From the Thursday, February 14, 2008 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

Line by line. Page by page. In a nearly three-hour long meeting, the Flathead County Planning Board had a give and take session with North Forkers on their neighborhood plan last Wednesday.

The conversation was a civil affair and in the end, it looks like the plan will see some tweaking, but not a major overhaul.

Part of the conversation centered on whether the plan is regulatory or advisory. Neighborhood plans, by design, are supposed to be a framework for zoning. The intent was to make them advisory and then having zoning that followed their direction.

But a recent Montana Supreme Court decision interpreted Flathead County’s neighborhood plans as regulatory — saying, in short, that if a neighborhood plan was more stringent than the zoning, then the county had to follow the neighborhood plan.

That throws the North Fork Neighborhood Plan for a loop in some instances, because the neighborhood plan has some subjective language — particularly when it comes to commercial development.

Read the entire article . . .

From the Thursday, January 17, 2008 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

By a 4-3 margin Wednesday, the Flathead County Planning Board voted against a recommendation for a new North Fork Neighborhood Plan, despite overwhelming support by North Fork residents.

Board members Randy Toavs, Gene Dziza, Mike Mowery and Rita Hall all voted against a motion to favorably recommend the plan to the county commissioners. All four had various reservations about the plan. Hall didn’t like the restrictions set forth on rental properties. Toavs questioned a sentence in the plan that asks the Forest Service to not issue any additional commercial rafting permits for the river, and Dziza questioned language regarding subdivisions. The four votes against the plan came after resident after resident stood up and said it was a good plan for the North Fork Community. The new plan really isn’t new at all. It draws from the original 1987 plan, an update from 1992, zoning laws set in 1998 and amendments done in 2003.

The plan “reflects the values and concerns of several generations,” said long-time North Forker Molly Shepherd, reflecting “consistent and coherent support for the North Fork zoning district.” “If you ever see a neighborhood plan that was created by the community, this is it,” said Larry Wilson, another long-time North Fork resident. Wilson recalled when work on the plan first started in 1984 ?some 25 years ago. “This is a community document that went step-by-step,” he said. But not all board members were convinced. Dziza in particular questioned a section on subdivisions that says “no subdivision should be allowed that would create a significant negative impact on the area.” He viewed that as too subjective.

Continue reading North Fork Neighborhood Plan voted down, 4-3 →

Chris Servheen, a frequent presence on the North Fork, is receiving an award for his conservation efforts. From the Friday, January 18, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

Chris Servheen, mammologist and wildlife biologist at the University of Montana and grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will receive the 2008 George B. Rabb Conservation Award Jan. 29 from the Chicago Zoological Society.

The following evening Servheen will present a lecture entitled “Grizzly Conservation” at the Brookfield Zoo’s Discovery Center. The CZS manages the zoo.

Servheen is being recognized for his 30 years of significant work in grizzly bear conservation efforts centered primarily in the Misson Mountains and northwestern Montana wilderness areas.

Read the entire article . . .

From the Friday, January 4, 2008 online edition of the Missoulian . . .

Lake County Republicans and Democrats have agreed to agree on something other than dates and times for candidate forums.

In what the county chairmen for both parties say may be an unprecedented move, the two sides have come together to craft a joint resolution expressing