Montana
Montana FWP launches grizzly bear mortality dashboard
As Montana pushes to have grizzly bears delisted from Endangered Species Act protections in portions of the state, the state’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has launched an information dashboard to track human-caused grizzly bear deaths.
FWP said in a news release the dashboard is part of an effort to increase transparency, educate Montanans on why grizzlies are killed or die when they are currently federally protected, and to show that its management strategy has the state ready to manage grizzly bears in portions of the state on its own.
“Tracking grizzly bear mortality is a key metric when we look at bear management,” said Quentin Kujala, FWP’s chief of conservation policy. “This dashboard allows us to be transparent with the public on what kinds of mortality we’re seeing and what the causes are. It will also help reinforce our consistent message of securing attractants and being bear aware to avoid conflicts.”
The release of the dashboard also comes after the killing of nine grizzlies in Montana since the start of August, and 15 total since the start of July. In August, three were killed by U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services because of livestock conflicts, another was killed by a car or train in Lewis and Clark County, two in Pondera County were illegally killed, and one in Powell County was killed because it had been getting into chicken coops and garbage near homes.
Two bears have been killed in September. One was killed in Gallatin County by hunters after it charged them, FWP said, while the other was euthanized south of Libby after getting into chicken coops and other attractants.
In total this year, according to the dashboard, 22 grizzly bears have died in human-caused deaths.
The Gianforte administration has asked, and pushed for, grizzlies to be delisted in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystems. Grizzly bears are currently a threatened species in the Lower 48, but conservation groups believe the state is only interested in allowing grizzlies to be hunted, which they say could threaten the recovery the population has undergone.
The state earlier this month released its final environmental impact statement for its grizzly bear management plan, another step the state hopes will convince the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to agree to delist the bears in the two ecosystems. It also this summer translocated two grizzlies from northwestern Montana to the Yellowstone ecosystem as part of those efforts.
The federal government said earlier this year it will release a decision on whether to delist the grizzlies in those two ecosystems by the end of January.
The dashboard will update every day at 1 p.m. and will reset at the start of each new year but contain data from previous years in its archive. FWP said tracking grizzly bear populations and mortalities will be a key piece in the state’s effort to manage grizzlies.
“We know the public is interested and passionate about grizzly bears and their management,” Kujala said in a statement. “This dashboard lets them see what’s happening with bear mortalities on a daily basis.”
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
Brian Miller won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the U.S. House seat in Montana’s eastern district.
The Associated Press called the race for Miller, an attorney in Helena, who fended off a challenge from state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, a longtime legislator from Box Elder, and Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls.
In the Republican and rural eastern district, any Democrat will be an underdog, and Miller will face off against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Libertarian Patrick McCracken is also running.
In the primary, Miller took 58% of the vote. Lux took 27% and Windy Boy took 16%, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website.
In April, Windy Boy paused his campaign amid “serious sexual abuse” allegations raised by the Montana Democratic Party — but Windy Boy restarted his campaign and later called the allegations “political attacks.”
Miller is representing the victim of the alleged abuse and her mother, although he said he didn’t take on the role until after Windy Boy initially suspended his campaign.
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