Surprise, surprise

It turns out hunters in Idaho are finding wolves a lot tougher to hunt than expected. Who would have figured that?

Wolf hunts will go on

Idaho hunters have already killed four wolves. Now it appears Montana hunters will get their chance to kill wolves as a Missoula judge has refused to block the hunts.

The judge's decision sounds reasonable. He allowed the hunts to proceed due to the fact that there is little evidence the hunt will cause permanent damage to wolf populations in Montana and Idaho. The judge also suggested that the Fish and Wildlife Service's plan to allow the hunts in Montana and Idaho -- while blocking the hunt in Wyoming due to that state's stubborn refusal to set up a reasonable hunt plan -- won't survive a court challenge. But in the meantime. we'll get to see what a wolf hunt in Montana will really look like.

Here's my guess: The state's hunters will be lucky to kill half of the 75 wolves Fish, Wildlife and Parks has set as the state's quota.

Portage routes planned for Mitchell Slough

It's good to hear some of the landowners along a branch of the Bitterroot River are finally accepting the fact that Montana law unequivocally grants the public the right to travel between the high-water marks.

Now if we could just get Huey Lewis to recant his slanderous claim that the Supreme Court issued a "completely political deal" when it upheld Montana's Stream Access Law by a 9-0 vote. I link to this completely failed attempted at doing journalism that appeared in the Missoula Independent only because it includes Lewis' "political" quote. It's otherwise nothing by bird-cage liner.