Outdoor news
Instructors honored
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will recognize hunter and bowhunter education instructors at the annual Region 1 instructor workshop at Flathead Valley Community College on Saturday, March 7. Forty-four instructors will receive service awards, including a 50-year award to Leonard Howke, of Whitefish; a 45-year award to Paul Murphy, of Columbia Falls; and a 10-year award to Garry Keys, of Columbia Falls. All hunter and bowhunter education instructors are volunteers. They provide safety, ethics and firearms and archery equipment handling training to young students across Montana. More than 300 instructors train about 2,000 students each year in Region 1.
Outdoor film festival
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation will host the Telluride Mountainfilm on Tour film festival at the O’Shaughnessy Center, in Whitefish, on Thursday, March 19, with doors opening at 6 p.m. for drinks, food and raffle tickets and films starting at 7 p.m. The highly-acclaimed film festival features documentaries on adventure, culture and conservation. All proceeds will go towards keeping trails open in The Bob, engaging youth in life changing backcountry experiences, and projects that preserve the heart of wilderness. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Tickets are available online at www.bmwf.org, at Rocky Mountain Outfitter in Kalispell and at Sportsman & Ski Haus in Whitefish. Raffle prizes include a guided pack trip in The Bob with WTR Outfitters, a multi-day fly fishing package with Spotted Bear Ranch, rafting trips with Glacier Guides, ski tickets to Teton Pass, weekend passes for the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, outdoor gear from Patagonia and Salomon, and a 5-day pack trip in The Bob from Swan Mountain Outfitters. For more information, visit online at www.bmwf.org or contact Jenny Cloutier at trails@bmwf.org or 406-387-3808.
Creston birding
Flathead Audubon’s premier birder Craig Hohenberger will lead a birding trip on Sunday, March 22, to view migrating swans, geese and ducks, as well as resident and early migrant songbirds, in the Creston area wetlands. Meet at the Creston School parking lot along Highway 35 at 10 a.m. to carpool. For more information, contact Gael Bissell at 406-261-2255 or gbissell535@gmail.com.
Hunter education
All students taking Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks hunter education classes must register online by visiting http://fwp.mt.gov and clicking on “Education.” Anyone born after Jan. 1, 1985 must complete the course to buy a hunting license in Montana. Students must be at least 11 years old. In Columbia Falls, all students must attend a brief mandatory orientation at the Columbia Falls Fire Hall on Tuesday, March 24, from 6-8 p.m. Students must have their permission slip. Classes will be held at the Columbia Falls High School from 7-9 p.m. on April 9, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 and 23. The field course will be held April 25. The test night will be April 27. For more information, call lead instructor Ray Garth at 862-9100.
Bowhunter ed
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will offer a free bowhunter education class in Columbia Falls with classroom sessions at the Teakettle Community Center on Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls on June 11 and 12 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and June 13 from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Field days for adults only will be held at the Flathead Valley Clay Target Club on Saturday, May 9, and Saturday, July 18, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All first-time bowhunters regardless of age must complete the course to purchase an archery stamp in Montana. Register online at www.fwp.mt.gov by clicking “Education.” For more information, contact instructor Dave Yeats at 892-4527.
Wild walk
Glacier National Park Volunteer Associates will host a talk by Chris Peterson called “A Walk on the Wild Side,” about a 200-mile hike retracing part of a 288-mile hike Bob Marshall took 86 years ago, at the Central School Museum in Kalispell on Monday, March 23, starting at 7 p.m.