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There is an incredible array of animal tracks and sign to be discovered in nature. Some are obvious and some are very subtle. Footprints, droppings, scrapes on trees and foraging sign are just a few things that can provide clues about an animal species' presence and how it uses a given area. Learning and honing animal tracks and sign skills is an art that challenges the human sensory system and requires no technology. Tracks can be found any time of the year on many substrates (snow, dust,...
This past spring, a teacher from Helmville School contacted us asking about an irrigation ditch behind the school that had some trout swimming in it. The kids were excited about "rescuing" the fish and putting them back in the river and she wondered if I knew anything about this particular ditch. After doing a little research, it turns out that this ditch was one we were already working with the landowners on with plans for a fish screen to be installed in the fall. Over the past 31 years,...
Missoula Electric Cooperative's (MEC's) community solar program, "Solarshare," provides members the opportunity to acquire renewable solar energy from cooperative-owned solar arrays. Community solar programs, like Solarshare, are a smart and simple way to enjoy the benefits of solar power without the installation or maintenance costs of a home installation. The Solarshare program reflects MEC's commitment to developing locally-sourced renewable energy programs. Today, MEC's portfolio is...
KALISPELL - A Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologist has identified an innovative approach to investigating illegal fish introductions and his research is being published in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal. Sam Bourret, a fisheries biologist based out of FWP's Region 1 office in Kalispell, was the lead author of a manuscript titled, "Using forensic geochemistry via fish otoliths to investigate an illegal fish introduction." The findings will be featured in the November...
Do it for kids, do it to have fun yourself, do it to build community! ROCKS (Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports) has always focused on what is best for kids, community and outdoor recreation. "We are excited to add another economic driver that benefits our residents in addition to the many more obvious benefits of our plan," explains ROCKS President Jim McLean. Ice Rink advocates began meeting only a year ago and already have secured a plan to build a temporary ice rink on the Seeley...
Autumn is here and the Seeley Lake Ranger District is finalizing summer seasonal fieldwork. The upcoming winter season presents a shift in focus but a steady pace of work continues. This update is meant to keep you informed of what is occurring on your National Forest. The summer operating season began with responding to spring flooding events affecting many roads across the Seeley Lake Ranger District. In addition, the treatments recommended in the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) assessments were completed. These treatments included...
Double Arrow Ranch is proud to share a name that has a long history in the Seeley Lake area. Once called the Corbett Ranch, the land that makes up today’s residential community was part of a purchase in the late 1920’s by Jan Boissevain and George Weisel. They founded the Double Arrow Ranch as a guest ranch, with the first paying guests arriving in 1930. In the following decades, the ranch served as a working cattle ranch. In 1958, CB and Helen Rich purchased the property for their outfitting business. The subdivision of the ranch for res...
On May 24, 2018, the Missoula Board of County Commissioners approved an updated version of the 2005 Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The update was a collaborative effort of Missoula County Office of Emergency Management, Frenchtown Rural Fire District, Montana DNRC, US Forest Service, BLM, Missoula County Community & Planning Services, Missoula County Fire Protection Association (of which Seeley Lake Rural Fire District is a member), the Nature Conservancy, City of Missoula Development Services, Missoula City Fire Department, Missoul...
Thanks to public meetings, growing partnerships and many conversations with local residents and business, The Nature Conservancy has learned a great deal in the four years since acquiring 117,000 acres of land in the Seeley-Swan area. Time and time again, we are reminded that conservation and community go hand in hand. Sustainable conservation needs a healthy community and healthy communities need conservation. We know that when problems come up and issues need to be addressed on the landscape, the only way they get solved is when people work...
What defines a “Local Market Expert?” A local market expert has extensive knowledge of the properties in their market and is able to explain how current market dynamics are impacting prices. Every community and market is unique and it takes a local expert to help you navigate the complicated process of buying or selling real estate. A local market expert will understand the lifestyle of the community and what it’s like to live there. How can a local market expert benefit your real estate transaction? FOR SELLERS Most agents use compa...
I didn’t write this as an expert on societal, cultural and political issues or as a representative of any organization. I did write it as someone with strong concerns about where our country as it relates to those issues is headed. A Place for All… There couldn’t be a more appropriate title for this Pathfinder column. Thank you Andi and Nathan Bourne for your inclusiveness. The past two weeks have brought reflection. Listening to and reading the tributes given to Senator John McCain, I clearly hear their common theme: civility. And if I may a...
Each year we receive questions from the public about beavers. Some of those questions come from frustrated landowners wanting to know how to remove beavers that are causing flooding problems along irrigation ditches or at culverts along road crossings. Others are interested in learning more about beavers and curious about whether their property would benefit from the busy rodents. This dichotomy of feelings towards beavers is not unusual and certainly something that FWP has experienced with other wildlife species. It is true that in some...
Getting a start on managing the vegetation on your property can be challenging and expensive. Missoula County Weed District's Grant Programs were established to help guide landowners through the planning process as well as offset some of the cost associated with improving the vegetation on one's property. The Landowner Grant Program was established in 2002, since the program's inception Missoula County Weed District has assisted hundreds of landowners in Missoula County at decreasing the...
The Seeley Lake Elementary Outdoor Program recently wrapped up another fun summer of outdoor adventure and place-based learning. The 10-week long Adventure Club was led by Gus Batchelder, a graduate of NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), and Ibby Lorentz, a recent Seeley-Swan High School graduate. This summer, SLE student participants in the program enjoyed kayaking and paddleboarding on the lakes in and around Seeley, hiking our many trails, mountain biking and taking part in the...
Hello! My name is Bonnie Medlin and I’m a nutrition educator with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in Missoula County. EFNEP is a free program designed to reach limited resource families! We have had the privilege of working at Seeley Lake Elementary in the first, third and fifth grade classrooms for many years. EFNEP also teaches adult classes by partnering with a variety of agencies. These classes teach easy meal planning, tips for stretching your food dollar, tips for increasing physical activity and tasty ways to eat health...
I would like to take this opportunity to thank this community of Seeley Lake for the warm welcome that my wife and I have received since our arrival. We are enjoying our new home and the many welcoming smiles from literally everybody that we meet! This community has been served by the Seeley Lake Rural Fire District since 1984. During this time there have been many opportunities to share our support to you by providing the fire protection and emergency medical care that you deserve. We have public functions such as the pancake breakfast and...
While the unusually wet spring was beneficial to native and desirable grasses and wildflowers, many weed species took advantage of the excellent growing conditions as well. Annual mustards with yellow blossoms were abundant this spring and early summer. While "weedy" and too many "obnoxious", these plants are not regulated by the Montana Department of Agriculture, or "noxious". Three weed species that are regulated and required by law to control are perennial pepperweed, whitetop and hoary...
SWAN VALLEY - In upper Swan Valley the first schools were built in 1918 when a group of residents petitioned the Missoula County Superintendent of Schools requesting that the district be split at the Swan-Clearwater watershed divide. The Swan River watershed retained the School District #33 while the Clearwater watershed became School District #34. Three one-room log school buildings were constructed near three tributaries of Swan River: Smith Creek, Rumble Creek and Elk Creek. To accommodate as...
West of the Mississippi…? In Montana…? In the last year, I have heard the phrase Clearwater Chain-of-Lakes many times by local residents. I’d never heard it used prior to last year. The phrase is always followed by some superlative like “the biggest in Montana” or the “last west of the Mississippi” or ??? Lots of question marks. Anyone who knows me knows that I do my homework. I won’t repeat such a superlative without first verifying that it’s true. Since I’m very much in favor of any claim that will help support the special nature of our lakes...
MISSOULA – Three grizzly bear cubs orphaned in Montana in June will have a new home. We can only hope they don't mind cold winters and the sound of French. As conservation biologists embarked on an exhaustive search to prevent the cubs from being euthanized, a message board post by Stuart Strahl, board chairman of the Missoula-based Vital Ground Foundation, led to an adoption agreement for the cubs with Zoo Sauvage de Saint-Felicien, a facility in Quebec, Canada. The zoo features large native h...
Our Wildlife in the West students recently went fishing at Upsata Lake but they didn't want to catch anything, except maybe some plankton, aquatic insects or algae. Motored gently about in a small skiff by volunteer Barry Gordon, and led by Blackfoot Challenge's Caitlin Mitchell, we hand-reeled in a white, three-foot net on a hundred-foot rope. Shaped like a wizard's hat, our net yielded just a little draft of fluid the color of weak green tea, which we promptly conveyed into a 250mL plastic...
At Missoula Electric Cooperative (MEC), we often tout the many benefits of purchasing all of our power from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). However, it is the members of MEC who truly benefit from this relationship and its access to what is arguably the greatest collection of energy generating resources in the world – the Federal Columbia River Hydropower system. The Federal Columbia River Hydropower system is a collection of dams controlling and harnessing the power of the Columbia River Basin which begins at its headwaters in British C...
In the spring of the year when rivers are running high and muddy, it might surprise you to learn that's also the time when westslope cutthroat trout start to move upstream-some migrating over 90 miles to get where they need to spawn! In the Blackfoot Watershed, we have two different species of native trout, westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout. Making sure these fish can navigate through those many miles is one focus of Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited. What are some of the...
The peaceful grandeur contrasted against the wild beauty here in the Seeley-Swan Valley is enough to convert a visitor into a full-blown Montanan. Seeing my first elk, identifying the numerous birds that call the valley their home, meeting friendly locals, hunting for wild morels and playing in the colorful wildflowers have all been highlights of my time spent here so far. Deciding to move to Montana was one of the easiest decisions of my life. Living nearly twenty-one of my twenty-four years in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, I felt the plainness of...
In 2004 when the Missoula County Weed District initially mapped the infestation of yellowflag iris that had recently been reported to us on the Clearwater River between Salmon Lake and the Blackfoot River, we faced a daunting challenge: 10 miles of river, both banks heavily infested and nearly 83 acres of dense thickets peppered with yellowflag iris. The yellowflag iris was already beginning to fill-in shallow bays on Elbow Lake, degrade wetlands and river bank habitat on the Clearwater River...
