Category: News

On Saturday, June 3rd, is the first NFLA Business meeting of the year, starting at 8PM at Sondreson Hall.

Before the meeting is going to be a presentation (starting at 7PM) by Glacier Park’s Dog Handler Mark Biel with Gracie “the Bark Ranger” on an innovative approach to critter control.

With the help of the Glacier National Park Conservancy, Glacier Park implemented a Bark Ranger pilot project to determine if a trained herding dog could help reduce human-wildlife interactions at Logan Pass this summer.

And Gracie, a 2-year-old female border collie, is the first.  So come meet Gracie on June 3 and learn all about the cutest ranger of them all.

Jim Dahlstrom is the new Glacier National Park ranger at Polebridge. He was kind enough to provide us with a biography (see below). Jim will be coming to an NFLA business meeting early in the summer to get acquainted. Welcome Jim!

I began my career with the NPS in 1999 at Rocky Mountain National Park first as a volunteer, then as a backcountry ranger for two seasons before becoming a law enforcement ranger in 2002.  I’ve spent time working at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Pipestone National Monument, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Grand Teton National Park, and most recently was Chief Ranger for the Niobrara National Scenic River in Nebraska.

My wife Christy (also a NPS alumni) and I met at Rocky, and were married in Estes Park.  We have an 8 year old son, Gerard, and 6 year old daughter, Medora.  We enjoy camping, canoeing, hiking, backpacking, and fishing as a family and are so excited to be coming to the North Fork.  If you are around the Ranger Station this summer and you hear someone yelling “Bear!”  keep in mind the kids might be playing with our pug.

My emphasis on serving as a NPS ranger has always been to serve the visitor, while protecting the Park’s resources.  I have had the pleasure of working in some amazing places and have always found that it is the dedicated individuals in local communities  that step up to help take care of our country’s treasures.

I first heard about the North Fork early in my NPS career, as a place of tremendous beauty and genuine rustic character.  I knew back then that being able to serve in an area like that would be my idea of heaven.  I am humbled at the opportunity to serve this area and one of the crown jewels of the NPS, and look forward to making new friends and helping take care of one of America’s crown jewels.

The Hungry Horse News says that if the crowds of last summer continue, Glacier National Park is considering implementing a “one car in, one car out,” plan for some of its dead-end roads, Superintendent Jeff Mow said last week during a talk in Kalispell. The overcrowding problem was particularly acute at Bowman Lake, where parking would fill to capacity and people would park on the side of the narrow, dirt road. Some people last summer even rented a camping spot so they would have a place to park. Read the full story here.

It’s that time of year again… the NFLA has published its Spring newsletter and calendar for 2017. Very exciting.

In this newsletter you’ll read all about the history of the NFIA/NFLA as it celebrates its 70th birthday. You’ll also read about the long history of dancing on the North Fork, memories from Larry Wilson about the NFIA/NFLA, and the early mail service on the North Fork. There is also an update from the NFLA Fire Mitigation Committee and the upcoming Summer Interlocal.

For NFLA members who have paid their dues for the year, the newsletter and calendar should be coming to you through the mail any day now. Both the newsletter and the calendar can also be downloaded at any time from the NFLA Newsletters web page. You can also get copies of past newsletters from this page as well.

President Randy Kenyon expresses all of our appreciation to the folks who made this year’s newsletter and calendar possible including Allen Chrisman for the layout, scribes Arne Boveng, Lois Walker, Debo Powers, Molly Shepard and Larry Wilson along with Chris Heitz and Jan Caldwell. It’s our hard working volunteers that make the NFLA the outstanding community organization that it is.

Currently 17.0 miles of the Going-to-the-Sun Road are open for travel.
Visitors can drive 11.5 miles from the West Entrance to Lake McDonald Lodge, and 5.5 miles from the St. Mary Entrance to Rising Sun.

The section of the road between Lake McDonald Lodge and Rising Sun is closed due to plowing. The East Side vehicle closure is currently at Rising Sun approximately 5.5 miles past the St Mary Entrance. On the west side, hiker/biker access is to the Logan Pit, approximately 10 miles past the vehicle closure, while the road crew is working. On the east side, there is no traffic allowed past Rising Sun including hiker/biker restrictions, though visitors need to follow the signage guiding them around the St Mary Entrance Station construction.

The Camas Road is Open!

And here is a special note from our new Polebridge Ranger Jim Dahlstrom… The road is now open going north 7 miles to the gate on the other side of Big Prairie. The road going south is not open to vehicles yet, but might be this weekend.

Randy is trying to arrange for Ranger Dahlstrom to join us at the first NFLA meeting in June.

Here’s a message from NFLA President Randy Kenyon… The commissioners are holding a public hearing on the Short Term Rental proposal passed on to them from the Planning Board and Planning Office on June 1st at 10:00 am. The North Fork has been excluded from this proposed regulation. This means we are “almost” assured of not being included, but the commissioners can do whatever they please, however unlikely.

For more information on what this is about, see Flathead County Short Term Rental Regulation Proposal – Summary

Molly Shepherd has written up her notes from the 2017 Winter Interlocal. Highlights include information about the Federal Lands Access Proposal (FLAP) grant, the Forest Plan Revision, plans for Sondreson Meadow, the battle against aquatic invasive species, updates from FWP on wildlife including grizzly and wolves, the inside North Fork road, and short-term vacation rentals.

These useful and interesting notes may be downloaded as a PDF document to your computer by clicking here.

North Forker Allen Chrisman has been elected as a recipient of the Society of American Foresters’ 2016 Presidential Field Forester Award. Award recipients will be recognized at the 2016 SAF National Convention, to be held Nov. 2-6 in Madison, WI. This is a great honor and we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Allen for being having won this award.

During the past couple of board meetings, we began talks regarding the treasurer’s duties, generally directed toward simplifying and clarifying. This led to a further discussion regarding developing a secretary position, in light of the fact there are duties that should not really the responsibility of the treasurer. At the July business meeting, a board member made a motion to amend the bylaws to have the treasurer be elected instead of appointed; the creation of a secretary position; and both being voting board members. At the August business meeting, after a discussion and amending the original motion, it was passed. Please see Article IV Officers and Elections of the amended bylaws. We left the treasurer’s duties intact, with the secretary’s duties to be determined by the secretary and board at a further date.

The new board consists of myself as president; vice president Rachel Peura; treasurer Chris Heitz, secretary Donna Harrison, past president Karen McDonough; North Directors Irv Heitz and Larry Wilson and South Directors Kevin Ulrichsen and Jan Caldwell.

Sincerely,
Randy Kenyon
President NFLA

Folks may have noticed that there’s a new sign on the south side of the Home Ranch Bottoms pavement. Although it keeps with the spirit of the old sign, this one is spiffed up and legible, reflecting well on our community. Our many thanks to the North Fork Patrol for taking the time and effort to update this North Fork landmark.