Field reports: Montana prepares grizzly bear hunting plan
HUNTING – If grizzly bears are removed from the endangered species list, Montana wants to be ready with a hunting plan.
State wildlife officials this week released draft regulations for grizzly bear hunting in anticipation of the federal government removing the grizzly from the endangered species list.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is proposing spring and fall hunting seasons in seven districts near the border of Yellowstone National Park. Each district would have a quota on the number of bears that can be killed.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a proposal for removing the grizzly bear’s Endangered Species Act protections in March. It sets limits on how many bears can be killed within a 19,279-square-mile area that includes Yellowstone National Park and parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.
The draft plan would give Wyoming 58 percent of the total number of bears that can be killed, Montana 34 percent and Idaho 8 percent.
Ranch deal expands
Montana preserve
HABITAT – A huge Montana nature reserve added a 47,000-acre historic ranch to its patchwork of lands along the Missouri River on Friday, a significant step in a privately funded effort to stitch together a Connecticut-sized park where bison would replace livestock and cattle fences give way to open range.
The PN Ranch north of Winifred sprawls across rugged badlands, tall grass prairie and cottonwood-filled valleys. It’s almost wholly within the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.
Its purchase by the American Prairie Reserve comes amid tensions with some in central Montana who see the project’s rapid expansion over the past decade as an encroachment on their way of life.
For now, reserve representatives said, it will be managed as a livestock operation.
Far-flung bird talks
BIRDING – Members from Audubon Society chapters in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene are bringing back slide programs from distant birding destinations this week:
Tuesday –Birding in Cuba, 7 p.m., at Lutheran Church of the Master, 4800 N. Ramsey Rd., sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Audubon Society.
Wednesday — Birding in Borneo, 7:30 p.m. at Riverview Community Building, 2117 E. North Crescent Ave., by Spokane Audubon.
Paddling clinics offered
BOATING –A series of paddling clinics for canoes, kayaks and sea kayaks on flatwater and rivers will begin this week with an annual skills program offered by the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club.
The first in the series is the Flatwater Canoeing Clinic for solo and tandem canoeists set for Saturday at Medical Lake.
Following clinics cover moving water canoeing, recreational kayaking and sea kayaking.
Preregistration required at www.sckc.ws.
Info: (509) 325-2338 or email clinics@sckc.ws.
Gear swap seeks vendors
OUTGEAR – Planning is underway for a June 11 Gear Swap featuring hunting, fishing, camping and sporting gear sponsored by the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council at its facilities at 6116 N. Market St.
The council is making reservations for private vendors who’d like to sell from 10-by-10 foot spaces for $15 outside or $20 inside. A federal firearms license facilitator will be on site for gun transfers.
Info: 487-8552; inwc.org