Bison range report
By the time you good folks read this, the extraordinary 18-mile drive over Red Sleep Mountain will be closed for the season. If you missed it this year, I just want to remind you to put that on the "must do" list for 2012.
So what's the big deal? This wonderful switch-backing drive on the National Bison Range at Moiese is not just a good place to look for animals. It is a natural scenic adventure unlike anything else in North America.
I truly feel sorry for anyone who's never made that trip. Did it again with son Shannon on Saturday, Oct. 8, and while not seeing many wild beasties, it was so great we did it twice, hoping for wildlife photo ops but also to simply inhale that incomparable panorama of the entire Flathead Valley from St. Ignatius to Glacier Park. Especially impressive that day were the towering Mission Mountains, with fresh snow glistening above the 6,000 foot level, topped off by the fleeciest white clouds and bluest skies anyone ever say.
It is just a guess, but on my own and/or with Shannon since he was a small boy, we've probably made that Red Sleep drive a couple hundred times. On several visits, the animal observations and scenery were so awesome we drove it three times in one day. Just when we think we've seen everything, something new pops up. We're aware that an occasional wolf gets in, and there has developed a few resident mountain lions; however, a surprising new possibility recently arose.
Jan Tow is a very active senior citizen who loves nature. Later in life, she began a "career of adventure" all over the world, including sea kayaking in South America and trips to Africa. I've found her several times by herself taking wildlife pictures in Glacier Park, including grizzlies, so it was hard to imagine she was mistaken when telling Shannon last month she'd seen a grizzly on the Bison Range.
Needless to say, Shan and I really did some serious scanning of that area, but to no avail. Monday, I called Range Headquarters and asked if they've ever had a grizzly there? "Oh yes," the lady said. "They wander through every now and then, probably from the Mission Mountains population. Must climb the fence." So! Jan was right!
My love affair with the Bison Range began one spring afternoon in 1935 when the Camas Prairie School visited during my first-grade picnic. Right behind Glacier Park, the Range was the second place I visited following three years army service. Volunteered with animal rehabilitation while in college. Worked with Sens. Lee Metcalf and Mike Mansfield in Washington during the Kennedy administration getting a bill through congress for a needed visitor's center, and continued on the project after returning to Montana. Was invited to emcee at big 1980 dedication.
As of right now, things seem to be running smooth at the Bison Range after problems during a proposed "shared administration" by the Salish-Kootenai. The tribe and the Department of Interior are cooperating in certain areas, with members getting seasonal work and, of course, eligible for full-time jobs if they qualify under established civil service requirements.
The antelope population is reportedly coming back after the loss of every new fawn about five summers ago. Some coyotes were shot in the pronghorn recovery program. During the bison roundup Oct. 3 and 4, sixty animals were sold and three donated. Several young bulls brought the highest bids, ranging from $1,400 to $2,000 each. Spokeswoman Pat Jamison told me the prices for bison were high this year.
Shan and I didn't see a single elk, but Pat said the bugling bulls ere running wild in rainy days before Shannon and I were there, but were lying low on that first sunny day in a week. "Oh darn."
That's about all I have to report on Montana's wondrous National Bison Range. Just hope Jan Tow doesn't find out about my "checking" on her griz report.
G. George Ostrom is a national award-winning Hungry Horse News columnist. He lives in Kalispell.