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A version of this article was first published in Mountain Journal, a digital magazine covering wildlife and wild lands in Greater Yellowstone. Arnold "Smoke" Elser is a storyteller, but he's not a big reader. In his office, tucked into a faded red barn built around 1900 in Missoula, Montana, an entire wall of shelves contains binders and books on wilderness policy and regulations. They're more work than pleasure for Elser; he waves them off with an air of modesty. It's the mules strolling by...
In 1987, the Seeley Lake Writers Club started a project that two years later — in time for Montana's Centennial — was published as the book "Cabin Fever." This remains the best compilation of articles and interviews of the first 100 years of the Seeley Lake area. One of the key figures in the writers group was Mildred Chaffin. We have read many of the fascinating stories she wrote, but her own life makes for quite a story as well! Mildred was born in Evaro in 1908, back when Evaro seemed to be even more remote from Missoula than it is tod...
After seven years as its leader, Rebecca Ramsey is stepping down as the executive director of Swan Valley Connections, a nonprofit in the Swan Valley dedicated to conservation and education. The executive director position will be broken into thirds, welcoming Luke Lamar, Sara Lamar and Ty Tyler into leadership roles focused on different elements of the executive director position, like conservation, operations, education, board management and fundraising. The Pathfinder reached out to the...
HELENA – January 2, 2024 – Starting this month, the Forest Service is accepting comments on reauthorization of existing outfitter and guide permits for the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. “We are working with a team of specialists from the Helena-Lewis and Clark, Lolo and Flathead national forests to evaluate and reauthorize permits that are set to expire in April 2025,” said Rocky Mountain District Ranger Mike Muñoz. “Outfitters and guides help connect people with their public lands and we are looking for comments from the public that voice...
Well-known author and forester Bud Moore began trapping at the age of fourteen and spent several winters in the 1930s running trap lines in the Lochsa backcountry. After working over 40 years with the US Forest Service, he retired in 1974. Anxious to get back to his roots and the land, he and his wife Janet moved to Swan Valley where they managed their 80-acre Coyote Forest. Later, he wrote the book, The Lochsa Story: Land Ethics in the Bitterroot Mountains. Beginning in 1983 at the age of 66, he spent a couple of winters living out of a tent...
A new project from the Flathead National Forest would do fuel reduction, logging and road management work on roughly 6,000 acres in the southeast area of the district, which officials said would help limit dangerous wildfires and increase forest health. The project stretches from the southern edge of the Flathead National Forest to Rumble Creek, with Highway 83 and the Bob Marshall Wilderness bordering the western and eastern sides. The area would also include Holland Lake and Upper Holland...
Both Montana Senators passed their separate public lands bills from a committee in the Senate, opening both bills up to a final vote as the federal government debates a potential shutdown. Sen. Jon Tester passed the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA) out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, while Sen. Steve Daines passed the Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act out of the same committee. The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act would reclassify roughly 79,000 acres near...
Both Montana Senators passed their separate public lands bills from a committee in the Senate, opening both bills up to a final vote as the federal government debates a potential shutdown. Sen. Jon Tester passed the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA) out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, while Sen. Steve Daines passed the Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act out of the same committee. The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act would reclassify roughly 79,000 acres near...
Twenty Years Ago Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003 Theatre camp tucked away on other side of Salmon Lake offers fun time Tucked away on the other side of Salmon Lake, there's a camp that allows kids to laugh, play, learn and be creative - It's called Aunt Kat's Theatre Camp. Kathleen Vosburgh (Aunt Kat) and her husband, bought the cabins and 10 acres on Salmon that fulfilled Aunt Kat's dream to provide kids with a safe, natural outdoor setting to write, create backdrops and act in their own play. This...
An inventory of lands and rivers on Forest Service ground that may be suitable for recommendation as Wilderness or Wild and Scenic River status in the Lolo National Forest Plan Revision is underway. “The initial Wilderness inventory looks at all the lands on the Lolo that might meet some of the basic criteria for consideration,” said Amanda Milburn, of the Lolo National Forest Revision Team. “The inventory doesn’t speculate whether any of this would be good, bad or indifferent as a wildern...
Lolo National Forest have opened for public comment this month. The Wild and Scenic Rivers draft, and the Outstanding Remarkable Values Framework and Wilderness Inventory Draft are open for comment until May 16, 2023. "The Lolo National Forest Plan is about issues that are important to people," said Carolyn Upton, Lolo National Forest Supervisor. "We're interested in hearing from forest users about how they see the future of both the forest and the uses of the forest and about issues that are...
Time to act! Update on the current situation regarding the purchase of Holland Lake Lodge, Swan Valley by POWDR Corporation proposing a destination resort. A critical and crucial US Forest Service decision on this public land use is about to be made. What can you do? Be bothered! Be upset! Be vocal! Reminder! Swan Valley, Montana is a small community situated in the middle of public lands and two wilderness areas. Over the past 40 years, there has been extensive work by property owners, timber companies, conservation groups and the USFS to...
On Monday, November 28, 2022, David Owen, loving husband, and father of four children, passed away at the age of 92. David was born in Madison, Wisconsin in March of 1930 to Gaylord and Frieda Owen. He grew up in Wisconsin and developed a lifelong love of the outdoors, including hunting, fishing, working, and playing football on the high school team. Following graduation, Dave spent a year in the army and then moved to Montana, earning his Airborne wings as a reservist, and, shortly afterward,... Full story
In celebration of 36 years of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, we will run parts of articles that appeared in the issue 35 years ago and 20 years ago. The entire issue will be uploaded to our website seeleylake.com for you to enjoy. 35 years ago... Alone in the Bob by Mildred Chaffin The hunting season was drawing to a close. Our helper had found other fields of interest, so I had gotten promoted. I was not chief camp guard! On the last trip that season, we were scheduled to outfit two hunters from M... Full story
Seeley Lake - Barbara Ann Messerly Cebulski, 91, died on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, at her home in Seeley Lake. She was born on July 8, 1931, the first of 10 born at the family ranch house on Beaver Creek, near Zortman, to Pete Messerly and Fannie Shurlock Messerly. Barbara rode her horse from the ranch to Beaver Creek School through the eighth grade and then moved to Malta to attend high school, graduating in May, 1949. Barbara was a proud member of the Assiniboine Indian Tribe. In the spring of... Full story
From Save Holland Lake An ad-hoc coalition of citizens called Save Holland Lake says nearly 99 percent of public comments to the U.S. Forest Service opposes a massive development proposed by a Utah ski developer on public land at pristine Holland Lake. The Flathead National Forest received just more than 6,500 public comments on the Forest Service and ski developer POWDR's proposal to triple the size of the Holland Lake Lodge in western Montana's rural Seeley-Swan Valley, and about 99 percent...
Supports Tranel In my years as a wilderness advocate, I’ve come to profoundly appreciate the values we derive from the public lands around us. There are, of course, the products and incomes provided by drilling, mining, logging, and grazing. But more important than such commercial uses are the benefits we all freely enjoy: the opportunity to hunt and fish, the protection of watersheds and stabilization of climate, and the preservation of an untrammeled natural world. But we can’t assume public lands will always be here. The development pre...
Two Montana teachers had a very good Tuesday. In two special mystery assemblies held at their respective schools on Tuesday, October 8, the unsuspecting teachers were told by State Supt. Linda McCulloch that they had each been selected to receive the 2002 Milkcn Family Foundation National Educator Award. This honor comes with an unrestricted cash award of $25,000. McCulloch, who arrived at each of the two schools to make the announcement in person... The two educators who re-ceived awards are: • Katherine (Kitty) Logan, Principal and t...
In autumn, that mournful season that stifles the lighthearted sounds of summer, larch turn golden and, against the Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine, light up the Seeley-Swan Valley like a votive-filled cathedral in Rome. It’s something to behold as you stand in awe of the magic wand of nature, whose invisible hand has crafted an infrastructure that rapacious people want to market to a public hungry for natural experiences touted by Hollywood. At Holland Lake, we’re seeing a docudrama (like TV’s Yellowstone) play out with the U.S. Forest Servi...
OVANDO - Riding to school got a new meaning for Ovando School's third through eighth grade students Aug. 29 - Sept. 1. Thanks to the Rich Ranch, students and teachers rode nine miles into Leota Park for a backcountry Outdoor Ed trip. Bill and Dena Hooker accompanied the group and stayed with them in camp to provide meals and backcountry lessons. The Ovando School alternates their annual Montana history trip between a museum-based trip and an outdoor education-based trip. This year was the...
In celebration of 36 years of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, each week we will run parts of articles that appeared in the issue 35 years ago and 20 years ago. The entire issue will be uploaded to our website seeleylake.com for you to enjoy. We hope you will enjoy the journey with us as we follow our community through the past 36 years as documented by the Pathfinder. 35 years ago: August 20, 1987 issue Chaffins celebrate 50 years What does it take for a marriage to last 50 years? Well, you take... Full story
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Jon Tester’s Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA) received a 10-10 tie vote in the Senate Energy and Resource Committee July 21, setting up a future vote to move the bill out to the committee. Senator Steve Daines voted against the bill but said he’s willing to work with Tester to find a compromise. The BCSA adds approximately 80,000 acres of wilderness to the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Mission Mountains Wilderness areas, opens 2,013 acres of currently closed land to snowmobiling and protects 3,835 acres for...
SEELEY LAKE – One night in November 1950, Ray Cebulski returned home to surprise his wife Barb and their newborn daughter. Instead he was surprised to find his newborn daughter alone in her crib. Rushing outside to find his wife Barb, he heard her hollering from the coal shed. Barb had gone out an hour before to get coal for the night and the wind had closed the heavy door behind her. With no handle on the inside to open it and no windows, Barb was trapped. "I couldn't get out," Barb said. "...
One of the wonderful things about living in Seeley Lake and the Double Arrow Ranch is the abundance of wildlife in our area. We get to see many critters on a regular basis that most residents of the U.S. are lucky to see in their lifetime. Some of that is due to our rural setting, but it is also due to the fact that we live in a wonderful section of the beautiful state of Montana. I think sometimes we take all of the wildlife around us for granted and need to take a step back and observe what...
SEELEY LAKE - Leon Russell Anderson, known as "Bud", was born on a ranch south of Havre with his midwife grandmother in attendance in April 1926. Bud was the second eldest of nine children born to William H. and Dorothy T. Anderson. He passed away peacefully at his home in Seeley Lake, Montana on March 26 at the age of 95. Fuel for the home in Havre was scarce during The Great Depression. Bud told a story about him and his sister Georgena taking a big tub out on the prairie to gather buffalo... Full story