Young Male Grizzly Relocated to the Cabinet Mountains

A young grizzly bear was relocated last week to the Cabinet Mountains as part of the Cabinet Mountains grizzly bear population augmentation program.

FWP captured the 3-yr old sub-adult male grizzly bear in Coal Creek in the Whitefish Range of the Flathead National Forest. This bear has no history of conflict with humans and has never been captured before. The bear was relocated to the Cabinet Mountains and released above Spar Lake in the Kootenai National Forest.

This program is an on-going effort to boost and recover the grizzly bear population in the Cabinet Mountains and is a cooperative effort between FWP and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Under the program, FWP captures bears in backcountry areas of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and USFWS monitors the animals after their release in the Cabinet Mountains. All grizzly bears relocated to the Cabinets are monitored with a radio collar until their collars drop off. The collars utilize the global positioning system (GPS) to gather locations every few hours in order to follow the bear’s movements.

The relocation of this male grizzly bear marks the eleventh grizzly bear to be released into the Cabinet Mountains as part of this cooperative population augmentation program since 2005.



Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com

Avalanche danger rated as high for Glacier Park and Flathead and Kootenai National Forests

Tony Willits of the U.S. Forest Service issued a special backcountry avalanche bulletin last night for the Glacier Park and Flathead and Kootenai National Forest areas:

Between the elevations of 4,500 and 7,500 ft. the avalanche danger is currently rated HIGH on all steep and open terrain, on all aspects. A warm plume of moisture, with rising freezing levels has brought rain to the elevations of 5,500 to 5,800 feet. Overnight freezing (Friday night) will be short lived. Saturday will experience warmer temperatures and rain with freezing levels climbing to and above 6,500 feet, which will likely allow for a natural cycle of avalanche activity.

It is strongly advised to curtail back country travel until our region experiences some significant refreezing of the surface snow pack.

The weather forecast is predicting good confidence in a cold front moving into our region late Saturday night which could cause a stabilizing effect to the surface snow pack. The return of cooler temperatures on Sunday will be accompanied with moderate SW winds which will likely load NE-E aspects. Stay off of wind loaded terrain until time has passed to allow for stabilization of the potential weak interface.

Because of the general nature of this advisory message, each backcountry party will always need to make their own time and site specific avalanche hazard evaluations. This advisory best describes conditions at the time of its issuance. As time passes avalanche and snow conditions may change, sometimes quite rapidly. Elevation and geographic distinctions used are approximate and transition zones between hazards exist.

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Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com

Avalanche warning issued for Glacier National Park

Another backcountry avalanche warning has been issued for Glacier National Park, and the Flathead and Kootenai National Forests.

According to U.S. Forest Service avalanche specialist Tony Willits, the avalanche danger is considered high between 5,000 and 7,500 feet on all steep, open slopes and gullies,
especially in areas with significant amounts of newly precipitated or wind deposited snow. The report states that natural avalanches are possible, and human triggered avalanches are likely.

According to the report, these conditions will trend higher Saturday through Monday with the arrival of moderate to strong winds through the weekend. 10-12 inches of new snow is expected from Friday night through Sunday. Rising temperatures will result in a more dense snowfall. Winds are expected to be moderate to strong out of the West.

You can read the full report by clicking here.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com

Avalanche warning for Glacier Park, Flathead and Kootenai National Forests

Forest Service avalanche specialist Stan Bones issued a special backcountry avalanche warning yesterday for Glacier National Park, and the Flathead and Kootenai National Forests.

The avalanche danger is considered high between 4,500 and 7,500 feet on all steep, open slopes and gullies. The report states that natural avalanches are likely, and human triggered avalanches are very likely. As a result, travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended at this time.

According to the report:

Because of wind, rapidly warming temperatures, and locally heavy precipitation in the form of rain or snow, the avalanche danger is currently rated HIGH. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended until the current snowpack has time to settle and strengthen. Reports are that both natural and triggered avalanches are occurring in many of the regions mountains.

The weather forecast is for another strong Pacific weather system to impact our region this weekend.


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com