Page 5 - Flathead Beacon // 9.10.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM
NEWS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 | 5
W•O•R•D•S of the Week
AN INDEX OF RECENT NEWSMAKERS
WEATHER
Snow at higher elevations may arrive this week, with the possibility of one to three inches on Logan Pass on Sept. 10 and five to seven inches at about 7,000 feet.
BAIL
A Lincoln County judge ordered Larry Mathew Hanson to be held on $10 million bail after he violat- ed a restraining order and went into a Libby woman’s house late last week. It was not the first time the man violated the order.
VISITATION
Glacier National Park’s visitation in August broke past records, with 675,000 people entering the park. July also broke the all-time monthly mark in what is likely to be an historic year for the park.
SEPTEMBER 11
Thursday marks the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.
Proposed Bull Trout Recovery Plan Addresses Climate Change
A bull trout on the Kootenay River system during an annual migration from Lake Koocanusa.
COURTESY PHOTO
USFWS plan would no longer rely on population numbers as part of recovery goals
By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Beacon
Listed under the Endangered Species Act as “threatened” 15 years ago, there’s heated debate about whether bull trout are recovering at all, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – the federal agency re- sponsible for achieving that goal – has fi- nally proposed a plan to save the species.
According to the agency, the aim of the plan is shifting toward managing specific environmental threats to bull trout, rath- er than managing the trout themselves, and lists such stressors as non-native fish and degradation to habitat – bull trout thrive in cold, clean water.
The draft recovery plan posted online Sept. 3 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice eliminates numerical goals for re- building populations, recognizes that cli- mate change means some populations will inevitably wink out, and focuses on fixing threats to habitat and genetic diversity.
The public has 90 days to comment before another draft will be issued. After
another public comment period, a federal court settlement calls for a final plan to be issued by Sept. 30, 2015.
The proposed plan’s overall strategy calls for widespread population distribu- tion throughout six geographical areas in the Northwest, and would achieve that by minimizing threats from non-native fish, such as invasive lake trout, improving bull trout habitat and continuing to study the species in order to identify other threats to its persistence.
Unlike other recovery plans, howev- er, it would not rely on target numbers of
See Bull Trout PAGE 28
Antwerp
THE DIAMOND BUYING CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!
Introducing
Your Personal Antwerp Diamond Broker,
I am leaving Oct. 4th to hand select diamonds for you. Call or stop in today to book your personal diamond buying appointment. From $300
- $30,000, I will make sure you have the most beautiful diamond for you budget.
139 Main Street Kalispell, Montana
www.wheelerjewelrymt.com
406.752.6809