This image was contributed by Oliver Meister of the North Fork Hostel. It shows a view from the river of the back yard of the hostel. The North Fork was frozen over and Oliver walked out onto the ice to get the photo.

From the December 30, 2008 online edition of the Flathead Beacon . . .

Flathead County hasn’t fulfilled a nearly decade-old state Supreme Court ruling requiring Montana counties to pay full-market value for road easements across state trust lands, meaning the county – and the property owners who live on those roads – don’t have legal access.

In Flathead County, officials from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation estimate that there are at least 80 different segments of road – all of varying length – with unpaid easements. And hundreds of property owners could be affected.

“Anyone who lives on a road that crosses state trust land before their property, technically does not have legal access,” DNRC area manager Bob Sandman said. He added that it’s “unlikely that many people know” and that most will only find out when they try to sell.

Among the affected roads in Flathead County are frequented areas like Pleasant Valley Road, KM Ranch Road, North Fork Road, LaBrant Road, Jewel Basin Road and nine roads in the Happy Valley area.

Read the entire aricle . . .

If you live in the far reaches of Flathead County, don’t hold your breath waiting for the snowplow to come.

The county road department has 8.5 fewer full-time employees to handle the road maintenance load this winter, and no “floaters” to cover those who are sick or on vacation, county Public Works Director Dave Prunty said.

“The more remote the area, the longer it will take,” Prunty said Friday, just hours before the Flathead’s first blizzard of the season was predicted to begin. “If it hits like they say, it will be a slap in the face for us.”

Read the entire article . . .

The Stillwater State Forest, citing considerable public opposition, has denied a request to allow helicopter skiing on parts of the Whitefish Mountain Range.

Brian Manning, manager of the Stillwater and Coal Creek state forests, said his office received 316 comments, most of them opposed to helicopter skiing.

“Their concerns mainly include the noise and effects to winter recreation; the adverse effects to various wildlife species; low-flying aircraft effects to adjacent landowners and the potential for trespass on federal lands,” Manning wrote in a letter to Triple-X Helicopter and Valhalla Adventures, two Whitefish businesses that proposed helicopter skiing operations on specific parts of the Coal Creek and Stillwater forests.

Commercially guided ski trips were proposed at Winona, Coal and Stryker ridges on the two state forests.

Read the entire article . . .

Our friends in Fernie, BC are not very happy about BP Canada’s plans. See the Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane site for details.

Wildsight posted a press release last Friday that does a good job of summarizing the problems local residents have with coalbed methane development. It also links to some additional material.

BP’s Mist Mountain Coalbed Gas Project site is another source of information. In particular, the maps page is a bit of an eye-opener.

What’s the Flathead connection? Earlier this year, BP withdrew their efforts to explore the Canadian Flathead for coalbed methane development, but left the door open to return at a later date. (See this post, for example.) Mist Mountain is in the Elk River watershed, not far from the Flathead headwaters and already the site of an open pit mine and a proposed wind farm. Events there are a good predictor of what might happen if that sort of activity spills over into the Flathead Valley.

Some of you never had the chance to meet Roy Duff because he hasn’t been to his cabin on Moose Creek for a long time. He died November 14.

When I saw Roy Duff, he used to say in a high-pitched voice out of the side of his mouth opposite to the cigar, “How the hell are you John.” This was his standard greeting.

Roy had a long busy life and I thought you might like to read about him.

Obituary from the Daily Inter Lake, November 23, 2008 . . .

Roy M. Duff, 88

Roy M. Duff, proud World War II veteran, longtime business owner, former mayor of Whitefish, and dedicated servant to the community he loved, passed away in Whitefish on Nov. 14, 2008.

Roy was born in Steptoe, Wash., on Oct. 30, 1920. The family moved to Whitefish shortly after Roy was born. As the son of a railroad employee, Roy enjoyed his early school years, hiking, fishing, picking huckleberries on Big Mountain and as the privileged only son, loved driving the family car. With lifelong friends he thoroughly enjoyed the mischievous pursuits of youthful exuberance. Roy took great pride in working at Cooke’s Grocery in Whitefish and the Kalispell Bee newspaper. He worked two summers in the Roosevelt era Civilian Conservation Corps and graduated from Whitefish High School in 1938. In 1939 he joined the Montana National Guard.

The ominous events in Europe that year resulted in Roy’s entire local National Guard unit to be sent to the west coast for training at Fort Lewis and Camp Murray. Roy trained as a medic. His unit defended the west coast from Dec. 7, 1941, to mid-March 1942, and at that time he was sent to the South Pacific to help defend Australia from the advancing Japanese forces.

As part of the 41st Division 163rd Infantry, Roy was part of three major Southwest Pacific campaigns under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. In horrific jungle conditions, Roy participated in frontline action at Sanananda, Aitape, Wakde, Hollandia, Biak, Zamboanga and Jolo. Roy was wounded during a bansai attack at Toem beachhead on the night of May 28, 1944; as a result of that action, Roy was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He received a battlefield commission and after a period of recuperation, rejoined his unit in the Philippines. He was scheduled to be part of the home island invasion of Japan, but was spared almost certain death by the circumstances of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was one of the very first soldiers to enter Hiroshima after the atom bomb was dropped. Roy’s unit was deactivated from the Kure shipyard in December of 1945.

Upon returning to Whitefish, Roy acquired a taxicab business and developed it into a diversified passenger transportation company. He owned the local Chevrolet dealership for some years, operated a tow service, an ambulance service, interstate bus schedules, shuttles in Glacier National Park and transfers from Glacier International Airport and Amtrak to the Big Mountain Ski Resort. Over a five decade period, he provided employment to hundreds of people. The school bus operation he developed has been in continuous service to the Whitefish School District for more than 60 years. The Hertz Rental Car franchise he brought to the Flathead is recognized as the oldest Hertz franchise in the United States. The business he founded continues to operate under the name of Rocky Mountain Transportation, and in his final days he made inquiries to the current management if it was operating properly and exclaimed, “It damn well better!”

Roy took great pride in his community. The list of civic organizations that he did not belong to was probably shorter than the ones he did. He was a rural mail carrier, brand inspector and on occasion, a special deputized deputy under the authority of legendary Sheriff Dick Walsh. He served over 20 years in the Whitefish Volunteer Fire Department and also served on the Big Mountain Board of Directors for 30 years. He served as a Montana State Highway commissioner longer than any commissioner in the state’s history and initiated the original proposal in getting the present Big Mountain Road on the commission agenda. He was one of the original promoters of the Whitefish Winter Carnival and was proud to be selected as King Ullr X in 1969.

After being a city council member, Roy was elected mayor of Whitefish in 1955 and served two terms. His office and home at 15 Central Ave. was the unofficial city hall. He, but probably more frequently his Australian bride, Norma, answered all the police and fire calls at night from that home office. All kinds of official meetings were held both day and night. Under his mayoral leadership a flurry of activity took place and much was accomplished. Pay for parking meters were installed in the downtown area, and new equipment was acquired for both the police department and street department, resulting in better service to the community. At the urging of resident Mable Engelter, the library was greatly improved. A city planning commission was created, a new post office was established, and with a little fiery encouragement from the state of Montana, plans for a new sewage treatment plant were put in place. City Hall was remodeled and given a facelift, meaning all the gorgeous original brick was covered with new stuff. That stuff, is mostly, still on the building.

He was widely recognized as the unofficial beer drinking champion of Whitefish and heavily supported the makers of Olympia Beer in the ’60s and later in his life, Miller Light. He learned to smoke while in the military and reportedly, ate at least five Roi Tan cigars each day for the majority of his years. Though confined to a care center for the last three years of his life and suffering a stroke some weeks ago, he asked for assistance in swabbing his dry mouth with a beer-soaked sponge on a stick in his final hours.

Roy enjoyed his horses and different dogs he owned throughout his life. He made many pack trips through the Bob Marshall Wilderness in summers. In the fall, you could count on him packing into his back country elk hunting camp with longtime friend and Chief of Police of Whitefish for many years, George Wartnow. Of the eight-horse string, necessary to pack all the gear, two horses were always designated to carry the beer.

Roy loved his country, the camaraderie of the armed forces and shared the bond known only to those who face death in battle. Throughout his business and public career, he remained loyal to the highest ideals of America and the spirit of capitalism. He was the driving force that established the formation of “A” battery of the 163rd in Whitefish, served on the state staff of the National Guard in Helena and promoted the formation of National Guard units across western Montana. He spearheaded the drive to acquire land on the east boundary of Whitefish to establish a training center for the 163rd and through his contacts with Sen. Mike Mansfield, procured the funds necessary to build an armory and community center at that location that now bears his name. He remained active in the Montana National Guard for more than 40 years and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Roy was preceded in death by his wife and business partner of more than 50 years, Norma Doreen Wassman, whom he met and married in Australia.

He is survived by his sisters, Eva DeVall and husband, Bill, Nova “Billie” and husband, Glen Johnson, of Whitefish, and Norma “Pee Wee” Brzoznosski of Spokane; sons, Mark and wife, Lynne, and Dale and wife, Diane, of Whitefish; grandchildren, Kevin Duff of Whitefish, Amanda Caldwell and husband, Mike, of Columbia Falls, Scott Duff, Sean Duff and wife, Kyla, also of Whitefish, and Shelby Geyer and husband, Greg, of Calabasas, Calif.; three great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews, and an extended Australian family on Norma’s side.

Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, at the Whitefish United Methodist Church, with Pastor Deborah Schmidt officiating. Burial will follow at the Whitefish Cemetery with graveside honors by the United Veterans of the Flathead.

Arrangements are under the direction of Austin Funeral Home of Whitefish.

BP Canada on Friday received natural-gas rights for a potential energy project in a segment of British Columbia watched closely by environmental activists in both the province and in Montana.

British Columbia granted the rights to BP for its proposed Mist Mountain coal-bed methane project in the province’s southeast, after the Flathead River Basin was removed from the project area. In the debate about possible environmental effects from Mist Mountain coal-bed methane work, the border-spanning Flathead had been particularly prominent, with activists in Montana raising the specter of harm traveling downstream.

Even with the Flathead removed, the prospect of the coal-bed methane project in combination with other current and proposed industrial activity in southeastern British Columbia is alarming, said Will Hammerquist of the National Parks Conservation Association in Whitefish near Glacier National Park, which extends to the British Columbia border.

Read the entire article . . .

So, make sure you have a good set of chains and read the article . . .

Flathead County is considering a plan that could help mitigate dust on the county’s some 700 miles of unpaved roads — including the North Fork Road.

In a recent meeting with representatives of several government agencies and North Fork residents, Commissioner Gary Hall presented a draft agreement for a dust control cost share program.

Read the entire article . . .

U.S. government scientists studying the Flathead River watershed straddling the B.C.-Montana border say they’ve discovered the prime spawning site for a threatened species of trout - on the Canadian side of the system, and in the very shadow of a proposed mountaintop coal mine that drew fire from U.S. president-elect Barack Obama during his drive to the White House.

Biologists with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Montana state Wildlife Department say the findings pinpoint the mouth of Foisey Creek in southeastern B.C. - near the planned site of a controversial open-pit coal operation proposed by Toronto-based Cline Mining Corp. - as a “critical” site in the life-cycle of the protected bull trout, which often migrates from U.S. waters to Canada to reproduce.

It’s a discovery, the scientists say, that adds to previous evidence showing threats to the watershed’s population of cross-border cutthroat trout, and which should clinch the environmental case against the mine.

Read the entire article . . .