Merry Christmas

We would have offered a non-denominational salutation, but fear drawing the wrath of Bill O'Reilly. We're signing off for the year. But don't worry, we'll be back stronger than ever in 2009.

Cheers,
Rob

More wolf news

More from Kalispell on the ever-expanding wolf population in northwest Montana. There's so many wolves FWP is having a hard time counting them all here, and the ongoing battle for delisting here.

Booming wolf populations anger hunters

It's well past time wolves were delisted and management of this successfully recovered, formerly endangered species was given to states with responsible management plans — Montana and Idaho. A story in Sunday's Daily Inter Lake examines the growing anger among hunters who are encountering a growing wolf population in the wild. With the population booming and wolf encounters growing exponentially, frustration, and more importantly, opposition to wolves in the wild will grow.

What wolf advocates need to understand is that their knee-jerk opposition to wolf management — including the responsible action taken by FWP to kill an entire pack in the Kalispell region with a chronic taste for cattle — is doing more harm than good for the species. Wolf fans need to come to terms with the fact that wolf recovery will include wolves being killed. Wolves will be killed by hunters and game managers as we work to keep the population at a manageable level.

One of the lessons we're learning with wolf reintroduction is that recovery was the easy part. Management of recovered wolves, now that's another story.

Slough still closed?

I doubt there is a court in Montana that would find you guilty if someone pressed "No Trespassing" charges against you for fishing Mitchell Slough. But really, if you can't wait for the final phase of the legal process to unfold, and have to fish there right not, as winter finally arrives in Montana, I'd say you've got a little too much time on your hands.

Stream access wins big

Here's a column I wrote for Writers on the Range about the recent court decision on Mitchell Slough.

Nice weather, slow season

It's been a mild fall in Montana. That's great if you don't like shoveling snow or skiing, but lousy for hunting.