Opinion / A Place For All
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When it's springtime in the Rockies
As I began to ponder what to write about, almost immediately my mind drifted toward springtime. Soon after, the song title “When It’s Springtime in the Rockies” by Gene Autry filled my mind. Most reading this article are probably too young to...
E Pluribus....Seeley!
When John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson proposed this motto for the Great Seal of the United States it summed up the determination of the fledgling nation perfectly. It also set the stage for the United States becoming the great...
The Largest Wetland Restoration Project in Montana's History
Back in 2015, Swan Valley Connections (SVC) had been contracted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to conduct vegetation surveys and create a map of vegetative communities across the entire 1,979-acre Swan River National Wildlife Refuge...
A Place for All
Each year, the third Saturday in March is slated for Missoula Electric Cooperative’s (MEC’s) annual meeting. This year is no different when the Cooperative hosts their 87th annual meeting on Saturday, March 18. This meeting is not just important...
A swan success 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...
I Ride Seeley Lake
People want to grow old in their community and the home they love, but getting the care they need can be a challenge in our beautiful, rugged, rural corner of the county. Nationwide, an estimated...
Seeley Lake Ranger District highlights from 2022, looking forward to 2023
I wanted to take an opportunity to thank everyone for another great year. The ebbing of Covid definitely helped things to feel a little more normal. We did still have high usage of our campgrounds and recreation opportunities, but not at the levels...
Shoemaker's treks in the Mission Mountains
If you were to look at a map of the Mission Mountains 100 years ago, you would see a lot of blank space. Except for verbal descriptions and sketches shared by the early-day Native people, priests, tra...
Bears and Berries: Why Shifting Seasons Require Innovative Safety Measures
With the calendar turning to a new year, bears across the Northern Rockies are snug in their winter dens. The months leading up to this hibernation season were especially difficult for many of them, however, due in part to a poor summer crop for...
Ice Safety Tips
Before you fire up the snowmobile or get out the ice fishing gear, please follow some simple tips and use caution before heading out onto the ice. For new clear ice only UNDER 4” THICKNESS - STAY OFF 4” - Ice fishing or other activities on foot...
Big changes happening in local real estate
By Kevin Wetherell Clearwater Montana Properties, Inc. The effect of rising interest rates Mortgage rates have more than doubled this year, as 30-year mortgage rates have risen from below 3% last...
Machine being tested could replace slash fires
By Bebe Crouse The Nature Convervancy You may have seen a strange piece of machinery being towed through the area recently. It looks like a rail car-size dumpster mounted on tank treads. It's called a...
ROCKS rocks winter season
Snow and cold weather brought an early start to the winter outdoor activities season here in Seeley Lake. The ROCKS team is in high gear helping the Nordic ski group ready the yurt for the cross...
Bear awareness during hunting season
Grizzly and black bears are found throughout our region and this is the time of year that bears are in hyperphagia. This is a time when bears increase their feeding activity driven by the need to fatten up before going into the den for the winter....
Biological controls increase weed management options
When I started my job as the weed management projects coordinator for the Powell County Weed Board several years ago, I inherited a project that began with my predecessor in cooperation with the (now...
Creating a working landscape for all
As passersby take in the Blackfoot watershed's forests, waterways and wildlife, many have no idea that a unique concept to benefit all community members came to life in the heart of the watershed ...
Maintaining healthy waters
Here in the Clearwater Valley, so much of our lives revolve around the presence of healthy lakes and streams. This valley contains the waters where our kids catch their first fish and where our...
Managing workplace conflict
I want to share with you a tool that I love. The Waterline Model is a process for resolving team breakdowns. This tool can help you distinguish between the common issues that bog teams down and be...
Ten years of preserving history
A dream became reality when the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) celebrated the grand opening of the Swan Valley Museum on July 4, 2013. Longtime residents Neil and Dixie Meyer cut the...
Grizzly DNA monitoring in the Sapphire Mountain Range
The one-track roads leading from Stevensville, Montana, into the Sapphire Mountains are lined with wildflowers like beargrass and lupines by early July. As the truck climbed, the view of the...
Motor vehicle accident tips to help maintain safety
Summer has arrived and the seasonal population influx around Seeley Lake has also arrived. The campgrounds and outdoor activities are much more active as the community grows. The increased movement increases our highway traffic. Visitors unfamiliar...
The ebb and flood of lumber
The last several years have certainly seen no lack of breaking news topics. Thankfully, the Seeley-Swan Valley of Montana continues to offer a mostly quiet refuge from much of the excitement faced in other areas of the country. Topics of discussion...
Achieve better health, one step at a time
With so many trends and diets out there it can be hard to figure out what to honestly believe. The external pressure to look and feel specific ways, the households we grew up in as children, our geological location and the cultures we immerse...
Tips to clean indoor air, stay healthy this wildfire season
It's Wildfire Smoke Ready Week in Missoula County! I know - after such a cool start to the season, it's challenging to shift gears and start thinking about wildfires. But this week of warm, sunny...
Seeley-Swan Valley real estate stabilizing
THE SUMMER SLOWDOWN Following four years of a dramatic real estate market that saw rapid price appreciation, very limited inventory and multiple offers on many properties, the market has begun to stabilize. This year has seen the Federal Reserve...