Page 19 - Flathead Beacon // 4.30.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS APRIL 30, 2014 | 19

The Roundup

From Beacon wire and news services

oicials to designate critical habitat for
FLATHEAD
the bears to aid with their recovery.

Another topic at last week’s NCDE
NORTHWEST MONTANA meeting was a persistent and worsening
GRIZZLIES ON PACE FOR threat to grizzlies: chickens.
POTENTIAL DELISTING IN LATE “Chickens are the new garbage,” said
2016
state grizzly bear management special-
Wildlife managers could propose the ist Jamie Jonkel.
delisting of the major grizzly bear pop- Oicers have responded to an in-

ulation in Northwest Montana by late creasing number of incidents related to
2016.
grizzlies approaching homes or property
A collective of federal, state and trib- where chickens and coops have created
al oicials gathered in Hungry Horse problematic attractants.
last week for the spring meeting of the Wildlife oicers continue to remind
Northern Continental Divide Ecosys- residents to promptly clean up after
tem subcommittee. The group discussed their chickens and to remove garbage to
updates on local grizzly conservation avoid bear conlicts.

and management issues, including the For more information, visit Montana
ongoing problem of bear attractants like Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ “Bear Aware”
chicken coops.
site, http://fwp.mt.gov/wildthings/liv-
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ingWithWildlife/beBearAware.
is reviewing nearly 3,000 public com-
ments on a post delisting management NEW HOMELESS SHELTER TO
strategy for grizzly bears in the NCDE BE BUILT IN KALISPELL

that was proposed a year ago. Chris A new homeless shelter is being de-
Servheen, FWS grizzly bear recovery co- veloped near downtown Kalispell for
ordinator, said the plan would incorpo- women and children.
rate the comments and be completed in A Ray of Hope, a nonproit organi-
the coming months. After that, a threat zation that has operated a second-hand
analysis will be conducted to identify store and homeless shelter in Kalispell
several characteristics of the NCDE, since the late 1990s, has received ap-
including the bear population’s status proval from the city to build a new shel-

and the status of its habitat and regula- ter that will be able to accommodate up
tory mechanisms that would be in place to 15 women and children for varying
to protect grizzlies if they were delist- lengths of time.
ed. This analysis is expected to start in The shelter will be two stories and
2015, according to federal oicials.
roughly 1,344 square feet and located at
The threat analysis, which could be 106 Fifth Ave. W. across the street from
completed by late 2015, is one of the i- the current Ray of Hope shelter and near
nal steps before wildlife managers could the Hope Thrift Store. It will be open 24

potentially propose removing protec- hours a day, seven days a week and have
tions under the Endangered Species Act two to three staf members and at least
for grizzlies in the NCDE. The NCDE is one person on-duty at all times, accord-
home to more than 1,000 grizzlies in the ing to the organization.
vast region extending south from the The shelter will replace a dilapidated
Canadian border through the Flathead house, known as the Busey House, that
and Mission valleys to the Blackfoot is on the National Register of Historic

River basin near Missoula and includes Places but that has been vacant and in
Glacier National Park.
worsening conditions for years, accord-
The population of grizzlies in the ing to city staf. The cost to repair the
Yaak would not be part of that delisted site was too great, so the building will be
population, and last week a conservation torn down, city planners say.
group announced its intent to sue the At last week’s meeting in City Hall,
federal government for failing to reclas- the city council unanimously approved a
sify the small population of grizzly bears conditional use permit to operate a shel-

as endangered.
ter in the new development.
The estimated 42 Cabinet-Yaak griz- “They have proven themselves to be
zly bears are considered a threatened good neighbors and good helpful people
species.
for folks in our community who are in
The FWS last year issued a decision need,” Councilor Jim Atkinson said.
that said changing the bears’ status from City planners said the neighbors
threatened to endangered was warrant- were all notiied of the shelter’s poten-

ed but precluded by higher-priority spe- tial development and there was no oppo-
cies.
sition that emerged.
The Alliance for the Wild Rock- The Flathead Valley consistently has
ies says in its lawsuit iled last week the the third largest homeless population in
population needs to be at least 100 to be the state, according to the 2014 State of
considered viable.
Homelessness Report, with nearly 800
The group says an endangered spe- people who faced homelessness in Ka-
cies classiication would require federal
lispell last year.

For up-to-the-minute news, visit latheadbeacon.com