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POTOMAC - Kennecott Exploration Company (KEC) representatives Regional Communities Manager Matt Jeschke and Principal I Geoscientist Clinton Roberts traveled to Potomac and hosted an informational meeting Feb. 28. They presented their plans for the 2017 field season. They also talked about the current status of the Copper Cliff project, background of KEC local projects and time for questions and answers. More than 20 people attended the meeting. The continued project will resemble drilling...
BELGRADE – Seven Hellgate Civilian Junior Shooters qualified to shoot at the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) three-position (3P) Air Rifle National Championships in June and five of those also qualified for the National Rifle Association (NRA) National 3P Air Rifle Championship in May. If that excitement wasn't enough for the team, Seeley Lake's Justin Thomas and Ibby Lorentz both shot a perfect 20 shots in prone at the NRA match adding them to the list of national record holders. The Junior...
SEELEY LAKE – Lindey's Prime Steak House and SLE Outside hosted the second annual Sasquatch Fat Tire Bike Ride March 4. A dozen riders said they saw every kind of weather Montana offered except cold, which would have been a welcome change to help set the trails. However, they all had a good time and enjoyed the route. Instead of leaving from SLE Outside in downtown Seeley Lake, Race Organizer Mike Lindemer said they left from the Warming Hut on Morrell Creek Road to avoid the mud. Riders had the...
From what I read about the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA), there is very little local opposition to adding another 70,000 acres of wilderness to the millions that we already have. I must wonder what local they surveyed? How did they know the political affiliations of all those surveyed? Why would that be pertinent in a survey unless one was trying to justify a result that might not necessarily be valid? It is very nice that we have people coming from all over the world to go into the wilderness but we have people that LIVE HERE...
When the timber industry can sit down with conservationists and ranchers can see eye to eye with recreationists – we need leaders who will listen and honor those efforts. That’s why the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project (BCSP) is so unique. It’s a Montana-made model for managing our lands – a much better alternative to selling off our public lands to the highest bidder or settling for top-down, one-size-fits-all land management directives from Washington, D.C. As a tech entrepreneur, our public lands provide a competitive advanta...
SEELEY LAKE - I couldn’t agree more with Libby Langston and Douglas Waldron about the proposed Elbow Gravel Pit. It defies common sense to locate a gravel pit – with all the inherent noise and disruption – smack in the middle of a wildlife corridor. The scoping notice states the activity would occur “primarily” over three to six months but does not state the proposed hours of the activity. According to the Montana DEQ website, LHC holds six open cut permits: 2379, 1388, 1432, 2635, 2411, 650. Of the three that I scanned, one (2411) allows op...
In Montana, we know how to turn casual conversations into collaborative policies that work for the benefit of all. The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project is a model for homegrown collaboration that works. It includes the support of a diverse group of local businesses and individuals. Through the passing of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act, the Forest Service will be given more tools to actively manage our forests and continue to put our neighbors and friends to work. This Act and the tools provided therein is an example of how...
Condon, a great and thriving community, has just added another reason to visit Condon, a DOG GROOMER! Yes, a business which is so needed. You can message Brenda Phelps Mitchell on Facebook or call 406-590-3935 for an appointment. I visited with Brenda on the phone and she was very accommodating in answering my questions. Give her a call. We have needed a groomer for years. While waiting for your dog to get groomed visit other businesses, places and people. Becky of All Decked Out, has a new puppy named Oden. He gets to go to the shop with her a...
SEELEY LAKE — The Seeley Lake Community Foundation (SLCF) is proud to announce its small grant awards for the cycle ending Jan. 31. The SLCF is a locally driven and locally supported foundation that invests in the health and prosperity of the Seeley Lake Community. SLCF grants support art and culture, community and economic development, basic human needs, education and natural resources and conservation. Board President Carla Schade said, “Recently the Seeley Lake Community Foundation received many worthwhile requests for its small grants pro...
SEELEY LAKE - Cory Calnan of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will kick off the meeting of the Seeley Lake Community Council next Monday at 6 p.m. with a discussion of Mega Fires. Next will be Mike Hopkins, our new Montana House Representative. He will update us on the current legislative session in Helena. Jenny Rohrer will give a presentation on the Seeley Lake Trails Project Survey and encourage attendees to take the survey. Anne Beach, executive director of the Seeley Lake Community Foundation, will talk about...
SEELEY LAKE - Montana’s first watercraft inspection stations opened Friday in Pablo and at Clearwater Junction at the junction of Highways 200 and 83. The inspection stations will be operated by the Flathead Basin Commission (FBC) under a memorandum of understanding with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). These inspection stations represent the first of what will be an expanded aquatic invasive species inspection station program for the 2017 boating season in Montana. This effort is in response to the positive detection last fall of a...
MISSOURI - United States Army Private 2nd Class (PV2) John Wesley Bogardus graduated basic combat training and advanced individual training from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Dec 16, 2016. PV2 Bogardus successfully completed 14 weeks of intensive training as a combat engineer. He is now stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga. Bogardus is the son of Bill and Donna Bogardus of Seeley Lake. He graduated from the Flathead Home School Association in May 2016.... Full story
Connectivity-it's a hot buzzword when it comes to wildlife. But what does it really mean? At The Vital Ground Foundation, connectivity shapes our organizational vision. A dozen years ago, when the foundation moved from Utah to Montana and became a working land trust focused on grizzly bear recovery, it was connectivity that drew us quickly to the Swan Valley. "We don't need to save thousands and thousands of acres," explains biologist and Vital Ground trustee Douglas Chadwick. "We just need to...
SEELEY LAKE - For years Pyramid Mountain Lumber Inc. (Pyramid) thought the availability of logs was going to be their limiting factor for profitability and capital improvements. This winter they are up six million board feet in their log yard compared to a year ago. The future is looking bright for Pyramid but they are facing a challenge they were not expecting: lack of qualified employees. In 2015 lumber markets went south. All Montana sawmills were operating on overpriced timber and losing...
HELENA – Montana State Parks is seeking public comment on Recreational Trails Program (RTP) and Off-Highway Vehicle Program (OHV) grant applications. The Seeley Lake Nordic Ski Club and Swan Valley Connections both submitted proposals. Public comment is accepted through Friday, March 17 at 5 p.m. The RTP is a federally funded program administered by Montana State Parks. RTP projects include development and rehabilitation work on urban, rural and backcountry trails; planning and construction of community trails; snowmobile and cross-country s...
Through the Cooperative Weather Observer (Coop) Program, the National Weather Service (NWS) utilizes citizen volunteers across the country to record daily temperatures and precipitation. This helps them better predict the weather and keeps a historical log generating the longest, continuous and consistent climate database for the area. The Coop Program is more than 200 years old. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were some of the first observers. "They had a passion early on for weather...
Last time (Jan. 19, 2017) I invited you to join me on a quest, a quest to find “church” for those who are skeptical, cynical, or suspicious of churches, of religious organizations in a broad sense - what I am referring to as the “Groucho Marx” folks. Picking up where we left off then, the working definition of “church” that shapes this quest is “a group of people who come together, who form relationships and connections with those gathered, who share a common hope and desire for a deep life.” Let me also say – I am curious about a church th...
SEELEY LAKE - Quilters of the Tamaracks rent the Seeley Lake Community Hall for 12 days each year. Roughly once a month the quilters bring their sewing machines to the hall, spread out their material and proceed with their individual projects in fellowship with one another. Since the community hall is large, there is room to spare and the quilters are now inviting other crafters to join them. Knitting, scrap booking, needle point, wood working, crocheting, painting - any type of craft portable e...
SWAN VALLEY - Nearly 50 people packed into the Swan Valley Museum Friday night to hear local author of "Swan Valley Place Names" Steve Lamar tell how some landmarks around the valley received their names. Lamar explained that many of the landmarks were named by the 1922 survey crew members who explored and later mapped which in now the Mission Mountains Wilderness. Events in residents' lives also became the names of the places where they happened. Trapper and prospector Jim Condon's name is very...
HELENA – Attorney General Tim Fox encourages Montanans to read up on the most common tax identity theft scams and how to avoid them during this year’s Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week, which is hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). “The IRS reported the average federal tax refund during the 2015 filing season was about $3,200. Montanans work very hard for their wages and it’s unconscionable that identity thieves are stealing Montanans’ well-deserved tax refunds,” said Attorney General Tim Fox. “Unfortunately, these scammers are determi...
With winter gripping Montana, let us point out that the national record for cold in the lower 48 states – 70 degrees below zero – was documented right here in Montana at 2 a.m. on Jan. 20, 1954, on the west side of Roger's Pass near Helena. It's also worthwhile to mention that the chilliest time of any day is just prior to sunrise, so there's a good chance that by 6 a.m. it was significantly colder, but minus 70 was the thermometer's lowest mark. So we were close to and may have even have tied t...
WEST YELLOWSTONE – Among 540 skiers from across the United States, 13 racers from the Seeley Lake Nordic Team and seven other local racers participated in this year's Yellowstone Rendezvous March 4. The team's head coach Bridget Laird was excited to see the athletes' hard work pay off and said the skiers "represented Seeley Lake really well." Laird said the team has been fortunate to have consistently great snow conditions for training and hosting local races. There were 27 skiers on the team t...
MISSOULA – Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) brought five wrestlers to their first tournament at Hellgate Elementary in Missoula March 2 for a tournament between SLE, Hellgate and C.S. Porter wrestlers. Three of the wrestlers won both of their matches and one split his matches. The SLE wrestlers competed against 30 athletes from Hellgate and 40 from C.S. Porter Elementary. This was the first tournament SLE has competed in after starting a wrestling program this February. The team is being coached b...
Youth Invited to Family Movie Night at the Seeley Lake Fire Hall, March 10 SEELEY LAKE – The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office and Seeley Lake Rural Fire District invite youth and families to the Seeley Lake Fire Hall March 10 at 7 p.m. for Movie Night. This month the featured movie is “Finding Dory.” Missoula County Deputy Mike Sunderland said they are hoping to make this a monthly event. “Kids need something to do in this town,” said Sunderland. “Outside of outdoor activities, there is no hangout for the kids.” While the event is geared towar...
