Opinion / A Place For All
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Closing a chapter and welcoming the next
As we welcome the New Year, The Nature Conservancy was glad to end the last one with some good news. On Christmas Eve, we finalized another sale of more than 12,000 acres of land to the U.S. Forest Service. Together with a previous sale, more than...
Double Arrow Ranch - Facts, figures and a little history
Double Arrow Ranch has been a part of the Seeley Lake community for 48 years. It continues to see new construction and undeveloped lots change hands. This past year over 60 property transactions...
Get outside, be active for the health of it
Some of you were lucky enough to have been born here, in the gorgeous Crown of the Continent and the bridge between two of the most awe-inspiring parks in the entire country. Some of you discovered...
Love, war and State Parks
What do Montana's 55 different state parks mean to you? Montana residents who do not regularly visit our state parks may not realize just how beneficial the state park system is in their communities...
The marathon of collaboration
Have you ever had an idea that could benefit more than just you? Maybe it is something you love to do and want to share it, maybe you've seen it done in another community, or maybe you've even tried...
The open and sustained circuit of life
"Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals. ... The circuit is not closed; ... but it is a sustained circuit, like a slowly...
Launching the battle against fragrant water-lily
The word on the street in the Seeley-Swan is that the Missoula County Weed District may grab the bull by the horns and implement management tactics to control the prolific aquatic invader. Common...
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...