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MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today issued a Directive requiring Montanans to stay home and temporarily closes all nonessential businesses and operations to curtail the spread of COVID-19. The order, which goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on March 28, will buy time for health care workers on the frontlines and seeks to limit long term impacts to the state's economy. "In consultation with public health experts, health care providers, and emergency management professionals, I have determined that to protect public health and human safety, it i...
MONTANA – Monday, March 30 Governor Steve Bullock directed that travelers arriving from another state or country to Montana for non-work-related purposes undergo a 14-day self-quarantine. The Directive follows the governor’s prior travel advisory and last week’s Stay at Home Directive. “While we love our visitors, we would ask that you not come visit while Montanans are watching out for one another by staying at home,” said Governor Bullock. “This is important not only to protect our health care system, but also to protect against the spread...
Below is local, county and statewide information provided as of Monday, March 16 at 7 p.m. Information changes daily, sometimes hourly. Please call ahead or contact the organization directly with questions. The Seeley Swan Pathfinder is committed to providing the most up-to-date, accurate information possible. We will be posting Breaking News on our website (seeleylake.com) and sharing local information on our Facebook page (Seeley Swan Pathfinder). The paywall for all coronavirus information ha...
SEELEY LAKE - In a meeting with the Seeley Lake Senior Center (Sela Senci) board of directors and Rob Edwards, Missoula Aging Services Community Services Director, the group laid out a plan to minimize risk as much as possible while continuing to provide meals to their members 60 years and older. They are looking for volunteers willing to help prepare meals and drivers to deliver. Based on the guidance from Governor Steve Bullock to limit contact, as of Thursday, March 19 the congregate meals...
MONTANA – To curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Montana, Governor Steve Bullock today announced measures to close dine-in food service and alcoholic beverage businesses and other activities that pose enhanced health risks, effective at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 20, 2020. This Directive expires at 11:59 p.m. on March 27, 2020, the same day that school closures are set to expire, though the date will likely be extended. “Both young and older Montanans, in urban and rural communities, have tested positive for coronavirus, making it eve...
• Living Water Catholic Church is not having services until further notice through the diocese. • Condon Community Church cancelled all of their Services for the next two weeks. That includes Sunday School, Worship Services, & Choir Practices for March 22nd & March 29th as well as our weekly Bible Studies. • Almost all churches have switched to using their website and/or Facebook page for service and prayer meetings. Please check those for further announcements and opportunities to worship from home. • Effective March 19, the Seeley Lake Se...
MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today confirmed two presumptively positive cases of coronavirus, or COVID-19, in Missoula County. • The Missoula County patient is a female in their 30s • The Missoula County patient is a male in their 50s The tests, conducted by the DPHHS Public Health Laboratory, were confirmed Saturday evening. As is current standard, test results are considered presumptively positive and will be confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). DPHHS and the Missoula City-County Health Department are immediately follo...
SWAN VALLEY - Volunteer Grizzly Bear Advisory Council member and Swan Valley Connections employee Jonathan Bowler talked about the need for public input concerning grizzly bear management. He also talked about the purpose and the work of the GBAC at the Swan Valley Community Council meeting Jan. 21. Grizzly bear populations continue to expand in Montana and even into areas that have not seen them in decades. It is creating management and conflict challenges demanding solutions. In April 2019 Montana Governor Steve Bullock directed the GBAC...
Governor Steve Bullock announced Monday, Sept. 30 Montanans earning minimum wage will see the rate increase to $8.65 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2020. “This increase ensures Montanans earning the minimum wage don’t fall further behind, but we still have work to do to make a living wage a reality for all Montanans,” Governor Bullock said. “Montana has the sixth fastest wage growth in the nation over the past decade, and we must build on this trend by continuing to create good-paying jobs, supporting Montana businesses, standing up for employe...
MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock announced Friday, July 26 that he has appointed 18 Montana citizens to the Grizzly Bear Advisory Council to facilitate a statewide discussion on long-term grizzly bear management and conservation. This includes education director for Swan Valley Connections. “I’m grateful for the incredibly strong interest from Montanans across the state who offered to serve on this council, speaking both to the timeliness of this discussion and the passion for grizzly bears that Montanans share,” Governor Bullock said. “I look...
What is the US Climate Alliance? It is a domestic group formed specifically to undermine President Trump’s excellent decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Now, by executive order, part-time Governor Steve Bullock has undermined all of Montana by aligning Montana with the US Climate Alliance. This is so wrong. To begin, Montana is the Treasure State, not the “Fly Fishing State”. Sure, Montana is a great state for recreation, but to quote Senator Al Olszewski, “Montana’s wealth comes from the ground.” Our natural resources and our...
SEELEY LAKE – Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Clearwater Unit Supervisor Kristen Baker-Dickinson and US Forest Service Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver presented about the local applications of the Good Neighbor Authority at the Seeley Lake Community Council meeting June 10. They are both excited about this opportunity to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration and resiliency work in the area. The Good Neighbor Authority was put into law in the 2014 Farm Bill and the authority expanded in the 2018 O...
SEELEY LAKE – Seniors in the U.S. Government class at Seeley-Swan High School recently traveled to Helena to see the legislature and to Missoula to watch the judicial processes in action. While touring the Capitol, students observed floor action in the Montana Senate, and met with Representative Mike Hopkins, R-House District 92 and Senator Sue Malek, D- Senate District 46 to better understand the legislative process. Students also met with Gov. Steve Bullock. A week later, students traveled t...
HELENA — On the final day of the 66th Montana Legislature, lawmakers completed their only state constitutionally mandated task by passing the bill that sets the budget for state agencies. House Bill 2, which spends about $10 billion of state and federal money over the next two years, passed its final vote in House of Representatives 73-25. The bill had moved through the session relatively quickly, passing the House 54-45 for the first time in late March and then passing the Senate 28-21 in early April. The final vote in the House was to a...
HELENA -- Gov. Steve Bullock has signed into law the Firefighter Protection Act, which requires workers’ compensation insurance to cover presumptive occupational diseases, like cancer, for the state’s firefighters. Senate Bill 160 was carried by Sen. Nate McConnell, D-Missoula, who said at the bill signing that his brother is a firefighter, so the issue is personal. The bill has been a goal for the governor for several sessions. “Every firefighter should know Montana has their back. And it’s about damn time,” Bullock said at a bill signing cere...
SWAN VALLEY – The Swan Valley Elementary School Board continued their discussion regarding the new school sign. They also reviewed a list of facility maintenance projects and discussed how they could move forward. Trustee Jimmy Boyd presented the board with a different sign design than the four by eight foot sign on a four-foot pedestal that was discussed at the March meeting. He found a design for a 66-inch by 16-inch wooden sign with a three-foot wide stone base on an 18-inch concrete footer that would utilize the LED display. The LED p...
HELENA - Governor Steve Bullock recognized April 8th – 12th as “National Work Zone Awareness Week” in Montana in remembrance of Jeffrey Dyekman, Billings District Project Engineer, who was tragically hit and killed in a work zone on I-90 South in Billings. The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and public safety organizations statewide are joining forces to urge motorists to take the pledge and “Drive Like You Work Here” to prevent crashes and injuries in construction work zones across Montana....
HELENA – Senate Bill 260 was transmitted to Governor Steve Bullock for signature March 26. Sponsored by Senator Sue Malek (D) - SD46, SB 260 it establishes an eight-mile stretch of Highway 83 through Seeley Lake as the Trenton Johnson Memorial Highway. Johnson was a 2016 graduate of Hellgate High School, scholar, member of Hellgate’s four-time state champion lacrosse team, sophomore at Montana State University and first year firefighter with Grayback Forestry. He lost his life July 19, 2017 when he was working with the initial attack crew fig...
MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today announced that he will establish a Grizzly Bear Advisory Council to help initiate a statewide discussion on grizzly bear management, conservation and recovery. The Council will be selected through an application process that ends April 12th. “The recovery of grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems is a great conservation success. Still, official federal delisting has yet to come to fruition,” Bullock wrote in a memo to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Director Mart...
HELENA--A prolific alien organism is closing in on Montana’s ecosystem and could have dire consequences for food production, outdoor recreation and the economy if it crosses the state’s borders. Aquatic invasive species have widely infected the Midwest and are continuing to spread. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and state lawmakers are racing to protect the state from all invasive species but aquatic species like quagga and zebra mussels in particular. Proposals include allowing counties to implement new taxes, creating a new fee for boat owner...
HELENA — The 66th Montana Legislature is at its halfway mark and that means that any general bills that did not make it through their first house before the transmittal deadline are effectively killed. About sixty bills have passed both houses and have reached the governor’s desk. Gov. Steve Bullock said one of the most impactful laws he’s signed is House Bill 159, which will add about $77 million in funding for K-12 education. “I’m glad that the education committee got that to me early on,” Bullock said. Speaker of the House Greg Hertz, R-Po...
HELENA - The Senate Highways and Transportation Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 260 at their Feb. 21 hearing. If signed into law, the bill would establish the Trenton Johnson Memorial Highway on Highway 83 between mile marker 14, just south of Seeley Lake, north to Lake Inez at mile marker 22, signage will mark the section of Highway 83 and state highway maps must be updated to include the name Trenton Johnson Memorial Highway. “My goal was to honor our amazing firefighters, particularly Trenton Johnson who risked and lost his life a...
Taxes, Rainy Day Fund On Tap for Budget Talks While budget projections appear more secure than they were in the 2017 legislative session, long-standing rifts, particularly concerning taxes, still make the state’s two-year budget a hot topic this session. Unlike the previous session, the Legislative Fiscal Division and the Governor’s Office have fairly close revenue estimates -- about $10 billion over two years. Gov. Steve Bullock called a special session two years ago when a historic fire season and inaccurate revenue projections led to dee...
Montana is home to more than 60 one-room schools, the most of any state. One, the single-room Hi-Line elementary school in Galata, relies on Shelby's police department for protection – but Shelby is 23 miles away. That's why Rep. Casey Knudsen, R-Malta, said he plans to support legislation this session that would allow school officials to carry concealed firearms. "I really see it as a benefit for our rural schools to have some kind of protection for students," Knudsen said. "That way they w...
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...
