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Jennifer Patchen has lived in Seeley Lake most of her life. She was shocked when she opened a letter from the Montana Department of Revenue earlier this month. “I was like ‘oh my god’” Patchen said. “I opened up that (letter) and seen (my taxes) and it was almost 100% more than last year’s.” Patchen lives behind the elementary school and is not the only one getting shocking tax assessments. Across the Seeley-Swan area — and the rest of Montana — residents are receiving new property values from the state, which coincide with their local share...
Dennis Bennett climbed into his canoe and took his daughters down the Clearwater River. The Bennetts, from the Detroit area, last visited Montana eight years ago, and they stayed in the same place — Paws Up. Last Wednesday, the privately-owned resort took the family to canoe the Clearwater in one of its white Mercedes Sprinter vans. It was their first time taking the trail, and luckily the other visitors at the site just planned to hike. “I shoulda brought a cowboy hat for this,” Bennett said....
The Mannix Ranch, Helmville, hosted a tour June 20-21 of their ranch and discussion of ranch practices as regional winners of the Montana Stockgrowers “Raise the Steaks” Environmental Stewardship Regional Award (ESAP) awarded for the 2022 nationwide contest. A system of values changing over time is part of the flow that the Mannix family spoke about as they shared their evolution as ranchers seeking resilient ways of tending the land and livestock they manage. “What seems right today might be pr...
Property values are up, that’s not news. Will property taxes follow? All of us need to have a conversation with your mayors, school boards and county commissioners, soon! Property tax bills have not been decided yet. Just because values are up does not require property taxes to rise also. Has the need for services increased? For sure. And so has the number of new developed properties that pay a larger amount of property taxes than previously. Higher property taxes and larger relative government are a burden on all citizens including those that...
Out of the blue the other day Justin Hains called to chat. My oh my hadn’t seen him nigh on to 30 years. Himself and a fellow his age named Andy Butrick worked for me one summer there in the Valley on some projects. Justin had been training horses all over the west. He started off pack’n and wrangling for D.K. Mitchell in the Bob. As we remembered those great times in the hills made me homesick. Anyway, many moons ago myself, Justin and Andy took a break from the ordinary and headed to Necklace Lakes by way of Upper Holland over to Sap...
rvices (MAS) Resource Center in Seeley Lake serves older adults in the community in various ways. This includes in-home needs assessments, consultations for families and neighbors caring for older adults, information about Meals on Wheels and community lunches, Medicare and Medicaid resources, volunteer opportunities and more. But did you know your local Resource Center can also help find ways to make your money go further in 2023? Located in the Seeley Lake Community Foundation Building (3150 MT-83 N, Seeley Lake, MT 59868), MAS Rural...
6/23 10:59 a.m. Trespassing 30XX Highway 83, Seeley Lake 6/23 11:10 p.m. Suspicious Activity 2XX School Lane, Seeley Lake 6/24 1:42 a.m. Suspicious Activity 282XX Blixit Creek Road, Potomac 6/24 3:09 a.m. Suspicious Activity 3XX Montana Drive, Seeley Lake 6/24 1:08 p.m. Theft 9XX Whitetail Drive, Seeley Lake 6/26 3:16 p.m. Trespassing 41XX S. Placid Lake Road, Seeley Lake 6/27 12:21 p.m. Burglary 19XX Holland Lake Road, Condon 6/28 6:52 p.m. Suspicious Activity 4XX Airport Road, Seeley Lake...
6/22 8:03 a.m. Accident No Injury 2XMM Highway 200 6/22 6:10 p.m. Accident with Injury 2XMM Highway 83 6/23 3:20 a.m. Accident No Injury 2XMM Highway 83 6/23 7:44 p.m. Accident with Injury 1XMM Highway, 83 Seeley Lake 6/25 5:51 a.m. Accident No Injury Riverview Drive, Seeley Lake...
Jace Tyler Layman, age 20, passed away Thursday, June 22, 2023, due to an undetermined medical emergency while working for the Padlock Ranch in Sheridan County, Wyoming. Jace was born Jan. 2, 2003, in Missoula, Montana to his parents Heather and Justin, joining his older sister, Kiley. Jace was raised in Seeley Lake, Montana, until age 11, when the family moved to Havre, Montana. In 2017, the family moved back to Seeley Lake where Jace graduated from Seeley-Swan High School in June of 2020. At...
Lately, I’ve been more and more concerned as people I know voice their worries about the world we live in. As things get worse, more friends ask the same question: “But, what can I do? I’m just one person. How can I make a difference? We certainly live in a world plagued by hate, division, and distrust. In an environment such as this…how does anyone stay positive about anything anymore? As life becomes increasingly difficult, negative, and more and more depressing…how can we possibly make a difference for good? For me part of the answer ca...
Finding new ways to support residents in the Swan Valley took center stage last Tuesday, June 27. About 100 people met to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Swan Valley Community Foundation with a leadership award and small grants to local nonprofits. Residents ate dinner at the Hungry Bear Bar and Grill in Condon. Each had a slip of paper that SVCF President John Mercer asked the crowd to write two things: what issues the Swan Valley face, and what the community foundation can do to help. Th...
In the late 1990’s grizzly bears began coming down into the valleys and coming across the ranch boneyards. Soon 20 or more bears were working the bone-yard circuit, according to research by Jamie Jonkel, Region 2 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Bear Management Specialist. “The bears had a trap line from boneyard to boneyard on area ranches during calving season,” Jonkel said. “By instituting the carcass collection program in 2003 with the help of Blackfoot Challenge, the possibility of human-b...
Ovando’s population has hovered around 70 residents during the 21st century (71 people according to the 2000 census, and 69 people according to the 2020 census), and 61 of those Ovando citizens signed a petition requesting their area’s speed limit be reduced to 15 miles per hour. According to Powell County Planning Director Amanda Cooley, this issue has been under discussion “for a long time” within the Ovando community, which sees no shortage of tourist traffic passing through its boundaries, due to its convenient proximity to a number...
“People need something different than anonymous meat,” Cole Mannix of the Mannix Ranch in Helmville said during the Old Salt Festival on June 23-25. “Old Salt is primarily a meat company, and we’re borrowing a model from the breweries that have sprouted up. People go to breweries to have a good time and build relationships. That’s what Old Salt is trying to do with the festival, and have it focused on great wood-fired cooking, music and relationships.” Authentic connections with people rather th...
Dozens of people roamed from tent to tent outside of the Seeley Lake Community Foundation building to get their market fix while its leaders celebrated a major milestone. The Sunday Market at Seeley Lake turned 15 years old on July 2. During the peak times of the Fourth of July, the foundation credited locals for getting the event started, and its vendors who often travel to Seeley to sell their goods. “I really wanted to take some time during this bustle on this big beautiful day to thank t...
Twenty years ago... Thursday, July 3, 2003 Special meeting here July 8 on future of Plum Creek lands A community meeting to consider and discuss potential future status of Plum Creek lands in the Clearwater drainage and the Seeley Lake area will be held. Desired future uses of these lands will be a primary focus of discussion including consideration of such issues as wildlife values, public access, forestry practices, real estate development and suggestions for private or public ownership. This...
