Category Archives: Commentary

Larry Wilson: North Fork roads, weeds and toilets

Commentary, News, , ,

Larry covers a lot of territory in this week’s column. There’s lots of good information on pending road improvement and weed control projects, as well as a brief discussion of a …uh… tourist traffic related issue.

I think almost all North Forkers have been pleased with the use of federal and Flathead County funds on the North Fork Road from Camas Junction to Polebridge.

That work, done with a 50 percent Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) grant and 50 percent county funds, has provided a smooth, virtually dust-free corridor on the section of the road that has the most traffic in the summer.

County maintenance on the paved portion from Home Ranch near Coal Creek to Hay Creek Bridge has also helped. The RAC grant was approved in 2009 and most work was completed in 2010. Additional dust abatement was approved in 2010 and applied in 2011 with county matching funds.

Also, a 2010 grant was approved for an additional eight miles of gravel mixed with bentonite binder to be applied from Polebridge north…

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The devil’s in the details: Resolving state mineral rights in the North Fork Flathead Valley

Commentary, Environmental Issues, ,

From the most recent Headwaters Montana newsletter . . .

When Gov. Schweitzer and BC Premier Gordon Campbell signed the historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the North Fork Flathead River in February 2010 Headwaters Montana heralded that event as an “historic breakthrough”.  And indeed it was.  But like all signed agreements, the MOU was only a beginning.

Unless fulfilled (i.e. made concrete with legislation and other actions) the MOU and the protections it promised could be lost for another generation to fight…

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Time to fill out Waterton Park

Commentary, Environmental Issues, ,

Edwin Fields of Headwaters Montana has a significant op-ed in this week’s Hungry Horse News that is of particular interest to North Fork residents . . .

It’s late summer in Montana and thousands of locals and visitors from around the world have streamed into Glacier National Park every day. Make that Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. It’s an important distinction that illustrates just how special this place is.

Glacier Park is the U.S. side of the Peace Park. Waterton Lakes is on the Canadian side. But in 1932, the local Rotary Clubs of Kalispell and Cardston, Alberta, thought it would be a good idea to give the world its first International Peace Park. And after a lot of good-hearted work, they succeeded…

…Yet the case must again be made that Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is not yet complete. Just look at a map…

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Larry Wilson: Close call yet on fire danger

Commentary, News, ,

In his column this week, Larry Wilson discusses the fire season and getting ready for colder weather . . .

A few weeks ago, I wrote that it looked like there would not be much of a fire season on the North Fork. Like all politicians and most columnists, I did add a disclaimer – unless we have unusually dry weather. So far I am sticking with my original opinion. No big fire season on the North Fork in 2011. However, I’m going to expand on my disclaimer.

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Larry Wilson: History committee gearing up

Commentary, News, , ,

Larry Wilson’s column this week discusses the  recently-formed NFLA History Committee, tasked with preserving the history of the North Fork . . .

The North Fork Landowners Association has established a history committee, and their current project is to do oral interviews with North Fork old timers. It’s too bad the project cannot include original homesteaders of the area, all of whom have now passed over the Great Divide. Good thing is that today’s old timers knew the homesteaders.

That knowledge, coupled with the written interviews of homesteaders done by the Forest Service, Park Service and Hungry Horse editor Mel Ruder, should make a more complete picture of North Fork history from homestead days up to the 1960s.

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Larry Wilson: Fewer bear problems this summer

Commentary, Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

In this week’s column, Larry talks about the encouraging drop in bear-human conflicts this summer. . . .

I’m a little bit surprised that there have been so few grizzly bear problems this summer.

On Trail Creek, the huckleberry crop has been less than bountiful in the lower elevations, and this usually translates to more bear problems.

The two three-year-old sows that have been seen quite often have not caused any problems, and the big boar on Trail Creek has also been seen but, so far, has not been a problem.

I think there are several reasons for this, but the biggest is the fact that North Fork humans have become excellent guests in grizzly habitat.

Continue reading at the Hungry Horse News . . .

Common sense in wild country

Commentary, , ,

Timothy Egan posted an interesting “Opinionator” piece to the New York Times today titled “Nature Without the Nanny State.” It discusses the rising incidence of city-bred visitors ignoring common sense precautions when visiting national parks, sometimes with fatal consequences.

Here’s the meat of the piece . . .

More than ever, an urban nation plagued by obesity, sloth and a surfeit of digital entertainment should encourage people to experience the wild — but does that mean nature has to be tame and lawyer-vetted?

My experience, purely anecdotal, is that the more rangers try to bring the nanny state to public lands, the more careless, and dependent, people become. There will always be steep cliffs, deep water, and ornery and unpredictable animals in that messy part of the national habitat not crossed by climate-controlled malls and processed-food emporiums. If people expect a grizzly bear to be benign, or think a glacier is just another variant of a theme park slide, it’s not the fault of the government when something goes fatally wrong.

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Larry Wilson: North Fork groups elect new officers

Commentary, News, , ,

Larry Wilson discusses the recent organizational elections . . .

At first it seemed that summer would never arrive. It certainly took its own sweet time. June was cold and rainy, and it was cool and wet in July – we celebrated the anniversary of the Wedge Canyon Fire of 2003 on July 18 with a rainstorm.

All of a sudden it’s mid-August and already there are signs of fall. The huckleberry crop is waning, and the serviceberries are ripening. Just a note to Joe Novak – ripe serviceberries may be purple, but they are otherwise nothing like huckleberries.

All of the local organizations have held their annual elections…

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“Newcomer” recalls North Fork historical highlights

Commentary, History,

Patti Hart, editor of the NFNews site, ably standing in for Larry Wilson this week, adds a little context to the North Fork experience . . .

I’m new to the North Fork. Although I’ve been living on the North Fork for more than 11 years and have actually spent several winters here, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that I’m a newcomer.

That’s not to say that I’ve not learned a lot since arriving. I now know that wimpy city tires are a guaranteed way of getting a flat tire on the North Fork road, that locally-sourced game is the best meat in the world, that hummingbird feeders attract grizzly bears, and that diesel will fail to do its duty at 40 below.

I still have a lot to learn, however. For example, I don’t know the best method for getting rid of pests like ground squirrels and noxious weeds. And I still don’t understand how 20 or so otherwise rational adults can stand around at a party and discuss the relative merits of headlamps for an hour. As I said, still a lot to learn.

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