Outdoors

FLATHEAD RESERVATION – Three grizzly bears have lost their lives due to separate vehicle collisions on U.S. Highway 93 on the Flathead Reservation this year.   Although collisions are down compared to 2018, when six bears were lost on the highway, ranging from cubs to an adult female and male, every bear lost is disheartening.   The first bear was hit in late September. It was a young non-lactating female found on the west side of the highway at mile marker 41. She was not marked and not previously known to the CSKT Wildlife Program.   The second grizzly bear was hit in early November. It was a young of-the-year male found north of St. Ignatius.  The th...

MONTANA — Chad Bauer, a member of Gov. Steve Bullock’s Grizzly Bear Citizen Advisory Council, expressed a sense of urgency and unease on the second morning of the council’s Dec. 4-5 meeting in Missoula.  Bauer and Bullock sat across from each other in a crowded conference room on th...

News from CSKT Division of Fire Prevention   Flathead Indian Reservation outdoor burning is closed for the winter season. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Division of Fire Prevention program would like to let the public know that debris burning closed on Nov. 30.  Open debris...

News from Montana FWP MONTANA — Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation jointly propose the purchase of a permanent recreation easement for Big Arm State Park along Flathead Lake. A draft environmental analysis detailing the proposal, includ...

News from FWP MONTANA – Samples from 25 deer harvested around the state tested positive for chronic wasting disease in November. The majority of the new positive samples were from animals harvested within CWD Management Zones, where the disease is known to exist. Two of the positive samples wer...

News from FWP MONTANA – Even though the summer season at Montana State Parks is over, plans for the management of those parks is really hitting its stride. It’s been a busy 18 months for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and state parks. Gov. Bullock’s Parks In Focus commission issue...

News from SKC  There is a public scoping meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Polson Indian Senior Citizens Center, located at 701 1st Street East, next to Western Building Center, from 3 to 7 p.m. to discuss the formation of a program to implement annual herbicide treatments on flowering rush on th...

News from FWP  Montana recorded its first suspected case of chronic wasting disease in wild elk.  The cow elk was harvested by a landowner on private land northeast of Red Lodge in November and samples were extracted from the carcass in Billings on Nov. 6. Tests results confirming the suspe...

MONTANA – Farming and hunting are two of the defining qualities of Montana. For decades, hunters and landowners have worked together to maintain our public wildlife, our working agricultural lands, and our outdoor heritage. Landowners know hunters are the best management tool for wildlife; hunters appr...

News from FWP  MONTANA – With one week left in Montana’s general hunting season, the percentage of hunters with harvested game is slightly ahead of last year in northwest Montana. Through four weekends of the season, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has tallied nearly 9,200 hunters...