Please take a moment to email Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in support of its proposed "no-wake" rules for Echo Lake (and its adjoining Abbott and Peterson Lakes) when it is above flood stage - as it has been the past two summers!
Wakes from motor boats during high water is causing damage to Flathead County's Causeway Road, its public boat launch, and to private property and shoreline around the lake.
No-wake rules during high water will still allow slow motor boating, offer unique quiet time for paddling on these otherwise busy lakes, and help protect private and public property from unnecessary erosion.
Please send a short email in support of the proposed rules to FWP's Martha Abbrescia at mabbrescia@mt.gov by Feb. 22!
Or attend FWP's public hearing in the matter at 7 pm, Feb 19, at the Hampton Inn, 1140 Hwy 2 West, Kalispell.
Click here to read the Flathead Beacon article.
Click here to read FWP's press release.
Click here to access the proposed rules and/or submit a comment via FWP's web site.
Attend a Forward for Climate rally this Sunday, February 17, at noon in Bigfork, Whitefish, Kalispell, or a city near you! We must MOVE FORWARD NOW!
The four-frame photo of the wolverine above was taken in July by Chad Harder, in the late-season Montana snowpack absolutely essential to wolverine raising their young.
Fish and Wildlife Service predicts these already limited habitats will decline by 63% in this century due to climate warming - threatening the wolverine with extinction in the lower 48 states!
But it's not just wildlife that is at risk, a few degrees of climate warming threatens the very existence of human civilization as well!
If you need convincing, take a few minutes to watch this video on "climate warming made simple" by David Roberts.
We cannot afford to dig up the Alberta tar sands and Montana's coal, selling it to China or elsewhere so it can be spewed into an already warming atmosphere that we all share!
The time for a change in our energy sources and consumption is NOW, before it is too late!
Please act this Sunday to move us Forward for Climate.
For more info visit Forward for Climate: 3 Flathead Valley Rallies, or visit 350.org to learn about the main Washington DC rally or search for a same-day rally in your neighborhood!
Sign a letter to President Obama here, urging him to take firm action on climate change!
Kalispell location: Depot Park at the corner of Center Street and Main Whitefish location: Corner of 2nd Street and Spokane Avenue Bigfork location: Harvest Foods roadside along Hwy 35.
Thank you very much for your support of Swan View Coalition's work in 2012!
Your donations and letters helped secure key habitats for fish, wildlife and people - among them:
1. An injunction against the trapping of imperiled wolverine!
2. Stopping three timber sales on the Flathead National Forest that would log key lynx habitats!
3. Removal of Big Creek, a bull trout stronghold, from the list of "impaired" watersheds, largely through the removal of 60 miles of old logging roads!
4. Stopping the felling of hundreds of the Flathead's biggest and best larch trees simply to collect the cones!
5. The removal of breakneck bike ramps on Crane Mountain trails shared with hikers and horseback riders!
If you'd still like to support our work and get a tax-deductible receipt for 2012, you've two days left to hit the Donate Now button on this page or send a check to 3165 Foothill Road, Kalispell, MT 59901!
Again, thank you for contributing to our success in 2012 and we'll see you in 2013!
The Flathead National Forest has cancelled its plans to kill up to 270 of its best and biggest larch trees just to collect the seed!
MANY THANKS to those of you that were among the 97% of commenters opposed to killing the big trees when there are so many non-lethal ways to collect larch cones and seed!
Let's hope the Flathead has continued good success with its larch nursery and continues to recognize it need not kill big larch trees to meet its seed collection needs!
Click here to read the Flathead's cancellation letter.
Click here to read our prior alerts in this matter and for background information.
Montana District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock has issued a temporary restraining order stopping Montana's wolverine trapping season!
The order was issued on the eve of the trapping season set to begin December 1, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of Swan View Coalition and several other conservation groups.
Judge Sherlock concluded "Balancing the loss of a ‘recreational harvest opportunity' against the possible damage to a potentially endangered species, the Court finds equity lies in favor of issuing a temporary restraining order."
Click here to read WELC's press release.
Click here to read the Missoulian article.
Click here to read the Court Order.
Click here to read more about our lawsuit.
Click here to make a donation!
Twas the eve before trapping season When all through the woods All the creatures declared WELC delivered the goods!
Our Holidays 2012 edition of Swan View's News looks at our accomplishments and the path ahead - as the Flathead National Forest prepares to revise its Forest Plan!
Click here to view or download our Holidays 2012 newsletter!
Below is the table of contents:
Please DONATE NOW to help us raise $14,000 in December to support our work and meet our year-end budget!
Thank You and Happy Holidays!
It's been 28 years since a bunch of neighbors banded together to protect the visual and ecological integrity of the Swan Range from clear-cut logging, road-building, and recreation run-amok.
We at Swan View Coalition wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and THANK YOU for your loyal support of our continued work!
May you spend considerable time with friends and family this coming week, enjoy the places you love, and hold in your hearts those who cannot.
You can help support Whitefish Legacy Partners trails for hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers today!
All it takes is two quick emails from you!
1. Click here to help Whitefish Legacy Partners urge the State Land Board to approve Montana Dept. of Natural Resources and Conservation's (DNRC's) implementation of Partners' trails, recreation and land licenses north of Highway 93 - with the blessings of the City of Whitefish!
2. Send an email to DNRC's Greg Poncin at gponcin@mt.gov and urge him to:
a. Support Whitefish Legacy Partners trails, recreation and land licenses south of Highway 93 in the Spencer Mountain area.
b. Establish clear criteria and standards for determining which previously unauthorized "free-ride" bicycle features will be removed, retained or reconstructed to protect public resources and public safety on Spencer Mountain.
We feel this is an opportunity to support a well-organized effort to ensure multiple uses of public trails are compatible with one another.
Click here to read Swan View's letter to Mr. Poncin.
Click here to see Mr. Poncin's letter and map inviting public comment on management of the Spencer Mountain area.
Click here to see a larger version of Whitefish Legacy Partners' map of its overall project.
Click here to read the Daily Inter Lake's article describing how the several parts of Partners plan fit together.
Swan Lake District Ranger Rich Kehr has announced breakneck biking "challenge features" will be removed from the Beardance and Crane Creek Trails this fall and next spring!
This after hiking the trails on October 16 with his new recreation staff, trail volunteer Ron Cron, and Swan View Coalition Chair Keith Hammer.
He deserves your thanks and your urging he remove ALL of them!
Please email Ranger Kehr today at rkehr@fs.fed.us and consider the following:
1. Thank him for finding breakneck biking "challenge features" like ramps and jumps must be removed from these trails to protect public safety and comply with trail objectives of being shared with hikers, horseback riders and other mountain bike riders.
2. Urge him to identify as "challenge features" and remove all log ramps not needed to cross wet areas already remedied by trail tread relocation and rock work. Only three of the many log ramps are actually needed as bridges for foot and bike over wet areas.
3. Thank him for restoring the upper two miles of the Beardance Trail to its historic location, rather than shifting use to an old road infested with weeds and not cleared of fallen trees.
Click here to read the Bigfork Eagle article about his decision.
Click here to read Swan View Coalition's request that Ranger Kehr clarify which log features will be retained to "provide trail passage over wet areas." Our letter PDF includes a 25-photo array that provides the big picture of what went awry on these trails, in violation of "tread lightly and leave no trace" ethics.
Ranger Kehr has sent the message breakneck biking ramps and jumps can't be built at will nor interfere with the use of trails shared by hikers, horseback riders and other mountain bikers.
Your email to him today can help insure the line he draws is clear and need not be revisited time and again on Crane Mountain and elsewhere!
The Summer-Fall 2012 issue of Swan View's News examines how we are navigating collaboration, bullying and vandalism on the Flathead National Forest!
The table of contents is shown below; click here for the entire newsletter in PDF.
URGENT UPDATE: Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks denied our petition to end the trapping of imperiled wolverine in Montana (see page 4 of the newsletter), so we've been left with no choice but to file a lawsuit against MDFWP! Click here to read the update.
Please make a donation today to help cover the costs of the three lawsuits discussed in our newsletter; all needed to protect the habitat of increasingly rare forest carnivores like pine marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine!
Do it today and Cinnabar Foundation will match your donation!
And don't forget our annual meeting on November 11 (see page 6 of the newsletter).
Page: ←123456789101112131415161718→
