Outdoor news

Forest road closure

Grave Creek/Trail Creek Road No. 114 will be closed to motorized use at milepost 14.1 from Aug. 20 through Sept. 6 so the Kootenai National Forest can replace a bridge there. The closure will affect traffic crossing the Whitefish Range from the North Fork to U.S. 93. The site is about 150 feet east of the junction with Therriault Lakes Road No. 319 and about 2.2 miles west of the Flathead National Forest boundary. The closure will not affect access to the campgrounds at Big and Little Therriault Lake using the Grave Creek Road access off U.S. 93 south of Eureka. For more information, visit online at www.fs.usda.gov/kootenai and www.fs.usda.gov/flathead.

Round-up for the Park

Customers at Smith’s Food and Drug in Columbia Falls can round up their bills to the next higher dollar through August with the change going to the Glacier National Park Conservancy for its Transporting Kids To Glacier National Park program. Smith’s Neighbor To Neighbor Foundation will match whatever is raised up to $2,000. For more information, call the Conservancy at 892-3250.

SNOW Bus

The annual Brewfest on Big Mountain to raise money for the SNOW Bus will take place at Depot Park in Whitefish on Saturday, Aug. 24, from 3 to 7 p.m. with local microbreweries on hand and live music by David Boone. Tickets are $20 advance and $25 at the door.

Hunter ed

Online registration is now open for Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ free hunter education course in Columbia Falls at http://fwp.mt.gov. Click Hunter Ed Schedule and follow directions to register. Registration will close Aug. 25. All registered students and their parents must attend the orientation at the Columbia Falls Fire Department on Aug. 28 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Students must bring signed consent and code of ethics forms. Students will receive manuals at orientation. Classes will be held at Columbia Falls High School from 7-9 p.m. on Sept. 12, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 26, and 30. Field day will be held Sept. 28.  The schedule can be found at the online registration site. By state law, anyone born after Jan. 1, 1985, must have completed the Hunter Education Course to buy a hunting license in Montana. For more information, contact lead instructor Wade Fish at 862-6359 or the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 1 office at 752-5501.