Sorted by date Results 5168 - 5192 of 6303
MISSOULA – Recent snowmelt has begun impacting some roads across the Lolo National Forest (LNF) and forest officials are advising the public to use caution where needed and also avoid soft road beds to avoid resource impacts. Avoiding soft road beds also reduces the potential of getting stuck on a forest road. Most damage to unpaved roads occurs in the fall and spring when rains and snow-melt saturate soils, leaving road surfaces soft. When vehicles drive on these soft roads, they create wheel tracks and ruts which can hold and channel water a...
SEELEY LAKE – With snow melting and spring in full swing, many people take the opportunity to do spring cleaning in their home and around their property. The Missoula City-County Health Department Junk Vehicle program and Vehicles for Charity (VFC) are two no-cost options to help get rid of unusable or unwanted vehicles. A "junk vehicle," as defined by Montana Code Annotated (MCA) 75-10-501 as any discarded, ruined, wrecked, or dismantled motor vehicle, including component parts, which is not l...
SEELEY LAKE – A full agenda is set for the Seeley Lake Community Council meeting Monday, April 13. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. While there are no action items on the agenda, several presenters have been invited to attend. The Executive Director of the Missoula Economic Partnership James Grunke begins the meeting with a discussion on housing and economic growth. Missoula City-County Health Department Sanitarian Jim Erven will talk about the Special Management Area designation in Seeley Lake and what that means for septic tanks and l...
WASHINGTON – Acting Deputy Agriculture Secretary Michael Young announced that a contract renewal sign-up is underway for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), USDA’s largest working lands conservation program with more than 80 million acres enrolled. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) made several updates to the popular program last fall. These changes help producers better evaluate conservation options that benefit their operations while improving the health and productivity of private and Tribal working lands. “The cha...
SEELEY LAKE – More than 50 garden enthusiasts gathered in the Seeley Lake Community Hall April 1 to hear Robin Kelson of The Good Seed Company of Whitefish, Mont. speak about selecting, saving and sharing seeds. The presentation was jointly sponsored by Clearwater Resource Council and the Blackfoot Valley and Seeley Swan gardening groups. Kelson organized her seed selecting presentation around three main questions: 1) Are these seeds true-to-type? 2) Will the plant resulting from this seed self-...
HELENA -- A bill that could outlaw abortion by defining a fetus at any stage as a person passed the House last week. Introduced by Rep. Derek Skees, House Bill 595 would give Montana voters an option to approve a constitutional amendment that would define a person as “all members of the species Homo sapiens at any stage of development.” “Every single life matters,” Skees said. “From the moment of the first mitosis, to the last breath we draw before we get promoted.” The bill was widely condemned by House Democrats, who said there were proble...
POTOMAC - On the mountains and hills surrounding Potomac valley, the accumulated snow on Sheep Mountain, Mineral Mountain, Gold Peak, Union Peak, Morrison Peak and others contribute to the creeks swollen with snowmelt. Some creeks are unnamed and seasonal while other run year round like Gold, Bear, Twin, Cramer, Union, Johnson, Camas, Mormon Creek and the Rattlesnake Creek. All drain into larger waterways including the Blackfoot River....
Call it 670 miles – or perhaps more precisely 674 miles – but either way, the Yellowstone River remains the nation's longest undammed waterway. It's a great river that meanders through some of the finest mountain and prairie topography on the planet – peaks reaching past 12,000 feet in elevation, the largest high-mountain lake on the continent, dense evergreen forests, buttes, colorful badlands, deep canyons, sweet-smelling sage and juniper covered hills. A good portion of this wondrous river...
Goal: Potomac's Happy Trails Daycare owner Sari Wolff's goal is to provide safe and fun childcare to the community of Potomac. Wolff hopes to eventually create jobs and care for more children. History: Happy Trails opened March 27 and is awaiting final inspection for the state of Montana. Wolff is CPR certified and trained in first aid. Wolff opened the daycare because she loves children. As a mother, she found it hard to find childcare in the surrounding communities without having to commute....
SEELEY LAKE - In 1957 the Glenside Lions Club of Abington, Pennsylvania chartered the first Leo Club at Abington High School. In 1967, the board of directors of Lions Clubs International adopted the Leo Club as an official program of the association. The objective of the Leo Club is to provide youth with the opportunity for development and contribution, individually and collectively, as responsible members of the local, national and international community. The Leo motto is Leadership, Experience and Opportunity. The program has continued to...
SEELEY LAKE – LHC, Inc. withdrew their Opencut Mining Plan of Operation and Application with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the Cottonwood Pit proposed on Cottonwood Lakes Road. Until a new application is submitted, this ends the process to open the gravel pit on Cottonwood Lakes Road. The Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the proposed Cottonwood Pit received zoning approval with conditions at the Feb. 9 Powell County Planning Board meeting. DEQ received LHC, Inc.’s application Feb. 13 and withdrew it March 16. Owner of Dee...
SEELEY LAKE – Missoula resident John Rice has requested year-round access to his property on Cottonwood Lakes Road, National Forest System Road (NFSR) No. 477, from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Lolo National Forest (LNF). The Cottonwood Lakes Road has been closed to wheeled vehicle travel from Dec. 1 – April 30 since January 1994. Rice seeks to ensure wheeled-vehicle access through the winter for himself and his descendants and feels the USFS is refusing to honor past contractual agreements. Rice purchased a half section of property in Powell...
SEELEY LAKE – With the exception of a few finishing touches, the improvements to Seeley-Swan High School (SSHS) are complete. The improvements were funded through Missoula County Public School's (MCPS) bond. The community is invited to a Celebration of the Arts Open House April 12 from 7-8:30 p.m. to see the new auditorium, enjoy refreshments and cake and listen to a variety of SSHS students and the Seeley Swan Mountain Bells perform. Voters approved the MCPS bond in November 2015. Of the $70 m...
On Friday, March 22 Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) junior high students took their biannual trip to Helena to visit Montana Wild and the State Capitol. Students participated in three different Montana Wild programs and were able to watch the Senate in action as well as meet Governor Steve Bullock. The junior high takes this trip every other year when the legislature is in session. SLE Civics Teacher Duane Schlabach has his students follow a bill of their choice in Civics class so they understand t...
SWAN VALLEY - Members of the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) discussed at length the community’s concern that the regional draft plan editing was taking too much time at their meeting March 23. They also addressed and voted on edits to the Land Use Element of the draft plan referring to community comments and edits by attorney Colleen Dowdall and journalist Suzanne Vernon. Community member Dan Maloughney said community members he talks to are wondering if this is becoming a “committee plan and not a community plan” becau...
SEELEY LAKE - Alpine Artisans, Inc. (AAI) is offering youth art grants and a senior scholarship to help young people pay for art, drama, dance or music educational activities any time through June 2018. Deadline to apply is April 26. All K-12 students attending schools, or homeschooled, in the Blackfoot and Seeley-Swan Valleys are eligible for the Youth Grants. The maximum youth grant award is $200 to help with tuition and expenses for art, drama, dance, or music workshops, camps or lessons....
Grizzly and black bears are emerging from dens, based on radio collar locations, track reports and observations. Biologists say that males tend to emerge earlier than females; with the warming weather and increasing day length, more bears will be emerging in the coming weeks. As grizzly and black bears emerge, they will be moving to lower elevations to take advantage of the green-up of vegetation. After a bear emerges, it takes a few weeks for its digestive system to get back to normal; the bear has been in the den for four to five months witho...
HELENA - Montana’s Fish and Wildlife Commission, in a special teleconference meeting this week, approved new rules for boaters at Canyon Ferry and Tiber reservoirs. The rules are part of Montana’s response to the discovery of invasive mussel larvae last fall in Tiber Reservoir and a suspected sample from Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Approved on March 22, the rules require boaters to launch and exit Tiber and Canyon Ferry reservoirs at designated boat ramps, unless they are officially certified as local boaters by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Par...
SEELEY LAKE – The miniature cabin on Highway 83 at Bison and Bear Center will once again be offering coffee and light breakfast foods to early morning risers and others working, shopping, recreating or just passing through Seeley Lake. The former Moose B’ Mornin Espresso will open April 1 under the name Crescent Mountain Coffee and with new proprietor Gus Batchelder. A 2016 graduate of Seeley-Swan High School, Batchelder attended Montana State University (MSU) last fall. After one semester he...
MISSOULA – The Northern Region is inviting the public to help identify trails that will be part of a U.S. Forest Service effort with partners and volunteers to increase the pace of trail maintenance. Nationwide, the Forest Service will select nine to 15 priority areas among its nine regions where a backlog in trail maintenance has contributed to reduced access, potential harm to natural resources or trail users and/or has the potential for increased future deferred maintenance costs. The Northern Region manages more than 28,000 miles of t...
Liz Schwartz’s brother overdosed in their parents’ garage after sucking prescription opioids out of a used fentanyl patch. His mother found him on the floor and immediately called an ambulance. He made it to the hospital in time and survived. But within a year, Schwartz’s father overdosed the same way. He, too, survived. “You think the addict is getting clean, or they’re on the right track to getting there and there’s setbacks like that,” Schwartz said. “It’s terrifying.” While Montana’s drug of choice for decades has been methamphetamine,...
HELENA -- With the special congressional election quickly approaching, Montana lawmakers heard heated testimony on a bill last week that would allow counties to opt for mail-in ballots. Senate Bill (SB) 305, introduced by Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls would just apply to the upcoming special election between Republican Greg Gianforte and Democrat Rob Quist -- both vying for the congressional seat vacated by now Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. "This election is going to be very expensive...
Do you sometimes think the state is being inundated with new ways and we are losing the real Montana? In some places perhaps yes, but most of the state is still the Montana we have always known and perceived. It is only in a small percentage of the state's mass where this change has actually taken place. The last census showed Montana, the fourth-largest state in the nation in terms of landmass, as having 989,415 folks residing within its borders. We use the 2010 census, as it provides the most...
MISSOULA - "Rhythms of the West" is a collaborative exhibition of art created by Bobbe Almer and Steve Woodhouse. The exhibition will open at the E3 Gallery, 229 W Main Street in Missoula, Friday, April 7, at 5 p.m. with a free public reception featuring music by Jami Kidd. This must-see exhibition pulls together scenes and materials that express what these artists see in ordinary life west of the Rockies. Both artists will be present at the opening to demonstrate and share insight into their...
Cakes for Canines to Support Local Animal Shelter April 3 SEELEY LAKE - Join the crew from Paws Up Animal Shelter from Potomac at Pop’s Place Monday, April 3 for the annual Cakes for K9s event. This is a donation breakfast complete with pancakes, bacon and eggs. All proceeds benefit the shelter. There will also be a board with 40 squares; $5 per square or 5 for $20. There are many prizes to be won including a diamond ring, 1968 proof set of coins, one of Juan de Santa Anna’s photos, Neman Marcus unisex bathrobe and a 16X20 photo of your pet or...
