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Thirty five years ago...

Thursday Nov. 30, 1989

Vandals shoot insulators; MEC schedule shut down Friday

Continuing acts of vandalism will result in another shutdown of electrical power by Missoula Electric Coop this Friday while crews repair damage.

Kirt Flynn, MEC spokesman, said insulators on power lines were shot at and damaged near the Placid Lake turnoff sometime in recent weeks.

“The entire transmission line from Helmville to Ovando and up Highway 83 from the Clearwater Junction to Goat Creek, including Placid Lake, Seeley Lake and Condon, will be shut down at 11 a.m. Friday,” Flynn said.

“Hopefully, the shutdown will last only about an hour,” Flynn added. Crews will be stationed and ready to begin at 11 a.m.

Expressing frustration at repeated vandalism in which insulators were shot at with rifles, Flynn said MEC “offers a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of responsible parties.”

Read this and more at: https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1989-11-30.pdf

Thirty eight years ago...

Thursday Dec. 2, 1986

SLE seventh grade visits educational raptor facility in Florence

As part of the Liz Claiborne/Art Ortenberg Foundation’s Montana Natural Heritage Pilot Project, Seeley Lake Elementary seventh graders toured Raptors of the Rockies, a nonprofit raptor educational facility in Florence On Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Katie Davis, an award winning zoologist, author of Raptors of the Rockies, A Species Account of Montana’s Raptors and executive director of the facility, led the tour.

The students were introduced to each member of her teaching team, about 20 raptors ranging in size from the dainty saw-whet owl, Buster, to two majestic golden eagles, Max and Nigel.

Each of the birds in Davis’ care sustained injuries in one form or another and could not be released back into the wild. With special permission, Davis tends to the birds and uses them to educate the public on the needs of raptors.

The birds are housed in aviaries specifically built to meet their different needs as well as maximize observation so students are able to examine the birds closely.

The seventh graders were enthralled and struck by how big the largest birds were and how tiny the smallest were, yet all were raptors.

After lunch, the treat of the day was watching Davis fly her trained falcon. This bird was a personal purchase and used by Davis alone. She had never before tried to fly it with a group of students watching.

Shy at first, the bird quickly adapted to the students and was soon landing on a student-held perch. Davis and the class were thrilled.

In the following month, seventh grade will continue their study of Montana’s raptors and how these birds fit into their Seeley Lake environment.

Junior High Science teacher Sharon Teague said, “We’re really fortunate that the students have the opportunity through this program to learn about our local birds of prey and gain an appreciation for what a special place Seeley Lake is.”

Read this and more at: https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1986-12-02.pdf