Seeley Swan Pathfinder -

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...

Those of us lucky enough to live, work and play in the Swan Valley know what a special place it is. Pointing a finger at exactly what makes this place special, however, can sometimes be difficult. If...

With gas prices on the rise, the motivation for consumers to consider an electric vehicle (EV) is steadily growing. Some of the top automotive manufacturers have already announced an end to...

As spring creeps through the door, the Blackfoot Challenge continues fostering community collaboration for the benefit of all within the Blackfoot River watershed. The beauty of collaboration is the...

What is a "Hot" Real Estate Market? For the past two years, all that real estate professionals, economists and analysts seemed to talk about is the hot real estate market. But what does a "hot market"...

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...

A grizzly bear dubbed "Lingenpolter" by local biologists caught the attention of many in Montana and elsewhere last year. Using a GPS tracker, biologists watched as the young male bear repeatedly...

As the brisk January morning air settles in on the log yards in the north, the world finds yet another year has come and gone. Standing at the threshold of 2022, more than a few folks are relieved to...

Home food preservationists feel especially grateful in January, for having spent countless autumn hours canning, pickling, fermenting, drying and vacuum packaging their garden or local farmer's...

2021 - THE REAL ESTATE BREAKOUT The past year has seen intense buyer pressure in the local real estate markets. Montana buyers primarily from Missoula, Helena, Bozeman and Great Falls continued...

Wildfire seasons are becoming longer and more destructive. The 2021 fire season in Oregon began in May, a month early, due to drought conditions resulting in low fuel moistures and a light snow pack....

Just the other day while working at Placid Lake State Park, I observed a group of ducks gathered around a large space of open, ice-free water. Some were swimming and foraging in the shallow bottom...

As winter dawns over the Seeley Swan Valley, the ROCKS team springs into a frenzy of action. It is during this ever-changing and unpredictable weather season that we realize the somewhat limited contr...

I can't believe I've lived to see this. It seems like it was yesterday. Maybe it was 30 years ago when I pulled my Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) pickup off the north side of Highway 200, snuck...

Grizzly bears in the Mission and Swan mountains have likely entered their dens for the winter, but an important habitat linkage for the species will remain conserved as open space next spring-and for...

The smell of freshly cut limbs and trees wafts through the air as I walk through the project area. The low hum of the harvester, a large and impressive piece of logging equipment, works right over...

At the Blackfoot Challenge, we believe that the best place to learn about the watershed is in the watershed and that our best teachers are those who have experience here. That's why our education...

Whether you are currently renting or you have rented in the past, when moving out we all eagerly anticipate the return of our security deposit from our landlord. Then, when it arrives been...