Field Reports
Two gruesome accidents in three days recently on Canyon Ferry Reservoir have Montana parks officials pleading with boaters to observe basic safety regulations.
“A 55-year-old Butte woman was ejected from the bow of a motorboat when it hit a wave. She was struck by the propeller and killed.
“A 26-year-old Helena man fell off the front of a pontoon boat, and was struck in the leg by the propeller.
“The gentleman was sitting on the front end of the pontoon boat, dangling his feet in the water, and they were going full speed,” said Phil Kilbreath, a water safety officer for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “Something happened, and he fell off the boat and went between the pontoons and the outboard engine.”
Bow-riding is especially dangerous if riders are not wearing life jackets and sitting down in their seats.
If a passenger falls out on the left front of the bow, the driver is inclined to turn right to avoid him, Kilbreath said. “However, that swings the engine and propeller toward the person.”
Staff and wire reports
FISHERIES
Rotenone possible for area lakes
More than 10 lakes in Grant, Okanogan and Stevens counties are proposed for treatment with rotenone to kill carp, sunfish, tench and other non-game fish populations to make room for stocking with trout.
Public meetings are scheduled to explain the projects and take public comment.
The lakes include:
Grant County: Park, Blue, Rainbow, Warden, South Warden, Index and Mirror Pond.
Okanogan County: Pearrygin and Long.
Stevens County: McDowell Lake (Stevens County).
A meeting has already been held to discuss McDowell Lake. The next meeting is in Ephrata, 6 p.m., July 13, Ephrata High School auditorium.
Rich Landers
NATIONAL FORESTS
Join forest staff on roadless tours
Colville National Forest officials are inviting the public to join forest staff as they go into the field to inventory roadless areas for the revision of the forest management plan.
The remaining surveys are scheduled for July 10-15. A map of the areas can be found at www.fs.fed.us/r6/ colville/cow.
Call the district rangers to sign up for a tour.
Republic: Pete Forbes, (509) 775-7400.
Newport and Sullivan Lake: Betty Higgins, (509) 447-7300.
Three Rivers: Fred Way, (509) 738-7700.
Rich Landers
MARINE MAMMALS
Humpbacks rule in Glacier Bay
To the delight of tourists, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve continues to be a popular draw for humpback whales.
In a monitoring program that started in 1985, National Park researchers have found the combined number of whales last summer in Glacier Bay and nearby Icy Strait set a record for the third year in a row.
Tourists are astounded by the whales, puffins, bears and other marine wildlife in a stunning setting, said Corey Child, general manager of the Glacier Bay Lodge, inside the nearly 3.3 million-acre Southeast Alaska national park.
A total of 145 whales were observed in the study area from the beginning of June to the end of August. In Glacier Bay, researchers spotted 103 humpbacks. Eighty-eight whales were spotted in Icy Strait south of the entrance to Glacier Bay.
The whales aren’t the only ones being attracted to the park. Most of the park’s visitors arrive by cruise ship. Last summer, cruise ship visitors numbered 341,356.
Associated Press
NATURAL RESOURCES
Feds race looters to ancient sites
Government-funded archaeologists are making a major push to survey ancient sites across a remote stretch of southern Utah before looters can scoop up the last artifacts.
The team, from the University of Colorado-Boulder, is recovering the best treasures before they disappear from the ground along Comb Ridge, an 80-mile monocline worshipped by American Indian cultures as the very spine of earth.
Another team, from Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park, is shoring up crumbing walls of ancient dwellings at 10 sites in the same the same region, about 300 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
The BLM is trying to get out a cautionary message to a growing number of visitors who are loving some ancient settlements to death.
“It’s like the birders. People keep lists and want to see these special places,” said Shelley Smith, BLM branch chief for recreation, wilderness, cultural and fossil resources. “We’re starting to call them the ‘accidental vandals.’ They lean on the walls to get a good picture. They take a corn cob with them, a pottery shard.”
Associated Press