 FWP staff worked with landowners to open up 540,000 acres of i...
HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will kick off the biennial hunting season-setting process earlier to allow for more public engagement and greater transparency. Public involvement will begin in June and end in November. In the past, public involvement happened primarily in December and January. FWP will conduct scoping meetings around the state from June 15 to July 15. FWP staff will look to hunters to provide broad input on regulation changes they'd like to see. S...
Spring is in full swing and bears are on the move across western Montana, and the activities of a distinctive female Grizzly and a pair of three-year-old subadults in the Lincoln Springs area have been a cause for concern among residents there. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear management specialist Jamie Jonkel said the bear has been seen in the area for some time and has never been collared, but for the first time this year she's been seen coming up onto porches....
WILDERNESS WALKS HOSTED BY WILD MONTANA'S WILD DIVIDE CHAPTER Keeping the Divide Wild: The Lincoln Prosperity Proposal Tuesday, June 6 Webinar Join us online to learn how the Lincoln Prosperity Proposal will permanently protect the wild Continental Divide around Lincoln. We'll converse with Wild Montana Federal Legislative Director Zach Angstead to get grounded in the basics of the proposal and hear what makes this landscape so special. We'll also hear from partners in the...
GREAT FALLS, Mont., May 1, 2023 - If you have ever wished to spend an entire summer on the forest, here is your chance! Recreation staff from the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest are once again recruiting volunteers to serve as campground hosts for the Many Pines and Dry Wolf Campgrounds located in the Little Belt Mountains and Thain Creek Campground located in the Highwood Mountains. "Campground hosts provide their own trailer and occupy a prominent campsite in a...
HELENA, Mont. – April 24, 2023 - This year's celebration of World Migratory Bird Day will take place at Spring Meadow State Park from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on May 6. "Thanks to our partners at Montana WILD – Fish, Wildlife and Parks, we are excited to bring the event to a more accessible location so that more families can partake in the festivities," said Denise Pengeroth, wildlife biologist and organizer of the event. Highlighted activities this year include: • Live Raptor Show...
HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on several proposals slated to go to the Fish and Wildlife Commission in June. Comment is open through May 11. After public comment, commissioners can offer amendments to the proposals as they see fit. The proposals and supporting documents, commissioner amendments and collected public comment are available on the commission webpage. The commission will make a final decision on these proposals at its meeting o...
HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is looking for approval from the Fish and Wildlife Commission to move forward with a rule making process on administrative rules that address state management of grizzly bears. The request comes as the Montana Legislature considers Senate Bill 295. The bill would further clarify how Montana will manage grizzly bears once they are removed from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Specifically, SB 295 speaks to issues of human safety, c...
HELENA – Each spring, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks receives calls from people who have picked up deer fawns or other wildlife. It's important to remember that FWP does not accept, hold or rehabilitate moose, deer, elk and most other animals. Often times, people think they are rescuing an orphaned animal. However, it's important to understand that wildlife care for their young much differently than humans. They have strategies to provide the highest chance of survival for...
HELENA – With warmer temperatures and snow quickly disappearing, shed-antler hunters are anxious to get into the field. Buck deer and bull elk and moose grow antlers each year, some to magnificent size, which drop off to regrow each spring. Hunting for and collecting these "shed" antlers in spring has become a popular activity. Many of Montana's wildlife management areas (WMAs) provide security to wildlife during the winter. However, shed hunters need to be aware that Montana's big game winter range WMAs are closed to p...
BOZEMAN - As part of a multi-state and Canadian research effort involving the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University, more than a dozen new reports summarizing the latest science and economics of structures designed to reduce animal-vehicle collisions are now available online. The Western Transportation Institute was the research lead of the Wildlife Vehicle Collision Reduction and Habitat Connectivity Pooled Fund Study, a $1.2 million project involving...
HELENA, Mont. – March 9, 2023 - The Montana Discovery Foundation and the Helena- Lewis and Clark National Forest are looking for a heritage/archeology field instructor and eleven high school students (grades 10-12) who love the outdoors-or are curious about the outdoor-based jobs-to apply to the 2023 Youth Forest Monitoring Program. "Twenty-five summers ago, this program started in response to the community's desire to see youth with a greater understanding of natural r...
FWP Header Three grizzly bears test positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza HELENA – Three juvenile grizzly bears tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus this fall. The three bears, one near Augusta, one near Dupuyer, and another near Kalispell, were observed to be in poor condition and exhibited disorientation and partial blindness, among other neurological issues. They were euthanized due to their sickness and poor condition. These were t...
Kids on snowmobiles zipped back and forth across the meadow below the Ponderosa Snow Warriors clubhouse as part of a Snowmobile Safety Education Course, Saturday, Jan. 14. Six kids enrolled in the class, which was the first one in four years. Instructor Zach Muse said snowmobile riders under the age of 18 must have a driver's license or the snowmobile safety certificate they earn during the class. "They keep it with them," Muse said of the certificate, adding they still have...
HELENA -- The Senate will now debate a bill passed in committee Friday that would double the limit on payments to landowners who opt to participate in the Block Management Program, which allows public hunting on private land through contracts with the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department. Sen. Steve Hinebauch, R-Wibaux, is sponsoring Senate Bill 58, which would increase the maximum payments for landowners from $25,000 to $50,000. The committee voted to move the bill to th...
Citing threats posed by disease and climate change, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the whitebark pine is receiving federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. A 2018 assessment found that more than half of the standing whitebark pine trees in the West had died by 2016. The die-off is largely attributed to blister rust, a non-native fungal disease. Additional threats to the species' long-term survival include mountain pine beetle infestations,...
This story is excerpted from the Montan Free Press MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday. In anticipation of eventual delisting, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has produced a proposal to guide grizzly bear management in Montana, which is home to more than half of the Lower 48's grizzlies. In an introduction to an Environmental Impact Statement accompanying the plan, FWP Director Henry "Hank" Worsech said the...
There has been a huge growth in the number of people who, in addition to feeding birds, also directly or indirectly feed deer, bear and other animals around their homes and cabins. Feeding of wildlife places wildlife at risk and puts them on a collision course with humans. Help keep wildlife from coming into conflict with people because when that happens, everyone loses. The Reality of Feeding Supplemental feeding encourages wildlife to become dependent on handouts that are...
HELENA – Montana's 2022 wolf regulations passed by the Fish and Wildlife Commission in August will go back in effect immediately after a court ruling in a lawsuit against Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks denied the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction and lifted a temporary restraining order. The lawsuit challenges Montana's wolf management. Two weeks ago the judge in the case issued a temporary restraining order reverting wolf regulations back to the 2020 wolf h...
HELENA – It is the most wonderful time of the year on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest! This year our Forest Service offices and districts will once again be providing Christmas tree permits. "The Christmas tree permit provides local communities a fun way to create adventures and family traditions on their local forest," said Forest Supervisor Emily Platt. "For safety, we advise folks to ensure they have winter essentials in their car such as chains, a shovel, e...
HELENA – On Tuesday, a District Court in Lewis and Clark County issued a temporary restraining order impacting some of Montana's wolf hunting and trapping regulations. The changes go into effect immediately. The changes outlined in the temporary restraining order are as follows: *Reinstitutes wolf management units (WMU) 110, 313, and 316 as they existed in the 2020 wolf regulations. WMU 110 borders Glacier National Park and WMUs 313 and 316 are north of Yellowstone National P...
MISSOULA –Hunter check stations in west-central Montana continue to report elk and deer harvests up from last year and the five-year average. The number of hunter trips through the check stations near Darby, Bonner, Fish Creek, and Anaconda totals 6,769 so far this season. These hunters checked 239 elk, 81 mule deer and 299 white-tailed deer, compared to 141 elk, 71 mule deer and 258 white-tailed deer at this point in the 2021 season. Cold, snowy weather began almost as s...
