Montana
Montana's Grizzly Bear Dilemma: New Tool Revealed For Public Awareness
We hear a lot in the headlines this time of the year about conflicts with people and grizzly bears in Montana.
Multiple incidents of run-ins with bears have been reported, some involving early-season hunters running into bears. Others were hikers who inadvertently started a bear on a foggy mountain on the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park.
Not all of those end in the deaths of a bear in a self-defense situation, or in cases where FWP has to euthanize a bear that’s become accustomed to getting its food from people while packing on calories for the upcoming hibernation.
Now, the state is trying something different, to not only give people a better accounting of the numbers of the grizzlies that are dying but also to educate people on details so they can be more “bear aware”.
READ MORE: Advice on Staying Bear Aware During Hunting Season
This week, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is rolling out a new tool where the public can keep track of grizzly mortality.
The Grizzly Bear Mortality Dashboard is a new, online tool showing information as to what leads to a grizzly death, whether in a self-defense situation or where a “problem bear” had to be destroyed. It covers the entire state, outside of tribal lands. The agency’s idea is to educate people on how to prevent conflicts. The link is on the state’s Grizzly Bear Management page.
How the Montana Grizzly Mortality site will be used
“This dashboard allows us to be transparent with the public on what kinds of mortality we’re seeing and what the causes are,” explained FWP Chief of Conservation Policy Quentin Kujala.”It will also help reinforce our consistent message of securing attractants and being bear aware to avoid conflicts.”
The site is also part of the state’s efforts to eventually take over management of the big bears if they are removed from the federal Endangered Species List. A final environmental impact statement explaining those plans was released earlier this month.
Fall is Best Season in Troy, MT
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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