(UPDATED) According to the Daily Inter Lake, an 80-year-old Kalispell man drowned yesterday afternoon when his one-person pontoon boat flipped over on the North Fork near the Glacier Rim access point. A second individual, who was accompanying the victim in another one-man boat that also capsized, was discovered safe on shore about a half-mile upstream.
See the article in the Daily Inter Lake for further details . . .
The NFPA sent representatives to last year’s annual Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent in Polson. By all reports, it was a good experience. This year’s event is scheduled for September 27-28 in Fernie, BC.
The Roundtable has a pretty broad reach, including people, communities and organizations with a wide range of interests. Here’s what they have to say about themselves:
The Crown of the Continent is a remarkable place. Spanning the 49th parallel and anchored by Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, it has been the home of Native Americans and First Nations for thousands of years. Today, the stunning scenery, vast wilderness areas, iconic wildlife, and diverse recreational opportunities attract visitors from throughout the world. These amenities support a ring [of] communities around the Crown. Working landscapes help knit together the natural and cultural fabric of this region.
The Roundtable is an ongoing forum to bring together people who care about this special place . . .
Lots of lightning Wednesday night, but not much action in western Montana . . .
Wednesday night’s lightning storm didn’t do as much damage as it appeared in western Montana, but eastern Idaho wilderness areas got pounded.
“The Clearwater (Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest) picked up 41 new starts,” said Bitterroot National Forest spokesman Tod McKay. “That’s where a lot of our smoke is coming from today.”
In contrast, U.S. Forest Service land in the Bitterroot Valley only recorded six new fires out of roughly 400 lightning strikes that hit over a five-hour period. Bitterroot crews and a helicopter also assisted Hamilton firefighters with a 200-acre grass fire off Sleeping Child Road that was declared out about midnight Wednesday.
Yesterday, a couple of articles cropped up about teaching bears to avoid humans and their dwellings. The first reports on the Montana-based Wind River Bear Institute and their Karelian bear dog program. The other discusses a training program in a rural district of the Florida panhandle, an area with a substantial black bear population. Two very different areas with similar bear problems.
Here are the links . . .
Aspiring filmmakers turn lenses on Karelian bear dogs for awareness — from the Missoulian
Bear hazing (Or how to chase a bear away and not get hurt) — from The Star, Port St. Joe, Florida
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.