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I was able to celebrate one year of being in Seeley Lake the first of January. I’m not sure where the year has flown to, but despite my best efforts it has come and gone and though in many ways I am still a stranger here, I am feeling right at home. Scotland is still a beloved part of my life, and still, I have many connections each week back to Brechin. It is a challenge at times to be American, then Scottish and now trying to become American again. Then try to add the twist of becoming a Montanan. So, who am I really? I have been preaching t...
Cal Bird stopped by my shop in northern California on a hot midsummer afternoon about 40 years ago. He was on his way to fish Hat Creek and wanted me to come along. If Cal wanted me to go fishing with him, I rarely refused. Cal was old enough to be my father. I called him Papa, as his children did, and we loved each other as a father and son. We met when I was a student at San Francisco State. He had a small fly shop not far from where I lived. I was amazed the first time I watched him tie — and peppered him with all sorts of questions. He d...
"For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man … they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark [where just eight were saved as they continued preparations for forty days, a metaphor for gestation, anticipating new beginnings, a rebirth of humanity] … the flood came and [all others perished because of wickedness, evil, corruption, lawlessness, and depraved lives, see Genesis 6:5-11 ]. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man … Therefore, [be prepare...
For time immemorial Indigenous people burned low-intensity fires across this landscape to manage forests for people and wildlife. Wildfire suppression actions over the last 100 plus years have created dense forests with high wildfire risk. Forests that were once open with widely spaced trees created by regular low intensity fires are now crowded with thickets of small trees no longer regulated by fires. Removal of fire from the landscape has affected the historic mosaic and patchwork of differing ages and size classes of trees. We now see...
Generosity throughout Seeley Lake contributed to a successful shoebox gift collection season at drop-off locations for the Samaritan's Purse project Operation Christmas Child. Across the U.S., the project collected 10 million shoebox gifts in 2023. Combined with those collected from partnering countries in 2023, the ministry is now sending over 11.3 million shoebox gifts to children worldwide, including many who are suffering from war, poverty, disease and disaster. Through shoeboxes — packed with fun toys, school supplies and personal ca...
I empathize with Mr. Jasper B. Seely and his brother, Elmer. People really like to add an extra “e” in my name, too. According to Cabin Fever: A Centennial Collection of Stories About the Seeley Lake Area, passed on to me from the Pathfinder’s most recent editor, Griffen Smith, the word “Seeley” gained an extra “e” on accident when a survey crew was renaming Clearwater Lake to Seeley Lake, in honor of the Seely family. Jasper became Seeley’s first forest ranger on what was then known as the Le...
Human trafficking is not just a big city problem – it’s happening right here in Montana. Which is why, during National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, I’m encouraging Montanans to learn the signs of human trafficking and report it if they see it. If folks don’t know what it is and how to report it, they can’t help us stop it. Let’s call human trafficking what it is: modern-day slavery. Traffickers—often organized criminal enterprises—are profiting at the expense of adults and children who are forced to perform labor or engage in comme...
As retired Montana judges, we join to endorse Judge Dan Wilson of Flathead County in his bid for election to the Montana Supreme Court. This year, Montanans will elect two new Justices to our state’s highest court. Chief Justice Mike McGrath and Associate Justice Dirk Sandefer have announced their retirements at the end of 2024. Judge Wilson is running for the Associate Justice position. We have the unique perspective as retired members of Montana’s judiciary to have observed Judge Wilson’s years of work as a District Court Judge. We find that...
As you learn about all the candidates for various offices this year, the most important ones are the ones that most Montanans know the least about. The politicians you need to do the most research on are not the would-be congressmen, governors, or even legislators. It’s the judges. Although they claim to be above the political fray, judges in Montana are in fact politicians. From the district courts to the state Supreme Court, they’re elected. They have to run campaigns, raise money, and their fate is ultimately decided by voters. Increasingly,...
The meetings are probably coming to order – in some sort or another, all over western Montana. For about 16 years on Tuesday afternoons we held a meeting that would qualify for the hot stove fly tying league in my shop. A typical session might go like this: The guys would start rolling in about two in the afternoon and we'd exchanged greetings. They'd get settled into their customary places around the fly tying table, plug in their lamps, set up their vises and fuss with their other tools. "...
I read a story recently about a woman who looked out her window and noticed something beautiful: sunlight glistening on moist leaves. Immediately prior to this, the day was very gloomy, as was her mood. But that brief moment of light reminded her of beauty and she recognized it as a sacred gift. I need this kind of reminder again and again. The reminder to lift my gaze and pay attention to all the wondrous beauty and goodness, to those moments of light breaking through, moments of kindness unexpectedly shown, moments of joy and laughter...
The people of Montana have elected: · Our Governor, who is from California, · Our junior Senator, also from California, · A Representative, from Maryland. All three are wealthy and have shown a general disregard for what the people of Montana care about and who want to sell our public lands to the highest bidder because they have no feeling of “ownership” in these lands without deeds in their names. In addition, we have a wealthy Representative (who has shown a disregard for transparency or conserving public money and spends most of his time o...
We, the Powell County Commission, wish to express support for the Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act (MSCA) and the release of Hoodoo Mountain and Wales Creek Wilderness Study Areas (WSA). Montana’s WSAs have been stuck in legal limbo for over 40 years, creating challenges for both land managers and public land users. In 1991, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) found that neither Hoodoo Mountain nor Wales Creek WSA fit the criteria for recommended wilderness, yet both areas remain listed as WSAs over 30 years later. Releasing these two a...
When people ask me why I vote for Democrats, I point no further than the Copper Kings of Butte during the 20th century. The Copper Kings kicked working people in the teeth. They slashed wages. They broke up Unions. They bought off politicians, and denied countless families from experiencing the American Dream. As I see it, the Montana Democratic Party stands for one simple lesson: opportunity for everyone. We go after big corporations and reign in price gouging. We cut taxes for working families. We reduce the costs of healthcare, prescription...
A judge in Gallatin County recently blocked two bills aimed at addressing Montana’s housing crisis, siding with a radical anti-housing interest group. The decision to block Senate Bill 323 and Senate Bill 528 is misguided and unfortunate. These bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and were signed into law by Governor Gianforte. Housing affordability is a major issue in Montana. Many Montanans can no longer afford to live in the communities in which they grew up. To protect our Montana way of life, we need to find ways to i...
Alvin looked like he could have stepped out of an old-country Weiner schnitzel or biergarten commercial: rotund body, big features, big frame, distinctly Germanic features set in a jolly countenance, and big strong workingman's hands with calloused fingers the size of bratwursts. He wanted to learn how to tie flies. He enrolled in a course I was teaching. He was the nicest guy in the world, and we became good friends, but my first thought going in was that it would be a challenge for him to...
The Blackfoot Challenge recently learned of the deaths of four trumpeter swan cygnets hatched to Blackfoot swan 3A6 in Sheridan, Wyoming. Swan 3A6 was released in the Blackfoot in 2016 and nested in the Sheridan area this year. The cygnets were determined to have died of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), or avian flu. While the current strain of avian flu is highly deadly to domestic poultry, it appears to be much less lethal to most wild birds. However, waterfowl (birds like ducks, geese, swans, coots, grebes, etc.), some raptor...
It is with a heavy heart that I announce I will be leaving the role as Pathfinder editor in the coming weeks. Seven months ago, I started the job wondering if anyone still read the newspaper, or if the days of local journalism had come to a close. I quickly realized that the local news is alive and well in Seeley Lake, because you, the reader, care. In my time as editor, I have seen concerts, heated meetings, infrastructure issues and the roar of the Seeley Swan High School gym during a good basketball game. It has been an honor to cover each...
I want to respond to Mike Marshall’s letter, published in the Pathfinder on Jan. 4. As I understand him, Mr. Marshall’s basic premise is that all or most of the dozens of bills passed by the Legislature that are being challenged in court are clearly unconstitutional. Constitutional matters are not so simple, nor does the actual data support his argument. But it’s an argument that has also been made by others, such as Democratic legislators and activists, so I’d like to address it. First, Mr. Marshall suggests the Legislature’s “legal ve...
Dear Editor, We live in a confusing time. A time when we protect unborn whales and pandas, but not unborn human children! Statistics say that in America there are an average of 90 human abortions every hour. In 1984, President Ronald Ragan proclaimed January 22 a Sanctity of Human Life Day. This year celebrates forty years of the Sanctity of Human Life. The dictionary defines sanctity as the state or quality of being holy, sacred, or of ultimate importance and inviolability. At Sparrow’s Vine Pregnancy and Parenting Resource Center we b...
As this new year begins so does a new Reading Challenge. The 2024 Missoula Reads reading logs are in, folks! Swing by your local library to pick up your copy. If you can’t wait, check out the new categories online on the Missoula Public Library main website (programs & events, ongoing programs, Missoula Reads). I was so impressed by the number of people who completed last year’s challenge! Way to go everyone. Prizes for completed 2023 logs should be arriving very soon. If you haven’t recei...
The horrific terror attack against Israeli on Oct. 7 revealed that anti-semitic hatred has a disturbing foothold in the world. Equally troubling is what has been exposed in our own country in the months since: the shocking tolerance (encouragement even) of antisemitic, genocidal hatred on college campuses. Like so many Americans, I was stunned when the heads of three elite Universities testified before Congress and refused to unconditionally condemn calls for genocide against Jewish people. This ugly episode shone a light on the creeping,...
Have you ever felt far from God? When the Israelites were in exile before the coming of Jesus, they were far from the dwelling place of God as he chose to dwell among them in the temple. Even though we are in an age of God dwelling with and among us, I often put myself in exile from God’s presence by removing myself from him in difficult times. I’m sure many of you do the same. Today I’d like to challenge all of us to turn our affections toward Christ and to find our deepest satisfaction in hi...
For the last five years of my surgical career in Billings I endured two or three sessions a week of “hot yoga.” Seriously hot, 104 degrees with added humidity. I had been experiencing the common occupational hazards of surgery--neck, back, and shoulder pain resulting from twisting, bending, and generally contorting the skeleton into improbable positions to see into the nether regions of the human body. With regular, seemingly tortuous yoga sessions I had none of the aforementioned somatic complaints. A friend of mine suggested that I went bec...
I'll take the stillness. I'll take the fact I don't have to shovel snow. I'll take streets that are mostly dry and fairly safe to drive on in the afternoons and the luxury of not having much of anyplace to go most mornings. I'll take the daily temperatures that produce highs, some days, that bring mist off the river. The mist, if everything goes just right, freezes overnight to appear as hoar frost the following mornings; some mornings there is enough sunlight to turn the whole landscape into a...
