Sorted by date Results 626 - 650 of 1846
SEELEY LAKE - After taking a year off due to COVID-19, Alpine Artisans, Inc.'s (AAI) Loon and Fish Art Show and Festival will return for 2021 with a new date. Instead of taking place Memorial Day weekend, the festival will instead take place from 5-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20 and 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 in the Seeley Lake Community Foundation Building. AAI Program Manager Jenny Rohrer said they attempted to change the date last year to late July but because it was canceled they set it a...
SWAN VALLEY – Swan Valley Connections (SVC) received a $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant to fund a wetland restoration project on the Swan River National Wildlife Refuge in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). NAWCA is the federal grant program dedicated to funding the conservation of wetland habitats for migratory birds. This was the only project funded in Montana by the NAWCA this grant period. The goal of the project is to restore the n...
The story of the first homesteaders and the first working ranch in the upper Swan Valley begins in the 1880s with the arrival of Benjamin B. Holland and his son, Charles. According to family accounts, Ben Holland, his wife, and children crossed the Great Plains in a covered wagon. They lived a nomadic life, moving from one place to another, traveling from Missouri to Iowa to Utah to Idaho before settling in Montana. Ben Holland, the patriarch of the family, was born in Missouri in 1841. He...
SWAN VALLEY - With winter activities converting into summer ones, recreationists and national forest staff reflect on an illegal activity that has seemingly gained more prominence in recent years, snowmobile trespassing. The Flathead National Forest offers approximately 800,000 acres of recreational land including groomed and ungroomed trail opportunities. According to their website, some areas are closed to snowmobiles including the Bob Marshall, Great Bear and Mission Mountains Wildernesses. The Flathead National Forest offers free over-snow...
SWAN VALLEY - Members of the Swan Valley Elementary School Board unanimously approved a first reading of multiple new policies and policy revisions during their monthly meeting Tuesday, April 20. They also discussed Missoula City-County Health Department’s conversion of COVID-19 prevention methods going from mandates to recommendations in May. The new policies have to do with student sexual harassment grievance procedures, staff sexual harassment procedures, personnel background checks, and drug and alcohol testing for school bus drivers. T...
Whitebark Pine Zoom presentation Join Swan Valley Connections Wednesday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom for a presentation on the ecology and conservation of whitebark pine, an at-risk, keystone species of high elevation habitats in the Northern Rockies. Drawing on his extensive work with these special trees, U.S. Forest Service Supervisory Research Biologist Bob Keane will explore the whitebark pine’s fascinating roles and restoration questions in mountain ecosystems. Log on to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83458922265 for the presentation. No r...
SEELEY LAKE –Expecting to spend her first year simply getting to know the students, community and building trust, Seeley-Swan High School and Seeley Lake Elementary music teacher Janet Morgenstern said the students dove in headfirst and “I think we are rockin’.” While her expectations have been exceeded and many gains have been made in a program, Morgenstern said there still is a long road ahead in the schools’ musical journey. For the last several years, the music program lacked consistency and continuity between the elementary and high scho...
OVANDO - Staff members from Blackfoot Challenge shared their experiences and expertise with certain programs during a virtual event called Stories from the Field Wednesday, April 14. The first speaker was Cindy Super, the forestry and prescribed fire coordinator. She spoke about the importance of restoring fire as an ecological process as she described her team’s process of organizing a prescribed fire on private property in the Blackfoot last spring. “We will learn together as we bring fire back to its rightful place on our landscape,” she s...
SWAN VALLEY - Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, Aunt and wonderful friend to so many, passed away peacefully at St. Patrick Hospital. She was 77. Margo was born in Utah and resided most of her adult life in Condon, Montana. She is survived by three of her four sons Richard, Damon (Chandi) and Ronald (Yolanda). She has 10 grandchildren Amanda, Gared, Russell, Catrina, Jennifer, Tynell, Mathew, Jason, Parker, Charly and several great grandchildren with one on the way. She is preceded in death by her...
SWAN VALLEY - Area residents got into the Easter spirit a day early as they participated in the community's annual Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, April 3 in the Condon Community Ball Field. The event allowed participants of all ages to get involved in the search of 3,000 eggs. Hunts were separated into three sections: 0-5, 6-20 and 21+. Outside of the expected candy, some of the eggs in the 21+ group contained drink tickets while eggs in the younger categories offered chances to win trinkets, toys...
While the Missoula County Elections Office received many valid candidate filings, several board positions remain unfilled, as indicated in the list. Commissioners are seeking applicants to fill these board positions, which will become vacant May 31. Applicants must be residents of Missoula County and at least 18 years old. Additional residency requirements may apply. All board positions are served on a volunteer basis. Applications for vacant positions are available at https://boards.missoulacounty.us/apply/. Submissions may be filed...
Clarification and correction SEELEY LAKE – In the April 1 issue, it was stated in the article “Seeley-Swan golfers come out swinging” that Head Golf Coach Wayne Cahoon only had one golfer in 2018 and 2019. While Cahoon had only one golfer in 2018, in 2019 he had a team but only one qualified for state. The team continued to grow and five girls and eight boys were on the team at the start of the season in 2020. However due to COVID, all meets were canceled and Cahoon didn’t have the opportunity to coach another team at state. Death Notice...
SWAN VALLEY – Children and adults of all ages can get in the Easter spirit this year at Condon's annual Community Easter Egg Hunt starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 3 at the Condon Community Ball Field north of the Condon Airstrip on Highway 83. Face masks and gloves are optional but participants must bring their own baskets. Participants will be separated into five different hunts for the following age groups: 0-5, 6-12, 13-20 and 21+. Among the 3,000 candy filled eggs will be some that c...
HOW WE GOT HERE Between the years of 1970 and 2001, the Seeley-Swan Valley real estate market was a consistent market demonstrating slow upward trends in values and sales. Land sales in 2000 were between $2,000 and $4,000 per acre. Beginning in the early 2000’s, real estate in the Seeley-Swan Valley experienced increased awareness from buyers from around the world due to the proximity to two major airports in Missoula and Kalispell, mountain views, scenery, wildlife and wilderness access to the Bob Marshall and Mission Mountain Wilderness a...
The Southwestern Land Office (SWLO) of the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation (DNRC) and Keep Montana Green announced the southwestern Montana regional winners of the 60th Annual Keep Montana Green Wildfire Prevention Art Contest. Local winners included third grader Maggie Applegate from Helmville School who placed first in the primary division (kindergarten through third grade); sixth grader Michael Goettle from Helmville School who placed second in the intermediate division...
This spring, firefighters with the Bureau of Land Management’s Missoula Field Office as well as the Lolo and Flathead National Forests are planning to conduct prescribed burns to reduce hazardous fuels, restore wildlife habitat and better protect communities from future wildfires. Each project follows a Prescribed Fire Burn Plan. The prescribed fire projects are located and designed to be controlled to reduce the potential for adverse effects, or to escape as a wildland fire. Frequent, low-intensity fire is essential for improving habitat c...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley-Swan High School junior Hannah Ayers received an honorable mention at the Prospects 2021 High School Business Pitch Competition for her business proposal for the Seeley Swan Sandwich Shop. She won a $250 Visa gift card that she intends to put towards her college fund. Matthew Olson, network development director for the Montana Chamber of Commerce as well as program manager for the competition, said Ayers was among the top 25 submissions out of 93 total. A total of 171...
Looking out the window I see melting snow, new grass emerging from a long winters nap, fragile buds starting to come to life. Springtime in the Swan Valley represents memories. My teenager years. Saddling my horse after a quick brushing, too excited to do the job proper, my saddle bag containing a package of hamburger, one potato, one carrot, some tinfoil, salt & pepper. Matches, maybe some pitch to help start the fire to cook a meal at some point. The good ole' days. Riding from the family home...
The beginning of March has teased us with a little taste of spring. We've been treated to temperatures in the forties, hours of sunshine, and clear skies providing crisp views of the Swan Mountain range. We've been presented with weather basically begging us to come outside and encouraging us to take advantage of the conditions while we can. We've been forced to question whether or not Punxsutawney Phil knew what he was talking about just a few weeks ago when he predicted 6 more weeks of...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Elementary School Board unanimously voted to approve a second reading of board policies regarding marijuana at their monthly board meeting Tuesday, March 9. The policies exclusively had to do with consumption and possession of marijuana on school grounds. While recreational usage was legalized in Montana during the 2020 election, it will still be against school policy to possess or use the substance on school grounds. The main changes made were mostly wording clarification. Principal Ralph King announced that all s...
Being an owner of forested property can bring many upkeep duties. Thinning, burning, road work and monitoring for health can keep a property owner pretty busy. Windstorms this winter have damaged many trees and can make a mess. Unfortunately, these trees become a "buffet" for beetle activity and the insects can spread to healthy trees if not dealt with in a timely fashion. Most forest insects occur naturally throughout Montana, but with some careful planning and cleanup, you can prevent the spre...
SEELEY LAKE – One of the Alpine Artisans'(AAI) programs formerly on COVID-19 hiatus Zoom-ed back to life March 6. The first Zoom Open Book Club event featured critically acclaimed author Russell Rowland with his newest book "Cold Country." Pre-COVID, Grizzly Claw Trading Company provided the venue for area residents to gather and listen to authors read from their latest works and respond to audience questions. While the Zoom format may have dampened what many author guests have described as t...
Seeley Lake Community Council seeks applicants for vacant term MISSOULA - The Missoula County commissioners are accepting applications for one vacant term on the Seeley Lake Community Council. The term runs through May 31, 2021. Because the remainder of the vacant term is so short and election filing deadlines have passed, the appointed member’s term will automatically renew to a new three-year term. If the commissioner-appointed member would like to continue serving beyond May 31, 2024, they must file as a candidate in the 2024 s...
SWAN VALLEY - When Unleashed in the Swan owner Kathy Koors of Condon agreed to help foster two dogs while a married couple from Kalispell recovered from COVID-19, she did not expect to continue caring for them once those owners died from the disease. She and other local animal care workers are now encouraging residents, especially elderly ones, to plan ahead for their mortality specifically regarding their pets. Koors found out about the fostering opportunity from Flathead Animal Clinic. She...
This past winter and fall we measured more smoke at the Seeley Lake air quality monitor than we have for several years. Since Oct. 1, there have been 11 days when smoke pollution exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard. While smoke from wood stoves continues to be the primary driver of smoke pollution in the area, there were four days during the fall outdoor burning season in which smoke from outdoor burns likely contributed to poor air quality. With outdoor burning opening on March 1st, we wanted to take this opportunity to answer s...
