Nork Fork newcomers

Every once in a while, someone tells me the North Fork is special because all of the wildlife that ever lived here is still present. Every once in a while, I have to point out that they are mistaken.

Mountain sheep (bighorns) and goats used to live here, but have been gone for years. The last goats were poached right after World War II and bighorn sheep just seemed to fade away.

There are newcomers though, at least to me. Several years ago, I saw turkey buzzards soaring down by Red Meadow Creek, and since then I have seen them circling the sky above Trail Creek. Last year I saw them in a tree near Hart’s. All of Northwest Montana is within their normal range, so maybe they have always been here and I just did not see them.

Same thing with red foxes. Joe Franchini took some really good photos of a red fox several years ago north of my cabin. Since then they have become almost common. For a couple of years, a litter was raised under a barn at Polebridge. Others have been seen up and down Trail Creek, and several folks, including my son Dave, have taken good pictures.

Finally, last year we started seeing turkeys. First, Tom and Betsy Holycross saw turkeys near their place and so did a few others. I saw two hens on my property last summer and thought they were just outliers from the valley, and would either return there in the fall or would not survive a North Fork winter. I was wrong. At least one North Forker on Trail Creek, Becky Braunig, has had multiple sightings of a single turkey hen on her Trail Creek property this year.

A lone survivor of last year’s pair? A new addition from outside the area? We don’t know. I guess it could be either. Either way I guess we have a new menu choice for Thanksgiving and maybe a new resident.

Flathead County put mag chloride on the North Fork this week. As a result there should be little or no dust from Camas Junction to Polebridge. Earlier applications continued past Polebridge to the top of Vance Hill, but this year they stopped at the Polebridge junction and turned into the lane towards the Merc.

North of Polebridge, it seems more locals are taking advantage of the county cost share on dust abatement. The county pays 50 percent of the cost of mag chloride and they apply it just after the road is graded. Keeps the dust down and holds the fines in place which makes the road smoother all summer.

Too bad the Forest Service doesn’t sign up for this near their roadside rentals at Ford and Wurtz. Maybe we should ask the Forest to give us an accounting of how they spend the rental income. What do you think?

Larry Wilson’s North Fork Views appear weekly in the Hungry Horse News.