Outdoors briefs

Group plans to allow limited bison hunting

BILLINGS, Mont. - A conservation group attempting to piece together the largest private wildlife reserve in the United States says it will allow eight hunters a chance to kill bison on the grasslands of north central Montana.

American Prairie Reserve spokeswoman Becky Lonardo said Tuesday its bison herd has almost 900 animals. Also known as buffalo, they roam on portions of 623 square miles that the group controls along the Missouri River.

The reserve for the first time next year will offer bison hunts to four people from surrounding communities, two hunts to be auctioned online and two to be given to other organizations.

Since 2001, American Prairie has raised more than $100 million with a goal of creating a nearly 5,500 square-mile reserve - an area larger than Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks combined.

Feds say white-tailed prairie dogs doing OK

BILLINGS, Mont. - U.S. wildlife officials say the white-tailed prairie dog does not need special protections under the Endangered Species Act because it's in no danger of extinction across the U.S. West.

Tuesday's announcement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service culminates a lengthy review of the squirrel-sized rodent's legal status. Its range includes portions of Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and Utah.

Biologists said poisoning campaigns, plague and habitat loss have significantly reduced the white-tailed prairie dog's abundance versus historical levels. But despite the threats, officials said the animal has proven resilient and adaptable, and therefore is in no danger of extinction within the foreseeable future.

Prairie dogs get their name from a barking sound they use when intruders enter their colonies. White-tailed prairie dogs are one of five prairie dogs species in North America.

Fatal disease may be spreading in Montana

BILLINGS, Mont. - A fatal disease has been found in a deer in north central Montana, marking the second region to have an occurrence of chronic wasting disease since it first emerged in the state this fall.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Tuesday that a mule deer tested positive for the disease after being shot Nov. 12, north of Chester near the Canadian border.

Chronic wasting disease already was present in surrounding states and provinces. It sickens deer, elk and moose, causing organ damage and death.

Four deer tested positive for infection this fall in south central Montana - more than 250 miles from the latest case. State wildlife officials are planning to hold a special hunt in that area, which is around the town of Bridger, to gauge the disease's prevalence.

Introduced walleye traced to source in lake

HELENA, Mont. - State wildlife biologists say walleye that were illegally introduced into Swan Lake in 2015 came from Lake Helena.

The Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said microchemistry analysis of the inner ear bones of two walleye that were caught in Swan Lake in October 2015 determined they were introduced to the lake sometime that spring and that they originated in Lake Helena, which is about 10 miles north of Helena.

Walleye are highly predacious and could impact the native bull trout and kokanee salmon in Swan Lake, which is east of Flathead Lake. Any anglers who catch walleye in Swan Lake must kill them and report the catch to FWP.

A reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever is responsible for the illegal introduction is now more than $35,000.

Associated Press