Category: Committees

Square Dance at the Hall was fun

The first square dance of the summer season was a huge success. Bonny and Lynn Ogle opened the Hall on Saturday night and set everything up for a potluck supper. Following that, Debo Powers showed up to call the square dance after having climbed Stanton Peak. The Haverlandt’s brought some square dance friends from the Flathead Valley and they joined North Fork residents and visitors in an old fashioned square dance. Fun was had by all!

NFLA Business Meeting announcements

Two announcements were made at the NFLA’s June business meeting that will be of interest to North Forkers. First, the Board has decided that it’s time to refinish the floor in the Community Hall and is soliciting donations for this project. Their goal is to raise $5000 by the August 3rd meeting so that the work can be scheduled for September while the weather is still warm. Those who wish to donate are asked to make checks payable to the NFLA and send them to P.O. Box 1603, Columbia Falls, MT 59912 or give them to Bonny Ogle, NFLA Treasurer.

Second, due of some major conflicts, the NFLA Auction has been moved from Saturday, July 20 to Friday, August 2 at 8PM. The Auction Committee is soliciting services and worthy auction items (in other words no junk, please!). Donated items can be dropped off at the Hall on Friday, August 2 from Noon to 5PM. All proceeds from the auction will go toward the floor re-finishing project.

Fire Adapted Communities workshop

Jennifer Mayberry LaManna from FireSafe Montana says… Please join us in Libby Montana for the Fire Adapted Communities Workshop on Friday April 26th and Saturday April 27th, 2013. We are looking forward to some good presentations and discussions on how wildfire impacts a community. If you have any further questions you can email execdir@firesafemt.org or contact Ed Levert at 406-293-2847.

2013 FireWise Day

2013 marks the tenth anniversary of the Wedge Canyon Fire, which destroyed seven homes and twenty-nine outbuildings in the area between Whale Creek and Trail Creek.  54,400 acres burned.  The costs of suppressing the fire and protecting structures exceeded $50 million.

The NFLA’s Fire Mitigation Committee is planning a FireWise Day workshop to recognize the tenth anniversary of the Wedge Canyon Fire as well as the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Red Bench Fire.  The workshop will be held on July 10, 2013 from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Sondreson Hall, immediately preceding the Summer Interlocal meeting.

First, we’ll take a look at North Fork fire history, focusing in particular on the Wedge fire.  Then we’ll examine changes in the North Fork since 2003 that may affect fire behavior.  Finally, we’ll consider the potential impacts of climate change on wildfire in the North Fork.  Tentative presenters at the workshop include Wally Bennett and Steve Frye, who played instrumental roles in efforts to suppress the Wedge fire, as well as our own Allen Chrisman

Fuels mitigation grant

In 2012, the DNRC awarded the North Fork community a hazardous fuels reduction grant.  It’s the third such grant that the community has received; well over 100 North Fork landowners have participated in the program.  Monies are distributed on a cost-share basis, with the grant providing 75% of the cost and the landowner providing the remaining 25%.  The total value of the grant, with landowners’ share, is about $133,000.

As of March 1, 2013, most of the grant money has been committed to landowner projects.  It’s possible that we can obtain additional funding, contingent on the resolution of budget issues in Washington, D.C. and a demonstration of continuing landowner interest in the program.

Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund

The North Fork Landowners Association is in the process of applying for a Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund grant for the 2013 weed season. The grant would reimburse landowners for 50% of the cost of having a commercial applicator spray the weed infestations on their property. Ideally, we are seeking approximately 10 landowners who would like to sign up to participate in the pilot year of the grant. Please email Valerie Cox, Weed Committee Chair at valeriekcox@yahoo.com or call her at 406-570-7734 to sign up.

Polebridge school investigated

Alexander James Kroll selected an interesting historical topic for his Bachelor’s of Arts in Anthropology thesis at the University of Montana… the Polebridge schoolhouse. Alex says that this is the very first schoolhouse that was archaeologically investigated in the state of Montana and only the 5th to be looked out in the West. You not only learn about the Polebridge schoolhouse, but also the historical context and all about rural education.

You can download a copy of Alex’s thesis from here, but be warned that it’s 178MB so could take awhile and a lot of FAP.

Don’t forget that you can get access to Alex’s thesis and biographical information as well as other historical interviews and North Fork stories on the North Fork History Project’s web page. Check it out.

What the Waldo Canyon Fire teaches us about pre-fire mitigation

Following the most destructive fire in Colorado’s history, representatives from the Fire Adapted Communities (FAC) coalition toured Colorado Springs to analyze the Waldo Canyon Fire’s impacts and learn how the community had prepared itself. NFPA’s Fred Durso wrote an account of the team’s visit. Download a copy of “Moving Toward a Fire Adapted Community” (PDF, 3 MB).