Tag Archives: trails

Polebridge Merc hosts “Transboundary” interpretive trail

Will Hammerquist of the Polebridge Mercantile got together with several conservation groups to sponsor a “Transboundary” interpretive trail . . .

Several U.S. and Canadian environmental groups have carved out a new educational “Transboundary” trail up the North Fork on land owned by the Polebridge Mercantile.

The quarter-mile long stroll runs through scrub brush left from the 1988 Red Bench Fire and offers expansive views of the Livingston Range.

Several interpretive signs along the path provide information on history, geography and biology of the area, historic perspectives, threats to the ecosystem as well as triumphs, including efforts to ban coal and other mining projects in the watershed.

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Access to Coal Ridge lookout area reopens

The gate at the foot of Moran Basin Road is open again, restoring access to the trail to the old Coal Ridge lookout and points nearby. The trail should be in good shape. Earlier this year, a forest service crew cleaned it up. They also performed maintenance on the old patrol cabin.

Moran Basin Road is the second left heading westbound on Hay Creek Road. The Coal Ridge trailhead is about three miles up Moran Basin Road, just before the terminating “kelly hump.”

Update: This summer’s crew did more than just clean up the trail to Coal Ridge, they performed major renovations to the old “pray-and-scramble” trailhead, replacing it with a couple of well-designed short switchbacks. Nicely done.

New Forest Service budgeting process could impact backcountry trails work

Some folks are getting fussed about how a new Forest Service budgeting process could impact backcountry trails work. Region 1, which includes the Flathead National Forest, is one of the regions trying out this approach . . .

A U.S. Forest Service cleanup program repaired or removed more than 1,000 of roads and trails in Montana over a recent five-year period. Now its advocates worry a new budgeting process could squelch that momentum…

But that momentum could be lost under a new budgeting system the Forest Service let some of its regions try. Missoula-headquartered Region 1 is one of the pilot sites for Integrated Resource Restoration budgeting, which combines money from five task-related budget pools into single buckets defined by landscapes or watersheds.

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More facilities open in Glacier Park; entrance fees waved June 21st

From the Glacier Park weekend update . . .

Park officials invite visitors to Glacier National Park for a fee free day on the summer solstice, Tuesday, June 21. All entrance fees are waived for entry into Glacier National Park. There are more campgrounds and services open in Glacier National Park this week. In the Many Glacier valley, the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, Many Glacier Hotel, Many Glacier boat tours and Swiftcurrent Campground opened for the season on Friday, June 17. In the Two Medicine valley, boat tours have begun operation. Ranger Led Activities have commenced and schedules can be found online or at entrance stations to the park.

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