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SWAN LAKE - Montana does not have a designated state fruit, but if it did, no one would question the nomination of the huckleberry. From border to border, in gift stores and truck stops, restaurants and ice cream shops, huckleberries can be found mixed into just about everything: milkshakes, lip balm, soap and jam. This weekend played host to several festivals celebrating the small tart berries. On the banks of Swan Lake, hundreds of people ignored the smoky air and showed up to the 36th annual...
SEELEY LAKE – Missoula City-County Health Department issued recommendations Aug. 9 to avoid the dangerous wildfire smoke in Seeley Lake. Recent air monitoring readings have shown record levels of PM2.5 concentrations in Seeley Lake due to the Rice Ridge Fire and other wildfires in the west. Health officials recommend Seeley Lake residents and visitors take precautions especially at night when particulate levels climb into the Unhealthy and Hazardous categories. Between Aug. 1-11, air quality i...
MISSOULA – Smoke from wildfires around Western Montana settled in Missoula but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of fair-goers and exhibitors at the Western Montana Fair. The Seeley Lake Trailblazers and Potomac Valley 4-H Club sent a combined 41 youth to the fair as exhibitors in livestock raising, shooting and everything in between. Condon resident James Webb came away with two purple ribbons for his hogs, while his brother Levi earned four purple for his lambs. Seeley's steer group swept the...
MISSOULA - Potomac Valley 4H members wagon-wheeled right through the 2017 Western Montana Fair with projects ranging from cowboy poetry to leathercraft to English horsemanship, flashlights, hogs, and rabbits in between. The variety of all county and out of county 4-H projects came to a finish during fair week Aug. 8 – 13 while the animals and exhibit projects were judged. The judging for 4-H projects began with archery including primitive, bow hunter and Olympic recurve competitions t...
SEELEY LAKE – The $31.5 million price tag for the 2007 Jocko Lakes Fire made it the costliest fire in Montana history to date. During the height of suppression efforts, Montana spent $1 million per day to keep the fire west of Seeley Lake and north of Placid Lake. While the cost to suppress the fire and direct impacts to timber loss were measurable, the financial toll on the local economy from widespread evacuations and the nearly two-week closure of Highway 83 was harder to quantify. "When y...
Two young firefighters killed by falling snags – snags that should not have even been there. These snags should have been cut years ago and sent to the sawmill as logs, or cut and sent to the pulp mill. When all else failed – open the gate and let the firewood cutters get them. If you have ever protested a timber sale, you should be held 100% responsible for these deaths. 99% of the Judges in this country are incompetent and not capable of making decisions in these type of cases. Shame on all of you for what you have done....
With school about to start very soon, it would be a good idea if the kids, as well as their parents and grandparents, knew how to walk safely on a road where there are no sidewalks. Yesterday I saw a young man walking his dog on the right side of the road and a young mother pushing a baby in a stroller on the right side of the road. This is just plain WRONG! Always walk on the left side of the road, facing oncoming traffic. It’s a simple rule to follow and it could save your life. I know of two deaths in western Montana that could have been a...
While we’re dealing with one of the worst threatening wildfires in the U.S. right now here with our Rice Ridge Fire on Seeley Lake’s doorstep, Senator Jon Tester and Governor Bullock both came to Seeley Lake to make serious inquiries and evaluate what additional resources we might need. On Aug. 11, Montana’s U.S. Senator Steve Daines emailed the following newsletter to his Montana constituents commenting on having just returned from a wonderful backpack trip and wondering how we’re enjoying our summer. He stated, “Last week rang in the 86th...
SEELEY LAKE – I have sat quietly by, watching the Sewer Board do their thing for many years. That ends today! You keep trying any and all ways to circumvent the majority vote against the sewer. No, don’t try to explain it to me again about how some poor people only get one vote when they were entitled to more. SINCE WHEN? One man, one vote people! We didn’t force you to buy all those lots did we BOARD MEMBER? Now you have the gall to assess us with a fee for ADMINISTRATIVE costs. BULL!! You’ve had 20 years to do all the administrating you need....
Before I start let me make it clear, I support and honor all those who are working to control the fires burning near Seeley Lake and throughout Montana. However, those in charge, including the Forest Service and our government representatives need to take a hard look at how our forests are managed and how fires are attacked. Year after year fires begin and until they threaten communities, a hands off or minimal response seems to be the plan of action. We are told they are a natural part of nature. We are told they are inaccessible. We are told...
I was pleased to read an article in the Great Falls Tribune on Aug. 11 that reported on the forest fire situation in the Seeley Lake area. I am a resident of this town and I can unequivocally state that this natural disaster has had a tremendous impact on both residents and businesses since the end of July. We are extremely grateful for the quick response and assistance of the Forest Service, Incident Response Teams and the firefighters they bring, and of course, the various Missoula County Public Service officials. This is an extremely serious...
Having just read Professor Fernanda Santos letter in the Aug. 10 Missoulian entitled “Some Wildfires Simply Cannot Be Fought.” I think Fernando’s letter sounds just like articles written by most National Forest Service people. In other words, they have a lot to say about nothing. For one thing Ms. Santos unlike a fire in properly thinned forest which is sometimes beneficial, a fire in forest which is not properly managed burns so hot that it destroys the nutrients in the soil making recovery a lot longer. Following the Forest Service ‘”let it b...
Shibui and Shibusa are related Japanese terms that are not easily definable, but basically describe something that is outwardly very simple, basic and beautiful in perception/appearance, but within which lie subtle but increasing complexities that are only appreciated and perceived over time, giving a “depth” that cannot be seen or known at first glance. To some, God’s Word may appear to be similar to any other book, with black letters printed on white paper. But when we realize Who the author is, and that these are not just a collection of wor...
This past week, a reader asked me a question. The question was basically the following: I'm really good at what I do for living. So why do I dislike it? The answer can vary from person to person and be quite complex. So, I'll provide some common reasons that should be helpful to everyone, revealing psychological complexities as well. Just the fact that humans are both unconscious (have a hidden psychology) and conscious (are aware) is enough to understand that psychology is complex. In previous...
SEELEY LAKE – It's been five weeks since the world of Seeley Lake residents Jen and Treay Trevino was turned upside down. From a happy family of four – enjoying the beauty and joys of their small town with thoughts only of what might be for dinner – to the frightening, devastating diagnosis of inoperable brain cancer in their youngest. From blue skies to nurses, doctors, ambulances, sterile rooms, biopsies, radiation, chemo and now worry of their home and precious memories and photographs at ri...
MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock issued a new Executive Order declaring a fire emergency to exist in the state of Montana. “We will continue to do everything we can to make sure folks on the ground have the resources they need to protect Montanans and their property until every single fire is put out,” said Governor Bullock. “Firefighters, emergency personnel and volunteers are working hard every day. On behalf of all Montanans, we thank them for their efforts.” This declaration allows Governor Bullock to continue to mobilize additiona...
The effects of wildfires on plants will vary, depending upon fire intensity and specific plant characteristics. Many plant species will survive and reinitiate growth soon after a fire. However, the ability of desirable plants to reestablish, reseed and flourish in subsequent years can be impaired if noxious weeds are inadequately managed. Preventing weeds from spreading through seed dispersal is the most effective and least costly method of weed management. Survey burned areas to eradicate new weeds, concentrating on areas where weed...
With summer more than half over, more than 23,000 watercraft have been inspected at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Aquatic Invasive Species inspection stations around the state. “This hot and dry weather has a lot of people looking to cool off in Montana’s lakes and rivers,” said FWP’s AIS Bureau Chief Thomas Woolf. “Get out on the water, have fun and remember to stop at any open watercraft inspection station that you encounter in your travels.” To date, nine boats with invasive mussels have been intercepted in Montana. The most recent one...
Not a hunting season, but a season to admire Montana’s snakes for what they are: a vital cog in the natural world that serves an important purpose even if some of us suffer the heebie-jeebies at the mere thought of a snake. Last week while out for a morning jog, I passed a gopher snake (our subspecies is the bull snake) lying motionless and camouflaged on a bed of gravel next to the trail. No telling how many people walked or ran by the reptile without noticing it. It was soaking in the morning sun, warming up its body temperature. If it w...
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) has received reports of rattlesnakes in the Missoula valley in recent weeks and offers safety reminders to hikers and homeowners. “Rattlesnakes move down into moist river bottoms during hot, dry periods like we’ve been experiencing recently,” FWP Wildlife Biologist Kristi DuBois said. This, according to DuBois, creates a greater risk of human conflicts as snakes spend extra time in yards and gardens in search of cooler temperatures and rodents to eat. Reduce your chances of an encounter by wearing tall...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Veterans Memorial Park has a new silhouette memorializing Iwo Jima. Shawn Knopp made the new image after his father Glen requested it to honor his mother Barbara's Uncle Tom. Tom was killed during World War II. Shawn also made the fallen soldier in the gardens several years ago....
SEELEY LAKE - Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will be performing Macbeth on the Double Arrow Lodge Grounds in Seeley Lake at 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24. The New York Times has said of MSIP, "It is live theater – done Montana style. Not in the round but on top of the world." The ten professional actors that will tour with the company were chosen out of a highly competitive pool of about 500 applicants and auditioners in Bozeman, Chicago and Minneapolis. Montana Shakespeare in the Parks is the p...
SEELEY LAKE - As of Aug. 15, the Rice Ridge Fire continues to burn 1.4 miles northeast of Seeley Lake. It has grown 3,331 acres and remains 10 percent contained. Nearly 100 firefighters have been added to the efforts in the past week. While the Rice Ridge Fire is still the number one priority in the Northern Rockies, the Northwest Area has taken the number one spot on the national priority list. No evacuation orders have been issued....
As the Rice Ridge fire pressed down upon us and I prepared to evacuate, my belongings felt like a burden. Protecting them was clearly not worth the loss of someone’s life. I couldn’t help but wish that our culture lived on the land differently. When tribal people inhabited the West they co-existed with fires. Their homes were lightweight and portable so tribes could easily move their few possessions if needed. No one’s life was put at risk fighting fires. Because fires cycled through frequently they improved habitats rather than devas...
SEELEY LAKE – When asked why he joined the military, Seeley Lake resident Scott Edwards answered, "I received a letter informing me 'You have been chosen by your friends and neighbors'." Sixty-five years later he still chuckles at the wording of his draft notice. Edwards said he had good timing throughout his four-year military career. Starting as a young man digging ditches for the San Diego Gas & Electric Company, Edwards worked his way up to an electrician apprentice, which allowed him t...
