BNSF Plan Aims To Reduce Train-Related Grizzly Bear Deaths
The BNSF Railway Company Tuesday published a long-awaited habitat conservation plan intended to reduce grizzly bear mortalities in Northwest Montana.
Eight grizzlies were killed on railroads in near Glacier National Park in 2019, the most of any year on record. Those bears are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. That same year, conservation groups threatened to sue, alleging those railway-related deaths violated a part of the ESA that prohibits all killing of protected animals, even if it’s accidental.
That’s just the latest in two decades of legal threats over railroads and grizzly conservation, says Courtney Wallace, a spokesperson with BNSF.
Did you know Flathead Lake currently has only 13 public access sites along its 180 miles of shoreline, 89% of which is flanked by long stretches of private land?
Anyone who recreates on the lake will tell you that limited public access is leading to increased congestion at the existing sites, especially with use on the increase. But, it looks like public access will be improving, thanks to the generosity of a family and acquisition proposals put forth by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
This is a follow-up to a couple of our posts earlier this year. And Tristan Scott of the Flathead Beacon has shared updates. Tristan tells us that the Montana Land Board unanimously approved the proposal to acquire new tracts of land to create new public access sites on Flathead Lake: Somers Beach State Park and Montebello Fishing Access site.
Montana Land Board backs purchase of two Flathead Lake access sites
Two Flathead Lake parcels are one step closer to becoming public property, and now itâs just a matter of money.
and last updated 2020-12-23 12:42:21-05
MISSOULA â Two Flathead Lake parcels are one step closer to becoming public property, and now itâs just a matter of money.
On Monday, the Montana Land Board unanimously approved the Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) purchase of the 15-acre Montebello Fishing Access Site near Dayton and the 106-acre Somers Beach State Park near Somers. The Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission approved both purchases during its Oct. 22 meeting.