NFLA

Radio, Moose, and Hallowat Fire updates

The following information about wildland fires in the Glacier View Ranger District was received on Thursday, September 3, from Ryan Butler, Acting Fire Management Officer for the district. Thanks, Ryan!

(Note that all these fires are south of Moose Lake and some distance west of the North Fork Road.)

Good Morning,

I wanted to reach out to the North Fork Community to give an update on several fires in the Hallowat/Big creek drainages. Below is a summary of the fires . . .

Hallowat Fire (See attached photo. The attached map shows location of all three fires)
Discovery date/time: 9/2/25 @1630
Location: Dead Horse Ridge in the Big Creek drainage, Glacier View RD.
Size: 3-5 acres

Status: Fire was called in by Huckleberry Lookout. The fire is located on the ridge top within the footprint of the 2001 Moose Fire. Terrain is steep, rugged, and remote with limited access for firefighters and equipment. Fuel type is grass, brush, dead and down logs, and standing snags. Firefighters from the nearby 2025 Moose Fire responded but were unable to engage due to fire behavior and limited access. Air Attack, one Type 2 helicopter, and one Type 1 helicopter responded and delivered buckets until dark on 9/2/25.

Trail #452 is within the area of active fire and should be avoided by the public.

Weather is forecasted to move to a cooler, wetter weather pattern. Based on this and the time of year and fire location, our strategy for the Hallowat fire will be to utilize natural barriers, and trails and roads as containment features. District firefighting resources will be on this fire for the foreseeable future or until we get a season-ending event.

*Note* Smoke from the Hallowat Fire has been visible from the summit of Big Mountain, as well as the summit webcam.

Moose Fire
Discovery date/time: 9/1/25 @ 1400
Location: ½ mile west of the junction of Rd 315 and Rd 316, Big Creek drainage, Glacier View RD.
Size: 1/4 acre

Status: Staffed with 8 firefighters and 1 type 4 fire engine. Fire has line around it and is contained. Expected to be declared out 09/05/25

Radio Fire
Discovery date/time: 9/2/25 @1100
Location: Approx. 1 mile NW of the radio tower on Big Mtn, Glacier View RD.
Size: 1/10 acre

Status: Staffed with 4 firefighters. Fire is contained. Expected to be declared out 09/05/25

Information from ‘Understanding the New Property Tax Laws’ presentation’

On Thursday, August 28th, at Sondreson Hall, State Representative Debo Powers gave a presentation on the effects of the recent revisions to Montana’s property tax laws. Debo concentrated on the residential aspects of the legislation, a considerable task in itself.

The full Montana Department of Revenue PowerPoint slide deck, including the more tightly focused material that Debo discussed, can be downloaded as a PDF here. (Debo only used the slides pertaining to residential property owners—slides 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.)

Additional information can be found at Montana’s “2026 Tax Information for Montana Property Owners” page.

Below are some photos of the event, including images of the more relevant slides.

Red Meadow & Moose Creek Roads construction updates

Red Meadow Lake, June 12, 2021 - W. K. Walker — Red Meadow Lake, June 12, 2021 – W. K. Walker

(August 26) Here’s the latest information on the construction work scheduled for Red Meadow and Moose Creek roads from Rob Davies, Hungry Horse-Glacier View District Ranger…

I do not have a lot of details, contractors sometimes are not very precise with the timing of their work, but this is what I know.

There are two separate contracts on Red Meadow Rd and Moose Cr.

One contract is operating now, brushing 2 side roads off the Red Meadow Road. The main Red Meadow will have a brush-cutter working both side of the road starting this Friday 8/29.

The other contractor will be installing 5 culverts on Red Meadow and one at the end of Moose Cr Road. That contractor had to shift priorities based on material delivery and went to complete another project. The latest info we have is this: He was planning on mobilizing this week and starting work next Tuesday, Sept 2nd after the long weekend.

I’ll share more details if and when I receive updates.

Foothills mule deer migration …and more

Individual mule deer migration route (HD 101), May 7 - May 22, 2025 - Montana FWP — Individual mule deer migration route (HD 101), May 7 – May 22, 2025 – Montana FWP

This just arrived from Ethan Lula, Wildlife Biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). The status of mule deer and other area large animal populations has been a hot topic at the past several Interlocal meetings. Ethan provides some insight, as well as a link to a wealth of additional information . . .

I just wanted to share a highlight from some of the ongoing wildlife research in the area. This past winter, as part of a region-wide effort designed to evaluate the use of remote cameras to estimate elk and deer abundances in forested habitat, FWP captured 3 elk, 9 mule deer and 9 white-tailed deer in HD 101. The map [above] is from an adult doe mule deer that was captured along Foothills Rd, and is currently spending the summer about 40 miles, as the crow flies, in BC. This is one of the farthest migrations FWP has documented in the area, and took about 20 days to complete (May 7 – May 22), crossing the width of the Whitefish Range and the North Fork of the Flathead River. Very impressive and serves as an important reminder that our “local” wildlife populations are influenced by factors and interconnected at much larger spatial scales than we often realize.

If you want to learn more about the large mammal monitoring project, here is a link to the website where you will find background info, a YouTube video, and the annual reports:
https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management/research/northwest-large-mammal-monitoring-project.

Press release: Culvert replacement projects begin on Red Meadow and Moose Creek Roads

Culvert replacement projects begin on Red Meadow Road 115 and Moose Creek Road 210C

Temporary traffic delays of up to four hours on Red Meadow Road

Kalispell, Mont., August 11, 2025 — Beginning as early as Tuesday, August 12, 2025, public access on Red Meadow Road (National Forest System Road 115) will have periodic delays to allow for a road and watershed improvement project. Between milepost 3.8 and 8.2, visitors can expect to encounter construction work with up to four hours delay every five hours to allow for the replacement of six culverts on Road 115. The culvert replacement project is expected to be completed in approximately two weeks, with a return to normal traffic patterns by the end of August 2025.

Between milepost 5.7 and 5.8, at the end of the Moose Creek Road (National Forest System Road 210C), one culvert will be replaced to improve water quality. This project is expected to be completed over the course of five consecutive days but will only temporarily impact public access to the terminus of the Moose Creek Road and access to Moose Creek Trail (National Forest System Trail 9).

For more information about the impacted road, please contact the Hungry Horse-Glacier View Ranger District office at (406) 387-3800.

North Fork bear report from Justine

Sow grizzly bear spotted near Camas in northwestern Montana. - Montana FWP — Sow grizzly bear spotted near Camas in northwestern Montana. – Montana FWP

Posted a few days to Facebook by Justine Vallieres, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Bear Manager, Region 1 . . .

Hey everyone, sorry it’s taken me so long to reach out, but I wanted to apologize for not being at the interlocal meeting as I had some things come up that week. I also was out of the state recently for a bit so I am finally getting around to reaching out.

I am currently research and augmentation trapping. I have traps up the Deadhorse and Coal drainage, and I am also trapping up Hay Creek. The road that connects Hay to Red Meadow is currently closed for research and augmentation trapping. The roads are signed, but wanted to give a heads up. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause!

As far as updates go for the interlocal meeting…we really did not have any conflicts up the North Fork this spring. It was just the normal reports of bears eating grass in yards. We know of at least one female with two yearlings and one female with three yearlings, and lots of individuals (to state the obvious), and also have one collared female for research up there.

There were no relocations of conflict bears up there this spring until last week. On July 25 there was an adult female relocated up whale Creek while I was away. She was caught on the east front near a cattle depredation, and was not the target bear. She is collared and has not been around homes.

That’s all I got for now! Thank you!