Sorted by date Results 51 - 70 of 70
SEELEY LAKE - Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) euthanized a sub-adult male grizzly bear named Stevi Thursday, July 18 following a history of breaking into outbuildings and dumpsters and pursuing other attractants around homes and recreation areas, most recently in the Seeley Lake and Woodworth areas. A second young male grizzly bear was euthanized July 19 for food conditioning and sheep predation along the Marias River near the inlet of Tiber Dam. FWP bear management specialist Jamie Jonkel...
KALISPELL - Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has published three new annual reports for grizzly bear, black bear and mountain lion management in Region 1 (northwest Montana). The reports, prepared by FWP bear and lion specialists, provide an overview of management work, conflict response and prevention, monitoring, mortalities, public outreach and more in 2018. Tim Manley, a wildlife management specialist with FWP in Region 1, prepared the 2018 Grizzly Bear Management Progress Report for the...
Some watercraft inspection stations are opening across the state for the 2019 boating season, and boaters transporting motorized or non-motorized watercraft are required to stop at stations they pass, as directed by signs. Additionally, western Montana boaters should review specific watercraft inspection requirements and local station information. In west-central Montana, boaters must stop at any station they pass and also seek out an inspection (even if they don’t pass a station) if they are bringing a boat over the Continental Divide into wes...
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is proposing to re-establish self-sustainable sharp-tailed grouse populations west of the Continental Divide. FWP would achieve this objective through reintroductions of sharp-tailed grouse in core areas with the most suitable habitat including the Blackfoot Valley, the northern Bitterroot Valley and the Drummond Area. FWP would capture a total of 75-180 grouse each year for five years across Regions 4, 5, 6 and 7. Capture locations would be dispersed in a way...
KALISPELL — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is hosting four upcoming public meetings to discuss deer populations and potential future management strategies for hunting seasons in northwest Montana. FWP Region 1 staff are hoping to engage the public in an open discussion about the future direction for deer hunting after back-to-back harsh winters impacted fawn recruitment and a low hunter harvest this fall. The meetings are not formal public hearings and will feature informational presentations on historical and current white-tailed and mule d...
11 was a big year for Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks and its aquatic invasive species program with a record number of watercrafts inspected, record number of water samples analyzed and no mussel larvae or adult mussels detected. “Our AIS staff and partners have done fantastic work to increase our watercraft inspection and monitoring efforts,” said Tom Woolf, AIS bureau chief for FWP. “And we are doing a better job informing boaters, anglers, irrigators and others about what they can do to help stop AIS.” Some highlights from this boating...
KALISPELL - A public information meeting on the conservation and management of mountain lion populations in Montana is scheduled for Nov. 29 in Kalispell. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. at the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 1 headquarters, 490 N. Meridian, Kalispell, MT. FWP Biologist Jay Kolbe will present information from the new draft Montana Mountain Lion Monitoring and Management Strategy, which is open for public comment until Jan. 11. Kolbe and other FWP staff will be available to answer questions, but the meeting is...
Big game harvest in west-central Montana maintained a steady pace through the fourth weekend of the general hunting season, bringing totals in line with average. At the hunter check station near Bonner, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) biologists and University of Montana student volunteers have checked 61 elk, 31 mule deer and 202 white-tailed deer so far this hunting season. Bonner’s elk total is lower than last year’s 76, but higher than the five-year average for this point in the hunting season. The white-tailed deer total at Bon...
KALISPELL - A Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologist has identified an innovative approach to investigating illegal fish introductions and his research is being published in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal. Sam Bourret, a fisheries biologist based out of FWP's Region 1 office in Kalispell, was the lead author of a manuscript titled, "Using forensic geochemistry via fish otoliths to investigate an illegal fish introduction." The findings will be featured in the November...
While hunter activity and harvest picked up in the third weekend of the general big game season in west-central Montana, mild weather conditions continued to hamper hunter success across the northwest. West-central Montana Update Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks reports that after a slow start to the season, the Bonner check station is now showing 2,625 hunter trips and the Darby station is reporting 2,144, inching within 10 percent and four percent of hunter activity reported at this time last year. Elk harvests of 50 checked at Bonner and 95...
Montana's 2018 big game hunting season opened Oct. 20 with a light harvest under sunny skies and unseasonably warm temperatures in western Montana. Hunters are encouraged to check the Montana hunting regulations for the district they plan to hunt before hitting the field. Hunters must stop at all check stations that they pass, even if they have not harvested any animals. The general rifle season for deer and elk runs through Sunday, Nov. 25. Hunters are reminded to "Be Bear Aware" and properly s...
OVANDO — Bear activities continue in Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 1. A young male grizzly was relocated from the Ovando to the Flathead National Forest after getting into unsecured garbage. Montana is bear country. Black bears and grizzly bears are actively seeking food sources before winter. FWP personnel captured the young male grizzly bear near Ovando Sept. 19 and moved it to a remote section of Flathead National Forest land near Marias Pass. The 190-pound subadult male was eating unsecured garbage on residential property in the O...
KALISPELL — The Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved language for a proposed administrative rule that would codify population objectives for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The decision Aug. 9 sets into motion a public comment period that will run from Aug. 24 through Oct. 26. Public hearings will be held in Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls and Conrad. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff will explain and answer questions about the proposed population objectives at the hearings and take public comment. T...
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is proposing an administrative rule to codify the population objectives detailed in the conservation strategy for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. The Fish and Wildlife Commission will vote on the proposed rule during their Aug. 9 meeting. If the proposed rule is approved by the commission, it will move into a public comment period by late August and ultimately go back to the commission for final approval in December. “By proposing this administrative rule, we are committing to k...
As summertime temperatures heat up and the chance to cool down in the water arrives, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is reminding people that building dams in creeks and streams can have negative consequences for fish. This is especially true for species such as bull trout, which ascend small tributaries in late summer to spawn. In recent years, FWP has noticed an increasing number of dams being built in small streams. These harmful features are often built near campgrounds, most likely to pool...
Each spring, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks receives several calls from people who have picked up deer fawns or other wildlife. FWP no longer accepts, holds or rehabilitates ungulates like deer, moose and elk because the animals often die from the stress of captivity, and because of concerns with the spread of disease. There are many cases in which good intentions lead to dire consequences. One spring in Miles City, a person saw a fledgling bald eagle hopping around on the ground, which is...
Due to extremely high water, flood conditions and associated public safety concerns, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) closed many fishing access sites (FASs) around west-central Montana May 10 under the direction of the Incident Command for the Missoula flood. FWP also closed the gates or created temporary barriers at many other FASs around the region, along the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers. FASs with limited access remain open to walk-in use but people are urged to avoid these areas and...
The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Anaconda watercraft inspection station intercepted a boat carrying zebra mussels Friday. The cabin cruiser was being transported from Ohio to Puget Sound in Washington. The inspection station reported that many mussels were found in the boat’s gimbal area, the trim tabs and several crevices. The boat was wrapped in shrink wrap, and inspectors hot-washed the exterior of the boat to the best of their ability. The inspectors were not able to flush the motors, bilge pump or any other part of the boat. The t...
HELENA - Water samples from Tiber Reservoir east of Shelby have tested positive for the larvae of aquatic invasive mussels, with similar tests from Canyon Ferry Reservoir near Helena showing “suspect” or inconclusive results, according to officials at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP). FWP, along with other state and federal agencies and the Montana Invasive Species Advisory Council (MISAC), are now working to determine whether adult mussels are present in Tiber Reservoir and to get further test results on Canyon Ferry. “This is the first...
MISSOULA - The big game general hunting season closed on Sunday evening with higher numbers than last season of hunter trips, harvested animals and percentages of hunters with game in west-central Montana. Elk and mule deer harvests were higher than last year but white-tailed deer harvest tapered off in the last weekend to dip slightly below last year's tally through the three hunter check stations in west-central Montana. Season totals at Bonner were slightly higher than last year's final...
