Harvest Moon, Butte Montana

September has begun with a flurry of activities here in Butte Montana. The beginning of classes, a mining communities summit, home chores before winter sets in, and a few last camping trips. Saturday I was able to get out in the hills for a day of bird hunting (blue grouse, ruffed grouse, and Wilson's snipe).

Here's two panorama views of the valley from the high Forest Service road where we parked to hunt the first spot. The top view is the south end of the valley and the bottom the north (note the heavy fog/cloud bank). The red trees are lodgepole pines killed by bark beetles. It's still a gorgeous place to hike with a great view to the Pintler Wilderness, even if you don't bring home a blue grouse for the table:


Heading up to a steep ridge where the whitebark pines grow, not a half-mile from the truck, RTD walked up on a big blond bedded bull elk. Just 35 yards away from me in dense "dog hair" pines, the bull stood up slowly as RTD came over for a sniff, and I was worried he might horn or kick her. I shouted at her (she's deaf as a post), thinking that would put the bull to flight. Instead, the big 5X5 (at least; he had double browtines) stood for half a minute before ambling away. Here's the best photo I could muster. You can see how thick these wooded slopes are where I do most of my elk hunting. This bull is only 40 or 50 yards away at this point, and you can barely see him!

Angling further up the hill, we came to a boggy opening and this fresh elk wallow:

To the top and around the ridge and back down, never flushed a grouse. Blame it on a very wet, cold spring when the snow laid deep along this ridge until late-June.

Down in the broad creek valley, RTD and I made another hunt. Given the 20-some degree F mornings, I was surprised the Pleated Gentians (Gentiana affinis) are still blooming:

There was lots of grouse food, including Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) berries:


Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus):


And Wild Rose (Rosa sp.):

There is usually a ruffed grouse or two along the edges of the aspen stands, but not this day. Fortunately, we did put up some Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) in the boggy areas along the beaver ponds. Along with their eastern cousin the Woodcock, I find them the tastiest bird I know:

Well, it is the harvest moon, so time to pick the Hops (Humulus lupulus) for beer brewing. Here's the trellis in the yard. Despite the cold wet spring, they did pretty well once they got going this year:

Here's a close up of the cones. You know they're ready to pick when the edges are tinged with brown:

But watch out! Until I've been into them for an hour or so, I never seem to remember just how irritating the bines (with a "b") and their natural essential oils are to my skin. Maybe that's because of its membership in the Cannabacea family, and the otherwise pleasant feelings that hops harvesting induces! I've heard some people smoke it, too. Hope it doesn't do this to the lungs:

Well, a good day done and waiting for the big event. Looking east from my front porch, here's the harvest moon rising over Butte's east ridge (Continental Divide) with the Lexington Mine headframe (aka "gallows frame") on the left and St. Lawrence church under the moon:

National Summit of Mining Communities: Butte Montana 2008

Hundreds of mining community residents, agency personnel, and corporate representatives converged in Butte this week for the third annual National Summit of Mining Communities. The Summit began in Leadville, Colorado, to "focus on sharing experiences in order to help communities avert or reduce the severe econonic cycles associated with the boom and bust cycles of mining."

Though the real worth of the Summit lies in dialog among people from across the spectrum of mining & community, the Summit's structure revolves around presentations, roundtable sessions, and tours of local sites.

As an academic, I've been to a lot of workshops, conferences, and related meetings over the years. For the most part, they are not all that interesting. This was very different, in part because it's a topic I'm centrally interested in and in part because of the diverse participants.

With simultaneous sessions on local, regional, and national themes, there were a lot of sessions I wanted to here but could not. Ah, life is choices. Among the sessions I was able to attend, my favorites were presentations about Rico, Colorado (by both ARCO-British Petroleum the legally responsible corporation and local government officials), post-industrial environmental restoration & education, VISTA volunteers in hardrock mining communities, problems caused to communities by mining in Argentina, and a panel discussion by participants from various mine-affected communities. I'll explain each of these in more depth.

I've included lots of links in this blog entry--please explore them and learn more about each of these people and issues.

Rico, Colorado
Rebecca Levy(Mayor Pro-temp and newspaper editor) and Jennifer Stark (Town Planner) presented "Bust to Bust in Rico, Colorado." A small town of several hundred souls, Rico had high lead levels in residential soils, acid mine drainage, and piles of mine waste. Because the town is a bedroom community for upscale Telluride and real estate values are critical to the local economy, citizens feared the stigma of a Superfund designation. Also, as Becky put it, "Residents feared that EPA would set cleanup goals that were too high." For these reasons, Rico opted to work directly with ARCO-BP on an acceptable cleanup.

Chuck Stilwell, an environmental project manager with Arco-British Petroleum who has also worked in Butte, Montana and is now with BP Exploration in Alaska, was concerned about Rico and the Dolores River becoming a Superfund site. He stated that Superfund is an inefficient process that burns local communities, and that working directly with a local community can produce the same result. In this case, Arco-BP is working on yard cleanups, addressing lead pollution from local roads, the creation of a hazardous waste repository, and treatment of polluted water. Arco-BP and Rico have also created a non-profit organization for the ownership of mine properties and for institutional controls to protect the public.

Our experience in the upper Clark Fork River basin of Montana -- America's largest Superfund site -- has been very different. There is a general public consensus that Arco-BP often tried to subvert local government to accept less thorough (and much cheaper) reclamation projects as a substitute for more thorough cleanup. Superfund at sites such as Silver Bow Creek and Montana's Natural Resource Damage Program brought far more money and achieved results superior to collaborative (cf. Norwegian Quislings or the French Vichy) approaches.

The nature and extent of pollution at a relatively small and discrete site such as Rico is very different from the three large megasites that compose the upper Clark Fork River basin. And perhaps Arco-BP has learned from its mistakes in Montana. It is even possible that the corporate culture of Arco changed after acquisition by BP. I don't know how to explain it, but the western Montana experience with Arco-BP was certainly not pleasant.

Environmental Education
Justin Ringsak and Matt Vincent of the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program presented "Restoration & Education." They described how their program began with education about environmental restoration delivered directly to kids, but has broadened to a "teaching the teachers" model. From their presentation, other communities could learn how to build their own education program about environmental restoration.

Clearly, the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program has demonstrated that this place-based, outdoor laboratory approach effectively raises achievement in science education (standardized test scores, etc). As I listened, though, this presentation raised deeper thoughts stemming from the foundations of liberal education and citizenship established by philosophers such as John Stuart Mill and John Dewey. Above all, it raised a question that deserves further thought: What does it mean to be a good environmental citizen?

Vista at the Hardrock
Dr. T. Allan Comp, who like many great people can say he once lived in Butte, directs the Western Hardrock Watershed Team. A panel discussion by volunteers Torie Bowman, Grady Harper, Molly Smith, and Abigale Stangl explained some of the tremendous ways that smart, hardworking young volunteers can help improve and empower [i.e. "build capacity"] American mining communities. It was very empowering just to listen to this crew: there's not much that's wrong about the world that what's right about the world (incl. brains, youth, and energy) can't fix!

Mining Argentina
Wow. Just when you think the world is coming along pretty well, you look over the further hills and it scares the hell out of you. David Modersbach, a graduate candidate with National University of Rosario, presented "Social Insertion Strategies of Transnational Metals Mining Interests in Argentina." Corporations such as Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining Company, which often have a fairly good reputation of working with communities in the U.S. southwest, have a horrible environmental and social justice record outside the U.S. David described how mining has created a huge "sacrifice zone" in the mountains along the border between Chile and Argentina, where ecological functions have been totally destroyed, with great harm to local peoples. See YouTube Gold Link.

Mining Communities
More tears as I listened to the Community Panel by Gayla Benefield (Libby MT), Virginia Commack (an Inupiaq of Ambler, Alaska), Rebecca Levy (Rico, Colorado), and John Kill Eagle (Fort Belknap Reservation, Montana). No one can listen to the stories of men, women, and children coughing their lungs up from asbestosis in Libby without weeping. No one can listen to the stories of NovaGold Resources Inc. ripping apart the traditional "life in/with nature" of native Alaskan peoples without weeping. But as Bobbie D. taught us, "Take the rag away from your face. Now ain't the time for your tears."

-------------------------------------

Thanks to Wendy Thomi (EPA), Kevin Mellott (Montana Tech), and all the other great folks who worked their butts off to organize and host this great Summit!

Restoration Council Approves Plant Diversity Research

The citizen Advisory Council ("Upper Clark Fork River Basin Remediation and Restoration Advisory Council") of Montana's Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP) voted today to fund Rick Douglass's (Dr. Richard Douglass, Montana Tech) research proposal for "Restoring Native Plant Diversity." The Advisory Council voted to approve $628,175 for the project. Though trimmed considerably from the original request for $848,244, it's still a chunk of change for a 3-year research project to develop weed resistant flowers for the Butte Hill Superfund site.

Greg Mullen and other NRDP staff did well working with Rick and Kriss Douglass to cut $220,000 from the original proposal. NRDP might also set annual targets to insure that measurable public benefits stem from this funding. This is, I believe, only the second research program to be funded by NRDP. Well, that is assuming that the Trustee Restoration Council (a body representing state agencies) and Governor Brian Schweitzer also approve the funding. Generally, the Advisory Council, Trustee Restoration Council, and Governor all rubber stamp whatever the NRDP staff recommends, so no worries.

Congratulations to the Douglasses. Kriss Douglass, a recently retired Wildlife Technician with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, has been appointed as a Research Professor at Montana Tech. The project includes tissue culture as a methodology for creating knapweed-resistant "super forbs" (i.e. flowering plants) that will allow revegetation of the Butte Hill Superfund site without using broad-spectrum herbicides. Kriss will reportedly play a major role in the tissue culture once a new lab for this experimental technique is established.

At today's meeting, University of Montana professor Ragan Morrison Callaway stated that it may take just one year to produce new "super forbs" and demonstrate enormous progress in revegetating the Butte Hill and other Superfund sites in the basin.

Despite concerns raised regarding the use of restoration funds for university-based research, such concerns were brushed aside by Chris Brick of the Clark Fork Coalition. As she said at today's meeting, "This project is exactly what NRD funds should be used for."

Previous concerns (yeah, that would be me and a handful of others) about funding research with restoration funds were misplaced: Given that there are tens of millions of dollars in Natural Resource Damage funds available for restoration projects, it is clear that there is plenty of money available for funding much more research like this. That's OK, I've been wrong before. Let me be the first to suggest: Montana NRDP should issue a national call for proposals. RFP: Restoring native plant diversity.

If $600,000 for research this year is exactly what we need, then more of it is better. The NRD fund could easily sustain 2 or 3 million dollars per year in research funding. Let's do it! No use letting that money all get wasted on buying critical habitat along the Clark Fork River, removing additional tailings from sites like Milltown Dam, and building efficient water distribution infrastructure in Butte.

In the 1990s, the Environmental Protection Agency funded research by Dr. Frank Munshower of the Reclamation Research Unit at Montana State University and Dr. William Schafer of Schafer & Associates to develop revegetation methods for Superfund remedy and restoration. Munshower and Schafer developed STARS -- Streamside Tailings and Revegetation Studies -- as a method for revegetating impacted areas in situ (i.e. without the cost of removing tailings). STARS was rejected as a viable option for revegetation of the upper Clark Fork River basin.

Clearly, the Douglasses are on the right track. Munshower and Schafer were wrong in emphasizing a low-cost approach for remedy. We need to think big, and focus on restoration research even if practical results are never achieved or achieved only after many years. It is imperative that we invest millions in this goal, if necessary. Hopefully, many other revegetation scientists will follow the lead and apply for research funding. In the near future, the Butte Hill and other areas along the Clark Fork will bloom with the many native forbs that greeted explorers during the Lewis & Clark era. With enough money, we can create whatever sort of nature we want!

Who is Sarah Palin? A Alaskan's perspective.

Like most Americans, my wife and I were stunned by Senator McCain's choice for VP candidate. We began calling and emailing friends in Alaska, asking for information. We received this reply from a friend of Jan's who is a Social Worker in Alaska. It was written by someone that knew Palin well. It is a fair, balanced, and honest assessment. - EcoRover

-------------------------------------------------------

A note to all by Anne K.

Dear friends,

So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the
last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .

Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
common: their gender and their good looks. :)

[Note: This was also posted on Washington Independent comments area,
with a controllable hotmail account, and was obviously meant by the
author to be read. ]

Thanks,
Anne


ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out
there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece
of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was
still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers
involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the
community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it
would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that
could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will
make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she
proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while
she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's
surplus, borrow for needs.

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by
her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew
her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated”
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure
and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that
an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't
fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she
later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew
her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t
like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the
high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the
structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this
Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to
nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance--but with the unobservant
she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made
point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package
of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march
to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state
initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a
heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are
regretting it.


CLAIM VS FACT
•“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
•“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships
(said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.
•“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
•“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen
when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because
few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out
of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no
fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100
or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's
attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of
Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are
swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the
population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The
day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the
current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was
5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to
2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.

Anne Kilkenny
[email deleted because the author doesn't want to be contacted by all the "kooks on the Internet]
August 31, 2008

Butte Montana and the End of Summer

July and August in the northern Rockies lull us into a belief that the long, warm, sunny days will go on forever. Then you wake up one morning and the frost has killed the petunias. This is life: a cycle of growth and decline, hopefully a cycle of renewal despite the fate of any individual.

Among wildflowers, it's the time for hardy Primrose (Oenothera sp.):

And on the porches, it's geranium time:

My wife Jan Munday likes to end the summer with a campout near Virginia City, Montana. A ghost town specializing in historical tourism, we like to take in theatre by the Virginia City Players or the bawdy Vaudeville at the Brewery Follies.

We take in the sights:

Stop at the candy store:

And sit out on the deck and have a pint or two with our friends Celia Schahczenski and Jeff Schahczenski at the Bale of Hay Saloon. Life is good:

After the show, we stopped for a steak:

While RTD and Sheikah patiently(?) waited for their leftovers:

And headed to our campsite as the sun set on the beautiful Ruby Valley:

This year, we camped at nearby Branham Lakes. We hiked up to the ridge, where Celia convinced me that we should gather some whitebark pine cones and extract the nuts (much like pine nuts) for Jeff's gourmet cous-cous recipe:

Nothing like some lunch and a nap on the ridge:

Well, not just any ridge, but a ridge with a view:

There are just a few, thin cornices of snow left from last year's winter storms. In the warm sun of a late summer day, they were quickly melting away:

But don't let the sunny, warm weather on the south side of the ridge lull you into complacency. On the north side, a weather front was rolling up the valley and over the ridge:

The next morning was cool and wet, and on the way back to Butte we drove over snowy Pipestone Pass:

And though the front passed quickly, it left snow on the higher peaks and reminds us that change is the nature of life:

Montana's Natural Resource Damage Program should not fund the "Restoring Native Plant Diversity" proposal

[Background: The State of Montana has won nearly 300 million dollars in a legal settlement with Arco-British Petroleum for damages to natural resources in the upper Clark Fork River basin of western Montana. Montana's Natural Resource Damage Program funds proposals for projects that replace or restore resources in the affected area. This is a copy of a comment I submitted to the NRD Program on what I believe is a project that should not be funded.]

To: Members of the Upper Clark Fork River Basin Remediation & Restoration Advisory Council

Carol Fox, Restoration Program Chief, Montana Natural Resource Damage Program

RE: Comments on the “Restoring Native Plant Diversity Project,” a project submitted by Dr. Richard Douglass of Montana Tech, Butte Montana

I strongly disagree with the NRDP staff recommendation to fund the “Restoring Native Plant Diversity in the UCFRB” for more than $800,000. While planting flowers on the Butte Hill might make it a prettier place, this project is a poor use of limited NRD funds.
• The better part of a million dollars would be better spent on priorities such as removing tailings that pollute Silver Bow Creek, putting a thicker soil cap on Butte’s “reclaimed” mine dumps, or simply buying plants for restoration;
• The Native Plant project uses highly uncertain and very experimental methods that make it a big gamble; and
• The project management skills and experience of the Native Plant project team appear to be woefully inadequate for successful completion of a project of this scope.

I realize this is a rather long document, but when $800,000 is at stake, I think it is worth deep consideration.

Introduction: My Background

Please consider my experience when evaluating this letter of comment. I was a charter member of the Advisory Council, serving two terms as Governor Racicot’s appointee. During my tenure, I was especially active in promoting the council’s educational mission. As a Science & Technology Studies scholar, I have spent nearly 30 years critically evaluating policy-related issues such as environmental restoration.

Since moving to Walkerville (on the hill above Butte) nearly 20 years ago, I have spent thousands of hours on every aspect of Superfund remedy and restoration in the UCFRB—including non-paid volunteer work for the Advisory Council, EPA “TAG” groups, Trout Unlimited, and the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program. This includes a “boots on the ground” approach. I have floated Silver Bow Creek and the Clark Fork River, hiked all over the Butte Hill and its mine dumps, and toured every Superfund site from Butte to Missoula.
As a member of the Advisory Council, I took seriously Chairman Jim Flynn’s concern that there is far too little money to fund every pie-in-the-sky project that comes along. NRD funds must be spent cautiously and strategically.

The Native Plant Project is a Big Gamble

Because of my close association with Butte and Montana Tech, it pains me to criticize this project. Rick Douglass is a good small mammal biologist. And, after all, I like seeing “pork” come to my town and institution as much as the next person. Even a pork barrel project, however, should have reasonably certain outcomes. But this is a bad project and a waste of money.

This project is a big gamble and raises significant questions:
• What are the ecological outcomes of this project?
• How is it that flowering plants (forbs) are superior to grasses for mine waste restoration?
• Will forbs result in more birds and mammals on the Butte Hill?
• Will there be measurably less sediment or polluted run-off from the Butte Hill to Silver Bow Creek?
• Is a production-scale greenhouse reasonably effective at Tech’s high elevation, and what will it require as a subsidy in terms of heating, lighting, and temperature control?
These questions should have been stated as measurable outcomes in the proposal. Instead, the proposal reads like a request for research support, and not as a demonstration of proven techniques with reasonably certain outcomes.

The technical feasibility of/likelihood of success for the Native Plant project is very low:

• The project proposes developing “forb sods.” This is not a recognized or proven concept for establishing flowering plants under wild, untended conditions. Forb sods are a proven, albeit extremely expensive and high maintenance, technique for turf grasses and for wildflowers under carefully tended yard/garden conditions.
• Even in a yard or garden – ideal conditions with high maintenance – survival of forbs planted using sod mats can be very low.
• Mine waste soils pose a huge challenge for establishing any sort of vegetation, let alone wildflowers. What evidence is there that flowers will grow on mine waste?
• The project proposes using tissue culture (i.e. cloning). Cloning wildflowers is extremely difficult, uncertain, cost- and labor-intensive. According to the literature: “[Tissue culture] is not without its problems. First of all, it takes a great deal of research and experience to determine the best ratio of different hormones and other factors to get a particular species to respond well. The time and equipment needed to run a lab make them prohibitive for even most nurseries… Characteristics such as variegation, which are often genetically unstable to begin with, can be lost in culture.” William Culina, Growing and Propagating Wildflowers (Houghton Mifflin, 2000): 244.
• The project proposes collecting seed from wildflowers. This is difficult at best, especially at the volumes needed for this project.
• Successfully propagating wildflower seeds is highly uncertain. The literature emphasizes this serious problem: “Significant results of a seeding project can take 3 to 5 years; perennial grass and forb seed often lies dormant in the soil until climate conditions are appropriate for germination.” Kim Goodwin and Roger Sheley, “Revegetation Guidelines for Western Montana: Considering Invasive Weeds” (Missoula County Weed District, 2003): 46.
• The proposal does not seem to acknowledge the build-up of herbicide on mine waste soils that have been reclaimed and revegetated with grasses, such as those that dominate the Butte Hill. What will the effect of these residual herbicides be upon the proposed establishment of forbs? Again, this is a well-known problem: “Unnecessary broadcast herbicide treatments will injure or permanently damage a remnant or remaining native forb component. If entirely removed, this critical feature is impossibly difficult and expensive to reestablish.” Kim Goodwin and Roger Sheley, “Revegetation Guidelines for Western Montana: Considering Invasive Weeds” (Missoula County Weed District, 2003): 7.
• The notion of “weed resistant forbs” has been well studied from the point of view of established forb communities. This project, however, proposes investigating whether forbs can invade established weed communities, and whether forbs can out-compete weeds under restoration conditions. Are there previous studies of this phenomenon, or is this a fundamentally new and highly experimental research area?
• What functional influence, if any, is conferred by species diversity? This is highly uncertain, and perhaps a matter of faith and not science. If you believe in it, then it's obviously good. Alternatively, the functional implications of species diversity, if any, are unknown. Do we need this plant diversity? Can we afford it? One plant revegetation expert summed it up this way: “Everyone would agree that 6 adapted species are better than 2 or 3. The trouble is finding 4 or 5 well-adapted species, not several not-so-well-adapted species, in which case a few better adapted species would be superior.”
• In my brief review of the literature, it is clear that tree and shrub diversity confers significant ecosystem benefits to animals and birds. The benefits of adding flowers to grasses, however, are very low.

The economics of the Native Plant project do not measure up:

• Even if successful, this project would restore just 3 acres at a cost of more than $250,000 per acre.
• Assume this project succeeds and could be scaled up to the thousands of acres needing restoration in the Clark Fork. Flowers (forbs) must be planted densely to matter. With 43,560 square feet in an acre, if you plant one every 4 square feet, that's 11,000 plants per acre. At $2 for each one planted that's $22,000 for one small element of revegetation on a single acre. How many survive is another matter, but if you seed for the basic objectives of erosion control, forage, habitat, and aesthetics, competition will take its toll assuming a grassland soil (a good soil—our revegetation sites are poor, mine waste soils). Even on rocky sites where forbs might do better than grasses and stress tolerance replaces competition in organizing plant communities, the transplanting itself is difficult and expensive, and there will be high mortality in the establishment phase.
• The Project Team should well appreciate this fact, since it has already placed forb mats in un-watered areas where they failed.
• The original proposal called for nearly a half-million dollars in “Contracted Services.” In reviewing the budget, it seemed unclear exactly how that $456,956 for “Contracted Services” was to be allocated and spent.
• Funding includes three years at approximately $54,000 per year (including benefits) for a greenhouse technician. Is this primarily a greenhouse plant propagation project or a mine waste restoration project? Is this a full-time position for the project, or is this just a partial salary for a technician that allocates considerable time to other projects?
• $800,000 would buy a lot of flowers from commercial greenhouses to plant the Butte Hill. Is this project an expensive and wasteful duplication of existing services?
• Is it feasible and cost-effective to operate a production greenhouse at Montana Tech’s elevation of approximately 6,000 feet above sea level? The heating and lighting costs will be exorbitant.

The Project Team appears to lack the experience and expertise to make this project successful:

• This project hinges on a large new greenhouse, but there is as yet no greenhouse in sight. The project team’s leader received approximately $300,000 more than a year ago for a greenhouse. The original design proved inadequate under external review by knowledgeable experts. The greenhouse had to be redesigned. Since then, the greenhouse has missed one start date after another. The Project Team let an entire growing season slip past without accomplishing its goal. The greenhouse project is now allegedly $100,000 over budget and no construction has begun.
• Receiving funding for projects such as the greenhouse is admirable, but the Project Team must follow through in a responsible, timely manner. The greenhouse project, if done competently, could lead to future funding and lay down a track record. But no NRD funds should be allocated until the Project Team demonstrates a clear ability to follow through on projects.
• Montana Tech’s old greenhouse has been allowed to slip into a state of abysmal disrepair. Temporary greenhouses could have been erected but were not. The Native Plant project proposal clearly stated that “some aspects of the project are already underway…” How is this occurring without a greenhouse? What, exactly, has “been underway?”
• The Project Lead – the key person on the project – is a small mammal biologist with no experience in mine waste revegetation.
• Other project team members also lack effective experience in mine waste revegetation. An experienced revegetation expert, in commenting on this project, stated “It’s amateur hour, at best.”
• The key person and other project members appear to have no credible experience (i.e. publications) with tissue culture of wildflowers.
• NRDP worked closely with the USDA Bridger Plant Materials Center and had good success with revegetating mine waste with several grass species in addition to forbs such as fuzzytongue penstemon and common snowberry. There seems to be no acknowledgement of this prior work in the project proposal.
• The project team seems to lack awareness of earlier efforts to establish forbs on herbicide sprayed sites. Cf. James S. Jacobs, Susan R. Winslow, and Monica Pokorny (2007), “The effect of five pre-emergence herbicides on emergence and establishment of four native wildflowers,” Native Plants Journal 8: 224-231. This or similar prior work is not described in the project proposal.
• The project team has allegedly overstated the commitment of partners such as Butte-Silver Bow government to subsidize this project with watering and other high-maintenance activities. What, exactly, is local government willing to do in order to subsidize and support this project?

Conclusion: Start Small, Demonstrate Results, then Go For It

While I understand that the NRDP staff and Butte want an assured source of greenhouse plants for revegetation, it’s not worth the gamble for more than $800,000 of precious and limited NRD funds. The NRD fund is not a goose that lays golden eggs. When the money is gone, it’s gone forever. You don’t write a high-stakes gambler a blank check.

The problems with this proposal run far deeper than I have documented here. For example, if you take time to read the entire proposal, it appears to be two separate and disjointed requests for money—one from Montana Tech and one from UM- Missoula. If this is the case, then each entity should apply separately.

This project does pose an intriguing possibility that might someday be realized. But why rush into a million dollar project without laying a solid foundation?

If this project is funded in the current cycle, then the scope of work should be clearly focused, the amount of money greatly reduced, and annual measurable goals established to insure good fiscal management.

Better yet, the project team should apply for one or more Project Development Grants. This would give them the time and experience to develop the experimental methods and expertise to tackle a larger and more ambitious project. Though this project might look like a pig in a poke today, it could well prove to be achievable if the project team is willing to be patient, demonstrate competence, and take the long view.

I appreciate the work of the many volunteers on the Advisory Council and the dedication of the professional staff at NRD. Thank you for this opportunity to submit public comment.

Big Hole River: Another good day flyfishing for trout

I had planned a backpack trip for the weekend, but life got in the way as life tends to do. The heirlooms that my wife, Jan Munday, shipped back from Pennsylvania after her Mom's death arrived Friday, and so there was a sturdy crate (containing a lovley curved-glass china cabinet) to deconstruct. The delivery guy dropped it at our gate, and I felt like the guy in Christmas Story unpacking his "major award" with the neighbors watching; the crate was labeled "Fragile" so I think it was Italian. And 4 large shipping cartons to unpack. Which of course meant cleaning out the basement. There's something about the algebra of keeping house I've never been able to fathom, but as Jan likes to point out (and she's right, of course), if I weren't married I'd be living in a packing crate.

But Jan & I didn't work ALL weekend. After Saturday morning chores, we drove over to the Big Hole River for a few hours. It's nice having such good homewater just 1/2 hour away from Butte, Montana. Nothing like cool water on a hot day. Jan found a partly shady spot to place her chair and read, while I made a circle down one bank, across the river, back up, and across again. That gave old RTD a chance to take a good swim through a deep pool with gentle current. By the time I circled back to Jan, RTD was sound asleep and we felt bad waking her up for the ride home.

Two surprises: (1) I did NOT bring my camera for a change. This was mostly an accident of memory, but it felt good to just fish for a change and not feel compelled to document everything. And, (2) Fishing at high noon was surprisingly good. Normally, I avoid like the plague being on the river at that time of day. But both a big Royal Wulff and Hoppers caught trout, most in the 12" class.

Today was basement cleaning, parting things out for a yard sale, but saving lots too. We hadn't gone through stuff in some years, and there were many reminders of daughter Emily Munday's childhood. Meanwhile, she was off waterskiing near Bozeman with friends for the day. Hey, what's wrong with this picture? Oh well, youth is not always wasted on the young.

Butte America and Weeds

It's a form of therapy: learning to accept and appreciate weeds. Like some people, weeds are disliked because they are "out of place" and do not serve others' needs. Living in Butte, Montana (aka ButteAmerica, pronounced as if it's all one word), one is often regarded as "Other" by fellow Montanans. For that reason if no other, a Buttian (or Walkervillian, in my case) should understand weeds.

This reminds me in some odd way of a short conversation while elk hunting. Because of a booming elk population, the Big Hole River watershed has become a popular hunting spot for folks from distant towns such as Helena, Missoula, and Kalispell. I mentioned this to a guy who pulled in behind my pickup at a favorite "secret" spot. I assumed that, because he knew how to get there, he was a local. My exact words were, as I recall, "Have you noticed all the riff-raff from Helena and Missoula hunting in the area this year?" His indignant reply was, after informing me that he was from Helena, "Well, that's the first time I heard anybody from Butte call anyone from somewhere else in the state 'riff-raff.'"

Well, anyway, Butte has lots of weeds. The soil was burned over by arsenic, sulfur, and heavy metals from the copper smelters a century ago. Recovery is still underway. But the barren soil became ideal habitat for hardy, introduced invasive plants such as Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa):

It's a late summer bloomer, and a favorite for bees and other pollinators. Cattle won't graze it, which is reason enough for it be a "noxious weed" in Montana culture. I don't want it in my yard, but there seems to be so much of it in the Butte surround that there's probably no getting rid of, short of "nuking" the soil with year-after-year herbicide treatments (which would wipe out everything but grass).

Of course, ranchers don't generally like native sagebrush either. A recent obituary for old Siv Seidensticker of Twin Bridge stated that burning & eradicating sagebrush was one of his favorite pursuits. Tell that to the elk and deer that depend on sagebrush for winter forage, or for the many birds that need the fragrant herb for food and nesting. Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) has been doing well on the Butte Hill in recent years:


Butter-and-Eggs (Linaria vulgaris) is an attractive European medicinal herb/invader. Long endemic to the eastern U.S., it has only recently become fairly common in western Montana:


Though not a weed, I include Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) because it is so frequently accused of causing pollen allergies (it blooms at the same time as ragweed, but is more conspicuous and thus gets blamed) and because a giant cousin was so common in the Allegheny fields of my youth:

Similarly, Rabbitbrush (Chrysomnus nauseosus) often seems weedy because it colonizes disturbed areas so readily. The flowerheads are attractive enough, but once they set seed and puff out they will be especially pretty:

Anyone know what this is? Maybe some kind of yellow aster?

White Campion (Silene latifolia) is another European invader that we might as well learn to live with:


Hoary Alyssum (Berteroa incana)is a weed new to Butte. Like other Europeans, it really takes to the place and has went from rare to common in just a few years. It rapidly takes over anywhere that people disturb soil for a house, ditch, driveway or -- especially -- with ATVs. It produces seeds in super-abundance, so the birds & mice probably like it:


Many of the mine dumps around Butte have been successfully revegetated with grasses and are now being colonized by sage brush, other native plants, and a few weeds. The big ongoing weed invasion, however, is on land torn-up by ATV (All Terrain Vehicle or "four wheeler") use. They are a most effective soil cultivator and weed spreader. Until Butte-Silver Bow gets a handle on limiting off road ATVs, weeds are assured of a good future.

Dr. Anaconda Rendezvous 2008

Each year, a group of us camp at "Dr. Anaconda Lake" in the Big Hole River watershed near Butte, Montana. It's a beautiful lake with the finest sandy beach in Montana. The Pintler Wilderness is a short hike away, the lake is full of adfluvial Arctic grayling, the big 2000 burn is recovering nicely, and the campground is seldom crowded (which is why I'm not saying its real name here).

Although I think the big 2000 burn was generally a good thing and very beneficial for the lodgepole pine habitat, I was glad that the big Ponderosa pines above the campground did not burn. They are fairly rare in the Big Hole watershed, and one can only speculate on the bear or Clark's nutcracker that carried seeds so far:

We hike across the burn each year to see how the recovery is going. In a year or two, this will be nearly impossible, as the burned trees are beginning to blow over and create a landscape of pick-up sticks. Here is Brent Patch framed by his uncle-in-law from Chihuahua (left) and Butch Gerbrandt (right):

As always, there are black bears in the area. Last year they were in the campground, but perhaps this year campers and rural residents are being more careful and not habituating them to human food. Good people. The bears are staying up in the forest. Good bears. How do you tell black bear from grizzly bear dung? Grizz turds have little bits of chewed-up bells and pepper-spray cans in them:

Early one morning, Brent did see a big mountain lion near the campground, no doubt after one of the numerous mule deer. It did motivate us to keep the kids and dogs close.
At the rendezvous we celebrate the birthdays of Emily Munday and Kenia Patch:


Montana's finest sandy beach is naturally the focus of life on warm, sunny afternoons. Some of the gang is still off hiking, but the beach lures most everyone sooner or later:

This year, we added something new: margaritas, thanks to the ingenious ("Have you been drilled today?") DrillBlender, here operated by certified margarita mechanic Don Stierle:

Don and Andrea Stierle brought fresh raspberries from their garden for a most unique and refreshing drink. Easy on the tequila. Jeff Schahczenski & Jan Munday:

You can make them without the liquor too, right?:

Well, it's not all drinking and tanning. The Tahiti Boat makes for good fun and a welcome cool down, as Mike Stickney and Debbie Stickney will attest (that's AnnieTheDog swimming along):

Celia Schahczenski kayaked the Big Hole River with Jeffher and her visiting brother, and brought the hardshells to the beach. Here's expert kayaker Don Stierle giving novice Emily Munday a lesson:

Lew Yong Gerbrandt enjoyed the swimming, boating, and walking in soft, warm sand near a cool lake on a hot day:

A word of caution: KEEP THE LIFE-JACKETS WITH THE BOAT. It's the law. Two of our jackets were inadvertently carried back to camp. Two of the gang went out in the Tahiti Boat witout them, and we were fined when Fish, Wildlife & Parks wardens stopped by for a safety check.
For kids, frogs provide the ultimate in live entertainment, as Kenia, ("Little") Emily, and Adler know:


If you're calm (or just half asleep) the dragonflies will visit you:

It's a dog's life. They like Tahiti Boat rides too. Here, Don Stierle with Chuka:

One boat ride and a short swim are enough for old RTD:

Stickneys' Annie is younger and more energetic, here going for a sand bath:

Dinah, the former racing dog, was in the care of the Stierle dogsitting service. She is now learning a new life of sociability and doing right well at it. Beautiful dog, too:

People have been visiting "Dr. Anaconda" Lake for a long, long time. A beachcomber found this incredible jasper bi-face. Perhaps it was a scraper, as it did not have the fluted base typical of Clovis or Folsom "spear points:"

All too soon it was Sunday and time to break camp. We had a big group this year!

Diller Lake, Pintler Wilderness Backpacking

Most every day -- whether at home or work -- I look over toward our backyard wilderness, the Pintler, and imagine myself there. Life in Butte America is good knowing that Montana is just 15 minutes away.

My daughter Emily Munday is home for a few weeks and wanted to visit her favorite spot in the Pintler: Ennea Odoi Lake (you mythology fans will figure it out) in the heart of the wilderness. There are nine routes out of this lake that lead to interesting places just a day hike away, such as peaks and other lakes. It is a lovely place, Ennea Odoi Lake:

We started out with Don and Andrea Stierle:

And here's a pic of Emily Munday with Chooka (DnA's faithful pack dog) and RTD:

Dave and Chelsea Carter got an earlier start and met us a quarter-mile from the lake, where they prepared a fantastic supper (thick cut pork chops and baked potatoes on a backpack trip!):

I'm glad we are very careful and hang all of our food at night. There be bears about:

The areas was heavily glaciated not so long ago. Along with the granite and limestone, you run into interesting glacial erratics. Norman Maclean, in A River Runs Through It, writes about, "...rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs." Here are some timeless ripples, wave packets of a message from long ago:

Some of the messages from the past are more frivolous, perhaps, such as this puddingstone or conglomerate erratic:

The air was cool when we arrived, but what boy and his dog can resist a swim in an ice cold lake?

Or what maids, for that matter?


I think Chelsea is saying "It's cold!," though not with those exact words:

That evening, some big cutthroats were feeding on spruce moths and emerging caddis. Here's Emily just before the big one that got away took the fly and broke the tippet:

The next day we hiked over to nearby Pan Lake. This place was great fishing a few years ago, but like Warren seems to have frozen out and is now fishless. Good for the mayflies:

And if one cannot fish, there's always swimming:


RTD was once a great swimmer of lakes. Now the old dog watches from the top of the cliff:

Pan Lake has interesting geology, too, such as this vein of white rippling throught some underwater rock:

Flowers are bloomin' and bees are buzzin'. The humblebees seem especially fond of the Tall Larkspur (Dephinium occidentale):

Humblebees also love the native Elk Thistle (Cirsium scariosum):

Whereas butterflies, like this Painted Lady, prefer Groundsel (Senecio sp.):

Butterflies don't spend all their time feeding. These Fritillaries (not sure what species) are busy making little copies of themselves:

Along Ennea Odoi Lake, there are several patches of splendid, incredibly beautiful Subalpine Spiraea (Spiraera splendens):

And the wonderful herbal tea plant, Mountain Gentian (Gentiana calycosa):

In the meadows, along with the Tall Larkspur, the Mountain Death Camas (Camas Zigadenus elegans) is abundant as well as elegant (and deadly):

In the wetter areas, the False Hellebore (Veratrum viride? there seem to be several varieties or species) is in bloom:

In drier areas, the tiny flowers of Selfheal(Prunella vulgaris), a great herbal as the common name implies, call out to you:

It's late August and time is running out for pollination, and for fruiting fungus too, as this Puffball "knows:"

And this Coral Fungus, too:

Aptly named, as this close-up shows:

Elk hunting season is not far off, as I was reminded by the frequent sign and smell (the early morning meadows literally reeked of elk). There is some incredibly good elk habitat in this area:

As a group we talk a lot on the trail, which cuts down a lot on game sightings. On the other hand, the birds don't seem to mind, and Don & Andrea pointed out the hummingbirds and the many species of siskins and sparrows and grosbeaks etc. It was a pleasant three days, and all too soon we returned to the trailhead, chilled six-pack hidden in the nearby creek, and ice cream on the way home at the Anaconda Dairy Queen.

Life is sweet during the brief Montana summer.