District Ranger Feigley Shares Highlights from Past Seven Months

It has been just over seven months since I came to Seeley Lake to serve as the Forest Service District Ranger for the Seeley Lake Ranger District. I wanted to share my expectations, experiences and lessons learned thus far with you.

With recent retirements and transfers, there have been many changes within the Forest Service and the local district office personnel. Several district employees remain part of our permanent staff and we have added two new members to our team. We are almost fully staffed again and our district is moving forward as a team to care for the landscapes of the Seeley District and serve the local community and the American public.

Based on what I learned before I came, I expected to find an engaged community with an interest in the management of our natural resources. I have found that people here care deeply about their public lands and I'm both encouraged and hopeful about working with all of you on the many challenging issues that we confront in the stewardship of this beautiful place called the Seeley Lake Ranger District.

After experiencing about half the full cycle of district activities, I appreciate that there is a lot going on in our small burg!

In the developed recreation arena, we had full campgrounds for the majority of the summer that kept our recreation staff and campground host program very busy. This demand supports these important facilities by helping us pay the cost of cleaning, maintaining, repairing and improving these popular campgrounds. The fees collected at these campgrounds go directly back to the District.

We also conducted trail clearing and weed spraying in the front country and in our portion of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex (Scapegoat Wilderness) using Montana Conservation Corps crews and volunteers from the Backcountry Horsemen and Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation.

We processed and administered several recreation special use permits for a variety of activities occurring on National Forest lands including the Norman McLean Festival, two fishing derbies, the Seeley Lake triathlon and others which were hosted or sponsored by a variety of local non-profit organizations like the Seeley Lake Community Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, Alpine Artisans, Clearwater Resource Council, etc.

There is so much interest that we have moved to two open seasons where we will accept recreation event applications. This will be a great help to us as we strive to meet these increasing demands and be consistent with our policy.

We hired firefighters who received training from our qualified staff and we met with our state and local agency partners to ensure we were prepared for wildfire activity. The Morrell Complex fire, our single escaped fire on the district this summer, continued to burn intermittently within its perimeter until the recent season-ending [precipitation/snow] event. Our other initial attacks were successful, thanks in part to the sharing of scarce resources with our agency partners.

I want to extend a personal thank you to them and to the community who really stepped up and helped provide food at local restaurants, hotels, sanitation services, heavy equipment operators, vendors who provided for firefighter needs and especially to Seeley Lake Elementary school and staff who opened their doors (and kitchen!) to the Eastern Area Interagency Type II Incident Management team. Thank you!

I attended several field trips to active timber sales and fuel reduction projects and meetings regarding our ongoing collaborative efforts with Southwest Crown of the Continent collaborative, Lolo Restoration Committee, Blackfoot Challenge, Pyramid Mountain Lumber, Swan Ecosystem Center, Northwest Connections, etc., to restore our landscapes while providing a flow of goods to our local mills. We discussed the incredible resources the public wants us to manage, including vegetation, wildlife, fish and water quality. These interested groups and their members are critical to our success as we continue to balance these many uses with limited financial resources.

I attended the Trails Summit and gained an appreciation for the interest and desire to connect our local communities to our public lands and to other communities through trail networks. We are building relationships with the Seeley Lake ROCKS and Seeley Lake Trails Advisory Council to gain a mutual understanding of what that might look like and how National Forest System lands may be involved.

I had an opportunity to meet other local partners - permitted outfitter/guides, organized facility and recreation residence permit holders. Besides the people and projects, I explored places - the lakes, rivers and mountains that surround us and are so special to all of you.

So, in retrospect, my expectations have been exceeded. It's been a great experience so far! I have learned that Seeley Lake residents and visitors love the area and National Forest System lands and are passionate about restoration and recreation.

As I move forward through the rest of the Seeley Lake Ranger District cycle, I expect to be exploring the winter landscape, continuing to build relationships with local partners and groups and meeting more community members. I'll continue to listen to you and share information about the Forest Service so that we can gain a mutual understanding of our respective challenges and move toward the Forest Service mission of "sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations."

Thank you for allowing me to be your district ranger. Please don't hesitate to come and see what the Seeley Lake Ranger District has to offer!