http://www.greateryellowstone.org/news Latest News From the Greater Yellowstone Coalition en-us Tue, 10 Jun 2009 09:41:01 GMT Weblog Editor 2.0 5 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1540 Editor's note:PXP's leases are perfectly legal, so the ideal here is to buy them out. The Hoback River, which could see a gas field developed in its upper reaches, was placed on a list of the most endangered rivers in the U.S. this week by the conservation group American Rivers. The Hoback’s position on the list was moved to fifth most endangered river, up from seventh in 2011. A group of river enthusiasts shed light on the issue by inviting conservationists and the press to accompany them on their annual trip down the Hoback on Thursday. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1540 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1541 Editor's note: It's incredible how far wolves can travel. This journey comes on the heels of OR7's walk through Oregon into California earlier this year. The gray wolf found dead Monday morning near Pine Ridge made a 400-mile journey from Yellowstone National Park to southwest South Dakota in less than two months, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf specialist said Tuesday. Mike Jimenez of Jackson, Wyo., said information received from the radio-transmitter collar on the wolf identified it as a 3- to 4-year-old male that was part of a wolf pack in the southeast part of Yellowstone. “This wolf was born in Yellowstone Park and was part of the Yellowstone Delta Pack, about a dozen animals in the very far southeastern corner of the park,” Jimenez said. “It was a pack member there until late March or early April and then it took off.” To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1541 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1537 Editor's note: The helicopter is the only legal way to haze Yellowstone bison off private lands, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out in a state where private property rights supposedly are paramount. HELENA — A federal judge on Monday blocked Montana officials from driving wild bison back into Yellowstone National Park with a helicopter after wildlife advocates argued hazing from the air could harm grizzly bears in the area. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell grounds plans by the Montana Department of Livestock to hire a helicopter Tuesday to haze about 70 bison out of the Hebgen Basin west of the park before cattle are moved into the area to graze. Christian Mackay, the agency's executive officer, said he will instead ask the state wildlife department and National Park Service for additional personnel to assist six or eight horseback riders now slated to drive the bison on the ground. He said he did not know how effective they will be without the noise from the air to scare the animals. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1537 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1538 Editor's note: It's good to see the hunting community speak up in favor of expanding habitat for wild Yellowstone bison. A proposal to let bison roam wild and hunted in Montana attracted both supporters and opponents at a scoping meeting in Missoula on Monday evening. When Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 2 Supervisor Mack Long asked for help "developing the issues and concerns out there with bison management," about 40 people gave an hour and a half of their time to air their thoughts. The audience included a number of ranchers and landowners wearing anti-bison buttons as well as a lot of hunters and wildlife advocates who favored adding another wild ungulate to Montana's public land. FWP bison specialist Arnie Dood stressed that no bison plan exists now. Missoula's scoping meeting was the first of a series taking place across the state to gather informal comments about what the plan should consider. Dood said that by this fall, FWP should have enough public response to flesh out a proposal of where and how many bison might be wanted or tolerated. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1538 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1539 Editor's note: The Sleeping Giant Ski Hill is about 45 miles west of Cody along US 14-16. es, the area around the Sleeping Giant Ski Area is good grizzly bear habitat, and yes, it’s a popular place for the bears.But Shoshone National Forest managers say that doesn’t mean the slope is off-limits for a summer zip line course. Forest managers said at a May 8 meeting in Cody that they believe they can mitigate the impacts of putting a new summertime attraction in bear country.Some of the possible steps Shoshone officials outlined included closing a picnic area to offset the new development, crafting a June through September operating season that begins after and ends before grizzlies’ most active seasons, and barring riders from bringing food or drinks on the line.Speaking at a Park County Commission meeting last week, Shoshone Supervisor Joe Alexander said a lot of people mistakenly believe the grizzly bear conservation strategy is designed to restrict human activity in the ecosystem. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1539 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1528 Editor's note: This is an expanded version of an earlier op-ed on public lands by GYC's Jeff Welsch that ran in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The piece was picked up by High Country News for distribution to its Writers on the Range clients. Of all the nutty ideas floating around the West of late — that Wyoming needs an aircraft carrier to prepare for the coming apocalypse, that Idaho residents should be allowed to lure wolves by using pets as bait, or that Yellowstone bison in Montana are “bio-terrorists” because they might cause brucellosis — none can match Utah’s on the incredulity meter. Some in the Beehive State are abuzz about the current effort to seize control of all public lands within its borders except for national parks, wilderness areas, military bases and Indian reservations. But unlike the seasonal silliness in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, this Utah land grab has traction. The state Legislature passed a bill asserting eminent domain over public lands — our lands — and the governor has signed it, pledging a lawsuit if Utah doesn’t receive nearly 30 million acres by 2015. To read the entire op-ed, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1528 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1536 Editor's note: Wyoming's flawed wolf plan continues to build momentum. Four of the five scientists who reviewed Wyoming's proposed wolf management plan said they believe it's likely to maintain a stable population in the state, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday. It was the agency's second scientific peer review of the plan. The agency is taking public comment until Wednesday. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar agreed last year to end federal protections for wolves in the state. Under their agreement, the state pledged to maintain at least 10 breeding pairs and 100 wolves outside of Yellowstone National Park. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1536 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1532 Editor's note: Politicians aren't biologists, but they continue to insist on playing them on TV and in the media. Montana has done an excellent job of managing wolves and the issue doesn't need any more politicizing than it already has. Dissatisfied with state and federal agencies’ wolf management policies, Montana politicians are taking steps to ensure they have a say in those practices. Madison County commissioners recently passed a law placing a $100 bounty on any legally killed wolf. Jefferson and Ravalli counties passed resolutions obliging wildlife agencies to notify commissioners when considering changes to predator management policies in or near their jurisdictions. And now Gallatin County commissioners may follow suit. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1532 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1529 Editor's note: The cattle industry continues its unwarranted war on Yellowstone bison. Meant to clarify the process of managing bison, the Interagency Bison Management Plan this week is providing fodder for a bison tug-of-war between opposing groups. On Friday, the Montana Farm Bureau released a statement saying federal agencies risk violating the plan if they halt helicopter use during the bison haze. MFB director John Youngberg cited the section of the plan that says bison must be moved from grazing allotments 30 days prior to the arrival of cattle. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1529 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1535 Editor's note: Our hope at GYC is that Montana's plan finds room for Yellowstone bison across the state. We are confident that the state is heading in that direction, but politics continues to stand in the way. An open house on bison management in Missoula on Monday won’t cover a lot of reasons bison have been in the news lately. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has a long-term bison conservation plan up for public review. But it has little to do with last week’s hazing bison along the borders of Yellowstone National Park, or the delivery of 80 bison to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in March, or the court order blocking further bison relocations issued on Thursday – or even a new tentative staffing agreement on the National Bison Range at Moiese. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1535