Put a stake through its heart

This is the project that would not die. How many times do we need to say NO to the disastrous idea of a cyanide heap-leach gold mine at the headwaters of the Blackfoot River?

The notion that the Montana law that bans cyanide heap-leach mining is a "taking" of private-property rights reveals the radical anti-government ideology of some on the right at its most extreme. Arguing that a citizens initiative that bans a mining technique with a well-documented history of environmental disasters and pollution — with downstream neighbors, also known as the citizens of Montana, usually footing the bill for clean up — is actually an argument advancing the political ideology of anarchy.

Access fight continues

The fight regarding bridge access points to rivers in Madison County underscores the reality that access opponents will stop at nothing to overturn Montana's Stream Access Law. That's why the fight regarding access at Mitchell Slough in the Bitterroot Valley is so important. Give access opponents a foot in the door you can expect their legions of attorneys and anti-access sycophants to set up camp in your favorite trout stream.

Let's hope the Montana Supreme Court gets it right on Mitchell Slough. It's the biggest threat to Montana's Stream Access law now before us.

Are talks good news?

It sounds like folks on both sides of the border are putting a friendly spin on recent talks regarding Canadian mining projects proposed in the Flathead River headwaters near Glacier National Park. If it works to stop these projects, great. But I'm not convinced the line-in-the-sand approach suggested by some Montana political leaders should be dropped just yet.

These mines need to be stopped, for good. The North Fork has been held hostage for too long.

Fishing picking up

The North Fork Flathead River is clear and dropping like a rock. Chernobyl ants have been the ticket for westslope cutts, which are hitting dries with abandon. The Middle Fork is also clearing and should start fishing well real soon.

Tony Werner of Chicago nailed this nice cutthroat near Polebridge on a North Fork float last week.

How it's supposed to work

If reintroduction is to be a long-term success, wolf supporters will have to get used to stories like this. Groups fighting proposed hunting seasons for wolves need to set aside their objections, or have their objections overruled in the courts. There are plenty of wolves out there and hunting and other lethal controls measures was always part of the deal. Those working to oppose hunting seasons for wolves are trying to change the rules at halftime.

Tale of two rivers

Here's a look at the confluence of the North and Middle Fork Flathead rivers looking upstream from Blankenship Bridge. That's the Middle Fork, coffee-with-cream colored, on the right. That mud line extends downstream as far as you can see from the bridge.

The North Fork may be fishable soon. The Middle Fork may clear up sometime around the archery hunting opener.

Waiting out high water

My winter project, a 15-foot stitch-and-glue wood drift boat, has yet to be in the water. We almost launched June 15, but that was near the beginning of this second spike of high water. Maybe next week. I'll be scouting the North Fork Flathead River in my raft this week.

I named the boat Zobe after my twin daughters, Zoe and Abbe.

Another death

A western Montana river claimed another life Sunday, as a man is missing and presumed drowned after a rafting accident on the Blackfoot.

Wear a PFD and be safe.

Mine opposition grows

More groups are lining up to fight proposed mining in the Flathead River drainage just across the Canadian border from Glacier National Park. Both mountain-top removal and coalbed methane development has been considered in the headwaters of the North Fork Flathead River.

Wolf, griz caught on film

A motion-sensor camera in Glacier National Park caught this amazing video of a wolf interacting with a grizzly bear sow and her cubs over an elk kill. The bluff charging and hind-end nipping looks more like play than a serious dispute. It reminds me a bit of my setter Jack going at it with the house cats.

RIP: David Dedmon

Tetser fighting Plum Creek give away

Here's one reason why we like Sen. Tester so much.

Tester honored or supporting hunting and fishing

Safari Club International named Montana Sen. Jon Tester legislator of the year.

Working to protect the Jefferson

Angling groups and ranchers have developed a plan to maintain flows in the Jefferson River in times of drought. Not much of an issue this year, but chronic water shortages in the past have depressed fish populations.

Be careful out there

The sad news out of the Bitterroot this weekend is the death of guide Dave Dedmon. Dave was floating the East Fork of the Bitterroot on Sunday with his wife Sharon when their boat hit a sweeper and flipped. Dave suffered a head injury in the accident and drown.

There's more from the Ravalli Republic here.

I first met Dave about 15 years ago when he first came to the Bitterroot to work as a deputy with the Ravalli County Sheriff's department. The hook was that Dave was teamed with Rocky, a drug sniffing German shepherd police dog. Dave and Rocky formed the first K-9 unit in the Bitterroot. Later Dave and Rocky went to work for the Hamilton police department. I was just a cub reporter back then, still new to newspapering at the Ravalli Republic. The feature I wrote about Dave and Rocky was one of the first of my career.

More recently Dave was an unsuccessful candidate for the GOP nomination for county commissioner in Ravalli Country. I spoke to him shortly before the election and we joked a bit about what he was getting himself into, and, of course, if he really want the job. We both knew what a headache that job can be. But for as long as I knew him, Dave was dedicated to public service.

Dave was no doubt scouting the East Fork for the trips he had booked this week and next. I work as a guide and Dave had hired me to help out on those trips. I would have been on the water Sunday myself, but I had my kids with me and decided to wait until conditions improved.

Our condolences to Dave's wife Sharon and his family. Dave was a good man. I was pulling for him on election day.

Rivers on the rise

Warmer weather following a fresh dusting of June snow should send a new slug of runoff down western Montana rivers this weekend. Snowpack is now hovering around 200 percent of average for many western Montana watersheds. Check the USGS stream conditions site here for the latest on river flows in your area.

Get your snow shovel out

So much for this so called spring. Montana rivers should be ready to fish just in time for hunting season if this keeps up.

Obama against Flathead mine

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama opposes plans for a mine in the Canadian headwaters of the Flathead River.

Sweet deal for Plum Creek

Why am I not surprised that the former timber industry lobbyist now under employ in the Bush administration wants to hand Plum Creek a sweetheart deal at the expensive of Montana communities and county governments? Can January 2009 come soon enough?

If Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey gets his wish, the tangled knot of roads and subdivisions in the forest interface of Montana will only get worse. How many firefighters will have to risk their lives to keep Plum Creek's new subdivisions from burning down?

Access deal close?

A deal may be in the works to settle Montana's debate about accessing streams and rivers using highway easements at bridge crossings. Settling this issue once and for all is in the best interests of all concerned. Anglers will benefit from the improvements at crossing that will ease access. And landowners, who are fighting an upriver battle, will benefit by ending their battle against popular access laws. This has been a PR disaster for the folks — such as ranchers — who have hitched their wagon to this unpopular cause mostly promoted by out-of-state, and ridiculously wealthy, landowners.