Big Wild Bi-Weekly July 9, 2010

Dear Wildland Friends,

Well, it's officially summer here in the office because the floor fan has been on all week. About time I suppose. It's July. Heck, certainly better than the 100-degree sweltering heat on the east coast right now. Here's hoping that you and yours are keeping cool some place in the big wild!

Since we spoke last, much has occurred. In this issue we will update you on the ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil Tar Sands transportation project, the closing of Idaho Fish & Game's supplemental wolf hunt, a reflection on our successful 49 Meadows workshop, the exciting work we are getting ready to do with the group Great Old Broads for Wilderness, and the on-going field monitoring work we are doing with Wildlands CPR.

In the last week of June, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil hosted three separate open house forums to discuss the proposed transporting of over 200 mega-modules of oil processing equipment up U.S. Route 12. The meetings were very well attended and the majority of the crowds were overwhelmingly against ITD issuing permits for this project. In summary, people were told that despite public outcry and objection, ITD must issue permits as long as the corporation's travel plan meets permit regulations. In a press release, ITD was quoted as saying, "Permits will be issued only if we are convinced the equipment can be moved safely, without risk to the roads and bridges and within minimal disruption to traffic". Friends of the Clearwater, other regional conservation groups, and numerous citizen activists strongly question the feasibility of all three points raised in that quote. ITD said they expect to make their decision by early August. If granted permits, the project would begin sometime in the fall 2010.

If you oppose this project, there are a few things you can do. The Idaho Transportation Department is accepting public comments until Wednesday July 14th. Email Jim Carpenter of ITD at jim.carpenter@itd.idaho.gov and tell him why these permits should not be issued. You can also make an important phone call to State Representative JoAn Wood (R-Rigby), chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee. Her number is (208) 745-8420. You can reach State Senator John McGee (R-Caldwell), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, at (208) 455-3950. And don't be afraid to call Idaho Governor Butch Otter's office at (208) 334-2100. These people work for you, the tax-paying public, and demand that public opinion be equated in this crooked decision-making process. Keep fighting!

June 30th brought the closing of the spring black bear hunting season here in Idaho. However, this year’s hunt was unique. Stuffed inside of it was a supplemental Rocky Mountain grey wolf quota, allowing four select outfitters to kill up to five wolves each. Because the Lolo Wildlife Management Zone did not meet it's earlier quota of wolf kills during the winter 2009-2010 wolf hunt, the Idaho Fish & Game commission thought additional slaughter of the species was necessary. News reports indicate outfitters killed a total of four wolves. On a related note, we will keep you up to date with U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy's decision on whether or not to place the Rocky Mountain grey wolf population back on the endangered species list. A decision is expected later this summer.

A week ago Friends of the Clearwater co-sponsored a peatland ecology seminar on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Located near Avery, Idaho 49 Meadows is a fantastically wonderful, and yet fragile sub-alpine peatland ecosystem. Composed of sphagnum mosses, meadow sedges, sub-aquatic grasses, and blooming summer wildflowers, 49 Meadows provided participants an opportunity to explore it's ecological values and understand why this area should be preserved for future scientific study and educational utility. All terrestrial and aquatic data collected during the workshop is currently being analyzed and formatted in a way so that the area can be proposed as a Research Natural Area to the US Forest Service. Thanks to UI professor emeritus Dr. Fred Rabe, the Idaho Native Plant Society, and the Great Old Broads for Wilderness for making this field workshop an enjoyable and worthy learning experience.

In late July, we will be heading back out into the field with members from the Great Old Broads for Wilderness to conduct an off-road vehicle monitoring and post-prescribed fire monitoring workshop. With an increase in off road vehicle use and a ramped up prescribed burning program by our federal agencies, it is critical that we have citizens on the ground to monitor the resource damage that is occurring. Friends of the Clearwater will be heading out to the Weitas Creek roadless area on the Clearwater National Forest for the workshop. Please contact our office (208) 882-9755 if you are interested in doing field-monitoring work in the future.

Lastly, Friends of the Clearwater has been working hand-in-hand with the group Wildlands CPR to get more roads decommissioned on the Clearwater National Forest. Out of Missoula, Montana, Wildlands CPR strives to protect critical wildlife habitat and restore watershed integrity through road decommissioning. By setting up wildlife monitoring cameras on certain roads of the Clearwater National Forest, we hope to produce data this summer that will result in less roads and more un-fragmented habitat across our wildlands in the future.

Keep Cool Everyone,

Brett