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The “Hungry Horse News” reported that, “Two horsemen on a recent trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness said they found something they never expected: A couple fishing on a sandbar of the South Fork of the Flathead after allegedly landing a helicopter there.” https://hungryhorsenews.com/news/2020/may/28/forest-service-investigating-helicopter-10/ It was May 16, the opening day of fishing season. The owner of the helicopter Sara Schwerin is a former NYC banking executive now living in Montana. When questioned by the horsemen “what makes you...
SWAN VALLEY - Leonard was born in Pablo, Mont. May 29, 1926 to the parents of George and Fern Moore. He was the the oldest of three siblings. He had a long and adventurous life in the Big Sky country. He grew up in the Flathead, Blackfoot and the Swan Valleys. On Dec. 11, 1943 at the age of 17, he married Ethel Minster. In 1944, he took his new bride and a team of geologists, via horseback, into the Bob Marshall Wilderness where they spent their summer. He would transport rock samples out and...
KALISPELL – Professional working artists from various disciplines, media and styles are invited to apply the Artist Wilderness Connection, an artist-in-residence program where artists stay in remote forest cabins for one to two weeks to create art. Applications are due Feb. 25. Artists will be notified by March 27. A collaborative project managed by Flathead National Forest, Hockaday Museum of Art, Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation and Swan Valley Connections, the Artist Wilderness Connection is now in its 17th year. Two artists will be s...
SWAN VALLEY - In Montana's Swan Valley, grizzly bears, wolverine, moose and wolves cross the roads and backyards that lie between mountain ranges. Separating the Mission Mountains and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the rural valley is both a crucial wildlife corridor and a blueprint for collaborative conservation. Two hundred acres in the heart of the Swan are now protected forever as open space and habitat after The Vital Ground Foundation completed a conservation easement with the Quinn Family o...
SWAN VALLEY - Many of us will gather with extended family or friends over the Christmas holiday to share gifts and good will. It seems the way we celebrate Christmas is rooted in Christmas past. A review of the yuletide traditions and events of yesteryear reveal a simple lifestyle of the residents of the region. Over 100 years ago in 1907 Joseph J. Waldbillig and Ethel Lynn were about to exchange wedding vows on Christmas Eve at the Lynn home near Ovando when an unexpected turn of events caused...
PLEASANTON, CALIF. – Frank Bonde passed away peacefully at the age of 90 with his daughters at his side. Frank was born and raised in Pleasanton, California by his parents Hans and Nina Bonde, alongside his brother Hannie. As part of a farming family, he learned the importance of hard work and instilled these values in all that knew him. He served in the Army during WWII. Later, his interest in farming and construction equipment led him to have a long career with Peterson Tractor Company, w...
MISSOULA - Leon Morris Copenhaver, 89, of Missoula, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family on Nov. 6. Leon was born April 9, 1930 in Missoula and was the seventh child born to Moody and Elizabeth Copenhaver. Leon's early years were spent at the family ranch near Ovando, Mont. where the family's main occupation was outfitting in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. He and his sister were homeschooled by their neighbor until seventh grade, when he then went to school in Great...
SEELEY LAKE – The northern one mile section of Dunham Creek Road #4388 on the Seeley Lake Ranger District will be closed beginning Oct. 29 for repairs following a summer debris flow. In late July, the Spruce Creek drainage which typically flows under the Dunham Creek Road by way of a culvert, experienced a large, natural debris flow event that temporarily closed the road. Although emergency repairs were quickly made after the debris flow in July, follow-up assessments by engineers and h...
SEELEY LAKE – Trail crews spent much of last week conducting repair work on Monture Trail #27, located on the Seeley Lake Ranger District, to address a trail washout caused by storms two weeks ago. Monture Trail is a popular route into the Bob Marshall Wilderness and is frequently used by hunters with stock. The crews were successful in moving rock and conducting some drilling to regrade the trail tread and make it passable to stock animals. The Forest Service encourages anyone heading into t...
SEELEY LAKE – Heavy rains at the beginning of the week resulted in increased runoff and a trail washout in the Monture Drainage on the Seeley Lake Ranger District. Monture Trail #27 is currently impassable to stock at approximately 4.3 miles up the trail at the Yellowjacket drainage due to increased flows and debris movement caused by recent storms. It is recommended that day-riders use the flat trail section before Bill Creek as a turn-around point prior to reaching the blind corner and Y...
SWAN VALLEY – Tom Parker was the final speaker at the Aug. 3 Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) program Guides and Outfitters of the Swan Valley. His talk was punctuated by comments from old-time outfitter Leonard Moore. Parker said he was 21 years old when he decided he wanted to be an outfitter. He was living in the Bitterroot area at the time. A hunting trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness with his own horses and mules confirmed his career decision. He moved to the Swan Valley t...
SEELEY LAKE – Lloyd Hahn was not present at the Aug. 3 Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) program, Outfitters and Guides in the Swan Valley. Nevertheless, his reputation as a long-time outfitter earned him a place. Ellie Greenough, who had previously conducted an extensive interview with him for USVHS, recounted a few of his stories. Greenough related how Hahn wound up in Montana. She said he was living in Wisconsin but had done some hunting in Idaho. In 1975 he decided he wanted to m...
Senator Steve Daines and Representative Greg Gianforte, according to press reports, are in Montana for the August congressional recess (or “state work period”). They are holding invite only roundtables and discussions (like Daines’ guest speaking slot at the RSVP-only, pay-to-get-in Missoula City Club luncheon) and other private events, but not public, open town halls. In other words, Daines and Gianforte are continuing to hide from their constituents instead of meeting with them in public. Senator Jon Tester, on the other hand, is the only...
SWAN VALLEY – Pat Tabor called himself "the new kid on the block" when he took his turn to talk at the Outfitters and Guides in Swan Valley program at the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) Aug. 3. Unlike some of the old timers who spoke, Tabor didn't start outfitting until 2004 and then he took over an already existing operation called Lion Creek Outfitters from Cecil Noble. Tabor told the story of how Noble got started in 1973: "Cecil did something no one had ever done before. He w...
SWAN VALLEY – Ninety-three-year-old Leonard Moore was the first speaker at the Aug. 3 Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) program entitled Outfitting and Guiding in the Swan Valley and Surrounding Areas. Moore said, according to his mother's notes, his first packing trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness was in September of 1926 - the year he was born. According to the USVHS website, Moore "rode in the saddle with his mother or in a pannier on the pack string's lead horse." When he w...
SEELEY LAKE - Quick work by Forest Service personnel and contractors from Bull Creek Forestry cleared the Dunham Creek Road from recent debris flows caused by a surge of precipitation the last week in July. The road, although bumpy in some areas, is now passable. The Dunham Creek Road passes through the 2017 Rice Ridge burned area and is a popular access route to the Lodgepole Creek Trailhead and Bob Marshall Wilderness. Friday, July 26, after a microburst of precipitation, the road was...
SWAN VALLEY – Outfitting is not easy, and it certainly won't make a person rich, but the memories and experience of breathing in the wilderness will reward and sustain the outfitter for the rest of his or her life. That's the bare bones of what the speakers had to say Saturday, Aug. 3 at the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) program entitled Outfitting and Guiding in the Swan Valley and Surrounding Areas. The yarns and anecdotes that filled out those bare bones, that is what made t...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Jon Tester submitted a letter to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ranking Member Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) Thursday, July 25 requesting a bill mark-up for the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act. Tester reintroduced the bill at a rally in June. “For more than a decade, Montanans have worked hand-in-hand to create a long-term solution for public lands in the Blackfoot River watershed in the Lolo National Forest,” Tester wrote in a press release. “Now is the time to move fo...
SEELEY LAKE - "I find that a Ginger's blend of Tibetan techniques, Indian postures and down home American values is always a tonic for what ails me!" said Matt George following Yoga on the Lake Saturday, June 29 led by Yoga Instructor Ginger Williams. Williams enjoys the opportunity to volunteer for the community event and share her love of yoga while in an outdoor setting. Williams first led a free outdoor yoga class following a hike to Lake Dinah in 2016 in conjunction with the Wild 50 Fest....
A legendary advocate for wild country, 27-year-old Bob Marshall hiked an astounding 288 miles in eight days during the summer of 1928. Much of his arduous backcountry trip took place in the wilderness that would later bear his name. Over the years I have explored and hiked much of the area in the Mission Mountains that Bob Marshall visited during the final two days of his trip 91 years ago. I climbed most of the mountains he climbed and camped in the same area he camped. While Bob Marshall...
SEELEY LAKE - The Bob Marshall Music Festival is coming June 27-28. For some people it is ironic that this festival name conjures feeling of the wilderness next door. The festive genre and activities experienced by the participants exhibit few of the solitude and primitive attributes of wild lands. The Seeley Lake area is adjacent to the “Crown of the Continent” recognized as one of the wildest, most diverse and intact ecosystems in the temperate zones of the world. The “Crown” boundary extends from the Jasper-Banff area of British Columbi...
On June 7, Senator Jon Tester reintroduced the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act. As members of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project, we sincerely thank our senior senator for his leadership and for continuing to champion this bipartisan bill that 73 percent of Montanans support. The reason for the bill’s popularity is simple: It offers something for just about every Montanan. • It opens up new snowmobiling opportunities by creating the 2,000-acre Otatsy Recreation Management Area near Ovando. • It preserves prized mountain bike...
BONNER, MONT. – Standing on the banks of the Blackfoot River, U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced Friday, June 7 that he is reintroducing his Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act. The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project was developed through more than a decade of local discussions among conservation, recreation and timber groups in the Seeley Lake area. The project provides for forest restoration activities to support local timber jobs, the development of additional recreational trails and th...
SWAN VALLEY – An important migration corridor for elk, grizzly bears, Canada lynx and other wildlife is now permanently protected and open to public access in Montana's scenic Swan Valley. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Lolo National Forest worked with a landowner to purchase and convey the 638 acres to the U.S. National Forest (USFS). It is now under the management of the Lolo National Forest. "This property sits in a wildlife movement corridor between the Bob Marshall Wilderness C...
OVANDO – Bob Sheppard is a native Montanan but that doesn't mean he spent all his time in the same Montana town. Born in Conrad, Sheppard spent his early years in the western Hi-Line country – Cutbank, Shelby, Browning – and then high school in Helena. After that he spent a lot of time hunting, trapping and doing some outfitting in the wilderness parts of western Montana where there are no towns. In 1970 the Army broadened his horizons. With a draft lottery number of 60, Sheppard figured a sti...
