Larry Wilson: Pertinent information to avoid pouting

Commentary, News, , , ,

Larry talks about the beginning of summer on the North Fork and what to expect in the way of activities . . .

The first North Fork Landowners Association meeting of 2012 was apparently not very well attended. This is not really unusual for June. After all, the majority of landowners are summer residents and not year-rounders. Most NFLA members will be arriving later this month. In addition, quite a few members traveled to the valley this year to attend high school graduations…

I don’t know how the social committee managed to fill so many dates for this summer’s fun activities. All of these activities are open to everyone, whether they are members or not. This creates a need for a subcommittee to make signs, which will be posted at the Polebridge junction and at Sondreson Community Hall. The signs will announce the next social activity and where and when to meet…

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Oh, never mind – Sun Road opening delayed until middle of next week

News, ,

Glacier Park got too much new snow. The opening of Going-to-the-Sun Road through Logan Pass has been delayed until the middle of next week . . .

Glacier National Park officials are now expecting the Going-to-the-Sun Road to open to Logan Pass by the middle of next week, the park announced Tuesday.

Officials originally hoped Logan Pass would become accessible later this week, but the recent snow has hampered plow crews clearing the road. A storm last weekend dropped roughly 10 inches of snow, prompting additional slides on the road, according to the park. Since Memorial Day weekend, a minimum of 35 inches of snow has fallen at the higher elevations of the road.

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Glacier Park still shooting for Friday Sun Road opening

News, ,

Glacier National Park still thinks it can have Going-to-the-Sun Road open this Friday, June 15 . . .

Glacier National Park officials say they’re hoping to open Going-to-the-Sun Road on Friday but much depends on the weather.

Businesses that rely on the road, meanwhile, are hoping they don’t see a repeat of last year when the road didn’t open until July 13.

“It’s all up to Mother Nature,” Glacier spokeswoman Denise Germann told the Great Falls Tribune. “We need her help to help move forward.” She said crews are working to open the road despite spring storms that brought 16 new inches of snow since Memorial Day. She said snow slides have also slowed progress, with crews even having to plow their way back through avalanches that came in behind them. Some avalanches on the west side of Logan Pass were up to 15 feet deep.

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Groups sue to stop Flathead National Forest thinning project

Environmental Issues, News,

Some organizations are suing to prevent a forest thinning project . . .

Environmental groups have sued to stop pre-commercial thinning work on the Flathead National Forest, raising arguments that are similar to those applied in two previous lawsuits targeting timber sales.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Wild Swan and the Native Ecosystems Council filed the lawsuit May 29 in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

It challenges a recently approved project that involves pre-commercial thinning on 3,650 acres spread across the Flathead Forest.

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Marker erected to commemorate Flathead’s 1964 flood

History, News, , , ,

Forty-eight years ago, the Flathead experienced a massive flood when something like a foot of rain fell over the Continental Divide. Last Thursday, the National Weather Service and the U.S. Geological Survey commemorated the event with a flood level marker at the foot of South Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls . . .

On Thursday afternoon, the Flathead River through Columbia Falls didn’t look that dangerous. Sure, it was a little high and a little muddy – normal for this time of year. But 48 years ago this month, there was no such thing as “normal.”

On June 7 and 8, 1964, 10 to 14 inches of rain fell over the Continental Divide. That rain, combined with melting snow, resulted in the largest flood to hit the Flathead Valley in nearly a century. On June 9, the Flathead River through Columbia Falls hit 25.58 feet; normal flood conditions are between 12 and 14 feet. That flood was commemorated on Thursday, when the National Weather Service and the United States Geological Survey erected a sign to note the high-water mark of that event at the end of South Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls.

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Larry Wilson: Red saplings aren’t dying

Commentary, News, , , , ,

Larry discusses what is causing a lot of young lodgepole pine to turn red, admires the work being done on the road and brings us up to date on NFLA activities . . .

Federal and state forestry offices and several retired foresters have been inundated with calls from concerned North Fork residents in the last couple of weeks.

Young lodgepole pine, regeneration from the Wedge Canyon and Robert fires of 2003 seemed to be dying. The saplings, mostly three feet in height or less, were turning red in large numbers and appeared to be dead or dying. Thus the many calls and visits to foresters.

From what I can gather, all the foresters agree. The disease is called Liphodermella needlecast and generally shows up one year after a moist to wet spring — like we had last year. Fortunately, it looks worse right now than it really is. Unless it occurs for an extended period, it seldom kills trees.

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Despite delays, Sun Road opening still planned for June 15

News, ,

According to the Hungry Horse News, Glacier Park still hopes to have Going-to-the-Sun Road open by June 15, despite recent weather delays . . .

Just a few weeks ago, Glacier National Park officials were hoping they’d have plows at Logan Pass by now. Mother Nature, however, had other plans.

Last week was marked by heavy rain, snow and poor visibility. Plows on the west side one day had to clear several snow slides that crossed the highway behind them just to get off the Sun Road.

But now the plows are close to Logan Pass. On the east side, crews should be pioneering a route through the Big Drift this week, and west-side crews should be at Logan Pass — they were at Oberlin Bend late last week, less than half a mile below the pass. Snow depths were 12 to 24 feet.

The Park is hoping to have the entire length of the Run Road open by June 15, if weather cooperates.

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Flood watch in effect through Thursday

Flood Information, News,

UPDATED

All this rain has caused the National Weather Service to post a flood watch through Thursday. They are looking for sharp rises in river levels, specifically for the North Fork and Middle Fork. At this point, the river level forecast data for Flathead County shows expected heights around flood level for the North Fork at the Canadian border during Wednesday-Thursday. (However, the actual river level readings are running well below the forecast.)

Here’s the official flood watch language:

Statement as of 9:45 AM MDT on June 06, 2012

… Flood Watch remains in effect through Thursday morning…

The Flood Watch continues for

* a portion of northwest Montana… including the following counties… Flathead and lake.

* Through Thursday morning

* excessive rainfall resulting from a strong storm system will impact northwest Montana… creating the potential for flooding.

* The Flathead river… including the North Fork and Middle Fork branches… could see dramatic rises in water levels that could cause them to reach flood stage in the next several days. Smaller streams are also at risk for higher flows.

North Fork offers more remote experience at Montana’s Glacier National Park

Travel Articles, , , , ,

Susan Gallagher did a nice Associated Press piece about the North Fork that is getting national and world-wide distribution today. Just for fun, the “continue reading” link below sends you to New Zealand to read the rest of her article . . .

The Blackfeet Tribe named the greater Glacier National Park ecosystem “the backbone of the world.” Use the park’s remote, northwestern entrance and the bumpy access road will have you feeling like you drove over each vertebra. But you’ll be grateful you made the trip.

For an out-of-the-mainstream take on America’s 10th national park, go to its northwestern expanse, the North Fork. It invites “a more self-reliant visitor,” the National Park Service says in its Glacier literature.

The North Fork doesn’t have the grand old lodges like those near Glacier’s principal gateways, but this piece of paradise isn’t without comforts. Rustic, marvelously tasty and memorable, they are in Polebridge, a mile (1.6 kilometre) from the park’s northwestern entrance. This off-the-grid community increasingly reliant on solar power is the hub for an area where the summer population numbers maybe a few hundred, up from five to 10 in the winter.

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