Larry does a sort of late summer review . . .
As North Forkers and Montanans, we consider ourselves fiercely independent. Also, we don’t think much about how others view us — mostly we just don’t care since we don’t envy folks from more populated areas of the country.
Recently, though, a friend who lives in Santa Barbara, Calif., sent me an article from his local newspaper.
Another stretch of the inside North Fork Road should open by the weekend. Don’t make any heavy bets on the rest of it opening up, though . . .
Roughly six miles of the North Fork Road between the Fish Creek Campground and Camas Creek Bridge is expected to open this weekend, Glacier National Park officials said on Wednesday.
Road crews are currently completing temporary repairs, including grading of the area and laying surface gravel to improve conditions after continuous flooding. The section of the road between Polebridge and Logging Creek opened to vehicle traffic in May.
The road between Camas Creek Bridge and Logging Creek will remain closed due to flooding and road washout.
This should be pretty relevant to anyone interested in the problems of sharing the landscape with bears . . ..
The Flathead National Forest is hosting an educational Bear Fair on Saturday, Aug. 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Coram. The event is at the Coram Community Center, 185 Coram School Lane, and is free and open to the public.
Participants will learn tips and tools for living in bear country, including information about bear country etiquette, safety and food storage. There will be informational booths, an electric fence seminar, various speakers and a bear spray instruction…
Between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. there will be presentations from the U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Center for Wildlife Information and electric fencing specialists.
Still not a lot of heavy wildfire action in this corner of Montana, but the region overall is getting busy . . .
A lightning-caused fire in the Marshall Creek drainage northwest of Seeley Lake was the biggest new start in western Montana, even as much larger challenges confronted firefighters in Idaho and eastern Montana.
A crew of Montana State Prison inmates was dispatched to the West Marshall Creek fire on Sunday, which had burned about 30 acres by Monday morning, according to Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation spokeswoman Paula Short. The agency also sent three helicopters, one large air tanker and a single-engine air tanker to slow its spread.
What appear to be a couple of relatively minor wildfires were detected in Flathead National Forest on Monday . . .
Two new fires were detected on the Flathead National Forest Monday, and both are being suppressed.
The Gorge Fire was less than an acre, burning about 10 miles northeast of Condon in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Another fire, located near Dry Lake on the Swan Lake Ranger District, hadn’t been named or sized up as of Monday afternoon.
A “Red Flag” fire weather warning has been posted for the Flathead/Glacier area as well as the general region. Basically, the weather service is calling for hot, dry conditions with a chance of dry lightening from thunderstorms passing through the area. Here’s the text:
KOOTENAI-FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK-WEST LOLO-
SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION-
425 AM MDT MON AUG 6 2012
…RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO MIDNIGHT MDT
TONIGHT FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE KOOTENAI…FLATHEAD/GLACIER
PARK…WEST LOLO…SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING FOR THUNDERSTORMS…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO
MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN
EFFECT.
* WINDS: OUTFLOW WIND GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH FROM NEARBY STORMS.
* MINIMUM HUMIDITIES: 18-28 PERCENT
* THUNDERSTORMS: HIGH-BASED THUNDERSTORMS WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY
OF BENEFICIAL RAINFALL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A RED FLAG WARNING IS INTENDED TO ALERT LAND MANAGERS TO EXPECTED
WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT ALONG WITH SUFFICIENTLY DRY FUELS…WILL
SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE FIRE DANGER.
This is the second of the Missoulian’s two-part series on the establishment of the Scapegoat Wilderness . . .
A quote on the wall of the Montanan Steakhouse may be familiar to literature fans: John Steinbeck expressing his affinity for Montana during his travels with a French poodle named Charley. “I’m in love with Montana,” Steinbeck quipped in “Travels with Charley: In Search of America.” “For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.”
The quote is a fitting one for a Lincoln restaurant owned by Barbara Solvie, who as Barbara Garland founded the Garlands Town and County store in the 1950s with her husband, Cecil.
(Additional reading: The first part of this series.)
The Wildfire Information page was getting a bad case of “link rot.” Maintaining accurate links to government agencies is a bit of a chore.
Anyway, the page has been updated with various corrections and some new material.
The Missoulian starts an excellent two-part series on the Scapegoat Wilderness today . . .
While camped above Ringeye Falls in the 1950s, Cecil Garland pulled an elk reed bugle from his duffel bag and released a call into the crisp September air.
Within minutes, the calls rang back – big bulls hidden deep in the Lincoln backcountry. Sleep wouldn’t come easy for Garland that night, his heart pounding and his senses alive.
“All through the frosty fall air the calls echoed back and forth and I knew I’d found wilderness,” Garland testified before the U.S. Senate on Sept. 23, 1968. “But all was not at peace in my heart; for I knew that someday, for some unknown reason, man would try to destroy this country as man had altered and destroyed before.”
(See also this related article: Support waning for future Montana wilderness designations.)
Wildfire activity in northwest Montana has eased up over the past couple of days . . .
While activity on several fires in and around the Bob Marshall Wilderness has slowed over the last couple of days, one fire has showed signs of life.
After being detected Tuesday, the Bar Creek Fire grew to 70 acres and as of Thursday afternoon it was estimated at about 255 acres. The fire is burning in the southern part of the wilderness about 35 miles southeast of Condon.The fire is now being managed as part of the Elbow Pass Fire Complex, which involved three fires merging on the eastern part of the wilderness earlier this week.