2005, a year in review

5:

€ Sen. Max Baucus is credited with securing $50 million for the Going-to-the-Sun Road reconstruction. The funds will not only go toward fixing the ailing highway, but will also pay for a shuttle system to ease traffic during road construction. Crews, meanwhile, wrapped up reconstruction near the West Side Tunnel and Triple Arches. While the funding doesn't cover the entire cost of the $120-to $140 million project, supporters say it goes a long way to getting the job done. The bulk of the reconstruction will start in 2007. Glacier hiked its entrance fees for 2006 and beyond by $5 for vehicles. That will make the shuttle service free.

€ On Aug. 25, two park hikers, Johan and Jenna Otter of Escondido, Calif., were attacked by a sow grizzly who had cubs with her after the couple surprised the bear on the Grinnell Glacier Trail. The man and his daughter also fell down a cliff face below the trail. The bear bit Mr. Otter the most, who suffered severe bites wounds and a broken neck. His daughter suffered a facial laceration and other wounds.

€ The housing boom continued in Columbia Falls. With all the city platted for development, the city now looked outside its borders for new growth. It passed a Growth Policy in December - a blueprint that converts farmland outside the city limits on the east and west ends to urban development. Several tracts, particularly in the River Road area have already sold to developers. Also, in Hungry Horse, the Forest Service sold just over 90 acres of land and the old Hungry Horse Ranger Station for $2.38 million. The land will likely become more residential development.

€ It was a record dry winter. Folks could hike to places in Glacier National Park, like the Two Medicine Valley, in January. June however, was a very wet month, with about 7 inches of rain in West Glacier.

€ From natural gas to gasoline, high energy costs made headlines. Gasoline topped $3 a gallon for a while, but has now settled down to about $2.10 a gallon here. Natural gas prices soared and are sure to be higher in 2006 as well.

€ In February, President Bush visited Great Falls to tout his plan for Social Security reform. While the crowd was happy to see the President visit the state, his plan went over like a lead balloon with most seniors.

€ The prospects for a coal mine in the Canadian Flathead continued to loom large. The Cline Mining Co. is eyeing a mine in the Foisey Creek drainage. The mine will undergo an extensive review, Canadian officials announced. U.S. interests are worried about the mine's impact on water quality here, as any pollutants would ultimately end up in the North Fork of the Flathead and in Flathead Lake.

€ Columbia Falls hired Bob Webber of Wrightwood, Calif., became the city's second paid fire chief.

€ In passing … Kalispell and Glacier National Park artist Joe Abbrescia died of cancer. He was 68. North Valley Search and Rescue President Jack Thompson died of cancer. Longtime public servant and all around community character Linc France died. Columbia Falls coaching legend Larry Schmautz died in June. Gabriel Brown, 21, drowned in the South Fork of the Flathead below the dam after he went for a swim in the Devil's Elbow and was caught by the current. Community leader Vic Darling died in August. Noted Glacier Park mountaineer Jane Edwards died in October. She was 54. Whitefish native Dennis Brooks drowned in McDonald Creek Nov. 21 after he slipped on the rocks and fell in. His mother said he loved the Park and always visited when he returned home. Brooks made his home in Everett, Wash. Musician Paul Lawrence died. He was 78.

€ A final report on a wilderness plane crash that killed two Forest Service employees, Davita Bryant and Ken Good and contract pilot Jim Long, determined that Long had simply made a wrong turn into the wrong drainage when he flew into Mount Liebig.

Forest Service employees Jodee Hogg and Matthew Ramage survived the September 20, 2004 crash. The report questioned Long's experience in backcountry flights and also noted the weather was bad when the accident occurred. There were numerous thunderstorms in the area the day of the crash. The crew were headed to the Schafer Meadow airstrip.

€ Martin and Penny White of Whitefish were killed May 3 when their plane crashed in the Jewel Basin.

€ It was a great year in Glacier National Park for tourist traffic. There were no major wildfires and Logan Pass opened May 22 - the second earliest ever. Park visitor numbers, however, flattened out in September, probably due to high gasoline costs. Still, most businesses reported having good years.

€ A rare bird for Glacier, the northern hawk owl, set up shop in several North Fork locations. The owls were likely drawn to the park by past wildfires, which made for better vole habitat and created cavity nesting trees for birds. Glacier is the southern end of the owls' range. The birds hunt both day and night and have a beautiful trill rather than a typical owl hoo-hoo.

€ A black bear went after a family in May near Avalanche Creek in Glacier and was eventually killed by Park rangers. The children hid under the car while the bear swiped at them. In June, Park rangers shot two-camp robbing black bears at Elizabeth Lake. The bears were raiding breakfast feasts prepared by hikers.

€ Veteran Bill Schulte, with the help of donors, was able to see his dream realized for a Veterans memorial Wall in Columbia Falls. The wall was finished in May in time for Memorial Day.

€ In January, Coram native Sam Kavanagh suffered a severely broken leg after he was caught in an avalanche while backcountry skiing in the Centennial Mountains. Kavanagh survived the ordeal after a dramatic rescue, but his leg had to be amputated below his knee. Kavanagh now lives in Bozeman.

€ The Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. celebrated its 50th year.

€ A Sept. 10-11 snowstorm dumped as much as two feet of snow in Glacier's high country and several inches down as a low as the Camas Road. The snow all melted and October was actually a very pleasant month.

€ In October, North Valley Hospital secured Housing and Urban Development backing for a loan to build a new hospital on Highway 40. The hospital construction is now well underway.

€ Developer Robert Spoklie of Kalispell proposed expanding a gravel pit not far from the border of Glacier National Park off Belton Stage Road. He dropped plans for an asphalt plant there after neighbors protested. The Flathead County Planning Board recently OK'd the mine, but he has to expand in 2-acre increments and reclaim each plot as he goes. The future of the mine is ultimately up to the county commissioners, who will hear arguments for and against next month some time.

€ A North Fork man was shot and killed by his wife after a family dispute Nov. 7. Rebecca Haag allegedly shot her husband Stanley Haag, 60, once with a .44 caliber pistol. Mr. Haag allegedly was going to burn down the couple's Trail Creek cabin. Mrs. Haag faces deliberate homicide charges in the case.

€ The state Legislature passed a school funding measure that boosts statewide funding for schools by about $71 million. The funding fix got a decidedly mixed review and passed on party lines for the most part, with Democrats holding a majority.