Bear Creek Council Newsletter - March 2009
General Meeting
Tuesday, March 17, 7–9 p.m.
At the Gardiner Guest House
Second building behind Park’s Fly Shop.
If you wish, bring a snack to share.
President’s Message – Carolyn Duckworth
As we slip and slide from winter into spring this year, we still have opportunities to participate in Montana’s democracy. The legislative session is already half over, and will be done by this time next month. So now’s the time . . . . Be sure to read the update from Ilona Popper on the “bad” bison quarantine bill, which directly affects our specific area
and interests. Consider the other bills that Julia Page is working on. And lend your voice to our efforts. Your phone calls, emails, letters, and testimony all matter. If you’d like any guidance on a particular bill (other than bison), please call Julia, or Richard. If you need additional guidance on HB337, call me or Ilona. You can also read more about these bills on our website and that of Northern Plains.
Read the alerts and make those calls and send those emails. They really do make a difference. And, get out and enjoy this season of rebirth.
Carolyn
AGENDA
* Greening/Earth Day/Solar in the School
* Bison: the “bad” quarantine bill
* Bear Awareness
* Yellowstone River Trail project
BISON FORUM? by Carolyn Duckworth
Last month I asked if any members would be interested in hearing more details about the progress in bison management, what issues arose during the legislature, and other updates about bison. No one responded. Before assuming that no one is interested, I thought I’d ask again. So, if you are interested, let me know by March 19, otherwise I’ll table the idea. Thanks.
PHENOLOGY TIME by Carolyn Duckworth
“Phenology is the relationship between periodic biological changes—like the budding of trees and arrival of migratory birds in spring—and seasonal changes such as temperature.”—from Yellowstone Resources & Issues. This time of year I start marking off the first sightings of various birds, mammals, and emerging plants. It’s my way of acknowledging spring is really coming—even when I’ve just driven through a blinding snowstorm or paid yet another high heating bill. If you are still skiing the backcountry, carry your bear spray—the griz are out! Look for pieces of the sky against the snow, too—mountain bluebirds are returning now to feast on invertebrates that are feasting on carcasses. Scan bare ground in the northern range for avens (aka prairie smoke) sending up bright green feathery leaves. (They are, already, in my backyard.) And soon we’ll be seeing sandhill cranes, butterflies, and rusty red bison calves.
If you track species such as these, consider becoming part of The National Phenology Network, where you can choose species to monitor for a central website.
www.uwm.edu/Dept/Geography/npn/
Also check out Project Budburst, another project for school groups and citizens to contribute data about their seasonal observations.
www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/
BISON UPDATE by Ilona Popper
On Friday, I met with conservation, sportsmans, and Tribal groups. Bear Creek Council and these groups oppose SB 337, which tries to block state protocols for translocating disease-free bison from the quarantine facility. March 19, SB 337 will go to the House Fish Wildlife and Parks committee, which will hear testimony from the public.
Here's what Bear Creek members can do to help stop this bill:
1) Please email or call Congressman Boniek and/or the committee members. . If you call 406-444-4800. The receptionist will get a message to Boniek and for all legislators on the FWP committee.
2) Testify at the committee hearing on March 19. Carolyn and Ilona will attend. When preparing, please keep your testimony under 2 minutes.
Talking Points Against 337:
1. The quarantine protocols and testing of bison eliminate disease as a concern for bison coming from the quarantine facilities. These bison have exceeded all testing standards required by APHIS and have passed higher tests than any in the world for cattle or domestic bison. Bear Creek Council has monitored the facilities and is
pleased with the testing, research, and animal handling there.
2. The Montana FWP process for placing the bison makes sure that bison sent from quarantine cannot go to any sites where there's a risk of the animals getting loose. Tribes must adhere to the requirements before they receive bison and they will have to contain the bison for 5 years.
3. Montana FWP's role was established in rigorous protocols and part of the process is for FWP to discover whether this plan is in fact feasible. FWP has just begun this process of seeing if the state can place disease-free bison around the state. "Don't bolt the door, before we see what the possibilities are..." Let FWP do their job and explore the possibility of seeing if brucellosis-free bison can be returned to the landscape.
Some additional info:
Montana FWP has already decided that this first group of bison will go to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming--if this reservation meets all the criteria for containing and caring for the animals.
This is a key point because it means that it will be at least a year before FWP even considers proposals for locations in Montana. And whether in WY or MT, Montana FWP will not send bison to a location that cannot contain the animals. (Some senators said they voted for this bill in committee because they were so concerned about bison getting loose.)
Questions? Copies of excellent testimony from Montana FWP, the Environmental Assessment for the Windriver Reservation, and an editorial about 337 will be posted on Bear Creek Council webpage. Also read Keith Aune's notes there. More questions? Call Carolyn 406-223-0669 or Ilona 406-223-9632.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES by Julia Page
There was some intrigue of interest to Bear Creek Council this past week at the legislature. Scott Sales has replaced Mike Milburn on the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee. This is not good for buffalo, as I suspect it will assure that none of the republicans on the committee will stray from the party orthodoxy of intolerance toward any progressive ideas in the area of bison management. Specifically, SB 337, sponsored by John Brendan, which would prohibit the bison in quarantine at Corwin from being relocated in Montana except to the facility at Moise, will be heard in front of House FWP Committee on March 19th. The only hope to kill the bill will be to make sure all the democrats on the committee vote against the bill so it will die on a tie vote. It is extremely important that the bill not get out of committee.
There are other bills perhaps of interest that are being discussed now, so any time someone could come up, their lobby presence would be welcome. The Big Sky Rivers Act will be voted on soon in committee and then, hopefully, on the House floor. Also, for all the Greening Gardiner folks, there are lots of bills having to do with energy efficiency, renewable energy standards and the like that could all benefit from advocacy. The Northern Plains energy efficiency in schools bill, LC0713, is now available electronically and will be scheduled for a hearing soon. Those, plus all the horrible bills to limit meaningful public participation in agency decision-making, offer lots of opportunity to anyone willing to spend a day in Helena trying to make a difference. The Northern Plains
lobby day is March 20th, with a training session the night before. Take advantage of that time, or come up any day. We can help you know the message, know who to talk to and how to find them. It’s fun and there is no substitute for engaged citizen testimony and advocacy. That’s the real thing and legislators pay attention.
Be sure to check the latest bulletin from Northern Plains that was sent out on March 6th.
GREENING GARDINER UPDATE by Bill Berg
The Earth Day Solar Array for the Gardiner School – BE THERE April 22!
Rick, Mike and Bill spent a couple of hours at the school with staff and students on February 25th, meeting and wandering the roof and poking into utility rooms. Orion Thornton, from Independent Power Systems, talked shop with Doug Coy and Pat Rehmer regarding the wiring and technical aspects of the project and we all surveyed the building and talked scheduling and logistics. Ken Ballagh, Leland Stocker, Angela Haas, Mike
Wagner and several students were all weighing in throughout the morning. Orion did a great job of making the event a teachable moment for students and the rest of us.
The plan:
* Twelve panels will be mounted on the roof outside the multi-purpose room. This roof is very visible and the panels will make a nice statement there to anyone on that side of the building, including visitors coming through the arch.
* The panels will be placed to one side of the roof in order to allow room for the solar array to grow over time. There is quite a bit of room for expansion if the funds could be acquired in the future. With that in mind the wiring will be beefed up a bit.
* The plan is to flip the switch, make an event out of it and generate some solar power by the end of the day on April 22, Earth Day.
Some students from Mike Wagner's Industrial Technology class may be able to help install the panels.
Angela is already working on a curriculum and Bear Creek Council has committed to help her out with $1,000 for her extra time this year. Mike sat down with her for a bit to discuss the curriculum. She's been teaching solar already and this project will bring life to those lessons via the visibility of the panels themselves and the web-monitoring system that will be a part of it. Click the link below to see how the web monitoring works. Click Here to monitor a system that Orion's company put up at Whitehall School.
We're working with the school to keep this on track and to plan an afternoon Earth Day event on the 22nd to talk up solar energy, lay out this project in particular, and plug the panels in! They should generate power for decades to come.
Click here for a few photos of our meeting at the school.
We also initiated discussions about our scholarship and Rick setup a meeting with school officials to line that out. Angela had asked about recycling text books and she and Rick are also working on a system to accomplish that.
Great stuff happening in G-Town folks. Great stuff.
Jardine Ski RunResults! - Click Here for Photos
Tuesday, March 17, 7–9 p.m.
At the Gardiner Guest House
Second building behind Park’s Fly Shop.
If you wish, bring a snack to share.
President’s Message – Carolyn Duckworth
As we slip and slide from winter into spring this year, we still have opportunities to participate in Montana’s democracy. The legislative session is already half over, and will be done by this time next month. So now’s the time . . . . Be sure to read the update from Ilona Popper on the “bad” bison quarantine bill, which directly affects our specific area
and interests. Consider the other bills that Julia Page is working on. And lend your voice to our efforts. Your phone calls, emails, letters, and testimony all matter. If you’d like any guidance on a particular bill (other than bison), please call Julia, or Richard. If you need additional guidance on HB337, call me or Ilona. You can also read more about these bills on our website and that of Northern Plains.
Read the alerts and make those calls and send those emails. They really do make a difference. And, get out and enjoy this season of rebirth.
Carolyn
AGENDA
* Greening/Earth Day/Solar in the School
* Bison: the “bad” quarantine bill
* Bear Awareness
* Yellowstone River Trail project
BISON FORUM? by Carolyn Duckworth
Last month I asked if any members would be interested in hearing more details about the progress in bison management, what issues arose during the legislature, and other updates about bison. No one responded. Before assuming that no one is interested, I thought I’d ask again. So, if you are interested, let me know by March 19, otherwise I’ll table the idea. Thanks.
PHENOLOGY TIME by Carolyn Duckworth
“Phenology is the relationship between periodic biological changes—like the budding of trees and arrival of migratory birds in spring—and seasonal changes such as temperature.”—from Yellowstone Resources & Issues. This time of year I start marking off the first sightings of various birds, mammals, and emerging plants. It’s my way of acknowledging spring is really coming—even when I’ve just driven through a blinding snowstorm or paid yet another high heating bill. If you are still skiing the backcountry, carry your bear spray—the griz are out! Look for pieces of the sky against the snow, too—mountain bluebirds are returning now to feast on invertebrates that are feasting on carcasses. Scan bare ground in the northern range for avens (aka prairie smoke) sending up bright green feathery leaves. (They are, already, in my backyard.) And soon we’ll be seeing sandhill cranes, butterflies, and rusty red bison calves.
If you track species such as these, consider becoming part of The National Phenology Network, where you can choose species to monitor for a central website.
www.uwm.edu/Dept/Geography/npn/
Also check out Project Budburst, another project for school groups and citizens to contribute data about their seasonal observations.
www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/
BISON UPDATE by Ilona Popper
On Friday, I met with conservation, sportsmans, and Tribal groups. Bear Creek Council and these groups oppose SB 337, which tries to block state protocols for translocating disease-free bison from the quarantine facility. March 19, SB 337 will go to the House Fish Wildlife and Parks committee, which will hear testimony from the public.
Here's what Bear Creek members can do to help stop this bill:
1) Please email or call Congressman Boniek and/or the committee members. . If you call 406-444-4800. The receptionist will get a message to Boniek and for all legislators on the FWP committee.
2) Testify at the committee hearing on March 19. Carolyn and Ilona will attend. When preparing, please keep your testimony under 2 minutes.
Talking Points Against 337:
1. The quarantine protocols and testing of bison eliminate disease as a concern for bison coming from the quarantine facilities. These bison have exceeded all testing standards required by APHIS and have passed higher tests than any in the world for cattle or domestic bison. Bear Creek Council has monitored the facilities and is
pleased with the testing, research, and animal handling there.
2. The Montana FWP process for placing the bison makes sure that bison sent from quarantine cannot go to any sites where there's a risk of the animals getting loose. Tribes must adhere to the requirements before they receive bison and they will have to contain the bison for 5 years.
3. Montana FWP's role was established in rigorous protocols and part of the process is for FWP to discover whether this plan is in fact feasible. FWP has just begun this process of seeing if the state can place disease-free bison around the state. "Don't bolt the door, before we see what the possibilities are..." Let FWP do their job and explore the possibility of seeing if brucellosis-free bison can be returned to the landscape.
Some additional info:
Montana FWP has already decided that this first group of bison will go to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming--if this reservation meets all the criteria for containing and caring for the animals.
This is a key point because it means that it will be at least a year before FWP even considers proposals for locations in Montana. And whether in WY or MT, Montana FWP will not send bison to a location that cannot contain the animals. (Some senators said they voted for this bill in committee because they were so concerned about bison getting loose.)
Questions? Copies of excellent testimony from Montana FWP, the Environmental Assessment for the Windriver Reservation, and an editorial about 337 will be posted on Bear Creek Council webpage. Also read Keith Aune's notes there. More questions? Call Carolyn 406-223-0669 or Ilona 406-223-9632.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES by Julia Page
There was some intrigue of interest to Bear Creek Council this past week at the legislature. Scott Sales has replaced Mike Milburn on the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee. This is not good for buffalo, as I suspect it will assure that none of the republicans on the committee will stray from the party orthodoxy of intolerance toward any progressive ideas in the area of bison management. Specifically, SB 337, sponsored by John Brendan, which would prohibit the bison in quarantine at Corwin from being relocated in Montana except to the facility at Moise, will be heard in front of House FWP Committee on March 19th. The only hope to kill the bill will be to make sure all the democrats on the committee vote against the bill so it will die on a tie vote. It is extremely important that the bill not get out of committee.
There are other bills perhaps of interest that are being discussed now, so any time someone could come up, their lobby presence would be welcome. The Big Sky Rivers Act will be voted on soon in committee and then, hopefully, on the House floor. Also, for all the Greening Gardiner folks, there are lots of bills having to do with energy efficiency, renewable energy standards and the like that could all benefit from advocacy. The Northern Plains energy efficiency in schools bill, LC0713, is now available electronically and will be scheduled for a hearing soon. Those, plus all the horrible bills to limit meaningful public participation in agency decision-making, offer lots of opportunity to anyone willing to spend a day in Helena trying to make a difference. The Northern Plains
lobby day is March 20th, with a training session the night before. Take advantage of that time, or come up any day. We can help you know the message, know who to talk to and how to find them. It’s fun and there is no substitute for engaged citizen testimony and advocacy. That’s the real thing and legislators pay attention.
Be sure to check the latest bulletin from Northern Plains that was sent out on March 6th.
GREENING GARDINER UPDATE by Bill Berg
The Earth Day Solar Array for the Gardiner School – BE THERE April 22!
Rick, Mike and Bill spent a couple of hours at the school with staff and students on February 25th, meeting and wandering the roof and poking into utility rooms. Orion Thornton, from Independent Power Systems, talked shop with Doug Coy and Pat Rehmer regarding the wiring and technical aspects of the project and we all surveyed the building and talked scheduling and logistics. Ken Ballagh, Leland Stocker, Angela Haas, Mike
Wagner and several students were all weighing in throughout the morning. Orion did a great job of making the event a teachable moment for students and the rest of us.
The plan:
* Twelve panels will be mounted on the roof outside the multi-purpose room. This roof is very visible and the panels will make a nice statement there to anyone on that side of the building, including visitors coming through the arch.
* The panels will be placed to one side of the roof in order to allow room for the solar array to grow over time. There is quite a bit of room for expansion if the funds could be acquired in the future. With that in mind the wiring will be beefed up a bit.
* The plan is to flip the switch, make an event out of it and generate some solar power by the end of the day on April 22, Earth Day.
Some students from Mike Wagner's Industrial Technology class may be able to help install the panels.
Angela is already working on a curriculum and Bear Creek Council has committed to help her out with $1,000 for her extra time this year. Mike sat down with her for a bit to discuss the curriculum. She's been teaching solar already and this project will bring life to those lessons via the visibility of the panels themselves and the web-monitoring system that will be a part of it. Click the link below to see how the web monitoring works. Click Here to monitor a system that Orion's company put up at Whitehall School.
We're working with the school to keep this on track and to plan an afternoon Earth Day event on the 22nd to talk up solar energy, lay out this project in particular, and plug the panels in! They should generate power for decades to come.
Click here for a few photos of our meeting at the school.
We also initiated discussions about our scholarship and Rick setup a meeting with school officials to line that out. Angela had asked about recycling text books and she and Rick are also working on a system to accomplish that.
Great stuff happening in G-Town folks. Great stuff.
Jardine Ski RunResults! - Click Here for Photos
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Latest Activity
Highway Cleanup October 1 at Recycle Bin at the Gardiner Airport
October 1, 2009 from 5pm to 7pm
Meet by the recycle bin at Gardiner International Airport at 5 PM. Bring gloves, a friend and your can-do spirit. Garbage bags, safety vests and some fancy tools will be available.
An awfully easy-peasy way to do a simple good thing.
Bear Awareness Week at Gardiner Montana
September 7, 2009 to September 12, 2009
Celebrate & Educate - All Week Long
Monday, September 7 at the Yellowstone Association at 7 PM:
Film: "Grizzly" plus Q & A with film maker John Shier. Great footage of the lives of a Grizzly and her cubs and of a boar Grizzly, on his own for t...
Download a Bear Awareness Week Poster at
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/757887/printed-posters.jpg
Bear Awareness Week at Gardiner Montana
September 7, 2009 to September 12, 2009
Celebrate & Educate - All Week Long
Monday, September 7 at the Yellowstone Association at 7 PM:
Film: "Grizzly" plus Q & A with film maker John Shier. Great footage of the lives of a Grizzly and her cubs and of a boar Grizzly, on his own for t...
- Bear Awareness Week on August 12, 2009 from 6pm to 7pm
- General Meeting at Mammoth on August 18, 2009 from 7pm to 9pm
Highway Cleanup - August 11 at Recycle Bins at Gardiner Airport
August 11, 2009 from 6pm to 7pm
Our next Clean-up of our Highway 89 segment from milepost 2 (airport) to milepost 5 will take place next Tuesday, August 11, beginning at 6:00 PM at the Gardiner International Airport.
Meet at the new roll-off recycle bin. We will supply orange v...
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