Outdoor briefs March 24
Water quality monitors needed
Love to spend time on lakes? Are you interested in water quality?
The Northwest Montana Lakes Network is looking for lake property owners and/or homeowners, recreationists, or just people who are interested in lakes to become volunteer water quality monitors.
There are currently 41 lakes in the program, and many need a volunteer including: Abbot, Ashley, Bailey, Beaver, Big Therriault, Blaine, Blanchard, Bootjack, Dickey, Dollar, Fish, Flathead (Conrad Point, Indian Bay, Mackinaw Alley, Skidoo Bay, Somers Bay, Woods Bay, Yellow Bay) Foys, Glen, Holland, Lake Five, Lindbergh, Loon, Lost Loon, Lower Stillwater, McGilvray, Murphy, Murray, Peterson, Rogers, Skyles, Smith, Spencer, Swan, Tally, Upper Stillwater, Upper Whitefish, and Whitefish.
Volunteers will receive training and equipment to assist them in data collection and aquatic invasive species identification. However, volunteers will need their own boat (motorized or non-motorized) to reach the midlake sample site.
Training will be offered on April 30 and monitoring will begin late spring/early summer of 2022. Volunteers will be asked to monitor their lake(s) twice per month, weather permitting, and may spend one summer day with the Whitefish Lake Institute staff collecting water chemistry data. To learn more, visit www.nmln.info.
Snow geese migration field trip
Join Flathead Audubon on Friday and Saturday March 25–26 for the annual trek to Freezout Lake. Snow Geese are beginning to move from their wintering grounds to their arctic nesting areas along with thousands of other waterfowl. They stop over at Freezout Lake WMA near Choteau to rest and feed before finishing their journey.
The group will meet on Friday morning at 10 a.m., at the parking lot of the old K-Mart in Evergreen. From there, we will caravan to Choteau, birding along the way, and arrive in time for some afternoon goose watching.
After spending the night in Choteau, we’ll head back out to Freezout just before daybreak on Saturday to watch the “mass ascension” of geese from the ponds.
After the morning’s birding, we can return to Kalispell in the early afternoon at our own pace on Saturday.
Bob Lee will provide a suggested schedule and route, and will be in the front of the group.
For more information, contact Bob at RML3@centurytel.net or 406-270-0371.
Church Slough work group
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking applicants interested in serving on a work group to discuss motorized boating issues on Church Slough in Flathead River.
This winter the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission received a petition from members of the public to restrict motorized use on Church Slough to a controlled no-wake speed. At its Feb. 4 meeting, the commission chose not to adopt a no-wake restriction but rather have FWP establish a local working group to look at possible solutions that address recreational boat use on the slough. The working group will be tasked with coming up with recommendations for the commission to consider for possible rule making.
FWP is seeking members who are open-minded and willing to collaborate with other members when moving towards a recommendation. The group will consist of local members of the public from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.
To download an application, visit https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/regions/region1.
Applications must be received by 5 p.m., April 8.
Completed applications should be dropped off or mailed to FWP Church Slough Working Group, cc: Dillon Tabish, 490 North Meridian, Kalispell, MT 59901, or emailed to Dillon.Tabish@mt.gov.