All posts by nfpa

Jackson seeks road solutions

News

Another road article. (Somebody tell a joke or something. This is getting monotonous.)

From the November 16, 2008 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .

Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, has been pondering Flathead County’s road problems, and he recently came up with proposed remedies he will pursue in the upcoming legislative session.

He has had a bill drafted that would appropriate $100 million to the Montana Department of Transportation to be distributed to counties exclusively for high-priority county road improvements.

Read the entire article . . .

Yet another dust meeting

Environmental Issues, , , ,

Outgoing Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall wants to have another meeting on the North Fork Road. This one, apparently, will concentrate on dust mitigation issues. (For background on an earlier, similar meeting, see here and here.) The meeting will be held on November 20th, from 4 to 6pm in the conference room at Freedom Bank in Columbia Falls. Contact him at ghall@flathead.mt.gov or 253-3026 to let him know you are coming.

We’ll post more details here as they become available.

[Update: Corrected Gary hall’s email address.]

Far beneath the Big Sky – Exploring Montana’s deep, dark caves

Travel Articles, , , ,

Missoulian reporter Michael Jamison took a trip to explore a cave “north of Polebridge” recently. The write-up appeared in the October 31, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

Beneath: a bed of soft sand pressing damp and firm against shoulder blades.

Above: a glittering sky, starry pinpoints against unlimited black, deep as time.

All around: the song of the current, a quiet lullaby of water laughing, tumbling, spilling over stone.

Perfectly still. Deceptively peaceful.

Read the entire article . . .

County Preps New Dust Abatement Program for Next Summer

News, , ,

From the October 28, 2008 online edition of the Flathead Beacon…

With gravel roads at the center of a decade-long controversy in Flathead County, it stands to reason officials would welcome the winter snows that quell dust troubles. But this winter could pose its own set of problems for the roads department and, for a change, Public Works Director Dave Prunty is looking forward to summer.

“It’s the end of road dust season, and I’m already excited for the next one,” Prunty told commissioners recently. “It’s good to feel like we’ll be making new progress.”

There’s cause for Prunty’s optimism: The county commission set aside $100,000 in this fiscal year’s budget for a cost-sharing dust abatement program with county residents. As part of the joint effort, neighboring landowners would band together and pay for half the cost to place magnesium chloride – a dust palliative – on their road. The county then would use its equipment to prepare the road for application and pay the remaining half of the cost for a private company to apply the chemical.

Read the entire article…

The road in the 50’s

Commentary,

Seems the humble North Fork Road has gotten way more than its share of attention for an inordinate length of time. From an editorial entry in the October 23, 2008 online edition of the Hungry Horse News titled “Looking back to ’54, ’55” . . .

Future of the North Fork Road, millions of feet of lumber shipped, Anaconda Aluminum Co. plant construction and Columbia Falls post office increases highlighted front page stories in the Hungry Horse News in November and December, 1954.

Continual maintenance and improvement of the North Fork road plus a new bridge at Polebridge were issues discussed. It was pointed out virtually all North Fork road construction had been through the Forest Service with some maintenance shared with Flathead County.

Read the entire article . . .

Grizzly bear death near Polebridge under investigation

News, ,

According to an AP article posted yesterday in the online edition of the Great Falls Tribune, wildlife officials are seeking information on the death of a male grizzly bear south of Polebridge. It was discovered in early October in the Coal Creek drainage.

Anyone with information can call:

  • Warden Capt. Lee Anderson of Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks at 406-751-4561,
  • the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Missoula at 406-329-3000, or
  • the FWP poaching hot line at 1-800-TIP-MONT.

Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.

Keep heli-skiing out of North Fork

Commentary, Environmental Issues, ,

John Frederick’s letter to Nicole Stickney of the Montana DNRC regarding the proposal to conduct heli-skiing on state lands in the Whitefish Range appeared in today’s Hungry Horse News in the Letters section . . .

I can sympathize with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in trying to find money through the school trust lands for Montana schools. It is not easy to balance environmental and social concerns while trying to get big bucks for the schools.

The two proposed locations for heli-skiing in Coal Creek State Forest are rather close to Polebridge. Winona Ridge, one of the proposed landing/skiing sites, is a little less than three and a half miles from Polebridge and roughly parallels the North Fork Road at a distance of 3/8 of a mile to almost a mile away. It is also not a high mountain which means more noise from helicopters. The other proposed, nearby skiing location is Coal Ridge which at the closest point is only four miles southwest of Polebridge.

I hope you can now understand why people become upset about heli-skiing or any frequent use of helicopters any time of the year when it is not an emergency. Most people, both residents and visitors, come to the North Fork for solitude and quiet.

Others have e-mailed you about the strong probability of people and wildlife being harassed by helicopters bringing skiers to places such as Winona Ridge in Coal Creek State Forest. Many other questions remain unanswered about the possibility of local heli-skiing.

What are the models, sizes and occupancies of the helicopters to be used? What are the decibels created by such machines? How far will the sound travel and be heard?

How many flights a day will be allowed? How many skiers? Triple X, one of the applicant helicopter companies, said they flew 260 helicopter flights over Whitefish during the fourth of July weekend. Hardly anyone wants that kind of activity in our state forests.

Would DNRC give permits to other companies who requested a similar permit?

What are the flight patterns? Do the helicopters go directly to the skiing location or do they swing over to Glacier Park for a scenic tour?

Has anyone at DNRC researched the location of bear dens in the vicinity of the flight paths?

How do the skiers return? By snowmobile or helicopter? And what is their route?

How much would you charge the operators of the helicopter skiing for a permit?

Has DNRC researched other locations in Alaska or British Columbia where heli-skiing has already taken place? Are there problems?

Heli-skiing has never been done in the Flathead Valley. Therefore, it might be a good idea to leave the comment period open for a while longer. There is a definite lack of information on the subject at this time.

Look at the Hungry Horse News article last week by Chris Peterson as it reflects the opinions of many North Forkers. There is a link to the article on the North Fork Preservation Association Web site (with new format) at www.gravel.org.

John Frederick of Polebridge is the North Fork Preservation Association president.

Flathead open space bond on ballot

News, , ,

If it passes, the open space bond on this November’s ballot is likely to have some impact on the North Fork in the future. Michael Jamison has a good write-up on the issue in the October 13, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

Flathead County, home to the three fastest-growing cities in Montana, is losing agricultural and forest open space at a tremendous rate, as developers build subdivisions across rural lands.

“It’s been a steady loss,” said Marilyn Wood. “We can’t afford to allow that to continue.”

Whether locals can afford to stop it is another matter entirely.

On Nov. 4, when voters go to the polls here, they’ll be asked to back a $10 million open space bond, money that will buy rural land – or at least conservation easements on land. The idea is to secure recreational access, especially at waterfront sites, to protect wildlife, to preserve sweeping views, to ensure water quality and to allow the Flathead’s rural way of life to persist into coming decades.

“Ten million sounds like a lot,” admitted Wood, who runs the Flathead Land Trust, “but it’s really a very reasonable amount for a program that’s going to have such a big impact.”

And residents appear to agree. A survey of Flathead Valley residents showed two-thirds of those polled supported the 20-year bond, which will cost the owner of a $200,000 home about $19 a year.

Read the entire article . . .