News Briefs
Nov. 19
Four finalists to interview for SKC president job
The Salish Kootenai College Board of Directors announced this week four finalists will interview for the position of president of Salish Kootenai College. The Presidential Search Committee recommended the finalists from a pool of five applicants. All finalists are enrolled members of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes.
Dr. Vernon Finley, a Polson resident with a doctorate in education; Kevin Howlett, the current of Department Head in the Department of Health & Human Services for CSKT, Dr. Luana Ross, who currently is a professor at the University of Washington, where she serves as the co-director of Native Voices, a graduate film program; and Carmen Taylor, who for the last 24 years has served as the Executive Director for the National Indian School Board Association.
The board of directors will meet in late December to interview candidates in closed session and will convene early in January to finalize the selection of the new president. The Board will announce their decision immediately following the selection.
-Courtesy of SKC
Deer harvest low in Northwest
The harvest of deer in northwest Montana is well behind last year and historic averages according to results at the six northwest Montana check stations. Elk harvest so far is about the same as last year’s.
Through Nov. 15, hunters have taken a total of 598 white-tailed deer, 112 mule deer, and 115 elk for a 5.5 percent rate of hunters with game. This compares to a 6.7 percent rate of hunters with game last year at the same point in the season. Check stations measure only a percentage of the harvest but usually reflect the overall harvest trend.
According to FWP Wildlife Manager Jim Williams, the number of whitetail bucks brought through the check stations so far (311) is close to the record low number of 310 whitetail bucks recorded in 1997.
-Courtesy of MFWP
RHS Speech and Drama places well
Ronan Speech & Drama team had a strong finish at the Libby Invitational on Saturday. The results are as follows: Shelby Fisher and Robby Hocker, first in Classical Duo; Andrew Crenshaw and Shelby Fisher, second in Humorous Duo; Claire Frank and Amber Metzger, third in Humorous Duo; Jae Chinzoriq and Jan Kaczor, fourth in Humorous Duo; Megan Dunkerson and Kayla Lynch, eigth in Humorous Duo; Amber Metzger, first in Pantomime; Joe Sanchez, third in Pantomime; Andrew Crenshaw, fourth in Serious Solo. Other competitors not making finals but greatly improving in this meet were Jonelle Lauer in Serious Interpretation, Joey Dresen in Oratory, and Savannah Funk-Fisher in Serious Interpretation. The team earned second place in Drama Sweepstakes with 78 points, missing first place by only two points.
-Courtesy of Melissa Knabe
KSKC adds fourth transmitter site
KSKC has activated a new transmitter site to increase coverage to local public television viewers. It is located above Finley Point at an elevation more than 1,000 feet above Flathead Lake. The site should provide Rocky Point and Flathead West Lakeshore residents with the local public television signal, according to KSKC general manager Frank Tyro.
“We have overshot the west shore area with our Jette site northwest of Polson for years and this new site provides a good signal to most viewers in that area,” Tyro said.
Residents should rescan for channels 27.1 and 27.2. Some adjustment of antennas might be needed. The site is leased from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and will be used in the near future by the Salish Kootenai College Wireless Internet Service as well. SKC-Wireless will be providing Internet service from this site to areas that have been impossible to reach from the Skyline and Jette access point sites. TV viewers who encounter difficulty can call KSKC at 275-4878 for assistance. If people are interested in Internet service from SKC-Wireless, call 275-4742 or 883-1752 ext. 4742 for more information.
-Courtesy of Frank Tyro
Tribal gray wolf plan completed
The Tribal Wildlife Management Program announced recently that the management plan for gray wolves on the Flathead Indian Reservation has been completed and went into effect on Nov. 1.
The Tribal Council approved the final draft of the plan in late June, and the environmental assessment process under the National Environmental Policy Act has been underway since. That process ended with the signing of a Finding of No Significant Impact by the Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Julian Courville.
The planning effort attempted to consider all viewpoints in the development of alternative management scenarios for inclusion in the Gray Wolf Management Plan. Input from tribal elders and culture committees, hunters, stockgrowers and others were all considered in developing four management alternatives. The alternative most favored was the Wildlife Management Alternative, which includes a goal of providing for the long-term presence of wolves on the Reservation while simultaneously working to minimize conflicts between wolves and humans.
The Tribal Council approved a policy supporting treatment of gray wolves as a native wildlife species which requires active management. In doing so, the council realized the cultural and ecological significance of wolves to many of its constituents and acknowledged the potential for conflicts between wolves and local populations of big game and other wildlife, as well as the potential for conflicts between wolves and domestic livestock. The council decision favored a balanced approach to wolf management that attempts to take all of these factors in to account.
The plan does not attempt to manage toward a maximum or a minimum number of wolves on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Wolf population management will depend heavily upon wolf behavior and amount of conflict with other wildlife, livestock and people.
The plan relies upon close cooperation between Tribal Wildlife Management Program staff and wildlife managers of other state and federal agencies that also manage wolves to monitor populations of wolves and big game and livestock conflicts.
-Courtesy of Germaine White