Sorted by date Results 1689 - 1713 of 6337
In July and early August, CRC surveyed key lakes in the Clearwater Valley to document absence/presence of aquatic invasive macrophytes (plants). Heidi Sedivy, a CRC employee with expertise in Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS), conducted the survey with the help of both CRC staff and volunteers. CRC is happy to report that based on our findings, no new invasive plants were detected in any of the lakes surveyed – Seeley, Placid, Salmon, Big Sky, Alva or Inez. While this is good news, it should be n...
OVANDO – Wildlife officials captured a grizzly bear in the Ovando area on Sept. 2 and relocated it to the north side of the Rattlesnake Wilderness the same day. The bear was captured after it repeatedly returned to an abandoned shed in search of grain and horse food. The 211-pound female grizzly did not have a prior history of conflicts. In fall, bears are increasingly active in preparation for winter denning and many conflicts involve bears getting into livestock feed and unsecured garbage as they search for food. Montana Fish, Wildlife & P...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council resumed their monthly virtual meetings Monday, Sept. 13. There, attendees listened to representatives from the Seeley Lake Ranger District and Seeley Lake Sewer District talk about their groups’ upcoming plans. Seeley Lake Ranger District recreation manager Matt Walter announced that Lake Alva and River Point Campgrounds will be closed by Oct. 1. Seeley Lake Campground is already closed and Big Larch remains open year round but there are no services and the roads will not be plowed. He said t...
SEELEY LAKE - New Seeley-Swan High School science teacher Gretchen Watkins hopes to keep her students engaged for the 2021-2022 school year. "I try to be as interactive as possible," she wrote in an email. "I find most students learn science best if they can be a part of ... doing the activities that we are learning about." She will be teaching all grades in earth and space science, biology and chemistry classes. Watkins has a broadfield certification for secondary science in Montana. She also r...
POTOMAC – At their Sept. 13 meeting, the Potomac School Board discussed the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) complaint and their response as well as worked through their Strategic Plans and Goals for this year. Principal John Rouse updated the board on the OCR complaint that was filed against the District in August. At the August board meeting he reported an anonymous individual complained that the school’s playground equipment is not handicap appropriate and that there are an insufficient number of accessible handicap parking spaces ava...
SEELEY LAKE – At their Sept. 20 meeting, the Seeley Lake Elementary Superintendant Josh Gibbs updated the School Board on the current status of COVID in the school. While the school skirted COVID last year with no cases at school, SLE’s first case this year was reported Sept. 15. In other business, the Board approved hiring two new staff, discussed installation of solar panels on the school roof and approved a policy on staff sick leave relating to COVID. As of Monday, Gibbs said there were five positive cases in the school and 26 students wer...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board discussed a variety of items at their Sept. 16 meeting including paying plaintiff’s legal fees for failed lawsuits against the District, funding for a high school water testing program and dissolving the District. Board President Tom Morris received a letter from Don Larson asking for “help from the community” to pay legal bills related to a pair of lawsuits Larson filed to fight the proposed community sewer. In the letter, Larson states that he has already paid $84,000 and has been billed for...
Interaction between the speakers and the audience at the Roads and Trails program presented Aug. 7 by the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society generated additional tales worth sharing. These short stories will be shared for the next two weeks to wrap up the series. Drinking stories The old roads had their challenges, but they never kept the folks in the valley from having fun. Gene Miller's memory that the road from Condon to Swan Lake was virtually impassable during winter prompted someone...
SEELEY LAKE - Montana Mountain Mushers is holding a free dog mushing clinic on Saturday, Oct. 2-3 at the West Side Bypass Trailhead, four miles north of Seeley Lake, Montana. All beginning or experienced mushers, runners, bike and scooter enthusiasts are invited to Canine Fun Days. The clinic will run from 9 - 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and 9 - 11 a.m. Sunday. There will be hands-on training for everyone. Experienced dog mushers will answer questions about equipment, proper training, nutrition and venues for dog mushing. Following the clinic,...
Fire Department BBQ & Open House Sept. 25 SEELEY LAKE – The community is invited to attend an Open House at the Seeley Lake Fire Department, 200 Firehouse Lane, Saturday, Sept. 25 from 12-3 p.m. Come enjoy hot dogs and hamburgers while checking out the equipment and station upgrades including the ambulances and fire trucks; the vehicle exhaust system in the bays; turnout gear extraction equipment; powered gurney and loading system; Lifepack 15 Cardiac Monitor and more. Chief Dave Lane said the volunteers will also be present to share their p...
In celebration of 35 years of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, each week we will run parts of articles that appeared in the issue 35 years ago and 20 years ago. The entire issue will be uploaded to our website seeleylake.com for you to enjoy. We hope you will enjoy the journey with us as we follow our community through the past 35 years as documented by the Pathfinder. 35 years ago: Sept. 25, 1986 issue Ad hoc group pursues goals There was a packed house at Leisure Lodge last Thursday evening when...
MISSOULA - In response to higher fuel moistures and sustained cooler temperatures, Missoula County fire protection agencies have lowered the fire danger to Moderate, effective immediately. Fall prescribed wildland and essential agriculture burning, that closed last week, remains closed. Forecasted weather includes cooler temperatures throughout the area for this upcoming week, but also breezy/windy conditions daily and a mostly dry cold front coming in Wednesday. “Caution is still warranted with any spark right now—but especially when bre...
SWAN VALLEY – Called "a jewel of faith" at its dedication Sept. 1, 1996, Our Lady of Swan Valley Mission Catholic Church (OLSV) celebrated 25 years Sept. 6. It has strived to follow the words spoken over it at the dedication "to be a spring of living waters, a school of wisdom where we will learn to put God first, neighbors second and ourselves last." "Given all the circumstances, keeping this church going for 25 years would have been humanly impossible if not for the grace of God and the f...
Twenty years ago on Sept. 11, 2001 Americans watched on television or were witness to the horror as aircraft hit the World Trade Center Twin Towers and crashed into the Pentagon. The images that were replayed over and over on the television and that others witnessed first-hand are seared in the minds of those of us old enough to remember. When the dust cleared, the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks not only united Americans but also changed our country forever. Nineteen men hijacked four US commercial...
You are what you eat. If you care about your health, small town survival in farm and ranch country, opportunities and how ingenuity and hard work by one individual can make a real difference, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Author Bob Quinn will be presenting his book on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. at the West Wing of the Seeley Lake Community Foundation as part of Alpine Artisans' Open Book Club. Free. Everyone welcome. Quinn went off to college from his family's conventional wheat...
SEELEY LAKE – Classmates, staff and graduates who attended Seeley-Swan High School from 1963 – 1974 and their spouses are invited to attend a reunion Saturday, Sept. 25 from 12 – 10 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. There will be games, class photos taken starting at 3 p.m., dinner served at 5 p.m., music in the evening and plenty of time to reconnect. Everyone is invited to come starting at 12 p.m. Bring your favorite games or come and join in corn hole, life-sized Jenga and sever...
KALISPELL – Flathead National Forest Supervisor Kurt Steele released a draft record of decision (ROD) and final environmental impact statement (EIS) on a 174,000-acre forest restoration project in Swan Valley. The final EIS evaluates and discloses the predicted environmental effects of the Mid-Swan Landscape Restoration and Wildland Urban Interface Project. Through this project, the Forest Service is proposing to: treat vegetation; use prescribed fire; restore whitebark pine and western white pine; decommission, store and improve existing F...
The fifth in the series covering the Roads and Trails program presented Aug. 7 by the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS). CONDON – Upper Swan Valley Historical Society President Steve Lamar introduced Dennis Jette as one of the local residents who worked in road construction when the highway and power lines were being installed. Jette said his grandfather homesteaded on Kraft Creek in 1912, though his family didn't move to the valley until 1951. He was in the eighth grade at the t...
POTOMAC – At their Sept. 7 meeting, the Greenough-Potomac Fire Board sold their 1991 Chevrolet, Type 6 Engine, affirmed the Chief’s authority to request gear be returned by inactive members and discussed their fee structure charged to residents and commercial businesses for this year. The Board received three sealed bids for the Type 6 engine. All of the bids were $5,000 or over. Bradd Kindle of Greenough was the highest bidder with a bid of $5,501. The board was pleased with the response and were surprised that all the bids were within $50...
A parent looking at a child's poor report card might say, "You'd better keep your nose to the grindstone next semester and get those grades up!" Is this parent suggesting painful disfigurement will make the child smarter? No, the parent simply wants the child to focus more time, effort and attention on school studies. But how do the nose and grindstone enter in? One theory relates to the milling process. In an earlier age, grains were transformed into flour by using two large millstones, one...
SEELEY LAKE – At a Sept. 9 public hearing, the Missoula County Commissioners unanimously approved the notice of intent to file Alpine Trails Phases 3 and 4 subdivision north of Seeley Lake. While the staff with Missoula County Community and Planning Services (CAPS) recommended the removal of a gate restricting access to S.O.S. Road prior to approval, the Commissioners appreciated the solutions and explanation offered and felt that that condition of approval was not needed for Phases 3 and 4 to proceed. Alpine Trails Subdivision is a 30-lot s...
SEELEY LAKE - New Seeley-Swan High School math teacher Melissa Lapka is excited to kick off the school year and engrain herself in the school and community. "I'm just looking forward to incorporating myself into this new school and [getting] to know all the kids, the families, [as well as] going to see all the extracurriculars," she said. Lapka will teach Algebra 1 and Geometry classes. She graduated from the University of Montana with degrees in secondary math education and psychology. She...
POTOMAC - Potomac Pioneers began their new school year Aug. 30. There are several updates to staff, programs and the facility this year. New staff includes Jodi Hausmann who is the new preschool teacher. Kayla Brewer is the new paraprofessional for the preschool class. Instructional paraprofessional Anna Bunderson is also new staff this year. The new school board chair is Courtney Hathaway. Several staff also took new positions within the school. Breanna Peterson, who taught preschool last year, is the new kindergarten teacher. Christi...
HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is accepting applications for the Northwest Lion Ecoregional Population Committee, which will advise the Fish and Wildlife Commission on management of mountain lions in northwest Montana. The committee will be asked to develop a target that maximizes public satisfaction related to mountain lion hunting opportunity, mountain lion conflict and ungulate population trends. The committee will provide a recommendation on what the mountain lion population should look like five years from now. In 2019, the F...
In celebration of 35 years of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, each week we will run parts of articles that appeared in the issue 35 years ago and 20 years ago. The entire issue will be uploaded to our website seeleylake.com for you to enjoy. We hope you will enjoy the journey with us as we follow our community through the past 35 years as documented by the Pathfinder. 20 years ago: Sept. 20, 2001 issue Chips..bits & pieces by Gary Noland, Editor Best estimates are that 5,000 Americans, civilian men...
