U.S. Highway 2 is going to be closed while crews deal with the approaching Sheep Fire . . .
Authorities closed a section of U.S. Highway 2 near Essex on Thursday to provide safe access for firefighters battling the Sheep Fire, a 232-acre blaze that has grown to within 1 mile of the highway and river corridor near the southern boundary of Glacier National Park.
There are no evacuation orders, but Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry and his deputies notified 106 residents in and around Essex that they must prepare to leave and recommended they begin loading their cars immediately, Flathead County emergency information officer Jennifer Rankosky told the Associated Press. Forty-two people were home and notices were left at the rest of the homes…
The highway closure was announced Thursday afternoon for the seven-mile section of highway from milepost 178 to 185, from the Halfway Motel near Pinnacle on the west side to Bear Creek on the east side. A section of railway is also being closed. The highway and railway will reopen once conditions are safe, authorities say.
Chris Peterson has a very interesting article in this week’s Hungry Horse News about the ongoing study of Glacier Park’s mountain goats. It seems humans are an excellent source of salt . . .
Hike the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail in Glacier National Park during the summer and you’re almost assured to see a mountain goat.
The region is excellent goat habitat, notes University of Montana biologist and researcher Wesley Sarmento. But the goats are also drawn there for another big reason: Salt.
Sarmento currently has 22 goats fitted with radio collars from the Logan Pass area as part of a three-year-study of the iconic creatures.
The Wilderness Society weighs in on the issue of drilling leases in the Badger-Two Medicine region . . .
As the Blackfeet Nation’s leaders ramp up efforts to protect the Badger-Two Medicine area near Glacier National Park from oil and gas development, a nationwide conservation group has issued a report singling out the sacred region as a top priority for environmental safeguards.
The Wilderness Society’s 2015 edition of “Too Wild to Drill,” which identifies places the group believes should be off limits to energy development, featured the Badger-Two Medicine among three other lands deserving protection, including Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado’s Thompson Divide and Grand Junction region and Utah’s Bears Ears and lands near Desolation Canyon.
Flanked on the northwest by Glacier National Park, on the east by the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and on the south by the Bob Marshall and Great Bear Wilderness, the 130,000-acre Badger-Two Medicine is central to the cultural identity of the Blackfeet.
Thompson Fire in Glacier National Park backcountry, Aug. 16, 2015
Here are the highlights of the Thompson-Divide Complex evening update for Friday, August 17. The “Thompson-Divide Complex” is mostly the Thompson Fire, plus a couple of smaller ones just outside Glacier Park that the current incident management team is also handling now. Fire crews are stretched thin at present . . .
Containment: 0% Latitude 48.551, Longitude -113.613
Fire Update: The Thompson Fire, reported Aug. 9, is located in a remote south-central backcountry area of Glacier National Park about 15 miles east of the West Glacier entrance in the Thompson and Nyack drainages west of the Continental Divide.
Crews remained camped out and worked in the Nyack Creek drainage today. They did a burning operation to reduce fuels in avalanche chutes on the west side of the fire’s perimeter to contain the fire. Tomorrow they plan to do some cleanup of the burnout operation. Fire personnel in the Two Medicine and Cut Bank drainages will monitor for any fire that might cross to the east-side of the Continental Divide. The fire remains west of the Divide and poses no threat to communities around East Glacier and St. Mary.
The next chapter begins in the battle over the fate of the Solonex oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine region. The feds have, uh, decided to make a decision . . .
U.S. government officials plan to decide this fall whether to take steps to lift the suspension of an oil and gas lease on land sacred to Native Americans or to begin the four-month process of canceling it, according to court documents filed Monday.
The timeline for resolving the decades-old suspension of the lease in the Badger-Two Medicine area near Glacier National Park was created after a federal judge ordered the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to come up with a timeline to complete their review.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Solenex LLC sued to lift the suspension and begin drilling this summer on the 6,200-acre oil and gas lease it acquired in 1982. The suspension has been in place since 1993 while federal officials consider the environmental and cultural impacts.
Tyler McRae, Program Manager for the Big Creek Outdoor Education Center, passed along this announcement for a big “Celebrating History of the North Fork at Big Creek” event this weekend. Check it out if you’re interested in coming down to Big Creek on the 22nd of this month for a good BBQ dinner, some exchange of stories about the old days of this place, and/or breakfast, lunch, and some trail projects. There’s also a breakfast event Sunday morning.
Here are the highlights of the Thompson Fire evening update. No surprises, but some progress on the ground . . .
Fire Update: The Thompson Fire was reported at approximately 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. It is located in a remote south-central backcountry area of Glacier National Park about 15 miles east of the West Glacier entrance and 12 miles southwest of the Saint Mary entrance. The fire is burning in the Thompson Creek and Nyack Creek drainages west of Medicine Grizzly Peak where the Flathead and Glacier Counties border follows the Continental Divide. No structures have been lost or damaged to date and no injuries have been reported.
Crews worked in the Nyack Creek area today. A helitack crew worked on cooling any remaining hot spots around Upper Nyack Backcountry Patrol Cabin to provide additional structure protection. Other crews began constructing a wet line along avalanche chutes on the west side of the fire’s perimeter to contain the fire. This includes the use of helicopter water drops and pumps and hose lays on the ground. Fire personnel in the Two Medicine and Cut Bank drainages continued their structure assessment for possible protection if the fire were to cross the Continental Divide. They are also monitoring for any fire that might cross the Divide.
Although buffeted by winds on Friday, the fire remains west of the Divide and has not made any advance to the east. Without spread east of the Divide, the fire poses no threat to communities around East Glacier and St. Mary. Limited growth of the fire was seen on Saturday on the west side in Nyack Creek.
Weather will remain unsettled through Monday night with the passage of a weak disturbance. This provides an opportunity for afternoon thunderstorms and a slight chance of rain, especially along the Divide. A high pressure ridge will begin building on Tuesday through Thursday bringing warmer and drier conditions. This will bring increased fire spread on the ground with isolated tree torching. As fuels in the burn area dry, there will likely be an increase in smoke production that may be seen from local communities on both sides of the Divide.
From our friends at the National Parks Conservation Association . . .
Greetings, friends!
We’re planning a summer celebration of Glacier National Park’s North Fork, right on the riverbank the morning of Aug. 24.
Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines together will welcome Canada’s Consulate General Marcy Grossman to commemorate a truly historic transboundary and bipartisan alliance, forever protecting the communities and culture of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
Places such as Waterton-Glacier and the North Fork Flathead River Valley do not happen by accident. They are choices that we make together – choices such as the recent Canadian and US legislation that protects our North Fork heritage. Please join us to celebrate the priceless gift of many more summers on the river! We’ll bring the coffee.
Details and directions below…
Directions to Blankenship Bridge (for non-North Forkers):
Enter Columbia Falls on US Hwy 2
Turn north on Nucleus Avenue
Turn Right at the “T” intersection, onto Railroad Street
A cluster of wildland fires on the west side of the Whitefish Divide is now being handled as the “Northeast Kootenai Complex” under the control of Shawn Pearson’s Type II Incident Management Team. By far the largest fire in this group — and the one of primary interest on the North Fork — is the Marston Fire. Others include the Barnaby, Sunday, Weigel and Dunn blazes.
Information Officers: Claire Pitner, Katie Knotek, Tom Rhode & Meg Nemitz
Fire Information Line: (406) 882-8308
Office hours: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Email: northeastkootenaicomplex@gmail.com
INCIDENT: Northeast Kootenai Complex; The complex includes the Barnaby, Marston, Sunday, Weigel and Dunn Fires.
AGENCY JURISDICTION: USDA Forest Service, Kootenai & Flathead National Forests; Montana DNRC, Libby and Stillwater Units.
INCIDENT COMMANDER: Shawn Pearson, Northern Rockies Type II Incident Management Team (IMT). The Incident Command Post (ICP) is located at the Murphy Lake Ranger Station.
WEATHER & FIRE BEHAVIOR: Weather today will be similar to yesterday with cooler temperatures (mid-70s) and higher relative humidity (20-30%). This will continue to moderate fire behavior on all fires, with little to no fire growth expected.
MARSTON & BARNABY FIRES: The Marston Fire is estimated at 1,500 acres and the Barnaby Fire at 5 acres. Both fires are located near Eureka, MT on the Fortine Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest. Today on the Marston Fire, firefighters will continue work on a fuel break on the east side of Deep Creek. On the Barnaby Fire, a Hotshot crew will hike into the fire area to assess the situation and plan for future operations. No evacuations are currently in effect for either of these fires.
WEIGEL & DUNN FIRES: The Weigel Fire is approximately 100 acres and the Dunn Fire is 74 acres. Both fires are located near Libby, MT on the Libby Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest. Fireline has been established around the full perimeter of each fire. Today, firefighters will continue wetting along the fireline and into the fire perimeter.
SUNDAY FIRE: The Sunday Fire is approximately 150 acres and is located on the Tally Lake Ranger District, Flathead National Forest and Fortine Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest. Fireline has been constructed around a good portion of the fire perimeter. The focus today will be to snag hazard trees in the fire area before completing the remaining line construction.
PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES: 224 personnel, including 2 – Type 1 crews, 2 – Type 2 crews, 16 engines, 7 dozers, 3 feller-bunchers, 6 skidgons and 6 water tenders.
SPECIAL MESSAGES/CLOSURES: An area closure is in effect for the Marston Fire and is posted on Inciweb. A community meeting will be held tonight at the Trego Civic Center at 7:00 p.m.
