Opinion / A Place For All
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Letters from a Swan Valley homesteader
This is the second USVHS article about Henry Thomason, an early-day Upper Swan Valley settler who wrote a series of letters to his family in the Midwest documenting life as a homesteader in the early...
Letters from a Swan Valley homesteader
Beginning with a trip out west to Polson in 1913 to later homesteading in the Upper Swan Valley, early-day settler Henry Thomason wrote a series of hand-written letters to his family in the Midwest...
Making progress in spite of COVID
When COVID-19 first popped up in the news, we weren't too worried it would affect us here in Seeley Lake. Then it became a pandemic and things changed. We urged our employees to follow all...
Self-preservation: Taking better care of ourselves
While sitting on the back porch, soaking up the warm fall sunshine, contemplating the benefits of a good growing season, little did we know that we would be lead, a few short days later, to grapple with a cruel twist of frigid cold and falling snow....
Effectively treating fuels at the neighborhood level
Wow! A record 16 inches of snow and -19 degrees in October. We must be in Montana! Wildfires are now far from our thoughts as we bundle up after still being in tee shirts only a couple of weeks ago. With our climate extremes, we know that another...
Seeley-Swan real estate - What just happened?
2020 REAL ESTATE SALES IN THE VALLEY WILL BREAK RECORDS As we all started to hear a little bit, then a lot about COVID-19 in March and April. The US economy appeared to be in for a big fall. When local state and county - imposed lockdowns began to oc...
Protecting grizzly country near the Gateways to Glacier
Grizzly bears are highly intelligent, but as far as we know they can't read maps. When a bear living in Glacier National Park sets out in search of food or a mate, it doesn't know when it crosses the...
Strong relationships built through weed management
The mission of the Blackfoot Challenge is "to coordinate efforts to conserve and enhance natural resources and the rural way of life in the Blackfoot watershed for present and future generations." A...
Summer fire season wrap-up, fall fire prevention reminders
Members of the Missoula County Fire Protection Agency (MCFPA) would like to thank you for your continued support as we move into our fall season. Fire suppression activities kept crews busy both...
A productive year for restoration throughout the Blackfoot River watershed
As we head into fall, it’s a time of reflection on this past year and all that was accomplished on numerous projects with our strong group of partners. As spring arrived, we had many questions as to how our field season would unfold with COVID...
Anatomy of an emergency medical response
There is confusion within the Seeley Lake community understanding what really happens during a 911 medical call. I hope that the following information will help people understand. When 911 is called...
When the power goes out
If you're a native to the area or a longtime resident, you may have an outage routine that happens during a black out at your home... check to see if the neighbor's lights are out, fetch some...
Our hours: SVC's legacy of Volunteer stewardship
While five-gallon buckets brimmed with sloshing water may be a close challenger, t-posts are some of the most awkward things to be carried. At just over 10 pounds apiece, with studded, irregular...
Stories of stewardship
Stewardship: The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care. What does it mean to be a good steward? This is something we think about a fair bit at the Blackfoot...
Tackling the risk of wildland fire
By the calendar, Montana has four seasons. Yet, increasingly, we are experiencing a fifth; fire season. As July draws to a close, a lot of us are starting to think what might be ahead as temperatures...
A new freedom for all people
Protests are legal and at times necessary. Rioting and looting are not. But we do need to understand the pent up hurt that can often drive extreme behavior. The Preamble to our Constitution: We the people of the United States, in order to form a...
Day trips and stay-cations
Over the past dozen years, perhaps you have noticed an increase in the use of the term “stay-cation.” It seems every industry has been tapping into this idea; a high-end automobile manufacturer has a current commercial airing that mentions...
Demystifying the world of grants
As a small rural town, grant funding is an important source of dollars to help bring community ideas to life. Let’s explore this topic behind the scenes a bit. Grants help our local ski and snowmobile clubs keep trails maintained, provide programs...
Double Arrow Ranch - Change and stability in the 1980's
The decade of the 1980’s was the time when initial plans were modified, properties were bought and sold regularly and building began occurring across all phases of DARLOA. It is fascinating to look back at how the development matured in the...
Hope for better days ahead
Many unforeseen changes have unfolded in our local communities since the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services announced the state's first cases of COVID-19 on March 13. Schools,...
Weed District staff available to assist with property management during COVID-19
As we all learn to adjust to the changes that COVID-19 has had on our day-to-day lives, there is one thing that has remained the same: weeds continue to grow! This spring, the weed district has seen a...
Slow the spread, protect each other from coronavirus
As the world contends with “the invisible war” we should all become aware of the situation so that we may all help to slow and protect each other from the spread of this dangerous disease. Influenza and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), as...
SLE 21st century program offers summer adventures and academic enrichment activities
Are your kids tired of spending hours each day on remote learning on the computer? Are they (and you) wondering what there is to do in the Seeley in the summer that doesn't involve logging in,...
Montana Loon Society loon watch
Right on time, true to the mystery of the migration cycle - the loons show up and without our bidding (but with the help of our floating signs), take over their territories, build nests, fight off...
The past holds many lessons for us - It is worth studying!
"Thinking will not overcome fear-but action will." ~ W. Clement Stone Before COVID-19, most of us had no idea what fear the word, "Pandemic" would evoke in our minds and how drastically it would...
