An announcement from Mark Heaphy of the North Fork Patrol . . .
A bear attack occurred Sunday afternoon [October 1st] in the vicinity of the “bubble ups”; located about 5 miles west on Trail Creek road. The victim was ALERT flighted to Logan Health for treatment. FWP has closed the area for several days and is monitoring. Please do not enter the area. (Travel on Trail Creek Road is not restricted.)
Plenty of volunteers . . . Continue reading Brush cleanup at Sondreson Hall, Sep 28, 2023
A heartfelt note from Justine Vallieres, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Bear Manager for Region 1 (initially posted to Facebook) . . .
As many of you may now know, I ended up catching the sow and cub that had been breaking into cabins and garages in the Moose City/Trail Creek/Ford Cabin area. The decision to remove bears is always a hard and gut wrenching one, but with these bears there was sadly no other option. First off I want to say that no one in the North Fork was in the wrong in these conflicts. People did not leave out attractants; this bear was only breaking into enclosures so please be gentle with each other.
These situations drive me to do better as a bear specialist, to do more education, continue to build better and closer relationships with landowners and do as much preventative work as I can. Each bears death is not in vain, and as each passes I promise I’ll try harder, and try to do better. I’m grateful to the North Forkers for being able to live amongst the bears so well. Thank you for doing your part. My hope is that other communities will follow suit someday.
One thing I still ask is that you call me as soon as you experience any type of conflicts as the sooner I know about it the sooner I can try and get ahead of the problem so it doesn’t escalate beyond the point of no return. By not calling in conflicts it does the bears a huge disservice. So please call. I’m not here to pass judgement or shame you, I just want to help you and help the bears. Please don’t point fingers or shame each other if conflicts occur, especially in this instance no one did anything wrong. Unfortunately this bear was too far gone from her previous history and crossing boundaries by breaking into buildings. When I caught her at the beginning of August there was so implication that she was breaking into enclosures so things either escalated or people were not calling in conflicts.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions. Thank you.
Justine can be reached at justinevall8@gmail.com or 406-250-1265.
I believe the auction of some of Doug Barnes’ estate has been mentioned here and there already, but Mark Heaphy’s note is a good summary of the event…
I just got word… that the items that Gardners Auction picked up from Doug Barnes’s property will be in an auction on 9/25/23. People can bid online if they’d like to so it should be convenient for North Fork residents.
…I’m not familiar with the auction process and how to participate, but there’s a tutorial on their website: https://www.gardnerauction.com/.
The Flathead National Forest just released its fall list of 13 prescribed burning projects. Only one, the “Red Whale Landscape” burn, is in the North Fork.
As usual, the entire plan depends on weather conditions, air quality issues and, occasionally, whether or not they can get a fire started in the first place.
Here’s the write-up for our local burn . . .
Red Whale Landscape – Approximately 536 acres will be treated with prescribed burning this fall in Moose creek and Moran creek. This project location is in the North Fork of the Flathead about 4 miles northwest of Polebridge. Depending on weather, this burn is planned for mid to late September or early October. The purpose of this project is to help restore a more historical fire regime to the ecosystem, improve wildlife habitat, and reduce hazardous fuels to reduce wildfire risk and aid in potential future fire suppression efforts.
Read the full press release here and see the attached map for project locations.
From our friends at the Le Grizz event committee . . .
Greetings, North Forkers, from the Le Grizz Committee!
This year on Saturday, October 14th we’ll be gathering at the Glacier Institute’s Big Creek Outdoor Education Center off the North Fork Road to run a this-year-only 50-mile route that meanders up Coal Creek Road (aka Big Creek Rd), featuring a turn-around at Moose Lake. Next year we plan to be back on the North Fork, so don’t miss this unique course!
For runners not feeling up to the full 50, we’re also doing a 5k, a 10k, and a Little Grizz fun run. And, as in previous years, we’re doing a 50 mile team relay as well.
For more race details go to runlegrizz.com.
To volunteer, you can sign up at https://volunteersignup.org/P3WCW.
Tell your friends! Share with family! Thanks everyone!
Here’s the web page for our local road construction project status. It includes some photos and links to a short newsletter that seems to come out about every four weeks:
North Fork of the Flathead River; Blankenship and Belton Stage Rd. Resurfacing.
An update taken from the September 1 project newsletter . . .
On Glacier Drive near Polebridge, clearing, and grubbing activities are complete. Culvert installation is also complete. Once the crew has completed placement of millings on Blankenship & Belton Stage Roads, they will mobilize to Glacier Drive and start placing millings before beginning surface work near Polebridge Mercantile.
On North Fork Road, the contractor’s plan is to start 6-7 day work weeks until project completion. Culvert installation, survey, clearing, and grubbing activities are ongoing.The contractor is scheduled to mobilize the crushing operation and begin processing surface aggregates at Whale Creek Pit in the next week.
For more details, see:
Road construction timing and restrictions revealed at Interlocal
Lots of familiar faces and places, not to mention some impressive photography . . .
If, on a hot, dry day a fire should break out within a certain 300,000-acre patch of northwest Montana, in an expanse of backcountry between the crest of the Whitefish Range and the glacier-carved peaks that hug the Continental Divide, there’s a good chance Leif Haugen will be the first person on Earth to see it.
For the better part of an hour, he might be the only person.
Mr. Haugen has worked for more than half of his 52 years as a fire lookout, scanning the larch and pine wilderness from a one-room mountaintop cabin. Alone most of the time but for his thoughts, his mutt, Ollie, and the occasional crackle of voices on the radio, he is part of a nationwide band of professional watchers who, like lighthouse keepers, stand on solitary guard between civilization and nature’s uncaring whims.
More and more, he stands at another divide, too: between human jobs and automation. As land managers seek new tools to deal with the threat of catastrophic wildfires, which is rising in the West as the planet warms and Americans build more homes near overgrown forests and other vulnerable places, the days of lookouts might be numbered.
From the official press release, here’s the word on Glacier Park’s fall schedule . . .
WEST GLACIER, Mont. [September 1, 2023] – As the autumn season approaches, operations in the park will start winding down. On September 10, the park’s 2023 vehicle reservation pilot will end.
Continue reading Glacier National Park Fall Operation Adjustments for 2023
(Update, The rock crusher was winched back up on the road and parked to one side by a pair of monster tow trucks.)
Here’s what I’ve got so far on the accident at the hairpin curve just north of Moose Creek Road…
According to Randy Kenyon, whose house is being used for phone communications, a rock crusher being transported to the Whale Creek pit by the road contractor working on the project at the top end of the North Fork Road fell off its trailer as the driver attempted to navigate the hairpin curve north of the Moose Creek area. They’ve managed to clear the road through that section, but the rock crusher, a 105,000 pound piece of equipment, is sitting just off the road and will require a crane to retrieve it. At some point, the road will be blocked while the crane is in use. I have no information at this time when that will happen.
There were no injuries other than wounded pride.