Outdoor news
St. Mary Visitor Center reopened
An early morning incident on July 24 involving the furnace at the St. Mary Visitor Center in Glacier National Park triggered the building’s sprinkler system. A furnace malfunction may have started a fire. Water damage to the building, its contents and some utilities forced the visitor center to be closed until the next day when it reopened.
Outdoor photo contest
The Montana Wilderness Association will offer $1,000 in prizes in its sixth annual Picture Wild Montana outdoor photo contest. Categories this year will be divided by the seven MWA chapter areas to help promote regional chapters, specific landscapes and campaign areas. The focus this year is the importance of family (especially children) in the outdoors. Winning photos may be published in MWA’s 2015 calendar or other MWA publications. Photos can be submitted online at http://wildmontana.org from Aug. 15 to 31. Qualifying photos will then be displayed online, and the winners will be determined by popular vote online. For more information, visit wildmontana.org/photocontest on Aug. 15 or call Amanda Hagerty at 406-443-7350 ext. 108.
Kids fishing camp
Glacier Institute staff will lead a Woolly Bugger Fly-Fishing Camp for youths 11-14 at the Big Creek Outdoor Education Center up the North Fork on Sunday through Wednesday, Aug. 3-6. Check in time is 4 p.m. on Aug. 3. Youths will learn about aquatic sciences and fly-fishing, with sessions on casting, angler ethics, insects and fish biology and visits with local fishing experts and biologists. Cost is $200 per person and includes all meals, lodging, fly-fishing equipment and educational programs. Youths will need a current fishing license. Register by calling 406-755-1211 or online at www.glacierinstitute.org.
North Fork trails
The North Fork Trails Association, a newly formed group of volunteers, recently organized in the North Fork to help maintain trails on the Flathead National Forest. So far they’ve taken on Trail 4 in the Coal Ridge-Hay Creek drainage, but they’re looking at projects further north. Interim chairman Bill Walker says they need more volunteers and equipment. They have a chainsaw and several 1988-vintage pulaskis. To contact him, e-mail wkwalker@nvdi.com.
Flathead Lake open house
The University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station will host a free open house on Tuesday, Aug. 5, from 1 to 5 p.m. with boat trips through the afternoon, scientific displays about Flathead Lake and its watershed and an opportunity to talk with researchers about their work. UM mascot Monte will entertain with his acrobatics and unpredictable antics from 1:30 to 3 p.m. The MacCarters of Montana Wild Wings Recovery will display live raptors. Biological Station director Jack Stanford will deliver a presentation on “Threats to the integrity of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem” at 3:15 p.m. For more information, visit online at http://flbs.umt.edu or www.facebook.com/UMFLBS or call 406-982-3301.
Fish project
A Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks fish habitat enhancement project is underway in the South Fork of Coal Creek. The tributary of the North Fork of the Flathead River was degraded by past land management practices. More than two dozen large woody structures will be placed in the stream channel to create spawning and rearing habitat for bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. Logs for the project were harvested from the nearby 2006 Sun Dog Fire using sawyers, a helicopter and a spider backhoe to minimize impacts on the landscape. Pre- and post-project monitoring will allow biologists to evaluate the project, which is funded through the Bonneville Power Administration’s fisheries mitigation program.
Bear fair
Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and the Montana Outdoor Legacy Foundation will host the 2014 Bear Fair at the Northern Lights Saloon, in Polebridge, on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. featuring presentations by wildlife biologists, bear spray demonstrations, electric fencing tutorials, bear proof storage, educational booths and a free lunch will be provided. In the past, more than 200 people have attended this event. The family-friendly event will provide a good opportunity for the public to learn about Montana’s bears and how to responsibly live in bear country. For more information, contact FWP grizzly bear conflict technician Lindsey Stutzman at 406-212-1803 or Lindsey.a.stutzman@gmail.com.
Forest Plan modeling
The Flathead National Forest will host an open house on “Use of vegetation modeling in forest planning” on Tuesday, Aug. 12, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Flathead National Forest Supervisor’s Office, 650 Wolfpack Way, in Kalispell. Members of the Forest Plan revision team will present some preliminary outputs and answer questions about the computer-based analytical modeling processes used to evaluate vegetation conditions across the Flathead Forest. Key questions required as part of the Forest Plan revision are: What did the landscape look like in the past? What is the desired future condition? What are the expected trends in the future? How might management activities influence the future landscape? For more information, contact Forest Plan revision team leader Joe Krueger at 406-758-5243.
Big Mtn. run
The Glacier Nordic Club will hold its 32nd annual 3.8-mile long Big Mountain Run on Saturday, Aug. 9, at 10 a.m. starting at the Danny On trailhead at Whitefish Mountain Resort and ending at the summit. Runners will compete for the title King and Queen and Prince and Princess of the Mountain. Dogs, with a runner, will compete for Dam and Sire of the Mountain. Registration will be held from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Cost is $15 per individual, $35 per family, $8 for 16 and under. For more information or to register, visit online at www.glaciernordicclub.com.
Grinnell Glacier course
The Glacier Institute will offer an educational hike to Glacier National Park’s Grinnell Glacier on Tuesday, Aug. 5, starting at the trailhead at the Many Glacier picnic area at 8 a.m. Jeff Kuhn will be the instructor on the all day trip to one of the most easily observed indicators of climate change in the Lower 48. Participants will learn glacial terminology and features and about the billion-year-old Precambrian bedrock geology that dominates Glacier Park. This is a moderate to strenuous 11-mile hike with about 1,800 feet elevation gain. Register by calling 406-755-1211 or online at www.glacierinstitute.org. Cost is $75 per person.
RAC proposals
The Flathead County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) is currently requesting project proposals for possible funding from federal grant dollars through Title II of the Secure Rural Schools program. About half the funding will be granted to road, trail and watershed projects. Previous projects have included forest thinning, tree planting and forest health activities; road improvements and dust abatement; noxious weed control activities; trail improvements; recreation and maintenance projects; and enhancement of wildlife and fish habitat. Project forms are available online at https://fsplaces.fs.fed.us/fsfiles/unit/wo/secure_rural_schools.nsf/RAC/Flathead+County. Deadline is Aug. 15. For more information, call 758-5252 or e-mail ewmuehlhof@fs.fed.us.