Glacier National Park announces 2023 spring operations

View East into Glacier NP from Glacier View Mtn, April 16, 2017 - W. K. Walker
View East into Glacier NP from Glacier View Mtn, April 16, 2017 – W. K. Walker

From the official press release . . .

Glacier National Park Announces 2023 Spring Operations
After a long winter construction closure, Going-to-the-Sun Road opened to Lake McDonald Lodge this morning.

WEST GLACIER, Mont. [May 5, 2023] – Glacier National Park staff are gearing up for the season and while full park operations are still a month off, visitors will see an increase in recreational opportunities throughout May.

After remaining closed for the winter due to construction, the west side of Going-to-the-Sun Road opened at 6 am this morning to vehicle and recreational access up to Lake McDonald Lodge. Construction will be ongoing through September to mill, reclaim, and pave the road. Visitors should drive and bike with caution. There will be waits of up to 30 minutes in each direction to pass through the construction zone. Nightly closures will begin June 1 from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. with opportunities for visitors to pass through at midnight, 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. The east side of Going-to-the-Sun Road is currently open to vehicles approximately six miles from St. Mary to Rising Sun.

Continue reading Glacier National Park announces 2023 spring operations

NFLA 2023 Spring Newsletter available online

In case you missed it, the North Fork Landowners’ Association 2023 Spring Newsletter is available online.

Read or download it here (PDF format).

If you are planning to visit Glacier Park via the Polebridge entrance at any time this year, please pay special attention to District Ranger Jim Dahlstrom’s “Glacier National Park – North Fork Update” article on Page 10!

New burn permit system debuts May 1

Starting May 1st, 2023, Flathead County will have a new burn permit setup. Short version: You apply for a permit annually and then activate the permit when you wish to burn. Activation will not work if there is a problem with air quality or fire danger.

The Daily Inter Lake has a good article on this. Also, here is the information posted to the old DNRC burning permit page . . .

Flathead County has adopted a new burn permit system that is currently used by 29 other counties in Montana and has combined the efforts of fire and air quality personnel. The new permits are available starting May 1st online at: https://app.egovmt.com/burnpermit/. You will only need to obtain one permit and can add as many burn locations as necessary. Each day that you intend to burn you will need to activate your permit online or by phone following the instructions on the permit. You will not be able to activate your permit if air quality or fire danger conditions are not favorable…

If you have additional questions, you can call the DNRC Office at 406-751-2270 or the Flathead County Health Department at 406-751-8130.

 

A note from the North Fork Patrol

The North Fork Patrol has finished checking on all properties that are currently signed up (113). Landowners have been notified if there was any property damage. This was mostly due to snow sliding off roofs and damaging vent stacks, stovepipes, satellite/Starlink dishes and a solar panel mount. There was no evidence of any vandalism on patrolled properties.

This year, especially due to all the local road projects, we can definitely expect to see more people in the area driving around, getting lost and “looking around”. So please remember that the best “security” is relying on neighbors to keep an eye on each other’s properties.

If you have questions, contact Mark Heaphy at 406-890-5043 or m-mheaphy@hotmail.com.

Real estate scammers target North Fork landowner (unsuccessfully)

From Mark Heaphy of the North Fork Patrol . . .

Recently a landowner reported that they had gotten three phone calls in the last week from three different realtors who were checking to see if they had just asked them to list their property for sale. They had not.

Evidently there is a scammer who picked up their information from Flathead County GIS (public site and easily obtained information) and then contacted local realtors on Zillow to see if they would list their property. They used fake email addresses that mimicked their name and cell phone number.

Fortunately the realtors got suspicious and contacted the landowners to verify. The landowner then contacted the county plat room and their title company’s title fraud specialist to make sure everything was in order, which it was. The fraud specialist did comment that: “She looked into things and she found a similar deal also in the North Fork area that failed at closing last year. The scammers typically target vacant land and out of state owners.”

Unfortunately the North Fork is not immune to this type of fraud. So please be aware, especially if you’re an out of state landowner.

West Coal Timber Sale work finished for the season

Here’s the latest on the West Coal Timber Sale from Dave Ring, Stillwater Unit Manager with Montana DNRC. (Short version: Logging has finished for this winter, with only three small units left to be cut.)

…95% of the timber sale was completed earlier this month.  As the map indicates they are three smaller units to be completed before 2025 when the timber sale expires.  Folks can expect to see some minor road work and grass seeding occur this summer in and around the timber sale.

West Coal Timber Sale as of Feb 17, 2023
West Coal Timber Sale as of Feb 17, 2023

Road construction timing and restrictions revealed at Interlocal

The long-planned work on the upper 5.5 miles of the North Fork Road and on the segment of Glacier Drive between the Polebridge Mercantile and the Glacier Park entrance station is actually happening this year. It will cause significant disruptions.

Continue reading Road construction timing and restrictions revealed at Interlocal

Camas Road “transit pass” will again be available this year

GNP Camas Road Bypass Entrance Permit - 2022The Camas Road “transit pass” (or whatever is officially called) that allows North Fork residents to shortcut through Glacier Park between the Camas and West Glacier gates without a “vehicle reservation” will be available on the same terms as last year.

From North Fork District Ranger Jim Dahlstrom: “…we will be doing the same as we did last year. Show up at HQ in West Glacier or the Polebridge Ranger Station with vehicle registration and we will issue passes. Again, limited to folks with actual addresses up the North Fork. No seasonal worker passes at this point.”