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On September 14 and 15 Katie Fite and I visited the Miller Creek Allotment on the Mountain City Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest to check out the riparian areas there. What we found was just a horrible mess that any land manager should be embarrassed about enough to actually do something about but,…
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Here is an interesting story about the wanderings of a GPS collared grizzly that swam across Flathead Lake in Montana. It swam from the west side of the lake to several islands then on to the other side where she settled in as a Swan Lake bear. Out for a swim: Grizzly conquers lake by…
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Hiker outraged at bovine caused mess at what is arguably Idaho’s most beautiful alpine lake- The Pioneers are the second highest mountain range in Idaho. They are of beautiful, hard glaciated rock, carved into giant peaks, spires, lake-filled cirques and waterfalls with wildflower meadows some of the time before the cattle reach them. Livestock grazing…
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A textbook example of how do it wrong? A couple hiking to Wapiti Lake in Yellowstone Park surprised a grizzly bear and soon the man was dead. The woman had minor injuries. Bear experts have issued a report on the incident. They suggest that because the couple fled from the surprised bear, and screaming and…
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Anti-wolf extremists seek to threaten reporting on wolves- It seems like a fair piece to me, although the report consistently overestimates the number of wolves. There are no longer 1700 wolves in the Northern Rockies. There never were 1000 in Idaho though this is what the report says. Cowboys v. Gray Wolves. The usual suspects…
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Changes help livestock industry overall but does it change much on the ground for wildlife? Last week it was announced that another herd of cattle had likely become infected with brucellosis. Six cattle from a herd in Park County, Montana tested positive for exposure and have been quarantined to await test results to confirm the…
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Risch, Crapo, Labrador introduce bill to allow people to defend themselves during grizzly bear attacks — a cynical redundancy! They already can. We knew Idaho’s congressional delegation would try to make hay over the recent death of one of two bear hunters who wounded a grizzly bear, tracked it and was killed when it charged.…
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There is a fight going on in Oregon between wolf advocates and ranchers. Nothing new right? Well, this one has a twist. As it stands now, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) biologists are who make the determinations as to whether a wolf is responsible for killing livestock or not. Ranchers don’t like that…