Larry Wilson: North Fork Road lake filled in

Commentary, News, , ,

In this week’s column for the Hungry Horse News, Larry Wilson discusses the condition of the North Fork Road (much improved) and recent activities at Sondreson Hall (very successful) . . .

The river continues to run high and muddy, but so far no real damage from flooding. In my view, every day that passes makes a major flood less likely. I would not say a flood is impossible, but I sure think the chances are a lot less likely than they were two weeks ago.

The road is also better. Flathead County crews worked last week to at least mitigate the problems. Wurtz Hill was smoothed out somewhat, and the lowest slumps were evened out so that all of the ledges are gone and the hill is passable for passenger cars, but it’s still rough and drivers need to go slowly.

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Glacier Park wildlife viewing improvements move forward

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The east side of Glacier Park is due for some improvements. From today’s Missoulian . . .

The Many Glacier Valley is as well known for its stunning wildlife viewing opportunities as the Statue of Liberty is for its green patina.

For that reason, Glacier National Park administrators were pleased with the outcome of a recent environmental analysis, which found that a project to improve wildlife viewing vantage points in the Many Glacier area will have no significant impact.

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More facilities open at Glacier Park; lots of plowing left to do

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From the Glacier Park weekend update . . .

Park Officials announced the opening of more services and roads for the summer season. Currently, there are over 90 miles of road open within Glacier National Park which access all areas of the park, with more services opening every week. The road into Cutbank Creek opened on Thursday, June 9 and the campground is scheduled to open on June 17. Avalanche Campground and Rising Sun Motor Inn opened on June 10. Saint Mary boat tours also began operation on June 10.

With an unusually heavy snowpack, park officials are striving to set reasonable and safe goals for openings and have announced a few delays. Sperry Chalet will delay opening from July 8 to July 15, due to significant, lingering snowpack. Two Medicine boat trips will delay opening until conditions warrant. Many Glacier, Two Medicine, and Cutbank Campgrounds will open June 17, at the earliest. These dates are based on current conditions and may be adjusted as conditions warrant.

Plowing continues on the Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road). Initial plowing has been complete to the Big Bend, five miles beyond the Loop, on the west side. Crews are encountering drifts between 10 and 20 feet. On the east side, crews are plowing the No Stump Point area, approximately one mile beyond Siyeh Bend. There is no date set for when the upper section of the Sun Road will be cleared for across park travel.

On the west side, there will be a hiker/biker restriction at Packer’s Roost, six miles beyond Avalanche Creek on Saturday, June 11 due to construction…

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Related reading: Crews still plowing Going-to-the-Sun Road

Western Montana rivers to stay within inches of flood stage

Flood Information, News, ,

Looks like area rivers will run full but more-or-less within their banks for the next few days.

Here’s an overview of the situation from the Missoulian . . .

The 2011 flood season will go on hold for a few days while Mother Nature decides what to do next.

Most western Montana rivers passed their peak rise on Friday and were forecast to hold steady within a few inches of their initial flood stage, National Weather Service meteorologist Bruce Bauck said.

Those hydrographs should stay flat through the middle of next week as a cool, wet weather system moves across the state.

Unfortunately, that means the remaining mountain snowpack will remain a while longer, leaving the potential for future runoff surges…

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New West runs feature on North Fork Watershed Protection Act

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

Online media publication New West ran a feature Wednesday on the North Fork Watershed Protection Act, including some nice local quotes from NFPA President John Frederick . . .

An ongoing effort to protect a shared river drainage on the Montana-Canada border from mining damage will not inhibit recreational users, hunters or logging activity, Montana’s senior senator promises.

According to a statement from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, the North Fork Watershed Protection Act would solidify an agreement between Montana and British Columbia to prohibit new mining and energy exploration in the million-acre northern Flathead River basin, which extends across the Canadian line.

Continue reading “U.S.-Canadian ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ To Protect Montana River” . . .

Area river levels drop but peak flows ahead

Flood Information, News, ,

By and large, local rivers crested just below flood stage after the last bout of wet weather. However, higher flows and river levels are likely as the weather continues to warm.

Today’s Daily Inter Lake has a write-up . . .

Although most area river levels have dropped, the National Weather Service is maintaining a flood warning for the Whitefish and Stillwater rivers into Saturday and a meteorologist warns that there are more peak flows to come on Northwest Montana waterways…

Most Northwest Montana rivers, including the North Fork, Middle Fork and main stem Flathead rivers, rose close to flood stage on Wednesday but flows have declined since then. …these are not peak flows for the spring runoff. Because of the persistent water-loaded snowpack, there can be more and higher peak flows in the weeks to come.

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Rising water forces closures at several Flathead National Forest access sites

Flood Information, News,

From today’s Missoulian . . .

Rising water levels on the Flathead River have forced closures at several access sites in the Flathead National Forest, U.S. Forest Service officials announced Wednesday.

The closures went into effect at access sites at West Glacier and Blankenship Bridge, while some sites at Big Creek Campground near the North Fork of the Flathead River, north of Columbia Falls, were also closed.

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Flathead rivers fall just short of flood stage

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From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

While many residents across western Montana were waking up to raging rivers, those in Flathead and Lincoln counties had pretty much dodged the bullet.

By Thursday morning, no rivers in Northwest Montana had reached flood stage, as was predicted by the National Weather Service in Missoula on Wednesday afternoon. As a result all flood advisories had been lifted for both counties, with the exception of a river-specific warning on the Stillwater, according to meteorologist Jessica Nolte.

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Plenty of rain falls, but local rivers stay below flood stage

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So far, so good. It appears the North Fork is staying within its banks and the same is holding true for the general area.

From today’s Daily Inter Lake . . .

In spite of Wednesday’s rainfall, rivers in Flathead County remain inside their banks, the county’s emergency services director said late Wednesday afternoon.

Scott Sampey said water conditions didn’t change much between Tuesday and Wednesday. The North Fork was up a bit Wednesday and running muddy. The Middle Fork at West Glacier was up and the main Flathead River had risen near action stage, Sampey said.

“It could be that someone along any of these rivers gets flooded,” he said. But no county rivers are at flood stage yet, he said.

With more rain in the forecast for the next week, rivers should stay high, he said, but lower temperatures at the same time will prevent mountain snowpack from melting quickly.

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