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There are rivers and streams every angler holds dear. We wince when their names are mentioned in public, fearing that the word will get out on our secret honey hole and that our next fishing trip will feature fewer trout and more people prodding its banks. For me, the North Fork of the Blackfoot River is such a place. It’s a place I don’t even like to mention because the fishing is that good. However, I care far more about protecting this water than keeping its publicity to a minimum. This is why, against my fishing instinct, I publicly urg...
Tucked in the valleys and mountains that surround Ovando and Seeley Lake are the many creeks that feed into the Blackfoot River. Among them are North Fork of the Blackfoot, Monture Creek, Morrell Creek and West Fork of the Clearwater. These tributaries are the lifeblood of the Blackfoot watershed and its fishery, as explained in a recently released short film titled “Hallowed Waters: The Legacy and Lifeblood of the Big Blackfoot.” To protect the Blackfoot River long-term, we need to start with protecting these key tributaries. That’s what...
SEELEY LAKE - Please join us to listen to John Fraley, historian and storyteller of infamous characters who shaped the history of wild country in the forks of the Flathead River. He will be sharing some of these colorful and true tales at Alpine Artisan's Open Book Club Saturday, March 2, at 7 p.m. at The Grizzly Claw Trading Company. Seeley-Swan High School sophomore Cory Wilkey will be reading her poetry before the speaker. The event is free and everyone is welcome. Fraley has done exhaustive...
HELENA – Among the winners of the Montana Wilderness Association 2018 Picture Wild Montana photo contest was second place winner Seeley Lake photographer Carol Fowler. Photography is an artistic outlet for Fowler. She has routinely entered photo contests since getting her first DSLR camera less than 12 years ago. "I love to enter contests because for me, contests set artistic goals and deadlines," wrote Fowler in an email. "They also help to expand my expertise in that I study winning entries t...
When a federal judge returned grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone area to the threatened species list in September, he cited the bears' fragmented range in the lower 48 states as one of his justifications. It is hard to call a species recovered, he argued, when it is isolated from other wild populations, as Yellowstone's grizzlies are. Earlier this month, two conservation groups took an important step to ending that isolation. Twenty miles west of Missoula, near the confluence of western...
MISSOULA – Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Game Warden Bill Koppen received FWP's Officer of the Year award at the Missoula County Exchange Club's 46th Annual Officer of the Year Banquet. Koppen was among nine other officers from other city, county, state and federal agencies in Missoula County who received the award. Banquet Committee chair Larry Anderson said the purpose of the banquet is to honor area law enforcement officers. It has also become a major fundraiser for the Exchange Club a...
Autumn is here and the Seeley Lake Ranger District is finalizing summer seasonal fieldwork. The upcoming winter season presents a shift in focus but a steady pace of work continues. This update is meant to keep you informed of what is occurring on your National Forest. The summer operating season began with responding to spring flooding events affecting many roads across the Seeley Lake Ranger District. In addition, the treatments recommended in the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) assessments were completed. These treatments included...
KALISPELL — The Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved language for a proposed administrative rule that would codify population objectives for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The decision Aug. 9 sets into motion a public comment period that will run from Aug. 24 through Oct. 26. Public hearings will be held in Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls and Conrad. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff will explain and answer questions about the proposed population objectives at the hearings and take public comment. T...
I’d like to thank Heather Richards for her heartfelt commentary “Strong Enough to Bend” in last week’s Pathfinder. Understanding the post-fire perspective of someone who has spent more than 30 years traversing the trails in the Bob Marshall Wilderness is very valuable. Her commentary demonstrates courage and flexibility. Wilderness is by definition, wild, chaotic and unpredictable. Without the wildness of grizzlies, bull trout and yes, wildfires, we lose our wildness. In federally designated wilderness areas, we humans don’t always get to de...
This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the Canyon Creek fire, which began early in the summer of 1988 but made it's lasting impact when it burned over 200 square miles in one night on Sept. 6. The summer of 1988 was significant. After a hot and dry summer, fires that had previously been left alone as part of the "let it burn" policy burned out of control. The Forest Service adopted the policy in 1972, which allowed some fires started by lightning strikes in wilderness areas to continue to...
It was a hot, high noon in July as I topped Pyramid Pass headed down canyon on an eight-day backcountry trip to the heart of the Bob Marshall. I'd seen the burn scar late last fall after the fires subsided. I knew the devastation that lay ahead, but as I rode through it with fresh eyes of summer, I felt my heart strings twinge and the insurmountable lump in my throat form. I worked to fight back tears as my eyes took in the charred landscape sending more heart pangs deep in my chest and feeling...
Fire danger has been increased to EXTREME across most of northwest Montana and many areas went into Stage I or Stage II Restrictions. It is the public’s responsibility to “Know before you go” by visiting www.firerestrictions.us/mt for the most current information. This week was the hottest of the summer so far with temperatures hovering around 100° and high winds accompanying the cooler air last weekend. Scarce precipitation in the past month means that grasses and forest vegetation is continuing to dry and this trend is expected to contin...
When Rep. Greg Gianforte voted in committee in favor of HB 1349, a bill that would allow mountain biking in some wilderness areas, it drew a response from mountain bikers who supported the new bill as well as strong dissent from groups like the International Mountain Biking Association. After hearing from mountain biking and conservation groups in Montana, Gianforte later backpedaled, saying he no longer supported the bill and would vote against it in the unlikely scenario it reached the House...
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is proposing an administrative rule to codify the population objectives detailed in the conservation strategy for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. The Fish and Wildlife Commission will vote on the proposed rule during their Aug. 9 meeting. If the proposed rule is approved by the commission, it will move into a public comment period by late August and ultimately go back to the commission for final approval in December. “By proposing this administrative rule, we are committing to k...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Ranger District continues to work on post-fire recovery related projects. Across the District there is over $2.3 million planned in road maintenance and contract work. Approximately 66 culverts are planned to be installed or replaced to protect roadways and ensure public access to National Forest lands. “Post-fire recovery is a long process. There are over 180 miles of National Forest System Roads and 205 miles of National Forest System trails within the burned area,” said Acting Deputy District Ranger Sara Alb...
OVANDO - This week, retired smokejumpers returned to Seeley Lake, an area that many of them have a deep connection with, to continue to do work that protects and maintains public lands by volunteering for the Forest Service. The retired jumpers who volunteer their time on trail maintenance are called TRAMPS, Trail Restoration and Maintenance Program Specialists. This week they updated important infrastructural elements at the North Fork Trailhead. According to Barry Hicks, the squad's leader,...
An interagency team of biologists, researchers and managers from State, Tribal and Federal agencies completed a Conservation Strategy for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in northwest Montana. The Conservation Strategy is a comprehensive document that seeks to maintain a recovered, genetically diverse grizzly bear population into the future. The NCDE Subcommittee, as part of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, crafted the document as a way for the respective...
Wilderness, Lakes & Snowmobiling The Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan Valleys offer recreation opportunities for everyone. From skiing, snowmobiling and ice skating in the winter to hiking, water sports and horseback riding in the summer, this year readers' choices were all over the map. The top places to recreate according to readers included the Bob Marshall and Mission Mountain Wildernesses and the lakes, specifically Holland Lake, Seeley Lake and Lake Inez. With so many excellent choices,...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Summer Adventure Club will be returning this summer for a third year of outdoor activities and adventure for kids. Bridget Laird, the program's coordinator, began an informal version of the program years ago when she and several other parents began taking their kids on hikes and to other outdoor activities together. Now Laird is using the official, sponsored program to expose as many kids from the community as possible to different forms of outdoor recreation and...
South of Swan Peak, Lion Creek Pass offers another important route into the Bob Marshall Wilderness by way of Palisades and Little Salmon creeks. The route up the Swan-face side travels through beautiful stands of giant cedars. Farther down range, Smith Creek Pass is another course to the Swan summits and eventually into the South Fork country. The two trails join up with one coming over Lions Creek Pass to Little Salmon Creek. Just east of Condon, the second highest pinnacle in the Bob...
With the primary election less than a month away it's time to reflect on where we have been and where we are headed. I have been busy knocking on doors and enjoyed visiting with many of you about the important issues and topics across our diverse district. One thing I know to be true; from Clinton to East Missoula to the Swan Valley you are an engaged and passionate group of constituents. While the issues are as diverse as the people in the district, a few key topics rose to the forefront of...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council hosted two candidate forums, April 9 and 11, covering eight races with 31 candidates in attendance. All candidates on the May 8 Special District Mail-in ballot and June 5 primary were invited. Ballots for the May 8 election were mailed April 18. For the next two weeks, the Pathfinder will continue to feature races from the Candidate Forum. This week the Pathfinder features the candidates for House District 92 that will appear on the ballot during...
Community Invited to Celebrate Seeley Lake Fire Department’s Newest Honorary Member Addy Trevino, April 29 SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire Department formally invites the entire Seeley Lake Community to join them in making Seeley Lake’s Addy Boo Trevino an honorary member of the Seeley Lake Rural Fire District. On Sunday, April 29 at 1 p.m. they will be officially welcoming Addy as our newest member and presenting her with her uniform, badge and turnout gear. “We hope you will come join us for the ceremony followed by snacks, cocoa and cof...
From the Introduction to 100 Classic Hikes MONTANA, by Douglas Lorain: "If you mention Montana to an avid hiker living almost anywhere else in the United States, the reaction is usually a big smile, a wistful sigh, long stories about a much-treasured vacation to this glorious state, and a comment like, "Now that's God's country." Those of us fortunate enough to live here completely understand this reaction because we can personally attest that it's all absolutely true. The state is glorious,...
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A poll of more than 500 Montanans released by the Montana Wildlife Federation showed continued support for U.S Senator Jon Tester’s Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act and collaborative efforts to protect wildlife habitat, recreational access and timber jobs. Tester as well as other stakeholders discussed the survey results and momentum of the legislation during a press conference March 15. The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project was developed through more than a decade of local discussions among conservation, r...
