Yesterdays: Blister rust crews at work
Dale Pertie and Richard Deed tear out currant bushes in the Two Medicine region of Glacier National Park in August, 1950. The idea was to kill the bushes because they carried blister rust, which decimated five-needle pine trees in the park. The effort failed as blister rust was found to have other hosts than just currants.
70 years ago
Aug. 27, 1954
Glacier National Park was in its 10th year of a blister rust control program and at the time said it was a success in stemming the spread of the deadly fungus to the park’s five needle pines, like whitebark and limber pine. Crews tore out currant bushes growing near the pines, as they were hosts of the disease. But it turned out there were other hosts as well and the five needle pines in Glacier were largely decimated. Today, the effort is to plant trees that are resistant to the rust. But it takes 60 years to get a fairly productive tree.
60 years ago
Aug. 28, 1964
There were now 65 men working to repair flood damaged trails in Glacier Park. In addition, National Park Service Director George B. Hertzog was visiting the park and said staff had done a great job getting it open after the June flood.
50 years ago
Aug. 30, 1974
Back in the 1950s Glacier Park put trail shelters in certain locations in the backcountry of Glacier. That week they removed the metal shelter at 50 Mountain, as it was heavily damaged by the weather. Few shelters remain today in Glacier, though there is one at Gunsight Pass.
40 years ago
Aug. 30, 1984
Winds whipped up wildfires in the region and had burned about 18,000 acres total. The largest fire was the Houghton Creek Fire west of Kalispell, that burned 11,000 acres.
30 years ago
Aug. 25, 1994
The Howling Fire in Glacier’s North Fork was being allowed to burn and it was about 240 acres. It was a test of the Park Service’s new program to allow some backcountry fires to burn for ecological benefits.
20 years ago
Aug. 26, 2004
A bear park near West Glacier was shut down and the owner had it up for sale after a bear mauled one of the men working there. The Great Bear Adventure Park featured black and grizzly bears and used to say “Your car is your cage,” as people drove through the park.
10 years ago
Aug. 27, 2014
There were plans to conserve about 140 acres of open space along the Flathead River owned by Jeff Smith. But the deal fell through. The land today is for sale, and the Glacier Institute is a possible buyer.