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The Seeley Lake Water District will increase rates for water users as the anticipated closure of Pyramid Mountain Lumber looms this fall. Per information from a notice sent out by the water district this month, the mill consumed 20% of the water the district produced each month and used about two million gallons of water monthly. The loss of that production for the district is expected to amount between $50,000 and $60,000 in total. The notice stated the mill intends to shut off its water supply at the end of the year, which is likely when...
Editor's note: Weekly deadlines are tough for providing quick, current information as it relates to the fire season. The Pathfinder's Facebook page (Seeley Swan Pathfinder ~ Seeley Lake, MT) is a good resource for information on new starts, fire conditions, restrictions and evacuation notices, as is mtfireinfo.org and the Lolo National Forest's Facebook page. We will publish updates similar to these as often as is necessary and useful. Weeks of persistent hot and dry weather, with a bit of...
This story was updated on July 24 at 10:27 a.m. to make clarifications regarding senior and junior water rights, and to correct that the main stem of the Blackfoot River has been placed under a hoot owl restriction, not the north fork. Like many other people who make or have made their living working the land, Denny Iverson saw this year’s drought coming. The winter was drier than normal in Montana and the snowpack didn’t build up well. On top of that, it was an El Niño year, which from decades of experience Iverson knows to mean drought in the...
From the prairie potholes of northeastern North Dakota to the Blackfoot Valley, new Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife biologist Lee Tafelmeyer has already had a varied career in wildlife biology. "I grew on a cattle ranch, hunting and trapping and developing a passion for the outdoors, wildlife and ecosystems," Tafelmeyer said. "A family vacation trip to Yellowstone as a youngster played into my interest in the Rocky Mountains and wildlife." When college entrance forced the beginning of...
The Seeley Lake Sewer Board was presented with conceptual designs from engineering firm Water & Environmental Technologies, or WET, for an anticipated sewer project and heard an update on earmarked money for the project from the federal government on July 18. Bill Decker, Seeley Lake Sewer District manager, provided the update about the earmarked money from Representative Ryan Zinke’s office for a sewer project in Seeley Lake. The grant application is making its way through the approval process within the U.S. House Appropriations C...
Seeley Lake, Mont., July 18, 2024 —The Seeley Lake Ranger District is pleased to announce that Seeley Lake Campground’s water system is repaired, and the campground and day use area opened July 19 at 8 a.m. Campsites are currently open for reservations on www.recreation.gov. Opening of the campground was delayed for the partial replacement of the waterline. However, during construction it was discovered that the remaining part of the water system also needed to be replaced. The Forest Service was able to modify the contract to have the add...
The Loon and Fish Festival was back in Seeley Lake over the weekend with music, art and food all in an effort to support local artists and students. Alpine Artisans, a group that encourages the development of the arts in the Seeley-Swan valleys, puts on the festival. Raffle tickets to support its scholarship fund, which provides money to high school students, were on sale from the start of the festival on Friday to a half an hour before it closed on Sunday. Sera Benton was an Alpine Artisans...
Thirty-five years ago ... Thursday July 27, 1989 Five people escape serious injuries in head-on collision Early morning fog was a factor in a glancing head-on collision in Seeley Lake, where five people miraculously escaped serious injury. Three young Seeley Lake residents in a 1985 Ford Mustang collided with a 1975 Ford pick-up truck in the heavy fog around 8 a.m. last Friday. The vehicles collided halfway between the Valley Market and the One Stop Convenience Store. Joe Beatty, the driver of...
Christina Hartmann had teaching on the brain as a career path from a young age. She always played school with her three younger siblings, where she was the one in the role of the teacher and made sure her siblings were organized into various parts to conduct the role play. In high school, she was asked to be a teacher's aide in a kindergarten class. She worked with a non-verbal student for two years, and was inspired by how she was able to see this student's lightbulb moments from the gains they...
When water levels drop and stream temperatures rise, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks restricts fishing hours to protect the state's sport fisheries. Hoot owl restrictions prohibiting fishing between 2 p.m. and 12 a.m. began July 13 in the Clark Fork River Basin including the Blackfoot, North Fork of Blackfoot, Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers. Additionally parts of the Big Hole, Gallatin, Jefferson, Madison, Ruby, Smith and Sun Rivers have restrictions. Yellowstone Park has closed the Madison,...
Mike Fowler brought a small temperature sensor with him from Seattle to a presentation he was a part of held at the Foundation Building in Seeley Lake. On that Wednesday, with outside temperatures in the nineties, Fowler said his sensor showed 78 degrees in the Foundation Building. Fowler is the sustainability integration leader for Mithun, an architectural firm in Seattle. He and other members of his team came to Montana in May to tour five schools to start thinking about potential design upgra...
For the last two years, the Seeley Lake community has been impacted by the Salmon Lake Construction Project. Until it is scheduled to end this fall, the construction company is making efforts to support the Seeley Lake community. Kiewit has done that in a variety of ways. The company donated to the Seeley Lake Community Foundation the last two years. In 2023, it put money towards the Change Your Pace Fourth of July fireworks fundraiser. This year, it contributed to improvements on the Nordic...
Thirty-five years ago ... Thursday July 20, 1989 Four wrestlers in national meet, Schwarz takes third Four area wrestlers represented Seeley Swan and Montana in the AAU/USA Grand National Wrestling Championships held July 7-9 in Billings. Competitions consisted of the best wrestlers from 38 states and Canada. These following young men are to be congratulated for their efforts and dedication to the sport of wrestling: Third place Tyler Schwarz Seventh place Jacob Baker Eighth place Pat Morin 15th place Ariah Baker Schwarz and Jacob and Ariah...
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been acquiring land in the Blackfoot Valley from the Nature Conservancy (TNC) since the early 1990s, when it owned 40 acres in the Blackfoot Valley. Today it manages nearly 44,000 acres, with more to come. Currently, the BLM is developing a Travel Management Plan (TMP) for managing access on the bureau's land in the Blackfoot watershed in order to develop a recreational use plan, manage the forest resources and restore Reserved Tribal Treaty Rights on fede...
Alpine Artisans' Loon and Fish Festival returns for our 24th year on Friday evening and Saturday and Sunday, July 19-21 in downtown Seeley Lake. The festival is a celebration of art and nature in the Seeley-Swan and Blackfoot Valleys highlighted by a community art show and sale featuring the work of over 25 local artists from the Seeley-Swan and Blackfoot Valleys. Held in the Foundation Building in Seeley Lake, the show features marquetry woodwork, jewelry, paintings (all media), copper bowls, b...
The 21st Annual Blackfoot River Cleanup invites all families and fishing and boating enthusiasts of Northwest Montana to Johnsrud Park to float, wade, fish and feast — while helping to purge our regional treasure of trash — on July 27, 2024. As one of Montana’s most storied blue ribbon streams, the Blackfoot is beautiful and wild, yet easily accessible for recreational use. To maintain the Blackfoot’s pristine condition, our community relies on an annual grassroots cleanup effort. Started in 2004 by the Pfister family of Potomac, Montana...
The last of the log inventory at Pyramid Mountain Lumber was run through the sawmill on July 3. The mill, which announced its closure in March due to a workforce shortage largely attributed to the cost of living in the Seeley Lake area, stopped accepting new log inventory on March 31 and has so far laid off no more than 10 people, said Pyramid Mountain Lumber General Manager Todd Johnson. As of July 3, the sawmill department of the mill has ceased operation. The boiler and kiln department will...
The Fourth of July came at a perfect time, weather-wise, for the Blackfoot and Clearwater watersheds - just before temperatures were supposed to get into the high-nineties and even hundreds this week. Celebrations across the valleys were a delightful mix of some of the best parts of small town Montana, with elements that catered to locals and visitors alike. Books were available for purchase to support the Swan Valley Community Library, families wore matching outfits and water and popsicles,...
After a lovely cool spring and a slow start to summer, things are finally heating up and fire season is coming. Already, there have been wildfires in Washington, Oregon, and California, and some around Montana. As fire danger increases, the likelihood of seeing smoke increases, too. That means it's time to get smoke ready. Why do we care so much about smoke? For those of us who've lived through past fire seasons, we know what it means when smoke arrives. The air physically feels different. It...
Editor's note: When I worked for two weekly newspapers in Ennis and Big Sky, we would run features each week that we either called the B feature - because it was the first page of the B section in The Madisonian, which is based in Ennis - or the Not So Average Jane/Joe in the Lone Peak Lookout, which used to be used in Big Sky. These focused on members of the community either really well known of whom we felt folks could use a broader picture, or people who weren't known at all but had a really...
Those who follow Montana writers are well acquainted with Rick Bass. Among our most celebrated authors, he has mastered his craft with more than 30 books including novels, memoir and collections of essays with such diverse outlets as Orion, Tricycle, Big Sky Journal, Outside, Field and Stream, Sierra, Buddhist Review and the Whitefish Review. He has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Book Critics Award. Born and raised in Texas, trained as a petroleum...
Thirty-five years ago ... Thursday July 13, 1989 Arts & crafts show draws large crowds The Seeley Lake Folk Arts and Crafts Show and Sale held at the community hall last Saturday and Sunday drew probably over 1,000 people. Five hundred and sixty-seven people coming through the front doors signed the guest book, but many signed one line for the whole family, or failed to sign at all, so a totally accurate count is not possible. Total sales reported by the committee were $3,753 and this figure...
The warming hut on Forest Service Road 465 near Deer Creek was vandalized on June 18 just after 3 p.m. According to Jeannette Smith, public information officer with the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, someone shot the building a number of times — impacting the door, door frame, some walls and the wood shed roof — incurring at least $1,500 in damage. There are no suspects or witnesses, and the sheriff’s office has gathered all applicable information so far. The case is considered inactive by the sheriff’s office, but an additional investiga...
On June 18 Missoula County Commissioners voted unanimously to amend some of Missoula County's building codes. Greenhouses, hoop houses, certain deck designs and non-residential entryways or covered patios will no longer be required to have building permits. Public feedback and a recent public survey prompted commissioners to roll back requirements. Montana Code Annotated gives the Board of County Commissioners the right to exempt certain structures from requiring a building permit. "We did a...
The Seeley Lake Sewer District met at the end of June to hear an update on the sewer project proposal from its engineering firm and on various funding opportunities available, and considered putting together a letter showing support from the sewer board for the project. Steve Anderson, engineer with Water & Environmental Technologies, or WET, gave an update on the project proposal. It will make sense to design treatment zones based on elevation and treatment needs, Anderson said. This could require pump and lift stations, which in the case of l...
