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Last year's fast-paced real estate market changed our local vacation rental environment drastically. Many of our area's long-standing vacation rentals were sold and are no longer available to area guests leaving a void that's ready to be filled by new vacation rentals. Likewise, some seeking to escape the COVID-19 pandemic purchased properties to flee more populous areas, with plans to offer their properties as vacation rentals once the pandemic subsides. According to Pew Research Center, 22%...
As we welcome the New Year, The Nature Conservancy was glad to end the last one with some good news. On Christmas Eve, we finalized another sale of more than 12,000 acres of land to the U.S. Forest Service. Together with a previous sale, more than 28,000 acres of former industrial timberland are now secure for wildlife habitat and public use. “I’ve been involved with this project since the beginning,” said Todd Johnson, representative for Pyramid Mountain Lumber and Blackfoot Challenge board member. “I even went to Washington, D.C. to help ma...
Double Arrow Ranch has been a part of the Seeley Lake community for 48 years. It continues to see new construction and undeveloped lots change hands. This past year over 60 property transactions occurred on the Ranch, a clear indication that our part of Western Montana is seen as a haven to folks all over the country! Let's take a closer look at the Ranch and its homeowners' association, the Double Arrow Ranch Land Owners Association (DARLOA). The first phases of the Ranch were approved by...
Some of you were lucky enough to have been born here, in the gorgeous Crown of the Continent and the bridge between two of the most awe-inspiring parks in the entire country. Some of you discovered this area and made an active life choice to join the community, perhaps because of work or family, but it is likely that the possibility of extraordinary outdoor activities were also a lure. In 2020, the year we'll always remember as the year of masks and life interrupted in previously unfathomable...
What do Montana's 55 different state parks mean to you? Montana residents who do not regularly visit our state parks may not realize just how beneficial the state park system is in their communities and everyday lives. Let's delve into some of those areas as it applies directly to our town of Seeley Lake, and the nearby Placid Lake State Park and Salmon Lake State Park. When many people think of Montana State Parks they often think of a single park or campground, mistakenly thinking that our...
Have you ever had an idea that could benefit more than just you? Maybe it is something you love to do and want to share it, maybe you've seen it done in another community, or maybe you've even tried and didn't get the momentum or support you needed the first time around. Over the past 20 years at the Seeley Lake Community Foundation (SLCF), we've watched these small ideas grow into community-wide projects that bring benefits to so many beyond the instigator. When we can articulate a common goal...
"Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals. ... The circuit is not closed; ... but it is a sustained circuit, like a slowly augmented revolving fund of life." – Aldo Leopold, from "The Land Pyramid" in "A Sand County Almanac" And I add humans to that circuit... Folks who know me know I hike every day with my dog Arrow. We have to. And trailing behind her makes every foray an immersion – in that open and sustained cir...
The word on the street in the Seeley-Swan is that the Missoula County Weed District may grab the bull by the horns and implement management tactics to control the prolific aquatic invader. Common sense generally persuades the wise to side-step such audacious gossip; however, the rumors are true and the process has already begun! Of course, in this case, the proverbial bull isn't necessarily a cantankerous 1,200-pound Spanish fighting bull, but rather the alluring perennial aquatic plant species...
This is the second USVHS article about Henry Thomason, an early-day Upper Swan Valley settler who wrote a series of letters to his family in the Midwest documenting life as a homesteader in the early part of the 20th century. Henry's son Maurice W. Thomason homesteaded the adjoining 160-acre parcel north of Henry's land. Henry's daughter Lyda Thomason frequently stayed with her father for extended periods of time. Henry Thomason retold a story he heard from Jalmer Wirkkala, a local trapper and...
Beginning with a trip out west to Polson in 1913 to later homesteading in the Upper Swan Valley, early-day settler Henry Thomason wrote a series of hand-written letters to his family in the Midwest documenting life as a homesteader in the early part of the 20th century. He also provided detailed accounts of his experiences as a fire lookout high in the Swan Range. In 1919 Thomason filed to homestead 160 acres between Rumble and Buck Creeks. He built a two-room log house, a log barn, a log...
When COVID-19 first popped up in the news, we weren't too worried it would affect us here in Seeley Lake. Then it became a pandemic and things changed. We urged our employees to follow all recommended precautions, but were still left with many questions about whether the virus would reach Seeley Lake, and if it did, what would that look like for our workforce. We identified that our primary exposure to outside personnel is in shipping. We took extra precautions in our shipping office by...
While sitting on the back porch, soaking up the warm fall sunshine, contemplating the benefits of a good growing season, little did we know that we would be lead, a few short days later, to grapple with a cruel twist of frigid cold and falling snow. Have you noticed that the seasons change rapidly these days? No surprise! We’ve been consumed during the last few seasons with the obstacles Covid has placed before us, and rightly so! It has reminded us once again about life’s uncertainties and how important it is to value our lives, our fam...
Wow! A record 16 inches of snow and -19 degrees in October. We must be in Montana! Wildfires are now far from our thoughts as we bundle up after still being in tee shirts only a couple of weeks ago. With our climate extremes, we know that another summer like 2017 cannot be far off. And as we hear reports from California about the levels of destruction occurring from wildfires there, it is never an inappropriate time to take preventive actions. Fortunately, here in Seeley Lake, there are good examples of how that can be done. From the...
4 REAL ESTATE SALES IN THE VALLEY WILL BREAK RECORDS As we all started to hear a little bit, then a lot about COVID-19 in March and April. The US economy appeared to be in for a big fall. When local state and county - imposed lockdowns began to occur, real estate sales appeared to be doomed as well. The lockdowns actually resulted in an unexpected result in local real estate. People all over the nation were either actually working from home or locked down with no ability to work. After talking with many of those that were working from home,...
Grizzly bears are highly intelligent, but as far as we know they can't read maps. When a bear living in Glacier National Park sets out in search of food or a mate, it doesn't know when it crosses the park's invisible boundary. When it does, it enters a different, more dangerous reality. While Glacier is part of a sprawling wildlands complex including the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Canada's Waterton National Park, it also lies near areas that are rapidly developing. Protecting habitat buffer zon...
The mission of the Blackfoot Challenge is "to coordinate efforts to conserve and enhance natural resources and the rural way of life in the Blackfoot watershed for present and future generations." A long history of poor mining, logging and livestock grazing practices as well as increased recreational use led to invasive weed spread across fence lines and ownership boundaries. The Blackfoot Challenge officially formed in 1993 as private landowners and public agencies recognized the need for a...
Members of the Missoula County Fire Protection Agency (MCFPA) would like to thank you for your continued support as we move into our fall season. Fire suppression activities kept crews busy both locally and nationally throughout the summer. Fire Danger remained at Very High levels throughout the summer to the end of August. Fire Danger was High throughout the month of September. Some of our local area received beneficial rainfall during the month, other areas received less moisture therefore...
As we head into fall, it’s a time of reflection on this past year and all that was accomplished on numerous projects with our strong group of partners. As spring arrived, we had many questions as to how our field season would unfold with COVID restrictions. As it turns out it was one of our most productive years to date thanks in large part to the network of partnerships working together on these important projects. Project season began in April up in Lincoln with work on a spring creek tributary to the upper Blackfoot. We restored over 2...
There is confusion within the Seeley Lake community understanding what really happens during a 911 medical call. I hope that the following information will help people understand. When 911 is called for a medical emergency the system is activated. The 911 dispatcher will ask several questions of the caller to utilize the Emergency Medical Dispatch protocols. Reference cards are used to follow the correct protocols. Once the information is gathered, the dispatcher will notify the appropriate...
If you're a native to the area or a longtime resident, you may have an outage routine that happens during a black out at your home... check to see if the neighbor's lights are out, fetch some flashlights, call your local power provider, unplug major appliances, etc. But have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a power outage? From small scale and planned outages, to widespread, multi-day outages, the team at Missoula Electric Cooperative is equipped to handle it all. Each outage...
While five-gallon buckets brimmed with sloshing water may be a close challenger, t-posts are some of the most awkward things to be carried. At just over 10 pounds apiece, with studded, irregular edges and sharp anchoring wings, schlepping one of these eight-foot steel specimens to a fence project is an unwieldy affair. Add in some uneven floodplain terrain, and the fact that most of us underestimate pinched fingers and balance points while trying to carry more posts than we should, and you have...
Stewardship: The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care. What does it mean to be a good steward? This is something we think about a fair bit at the Blackfoot Challenge. Whether we find ourselves stewarding the lands and waters that we rely on or the communities that we are a part of, stewardship in all forms requires a commitment to place and a commitment to the future. We believe it also requires a commitment to one another – and to learn, adapt and share. We h...
By the calendar, Montana has four seasons. Yet, increasingly, we are experiencing a fifth; fire season. As July draws to a close, a lot of us are starting to think what might be ahead as temperatures soar and our forests become increasingly dry. The Seeley Lake community won't soon forget the smoky summer of 2017 when the fire drove folks from town and shuttered businesses and schools – straining nerves, health and the local economy. The forests make the community beautiful but can also put it a...
Protests are legal and at times necessary. Rioting and looting are not. But we do need to understand the pent up hurt that can often drive extreme behavior. The Preamble to our Constitution: We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. So who are the beneficiaries...
Over the past dozen years, perhaps you have noticed an increase in the use of the term “stay-cation.” It seems every industry has been tapping into this idea; a high-end automobile manufacturer has a current commercial airing that mentions (among their sales pitch) “Day Trips are Better than Day Dreams.” Although I am not in the market for a new car, I certainly can agree with that tag line. Ever since I was in high school, I have wanted to visit and travel the Outback of Australia. Unfortunately for me, I am really no closer to achievi...
