Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission will meet Thursday, June 12, in Helena at the FWP Headquarters building on 1420 East Sixth Ave., beginning at 8 a.m. During Thursday’s session, final decisions will be made on the 2003 quotas for moose, sheep, and goat and on mountain lion seasons and quotas.   The 2003 upland game bird seasons will be set and the final rules adopted for the 2004 moose and sheep auction.
(Headlines - May 30, 2003)

A state program is offering $50,000 in grants for community projects designed to prevent and solve wildlife problems in urban and suburban settings. "Living With Wildlife," a Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks program, seeks local projects that:   Encourage partnerships and cost-sharing with agencies, private groups, educational institutions, teachers and private citizens. Develop information to help neighbors understand how to avoid conflicts with wildlife.
(Headlines - May 30, 2003)

Montana State Parks are open for camping. Twenty-six State Parks offer overnight camping for $12-$15 per night.   Campers who purchase a State Parks Passport for $30 receive unlimited entrance into State Parks and a $3 reduction in camping fees.   The daily entrance fee at most parks with fees is $5 per vehicle, if the visitor hasn’t purchased an annual Parks Passport.
(Headlines - May 30, 2003)

Once upon a prehistoric time, the prairie in north central Montana was a place where humans and bison formed the circle of life and death, predator and prey. Now a peaceful spot on the prairie has become Ulm Pishkun State Park, 12 miles southwest of Great Falls, a place recreated to help us understand our past. “Our goal is to educate people about the importance of buffalo to prehistoric Plains Indians,” says Connie Jacobs, Ulm Pishkun park manager.
(Headlines - May 30, 2003)

Twelve Montana communities will receive a total of more than $490,000 in outdoor recreation grants for local projects funded by the federal Land & Water Conservation Fund Program (LWCF).
(Headlines - May 16, 2003)

What brightens spring for most of us—newborn wild animals—causes heartburn for many wildlife biologists. They know the price some of these tiny creatures pay when well-intentioned people remove them from the wild. “People with the best of intentions pick up an ‘orphaned’ fawn, bobcat, or moose calf and bring it in for us to do something with it,” said Mike Korn, FWP Helena area resource program manager.
(Hunting - May 16, 2003)

Spring runoff, something some Montanan’s haven’t seen for awhile, is a reality again in parts of the state, fueled by good snowpack and above average rain. “The higher spring flows are a welcome change, but the resulting high water makes this time of year especially dangerous for boaters and floaters” said Liz Lodman, FWP Boat Education Coordinator. High water means swift, cold currents and dangerous eddies.
(Headlines - May 16, 2003)

The tenth annual “Becoming an Outdoors-Woman” (BOW) workshop, sponsored by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, will be held Aug. 15-17 at the Beartooth Mountain Christian Ranch located southwest of Columbus.    The popular workshops have helped over 800 women gain new outdoor skills in the past ten years. This summer’s workshop will offer opportunities to learn to build a survival shelter, cast a fly rod, shoot a bow and arrow or cook up a Dutch-oven treat.
(Headlines - May 16, 2003)

Anglers preparing to head afield are reminded that they need to purchase a State Lands Recreational Use License if they plan to fish on State School Trust Lands.   The rules that opened Montana’s State School Trust Lands contain provisions that, in most cases, prohibit or restrict certain activities.   Camping, for example, is permitted only within 200 feet of a normal access point or access route on the property.
(Headlines - May 16, 2003)

Crimes involving the state’s fish, wildlife and State Parks resources occur year round. “We get calls reporting violations all year long, spring and summer are no exception,” said Debbie Bingham, TIP-MONT coordinator. Montana’s popular TIP-MONT Program and hotline phone number—1-800-TIP-MONT (1-800-847-6668)—enlists outdoorsmen and women in reporting crimes they observe, including those on U.S. Forest Service lands or involving forest service facilities.
(Headlines - May 16, 2003)

Here is a sampler of some upcoming events scheduled at Montana State Parks in June and July.   May 24 at 10 a.m . Frenchtown Pond State Park “Canoe & Kayak Demo Day” Come to the park to try the latest designs in canoes and kayaks provided by Pipestone Mountaineering of Missoula. For information call 406-542-5531.   May 24 at 7-8 p.m.
(Headlines - May 16, 2003)

Spring rains bring green leaves.   They also bring back the primeval music of frogs and toads to Montana’s wetlands.   The famous Florida naturalist Archie Carr once said, “I have always liked frogs...The music frogs make at night is a pleasant thing, full of optimism and inner meaning.   It is more symbolic than the singing of birds.” Male frogs are the ones making all that music.   They ‘sing’ to establish a territory and to attract mates.
(Headlines - May 16, 2003)

The Montana Upland Game Bird Advisory Council will meet in Glasgow, May 18-20, to continue its work to develop recommendations for an upland game bird management plan.   Jeff Hagener, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, appointed the 12-member council last year. The meeting will be held at the Cottonwood Inn beginning at 8 a.m. each day.
(Hunting - May 09, 2003)

The hunting of all black bears in Hunting District 510, in portions of Big Horn, Carbon and Yellowstone counties, will close one-half hour after sunset on Thursday, May 8, 2003.      Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials said the harvest quota was reached.
(Hunting - May 09, 2003)

Montana's general fishing season--which marks the day fish in the state's smaller creeks and streams once again become fair game for anglers--opens Saturday, May 17. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks urges anglers to carefully check the 2002-2003 Fishing Regulations before they take to the water. Montana's fishing regulations are available at all FWP offices and from license dealers throughout the state. You can also find the fishing regulations on the Internet at: www.fwp.
(Fishing - May 09, 2003)

The American bittern stood absolutely still, merging into its reflection in the still water.   Suddenly it lunged, breaking the lovely stillness with a splash.   We watched as it gulped down a small frog, our canoe drifting silently in the water about 20 feet away.   Then the slow current carried our canoe on downstream, leaving the bittern in solitude, as we drifted along the Clearwater Canoe Trail.
(Headlines - May 09, 2003)

The local humane society may still be the best place to adopt a new dog or cat, but where can you go to adopt a native Montana fish?   How about the Internet for two innovative programs: Adopt-A-Trout and Adopt-A-Fish.    Kids in Montana and other states log on to adopt individual fish, learn more about their species and track them as they move through the rivers of Montana. Here’s how it works.
(Fishing - May 09, 2003)

One of the first things I learned about walleye is that they certainly are a fish with an attitude.   Back in the late 1980s when I first started working for FWP as a fisheries technician based out of Helena, a couple of us traveled to the state hatchery in Miles City to fin-clip walleye fingerlings, which range from about one to three inches. The clip of a pelvic fin identified them as stocked and would be used later to identify their survival and growth rates.
(Fishing - May 09, 2003)

In the realm of dorsal fins, Arctic grayling are second to none. I remember well the first grayling I caught. It was years ago in Alaska. Before catching one, I’d tried to visualize a grayling from the descriptions I had heard. I imagined a silver, grayish coloring with bluish purple or bronze hues during spawning, orange to red stripes on their pelvic fins, large scales, and squiggly irregular shaped spots sporadically spaced on both sides of the body.
(Fishing - May 09, 2003)

After a couple of decades of watching wild pallid sturgeon populations dwindle, biologists in the upper Missouri River have discovered the first evidence of natural reproduction of the endangered species.   The discovery last fall of two tiny pallid sturgeon larvae in the Missouri River provides evidence that pallid sturgeon spawned in 2002.
(Fishing - May 09, 2003)

Big game hunters who plan to submit applications for deer B and antelope licenses and special elk and deer permits must have their applications to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Helena or postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service no later than June 2.  Hunters interested in applying for deer B and antelope licenses and special elk and deer permits can now apply through the new automated licensing system at FWP regional offices.
(Hunting - May 09, 2003)

Buying your fishing and hunting licenses early this spring is the best way to beat the June 2 rush and avoid delays.   FWP’s Automated Licensing System has been online for one year, said Ron Aasheim, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Conservation Education administrator.   Aasheim said ALS has made licensing faster and more efficient overall, but delays can occur, especially when the volume of customers buying licenses increases sharply near an application deadline.
(Headlines - May 09, 2003)

Most of Montana’s spring black bear hunting areas will close May 15.   Other bear management units will close late May or June.   Also, the season closes anytime a black bear quota or sub-quota is reached in a 500 series bear management unit. For season dates in a specific bear management unit, check the 2003 Montana Black Bear Hunting Regulations.   For notices on closures when management unit quotas are met, check the FWP web site at fwp.state.mt.
(Hunting - May 09, 2003)

Results of nearly 1,000 deer and elk tested for chronic wasting disease last winter indicate the deadly disease has not infected Montana’s wild, free-ranging herds, state wildlife officials announced today. The tissue samples from a total of 997 deer and elk harvested by hunters in 2002, or collected by FWP, were sent to the National Veterinary Service Laboratory in Ames, Iowa for analysis. Due to the volume of testing for CWD nationwide, Montana’s results just became available last week.
(Headlines - May 06, 2003)

Montana’s 60-day comment period on the state's draft wolf management plan environmental impact statement will close Monday, May 12. FWP opened public comment on five wolf conservation and management plan alternatives with the release of the 288-page EIS in March. The agency has since hosted work sessions in 14 communities to gather public comment on the plan.
(Hunting - May 05, 2003)

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission is seeking public comment on the proposed rules for conducting the 2004 annual bighorn sheep and Shiras moose license auction. Under the proposed rules, the FWP Commission may consider bids from individuals for the bighorn sheep and moose licenses; select a wildlife conservation organization to conduct an auction; or direct FWP to conduct an auction.
(Hunting - May 05, 2003)

Big game hunters who plan to submit applications for deer B and antelope licenses and special elk permits must have their applications to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Helena or postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service, no later than June 2.  Hunters interested in deer B and antelope licenses and special elk permits can now apply through the new automated licensing system at an FWP regional headquarters.
(Hunting - May 05, 2003)

Spring black bear hunting season may close anytime a hunting quota or sub-quota is reached in a bear management unit.   Season deadlines, if quotas remain unmet, are May 15 in most bear management units, and late May or June in some others. For season dates in a specific bear management unit check the 2003 Montana Black Bear Hunting Regulations.
(Hunting - May 05, 2003)

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announces that the May/June edition of its color magazine, Montana Outdoors , is now available and covers one of the state's most timely natural resources issues. The new issue features articles on the top spots to fish in eastern Montana, threats to the Missouri River’s blue-ribbon trout fishery, and a profile of Flathead Lake State Park. The May/June edition also covers the issues surrounding the Milltown Dam, near Missoula.
(Headlines - May 05, 2003)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is accepting ice-fishing contest applications for next winter. Contest applicants must submit the ice-fishing contest application form to the Helena FWP office on or before July 1. The public will have 30 days to comment on the proposed contests. Applicants proposing contests with overlapping dates on the same waters will be contacted by FWP in time to revise the dates.   Contests cannot be approved for holiday weekends.
(Fishing - May 05, 2003)

Montana’s spring turkey season will close May 11.   Montana’s unpredictable spring weather hasn’t favored gobbler hunters this year, who hope for clear, calm days. FWP’s Region 5 wildlife manager out of Billings, Ray Mule, said early in the season the birds were observed just moving off of wintering areas in the far northern reaches of the state.
(Hunting - May 05, 2003)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials said project applications are due July 1 for the estimated $450,000 in federal dollars available through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The grants fund local, public, outdoor recreational projects to acquire, develop or   improve ball fields, campgrounds, golf courses, ice-skating ponds, picnic facilities, tennis courts, playground equipment and hiking trails.
(Headlines - May 05, 2003)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on proposed changes to the 2003 Upland Game Bird season regulations, including season dates and bag limits. Among the changes proposed is to delay the season for prairie species, such as sharptailed grouse and Hungarian partridge, until the second Saturday in September. For 2003, the season dates would be Sept. 13 to Dec. 15 for sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge, and Sept. 13 to Nov. 1 for sage grouse.
(Hunting - May 05, 2003)

The hunting of all black bears in Bear Management Unit 520, in portions of Park, Sweet Grass, Stillwater and Carbon counties, will close one-half hour after sunset on Saturday, May 3, 2003.  MFWP officials said the harvest quota was reached.
(Hunting - May 02, 2003)