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SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake, Greenough/Potomac and Swan Valley volunteer firefighters responded to a house fire Oct. 31 around 4 p.m. on Gull Port in Seeley Lake. No one was home when the fire started. While the homeowner had many pets, they all are safe and accounted for. The cause is still under investigation but foul play is not suspected. Seeley Lake Fire Chief Dave Lane said the fire started in the carport furthest from the house. It spread to the adjacent carport and then extended into t...
SEELEY LAKE – After being closed for the summer, the Big Larch Campground vegetation treatment is complete and the log decks are in the process of being sold. Around 90 log truck loads of Douglas-fir, many of which were 20 inches in diameter or larger, were removed as well as incidental amounts of subalpine fir and spruce in the nearly 40 acres that were treated. The Seeley Lake Ranger District has been cutting down between 80 and 100 hazardous trees in Big Larch Campground for the last three y...
MISSOULA – The Missoula County Commissioners briefly discussed the future of the interlocal agreement between the county and the Seeley Lake Sewer District at an administrative meeting Oct. 31. The agreement that provides county resources, including a District Manager, is set to expire Nov. 14. At the October Sewer Board meeting, Commissioner Jean Curtiss informed the board that they needed to reach out to the county commissioners if the board wanted to continue the interlocal agreement. The board appointed a committee of two board members t...
In Part 1, Rick Ferguson joined the Army and became an Airborne Ranger. He was sent for his first tour to Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division December 1967. SWAN VALLEY - In December of 1968, Richard "Rick" Ferguson came home for a month. When he returned to Vietnam in January in 1969, he was assigned the position of post liaison officer at Long Binh. For six months he gave the daily briefings to the Post Commander and inspected bunkers. Ferguson still had dreams of flying. Encouraged by...
SEELEY LAKE - The next meeting of the Seeley Lake Community Council Monday, Nov. 12 again promises an ambitious agenda. The meeting will start with County Commissioner Jean Curtiss swearing-in the new Council member Tom Browder who is filling the vacancy left by Lee Bowman’s move to Missoula. This will be Curtiss’ last official visit to the Council. She will also give a brief retrospective covering the highpoints of her 18-year service as a Commissioner. Next on the agenda are Claire Muller, Executive Director of the Community Foundation, and...
My first trip to the great land, many moons ago, took me to Haines, Alaska. There to cut timber for an outfit called Alaska Forest Products. And Leo Smith was in charge of us out there on the Lynn Canal. Me and Butch stayed out there in a plywood shack. Leo's D-6 was barged there and a huge arch dragged the logs out on low tide and rafted to the mill. There was his supply trailer and sez Leo, "That's my 30-06 if the bears bother you." He rode his boat from town everyday. So one weekend we...
Everyone is invited to join the Veterans & Families of Seeley Lake at the Veterans Memorial Garden north of Seeley Lake and the American Legion Post 63 at the Swan Valley Community Hall in Condon at 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 11 to celebrate and thank local veterans. Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. Observing Veterans Day on Nov. 11, regardless of what day of the...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Historical Society turned 20 years old Oct. 20. If corporations have personhood it must be a birthday or is it an organizational anniversary? The Seeley Lake Historical Society is a non-profit corporation of volunteers who are “Fostering knowledge and understanding of history in the Seeley Lake area.” The Historical Society collects, preserves and interprets stories, objects and materials related to the land, the natural resources, the people and the events that touched the Seeley Lake area. The group conti...
The Acting Inspector General of Social Security Gale Stallworth Stone is warning citizens about an ongoing caller-ID “spoofing” scheme misusing the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) national customer service phone number. SSA has received numerous reports of questionable phone calls displaying SSA’s 1-800 number on a caller-ID screen. This is a scam. Citizens should not engage with those calls or provide any personal information. These reports indicate the calls display the 1-800-772-1213, SSA’s national customer service number, as the inc...
KALISPELL - A Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologist has identified an innovative approach to investigating illegal fish introductions and his research is being published in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal. Sam Bourret, a fisheries biologist based out of FWP's Region 1 office in Kalispell, was the lead author of a manuscript titled, "Using forensic geochemistry via fish otoliths to investigate an illegal fish introduction." The findings will be featured in the November...
The Lolo National Forest is proposing the Morrell Stream Restoration Project located approximately seven miles northeast of Seeley Lake. The project area is situated within the upper reaches of the Morrell Creek watershed and is located entirely on National Forest System lands. Morrell Creek is an important tributary to the Clearwater River and is designated as Bull Trout Critical Habitat by the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service. The purpose and need for this project is the result of past riparian and valley bottom timber harvest practices....
BILLINGS, MONT. – Trevin Robert White was born Nov. 3 at 10:03 a.m. to Red Lodge residents Megan and Adam White. He weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 21 inches long. Trevin was welcomed by his grandparents Loren and Pam Rose of Seeley Lake and Robert and Michele White of Billings, Mont....
SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake District Ranger Rachel Feigley accepted a new position with the US Forest Service as the Blackfoot Swan Landscape Restoration team leader. While she and her husband Pete plan to continue living in Seeley Lake, her last day as the Seeley Lake District Ranger is Dec. 1. Feigley started as the Seeley Lake District Ranger in March, 2015. "I'm proud of the work my employees and our partners have completed during my tenure," wrote Feigley in an email. "It's been a good three...
OVANDO - The Blackfoot Challenge announced the selection of Charles Curtin as their new executive director in February but just seven months later, the organization and Curtin have parted ways. The Blackfoot Challenge has been tightlipped about why they parted ways with Curtin in September. In response to an inquiry form from the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch, Challenge Communications Manager Sara Schmidt said the details are an internal matter and “it just didn’t work out.” Curtin likewise had little to say on the subject, but acknowledged there...
We have a good Christian friend who was taking a class at the U, who reported to us that her instructor had made a comment something to the effect, “Watch out for those Christians, you can’t trust them.” Our friend’s responded, “Can you tell who they are?” To which the teacher replied, “Oh yes, you can.” I believe that, as Christians it is possible that the world sometimes misunderstands our Christian faith and beliefs. For example you may hear someone say, “Those Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites.” To which I would answer, “Indeed I a...
MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock unveiled a new forestry stewardship partnership to address pressing needs in forest management across ownership boundaries. A new strategic, planning strategy Forests in Focus 2.0: A Cross-Boundary Collaborative Approach builds on the momentum of Bullock’s original Forests in Focus Initiative with the intent to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration and management across ownership boundaries. One of the key components is state leadership through launching a Good Neighbor Authority Program. Bul...
While hunter activity and harvest picked up in the third weekend of the general big game season in west-central Montana, mild weather conditions continued to hamper hunter success across the northwest. West-central Montana Update Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks reports that after a slow start to the season, the Bonner check station is now showing 2,625 hunter trips and the Darby station is reporting 2,144, inching within 10 percent and four percent of hunter activity reported at this time last year. Elk harvests of 50 checked at Bonner and 95...
MISSOULA–– Several Montana-based organizations and citizens have sent a petition to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks requesting the initiation of rulemaking that would require Montana hunters to carry bear spray on their person while hunting in grizzly bear habitat. The rule would apply in Montana generally west of Billings and Fort Belknap. The petitioners are Mike Bader; Western Watersheds Project; WildWest Institute; Friends of the Wild Swan; Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club; Great Bear Foundation; Friends of the Rat...
SEELEY LAKE - Lunch at the Seeley Lake Senior Center Oct. 31 provided a lot of laughs and smiles as a new cast of characters showed up for the fun. Prizes were awarded for the best costume and the eats and treats were boo-licious. The saying, "Playing dress-up begins at age five and never truly ends" couldn't be more true for these Seeley Lake residents....
SEELEY LAKE – When taking group portraits, a photographer often gets everyone to smile at the same time by prompting them: "Say cheese!" But what does cheese have to do with pictures or smiles? There is no connection between photography and compressed milk curds but pronouncing the double long "e" of "cheese" requires drawing back the lips and turning the corners of the mouth upward. In other words, smiling. Just who decided the word should be "cheese" instead of "bees" or "trees" or "peas" i...
Swan Valley AARP meeting, Nov. 13 SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley AARP will meet Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 12 p.m. at the Swan Valley Community Hall. A potluck lunch hosted by Barb and Joe Raible will begin at 12:30 p.m. At 1:30 p.m. there will be a brief business meeting followed by Barb talking about their recent trip to Ireland. The public is invited. Seeley Lake Caregiver Support Group Whether you are a family member or professional provider, caring for someone with a chronic disease or disability can be challenging. However, there are steps you...
CHURCHILL, MONT. - The Seeley-Swan Lady Blackhawks played their final matches of the season at the Western C Divisional last week. The Ladies fell to Gardiner in their opening match and were eliminated by Charlo in the next match. Their season overall record was 19-7. Manhattan Christian won The Western C Divisional with Ennis in second and Gardiner finishing third. Despite the quick departure from the tournament, Lady Blackhawks Head Coach Tammy Lewis said the team was happy to have had the chance to compete. The trip gave some of the younger...
SEELEY LAKE – The fifth annual Trunk-or-Treat at the Wilderness Gateway Motel had another year of success. The 190 children that attended enjoyed nearly a dozen decorated trunks complete with candy. Other highlights this year included a unicorn ring toss game and free apple cider and hot cocoa to keep everyone warm during the rainy weather. New this year, owner of Wilderness Gateway Motel June Blotz set up a photo booth where she took Polaroid photos to capture the costumes. "It was a great e...
