Yesterdays: Rare fisher caught in trap
Tearing down the Talbott School, July, 1973. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
Jan. 2, 1953
Teenagers Billy Bertino and Alfred Gardner posed on the front page with a bobcat they shot while hunting along the railroad tracks near the new Anaconda Aluminum Co. plant site. The first shot missed as the cat ran through the brush, but the second shot with a .22 rifle found the mark.
60 years ago
Jan. 4, 1963
Noted Martin City trapper Ray Belston live-trapped a rare fisher near Desert Mountain in one of his pine marten traps. The fisher was likely offspring from an effort to reintroduce the species to the area near Holland Lake from animals that were caught in British Columbia. Fisher continue to be very rare today.
50 years ago
Jan. 5, 1973
Flathead National Forest Supervisor Ed Corpe commended Plum Creek Timber Co. for not building additional roads into the Morrison Creek drainage. The company backed off plans for more roads after it was determined there was a high likelihood of landslides. Morrison Creek is part of the Great Bear Wilderness today.
40 years ago
Jan. 6, 1983
The Superior Mill in Columbia Falls was bought by Plum Creek vice president Ron Perry. Perry resigned his post from Plum Creek to buy the mill from Paul Dowler and Fran Guest. Like many former mills, it no longer exists in Columbia Falls today.
30 years ago
Jan. 7, 1993
The Environmental Protection Agency wouldn’t sign off on an air pollution plan for the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant until the company provided better data on what it was actually discharging.
20 years ago
Jan. 2, 2022
An El Nino winter, which meant less snow overall than average, had folks worried. Big Mountain ski resort said the number of skiers was down due to lack of snow. The Mountain States Legal Foundation lost a case challenging Montana’s Stream Access law. A federal appeals court ruled the state law did not deprive landowners of their property rights.
10 years ago
Jan. 2, 2013
Christina Mark, a former foreign exchange student from Germany who lived in Columbia Falls, was charged with falsely reporting a rape. The evidence didn’t add up after the alleged assailant proved he was in Seattle at the time of the incident. Mark had made false rape claims in the past as well when she was in high school.