BRETT FRENCH
A Mexican-based companyâs proposal to explore for gypsum along the base of the Pryor Mountains, if approved, could threaten a rare plant species â the thick-leaf bladder pod.
Thatâs the contention of several conservation groups that have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to declare the species threatened or endangered, thereby protecting its habitat from the project.
The Bureau of Land Management issued a Finding of No Significant Impact for the four-acre drilling plan near Gyp Springs last year, meaning it didnât believe the work merited more intensive scrutiny under an environmental impact statement. But the drilling has not yet been authorized.
Billings Gazette
Volunteer trappers working in concert with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks have captured 18 marten since early December for relocation to the Little Belt Mountains. They are the cutest little things, but they are really feisty, said Claire Gower, an FWP wildlife biologist based in Bozeman.
They are in super good condition, she added, except for one older male that had lost an eye, had a ripped ear and a grizzled face. He was a real bruiser.
Marten, a cat-sized member of the weasel family, were historically present in central Montanaâs mountain ranges, including the Little Belts. However, at some point within the last 100 years â possibly due to poisoning or unregulated trapping â the animals disappeared from the region.