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Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is developing a new online registration system for participants to determine their place in line for vehicles on opening day of antler hunting season on the Blackfoot Clearwater Wildlife Management Area. Online registration will open a few weeks before May 15, the opening day. FWP is still deciding if a first come, first serve system or a random drawing will be the best way to distribute numbers for waiting in line on opening day. There will be phone-in options for those not using a computer. “This is year one f...
After a Missoula District Court Judge blocked the state and a construction company from operating a gravel pit near Elbow Lake, lawyers for the two groups appealed the decision to the Montana Supreme Court, which accepted the appeal at the beginning of November. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality and LHC construction are hoping to reverse an earlier decision made by Missoula District Court Judge John Larson, which halted a 17-acre gravel pit and asphalt plant just south of Salmon Lake. Larson first granted a temporary restraining...
Thirty-five years ago... Thursday, November 17, 1988 Blackhawks are District Champs Saturday, Nov. 12, the Seeley-Swan girls basketball team played the Philipsburg Prospectors for the 12-C District Championship. The Hawks won the game by one point in regulation time (56-55). As Saturday night drew close to 8:30 p.m., the crowd began to cram into Big Sky High School's gym to watch the championship clash between the Hawks and the Prospectors. The two teams met twice during the regular season;...
Thirty-five years ago... Thursday, November 10, 1988 New Outdoors Program Hundreds of youth are exploring nature and firearm safety through new 4-H wildlife and shooting programs. There are wildlife programs in about half of Montana’s counties now according to Mike Cavey, Montana State University Extension Service project coordinator. They plan the programs in all of Montana’s counties as soon as there are enough volunteer leaders. As long as there is a group of 10 or more people, the project will go anywhere in the state to train them. The...
Meeting under the Boot Tree outside of Ovando, tour participants looked through a forest managed for health and wildlife habitat on the Blackfoot Community Conservation Area. Abundant grass grew amongst trees with up to six foot diameter trunks and visibility up to 100 yards. Soon the tour caravaned to the perimeter of the Type One treatment unit. Visibility through the forest was limited at the edge of the road as the sunlight was strangled by a dense screen of ladder fuels. As part of the...
A Missoula County District Court Judge ruled Aug. 8 that the state of Montana failed to correctly process the permit for the Elbow Lake gravel pit south of Salmon Lake. The decision solidified the halt of work at the gravel pit, which has not been in operation since the nonprofit Protect the Clearwater sued for a temporary restraining order in July. With the project sidelined, the Montana Environmental Review Board will make a final decision on the legality of the permit in the coming months....
Correction: This story is now correctly updated with the correct name of Missoula District Judge John Larson. The story incorrectly said Don Larson in an earlier version A newly-formed nonprofit launched two separate legal challenges against the state of Montana’s decision to approve an open pit gravel mine last month, setting up potential court dates that could revoke the builder’s permit. Protect the Clearwater is a newly-formed nonprofit with the main purpose of stopping the new gravel min...
Letter regarding Elbow Lake Commenters on the MT DNRC’s Elbow Lake gravel pit/asphalt plant proposal received notice on May 15 that it has been approved. The MT DEQ had already approved the permit, on April 27. In case you missed it earlier, this is the proposal by Kalispell-based LHC Inc. to establish a new 21-acre gravel pit and asphalt plant directly beside the Clearwater River, across the road from the Blackfoot-Clearwater Game Range, within a parcel designated Tier 1 Community Type of Greatest Conservation Need because it is grizzly and e... Full story
Dear Editor, Elbow Lake is located on the Clearwater River, just over three miles north of Clearwater Junction. The stretch of the Clearwater below Elbow Lake and before the confluence with the Blackfoot River is a unique and peaceful trout fishing spot with relatively easy access for fishermen and women in the area. The surrounding area is an important wildlife corridor and also a serene environment for hikers and others who enjoy the outdoors. LHC, Inc. is seeking to use 21 acres of land adjacent to Elbow Lake and the Clearwater for a gravel... Full story
Dear Editor, An asphalt plant?! And a gravel pit?! On 21 acres?! That’s an area bigger than 26 football fields, or more than 300 tennis courts or over 3100 parking spaces! However the reader, you, can best envision the enormity of such a horrific industry smack in the middle of a peaceful, wild area that is adjacent to an already designated special open space, this is a proposal that needs to be denied. This application to build such a noisy, dusty, smelly, disruptive industry directly across from the Blackfoot Clearwater Game Range (which is a... Full story
Dear Editor, On January 6 of this year, LHC, Inc. a paving contractor from Kalispell, submitted an application to Montana DNRC to mine crush and remove roughly 110,000 cubic yards of stone, sand and gravel from their Land Trust, Section 20, Township 15N, Range 14W. The application also requests to include a permit to locate an asphalt production plant on site. The area is roughly 21 acres and is proposed to be used to build our new roads on Highway 83 expansion this summer and next, as well as other highway projects. DNRC sent out a press... Full story
By Elaine Caton, Blackfoot Challenge Education & Swan Program Coordinator The Blackfoot Challenge and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began working together in 2005 to restore trumpeter swans to the Blackfoot watershed. Thanks to the support and hard work of many partners, landowners, teachers, and schoolkids over the years, we met our project goal in 2022, and the swan population here is now considered officially restored! The goal was to have at least seven successful nests for at least...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver stood looking up at the muddy debris that flooded Dunham Creek Road in a landslide approximately three years prior. Imprinted on the hill face above him are the scars of the 2017 Rice Ridge fire. Despite the rows of skeleton trees, the shrubs, forbs and grasses are green and flourishing. "We mobilized some equipment quickly but it took about two days to get it in drivable condition," Carver said. "You probably could cross through all the muc...
SEELEY LAKE - The Clearwater Resource Council (CRC) and the US Forest Service joined the Southwestern Crown Collaborative (SWCC) for a Seeley Field Tour on July 20. The SWCC brings together citizens, businesses, government agencies and conservation organizations to consider creative solutions in the management of National Forests in the Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan River valleys. SWCC began meeting regularly in July of 2009 in response to the creation of the Collaborative Forest Landscape...
MISSOULA - In a meeting on June 28, the Missoula Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) unanimously approved a funding recommendation decision for the Horseshoe Hills Spring Creek Road Maintenance project. Submitted by Jack Rich, owner and guide at the Rich’s Montana Guest Ranch and Outdoor Adventures and the Forest Service, the project focuses on roadside brushing and ditch maintenance to allow and maintain winter trail grooming. Originally owned by Plum Creek, the Seeley Lake Ranger District purchased the Horseshoe Hill Area in the early 2...
SEELEY LAKE - Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Missoula Region Supervisor Randy Arnold advised the Seeley Lake Community Council at their April 11 meeting that the RV Dump Station at Clearwater Junction won’t be operational again this year. The RV Dump Station has been managed by FWP for close to 20 years, Arnold said. Several years ago, issues began to develop with the dump station pump. The pump is an effluent pump which moves waste from the holding tanks to the drain field. “With some challenges to those pumps, we had, a number of tim...
8 years ago: March 19, 1987 issue Bring back the bluebirds By Art Sikkink Have you ever wondered about the birdhouses along Highway 83 on the Blackfoot-Clearwater Game Range at Clearwater? The boxes are part of the Montana Bluebird Association's Bluebird Trails and are becoming part of a statewide centennial effort to bring larger numbers of Bluebirds back to Montana. Originally set in place by Harold Knap and forestry students from Missoula County High School, the upkeep of these boxes is now... Full story
Many people are not aware that the Northern Pacific Railway Company (NP) had a significant influence on the settlement, economy and timber industry of the upper Swan Valley. Looking at a current map of the upper Swan Valley, you might ask, "What influence?" No railways are located in the valley, nor are any Northern Pacific properties listed on the current maps. A closer look at the early history of the settlement in the upper Swan Valley reveals something quite different. Maps of the early...
In celebration of 35 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 35 years as documented by the Pathfinder. 35 years ago: March 5, 1987 issue Car seats, seatbelts can save lives If you have any doubts about the value of car seats for childre... Full story
The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act is important because it seeks to protect our precious Montana lands. The BCSA would preserve 80,000 acres of land for conservation, recreation and restoration. The act plans to restore fish and wildlife habitats, increase space for outdoor recreation for Montanans and conserve precious Montana wilderness by adding 80,000 acres of land to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. The BCSA’s plan would protect our land as well as strengthen Montana’s outdoor economy. I am a freshman at the University of Montana an...
MISSOULA – The fourth In the Footsteps of Norman Maclean Literary Festival announced its biennial gathering will be held June 24 - 26 at the Missoula Public Library. This year's Festival is named "Public Land & Sacred Ground: Western Writers Bear Witness" and will feature nationally prominent authors who will discuss the unique heritage of American wilderness, public lands and sacred grounds. The last day of the Festival, June 27, will feature day hikes in the Seeley-Swan. Admission is free t...
In November, the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA) received a hearing in a Senate committee, putting the bill on track for passage within the next year. As a member of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project (BCSP) steering committee, I helped develop the bill. I’m proud that the most recent polling shows that 75% of Montanans, across the political spectrum, support the bill. That’s because the steering committee carefully considered how the bill can best meet the needs of the Blackfoot’s fish and wildlife populations, and of th...
In celebration of 35 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 35 years as documented by the Pathfinder. 35 years ago: Dec. 18, 1986 issue Crowd packs new gym for first game Some people said it couldn't be done - build a school gymnasium... Full story
SEELEY LAKE – The Dec. 5 Seeley Lake Historical Society and Museum's annual meeting combined a little bit of business with a large portion of pleasure as the assembled members watched two brief films with relevance to the Seeley Lake area. The business part included recognition of the society's new Lifetime Members, those who have donated $1,000 to the museum: Addrien Marx, Jack & Belinda Rich, Dave Anderson, Wally Mills, Warren and Laura Thieme, the Burgess family and the McLeod & Mulroney f...
SEELEY LAKE – At their Nov. 8 meeting, the Seeley Lake Community Council unanimously approved a letter to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks asking them to repair and reopen the Clearwater Junction RV Dump station for the 2022 season. They also hosted a Senior Symposium with representatives from various groups and received several updates from Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver. Per the discussion from their October meeting, Council Secretary Tom Browder and Council member Bruce Friede drafted a letter to FWP Director Henry Worsech r...
