Archives

Twenty years ago ...

Thursday Sept. 16, 2004

Bridge Construction Temporarily Closes Two Swan Valley Roads

A portion of Forest Road #561, Kraft Creek and the Red Butte Creek Road #9576, south west of Condon, MT, will close for a month while crews replace two culverts with bridges.

The Kraft Creek Road will be closed about six miles from state Hwy. 83, September 27 through October 29.

The Red Butte Creek Road will be closed at the junction with the Kraft Creek Road, about 6 miles from Hwy. 83, September 20 through October 29.

Visitors won’t be able to access the Hemlock Lakes and north Hemlock Lakes trailheads, reached from the Red Butte Creek Road. Visitors also won’t be able to access the Glacier Lakes trailhead off the Kraft Creek Road during the bridge construction.

As a reminder to backcountry visitors, all vehicles must be removed from trailheads before September 20 for Hemlock Lakes and September 29 for Glacier Lakes.

Once construction starts the roads won’t be suitable for vehicle travel.

The bridge construction is part of the on-going rehabilitation work from the 2003 Crazy Horse Fire. The road culverts are being replaced with bridges to accommodate increased water flow and improved passage for fish. The road closures don’t affect access to private property in the area.

For more information call the Swan Lake Ranger District at (406) 837-7500.

Read this and more at: https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/2004-09-16.pdf

Thirty five years ago ...

Thursday Sept. 14, 1989

Tragedy Hits Close To Home

The tragic report of a mountain lion killing a young boy near Evaro on Sunday night sent shock waves through western Montana. In the Swan, most of us have, at one time or another, seen or heard mountain lions near our homes. As recently as last week, friends of ours who live near the river saw a mountain lion not far from their house during the middle of the day.

We forgot that in communities like ours, the critters might just view us as a meal. ( If not us, our pets and livestock.) And it isn’t just lions that people see near their homes. Three days in a row last week we watched bears feeding on carrion next to Highway 83.

The first incident occurred beside an open meadow a mile from any house. The second two sightings, however, were within shouting distance of several homes. It wasn’t long before we heard stories of the bears looking for more than just smelly deer carcasses. It would make sense, I guess, that once the bears were in the neighborhood, they would investigate other food smells as well.

Part of the joy of living here is that we can see wildlife often, that game is abundant and that hunters still put meat on the table for many families. We assume that we can walk in the woods without fear. The critters, we know, are wild-not “park animals.” They are supposed to be afraid of humans. But when we become so accustomed to our wildlife that we take the critters for granted, we become the losers. We begin to think that we are in control when we aren’t.

Our hearts go out to the parents of that five-year-old boy who lost his life on Sunday. We can only hope that this tragedy will somehow help other parents, other children, other hunters. It reminds us to be more alert, to pay attention, and to not take life in our woods for granted.

Read this and more at: https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1989-09-14.pdf