North Fork news

OK, it is summer even if not officially until later this month. It has to be summer if dust abatement is being done by the county. The most ever north of Polebridge thanks to increasing numbers of private landowners signing up for the county cost sharing program. In some stretches a mile or more has been done. This will not only reduce dust but it holds the dirt and small rocks in place so the road remains much smoother all summer. Now it would be nice if the Forest Service would join the program.

Adding the portions of the road by Wurtz rental and Ford would mean that most of the road from Whale Creek Road to Wurtz Hill would be dust-free which would help everyone but especially those folks trying to enjoy an outdoor fire at Ford and Wurtz.

As the river drops and clears, the floaters increase almost as fast as potholes on the road. The weather is still too cold for me and I cannot imagine the fishing is good, but the river is fast and that draws a lot of folks.

Speed and wind do help keep the mosquitoes off. I reported they were bad a couple of weeks ago and they are worse now, and if we get more rain, I expect they will get worse yet. It looks like we will have a long mosquito season.

Summer resident Dennis Groebe has been pretty darn sick this spring so we were all tickled that he and wife Carol were able to visit this week. We all hope he will be fully recovered soon.

The NFLA social schedule for this summer is mostly due to the winter work of Carol Groebe and it would not be fair to ask her to do it again. Anyone or any group that would be willing to work on the social committee for next year PLEASE contact me or Treasurer Chris Heitz in person or by writing to Box 1603, Columbia Falls, MT, 59912.

The summer Interlocal will be July 18th at Sondreson Hall hosted by the NFLA from 1 to 4 p.m. From 9:30 a.m. to noon will be the Firewise educational program. The NFLA will host lunch and lunch chairwoman Karen McDonough is asking local hunters to donate a pound or two of hamburger, which she and Chris Heitz will convert to a tasty treat. Everyone else should contribute something to the potluck lunch.

Also, anyone who has any concerns about county, state, or federal agencies and their North Fork activities should get them to Bill Walker or myself before the 4th of July. That way we can forward them to the appropriate agency and they will have time to prepare their response.

It may not come as a surprise but I would like to see toilet facilities at Sondreson Meadows. Some metal fire rings and picnic tables would be nice too. Maybe the USFS will so something before I start asking for roofs over the picnic tables.

What do you think?

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