Astronomy Night and BBQ Next Friday Sep 25th (rescheduled from Sep 23rd)
Location: The Observatory 197 W Thunderbird Road
Time: 7:00pm
The fire pit will be going and we will provide dogs, burgers and s’more ingredients. Bring any sides or other things you want to throw on the grill! Bring warm clothes. Bring binoculars if you have them – you will be able to see another galaxy through them.
Constellation tour
The life of stars including our sun
Astronomy Q&A
Look at galaxies, nebula, and star clusters through telescopes
REMINDER: Sunday, October 11th is this year’s last NFLA general membership meeting. We will, as we have for the past 16 years, be collecting non-perishable food items for distribution to the local food banks. This year, donations will go to the Veteran’s Food Pantry. If you can’t make the meeting, you can give items to someone who plans to attend.
A transcript of the September 2026 “Coffee with Larry Wilson” event is now available on the History Day Gatherings Page! (Scroll to the bottom of the page to find this most recent interview with Larry.)
Begun in 2024, this is the tenth in a series of History Day gatherings, focusing on long-time residents and their experiences. Also completed this year was a session with Lynn and Bonny Ogle and another with Ray Brown. See the History Day Gatherings Page for the full list.
Flathead National Forest is starting to clean up the aftermath of last December’s major wind event. In the North Fork, this includes salvaging 110 acres of downfall in the area where Coal Creek enters the North Fork Flathead River.
This just in courtesy of Stephen Houser, Assistant Fire Management Officer – Fuels, for the Flathead Forest’s Hungry Horse-Glacier View Ranger District . . .
Thunderstorms on Saturday 8/22 and Sunday 8/23 have resulted in three new fire starts in the Nortk Fork drainage recently. See below for an update on our response to these fires: Continue reading Late August North Fork Fire Activity
Audio and a transcript of the August “Coffee with Rob Fisher” event is now available on the History Day Gatherings Page!
Begun in 2024, this is the ninth in a series of History Day gatherings, focusing on long-time residents and their experiences. Also completed this year was a session with Lynn and Bonny Ogle and another with Ray Brown. See the History Day Gatherings Page for the full list.
Grizzly bear leaving a culvert trap in a hurry, Aug 2, 2026 – Justine Vallieres
A note from Justine Vallieres, Montana FWP Region 1 Bear Manager . . .
Hey folks, I just wanted to give an update as I’ve had a couple people reach out with questions about seeing traps up the North Fork recently.
On Sunday August 2, I released two 2 year-old grizzly bear sisters at the end of Whale Creek. I caught them preemptively in Columbia Falls, as I wanted to get them out of town to avoid them potentially running into trouble. I had originally caught them as cubs of the year two years ago with mom getting into unsecured chickens and because there was so much snow at that time release sites were limited so I released them in Moose City. They denned in Canada and came out last spring. They made their way back to Columbia Falls last summer and mom dropped her collar in the Apgar Range. I never had any conflicts with any of them last summer or fall. Continue reading Two young grizzlies released in Whale Creek drainage
Audio and a transcript of July’s “Coffee with Ray Brown” event is now available on the History Day Gatherings Page! Begun in 2024, this is the eighth in a growing series of History Day gatherings, focusing on long-time residents and their experiences. Also completed this year was a session with Lynn and Bonny Ogle. See the History Day Gatherings Page for the full list.
Here’s the official word on Glacier Park’s effort to plug an old oil well near the head of Kintla Lake. From the press release . . .
Glacier National Park to plug historic oil well near Kintla Lake Temporary trail and wilderness campground closures expected through fall 2026
WEST GLACIER, Mont. [July 15, 2026] – Glacier National Park will begin work in late July to plug the historic Butte Oil Well at Kintla Lake. The well, which predates the establishment of the park, was selected for plugging after monitoring detected leaking gases. Work is expected to continue for several weeks and be completed in fall 2026.
The project will temporarily affect trail and camping access in the Kintla Lake area. The Kintla Lake Wilderness Campground is expected to be closed during helicopter operations and active construction, beginning July 27 and continuing through late August. Visitors should check Recreation.gov for current availability before planning overnight trips in the area.
The Kintla-Boulder Pass Trail along Kintla Lake will close intermittently during four days of helicopter operations. Initial flights are scheduled for July 27 and 28 between approximately 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Two additional days of helicopter operations will occur near the end of the project to remove equipment and materials that cannot be transported by boat. Those dates will be announced when available.
The frontcountry campground at Kintla Lake will be open for first-come, first-served camping during construction.
Visitors should also expect increased construction traffic along the Inside North Fork Road between Polebridge and Kintla Lake. Construction equipment and activities may temporarily affect views and natural sounds around the lake.
The project is being completed through the National Park Service’s Abandoned Mineral Lands program, which addresses historic mining sites and oil and gas well established before lands became part of the National Park System.
For information about the project and history of the Butte Oil Well, visit the park’s story map.
Audio and a transcript of last June’s “Coffee with Lynn and Bonny Ogle” event is now available on the History Day Gatherings Page! This the seventh in a growing series of History Day gatherings, focusing on long-time residents and their experiences. Also included have been sessions at the historic Ford Schoolhouse and the North Fork Hostel.
