Field Reports
WILDLIFE REFUGES
Kootenai friends needed
A program about forming a volunteer friends group for Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge is scheduled for 7 p.m., April 15, at the refuge Environmental Education Center west of Bonners Ferry. Coffee and desert will be served.
Kathy Woodward, a volunteer and friend of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey and Mike Blenden of the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado will speak.
Info: (208) 267-3888.
Rich Landers
SKI PATROL
Mt. Spokane recruiting
The Mt. Spokane Ski Patrol is recruiting candidates to join the patrol for the 2005-2006 season. Information about the patrol and the requirements for becoming a member will be presented 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the patrol’s building at Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park.
Info: Jackie Hughes, 928-3261 or e-mail patrolrecruiter@yahoo.com.
Rich Landers
SAILING
Learn sport at CdA
A Coeur d’Alene group is making it a breeze to learn how to sail with spring sailing courses geared to adult and youths, plus one that focuses on costal navigation.
This will be the third year for the youth programs and the second year for the adult program, said Gaston Martin, club spokesman and a U.S. Sailing certified instructor.
The youth sailing camp runs for six weeks from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. on designated weekday evenings. The adult class runs on a similar schedule for 12 weeks. Both courses start May 2. Registration deadline is April 18.
The courses include practical sessions aboard a boat and classroom theory sessions, all based out of Coeur d’Alene.
The association provides the boat, meeting rooms and course materials for a fee of $125 with discounts for families.
The association has other programs, including racing.
Martin has scheduled two information meetings on Saturday: 2 p.m. at the Idaho Fish and Game Office, 2750 W. Kathleen Ave. in Coeur d’Alene, and at 4:30 p.m. at the Manito Library in Spokane. Info: www.ussailing.net/csa or contact Martin in Spokane at 838-1266 or e-mail gastonfmartin@hotmail.com.
Rich Landers
PUBLIC LANDS
Access fees debated
Public land usage fees proposed by the Bush administration could be what keep recreational facilities open, a top Montana Bureau of Land Management official recently told Montana legislators as he defended the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.
The proposed charges should not be thought of as a fee, said BLM state director Marty Ott, speaking one week after the Montana Legislature passed a resolution asking Congress to reconsider the federal legislation.
“It’s an investment in providing you and thousands of other Montanans with what they seek in an out-of-doors experience,” Ott said.
Ott said federal agencies are still not allowed to charge for general public land access. Instead, the federal legislation re-authorizes agencies such as the BLM and U.S. Forest Service to collect payment at certain developed recreation areas, such as some campgrounds, boat launches, picnic areas and visitor centers. Those agencies will be allowed to keep 80-95 percent of the fees for area projects.
“Prior to 1996, fees paid by visitors seldom stayed where they were collected,” Ott said. “Most of the money went straight to the Treasury.”
The legislation signed by President Bush in December adds another 10 years to a temporary fee enacted in 1996, and renewed by Congress every two years since then.
The BLM collected $291,000 in Montana last year, said spokeswoman Marilyn Krause.
Associated Press
CONSERVATION
Preserve works too well
Montana Lawmakers have voted to eliminate a bird preserve near Choteau, citing complaints about damage the deer population has caused in and around the preserve.
The measure eliminates the Teton Spring Creek Bird Preserve, which was established in 1923.
Ranchers with land in and around the preserve boundaries have complained for years that the deer living there eat a lot of hay and leave much more unusable as livestock feed because of droppings and urine.
Rifle hunting is not allowed within the preserve, but the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks began allowing limited archery hunting within the boundaries in 1976.
The agency had planned a rifle hunt on lands just outside the preserve beginning in January, but a group of area homeowners threatened a lawsuit over safety concerns.
But the bill could allow the state to allow some other form of hunting.
The preserve was established as a place for ring-necked pheasants to flourish. It is one of 46 established by the Montana Legislature between 1911 and 1936. If the governor signs the bill to eliminate the Teton Spring Creek preserve, only five would remain.
Associated Press