Outdoor news
Fly fishing films
The 2015 Fly Fishing Film tour, featuring premier fly fishing films from around the world, will take place at Casey’s Bar in Whitefish on Thursday, May 21, at 7 p.m. with films from Iceland to the Florida Keys, and from Mongolia to Montana. Tickets are available at the door or at Lakestream Fly Shop for $12. Door and raffle prizes will be available. Proceeds will help benefit Casting for Recovery and Flathead Valley Trout Unlimited. For more information, contact Lakestream Fly Shop at 862-1298.
Whitewater festival
The 40th annual Bigfork Whitewater Festival will take place on the Wild Mile of the Swan River on Friday through Sunday, May 22-24. The upper portion of the race is an International Canoe Federation style slalom race with 15 to 20 gates on Class IV whitewater. For more information, visit online at www.bigforkwhitewaterfestival.com.
Bigfork triathlon
The Bigfork Whitewater Triathlon will be held on Monday, May 25, with a 4-mile paddle, 14-mile bike ride and 4-mile run from the Swan River Road Bridge to the Garden Bar in downtown Bigfork. For more information, visit online www.kalispellathleticclub.net.
Local geology
The Montana Wilderness Association will host a free class about the geology of Flathead Valley taught by Lex Blood, a geology teacher at Flathead Valley Community College who helped found the Glacier Institute. The 40-minute class followed by a stroll outside will take place at Lone Pine State Park in Kalispell on Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information or to register, visit online at www.wildmontana.org/walks.
Firewood cutting
The Hungry Horse Ranger District will open sections of the west-side Hungry Horse Reservoir Road for firewood cutting and gathering for about 12 miles from the dam to Lid Creek from May 26 through June 26. Gathering may still be restricted in areas clearly signed along the road. Permits cost $20 for four cords. For more information, call 387-3800 or visit online at www.fs.usda.gov/detail/flathead/passes-permits.
Photo talk
Japanese photographer Sumio Harada will be the guest speaker at Montana House, in Apgar Village, in Glacier National Park, on Saturday May 30, at 1 and 3 p.m. Reservations are required by calling 888-5393.
Outdoor classes
The Glacier Institute will kick off its 32nd summer by offering many educational courses and camps in Glacier National Park. Janet Paul Bones will lead “Spring Wildflowers” on June 12, Steve Wirt will lead “Orchids - Glacier’s Precious Beauties” on June 13, and photographer Tom Ulrich will lead “Glacier Up Close -Macrophotography” also on June 13. A course on the common loon will be offered on June 14, and the “Montana Master Naturalist Course” multi-day residential workshop will take place on June 12-16. For more information, visit online at www.glacierinstitute.org or e-mail register@glacierinstitute.org.
Road closure
The Spotted Bear River Road No. 568 will be closed to public use at milepost 0.2 for at least two days beginning June 3. The road provides access to the Beaver Creek Campground and several popular trailheads. A contractor will be installing a new culvert at this location. For more information, call the Spotted Bear Ranger District at 758-5376.
National Trails Day
The Bob Marshall Foundation will celebrate National Trails Day on June 6 with a family event at the Indian Meadows trailhead near Lincoln on the south side of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Volunteers will perform trail maintenance. The Foundation will join the Back Country Horsemen of the Flathead for a family event with horsepacking demonstrations, nature walks and Dutch oven barbecue and desserts. For more information, visit online at www.bmwf.org.
Park birding trip
Flathead Audubon and the Flathead Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society will host a birding trip along Coonsa Creek near the Firebrand Pass trailhead in Glacier National Park on Saturday, May 23. Wildlife biologist Steve Gniadek and botanist Betty Kuropat will lead participants through rich riparian habitat and look for wildflowers on the ridge. Meet at the Columbia Heights Park ‘n’ Ride at 7 a.m. to carpool and return about 2 p.m. To sign up and get more information, contact Gniadek at 892-7406 or e-mail grayjaybro@yahoo.com.
Wild Wings
The Montana Wild Wings Recover Center will hold its third annual “Wildlife Baby Shower” fundraiser at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 1 offices in Kalispell on Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is no admission charge, but attendees are asked to make a donation or bring items from the center’s wish list online at www.wildwingsrecovery.org. The event will feature the center’s raptors, a silent auction and catered food. For more information, call 406-249-7800 or e-mail montanabirdlady@outlook.com.
Fire lookouts
The Forest Fire Lookout Association will host Jeanne Kellar Beaty, author of the “Lookout Wife” at the Belton Chalet in West Glacier on Saturday, June 27, from 6 to 10 p.m. Published in 1953, “Lookout Wife” is about Beaty’s experiences staffing lookouts with her husband Chip on the Salmon National Forest in 1949 1950. The event is a fundraiser for the FFLA. Raffle tickets for the “Standing Watch” giclée are two for $5 or five for $10.
Muzzle loading for women
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will offer a muzzle loading and primitive skills workshop for women on June 13-14 as part of their Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program. Participants will experience an 1800’s style mountain man camp about eight miles west of Thompson Falls and learn to shoot a muzzle loader, throw tomahawks, cook in a Dutch oven and start a fire with flint and steel. The registration fee of $85 includes two nights camping and some meals. To register or for more information, contact Ginger Ward at 406-827-4597. Deadline is June 1.