NFLA – Page 45 – North Fork Landowners Association

Champion of the North Fork John Frederick dies

John Frederick at the 1987 Polebridge Forth of July paradeJohn Frederick, champion of the North Fork and a founder of the North Fork Preservation Association, died today following a long illness. John passed away peacefully, his final weeks filled with the affection, laughter and tears of friends, family and well-wishers.

Here is John’s obituary, written by long-time friend and North Fork historian Lois Walker.

Long-time Polebridge resident and champion of the North Fork, John Frederick, Jr., passed away on November 15. He was 74.

He was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1943, to John and Betty Watson Frederick. He attended school in Marion, Ohio, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from The Ohio State University. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1969, stationed for almost two years in Alaska. Continue reading Champion of the North Fork John Frederick dies

Family, Forests and the Future

The Flathead Beacon has a wonderful article about our good neighbors the Chrismans and the good work that they’re doing. It starts… NORTH FORK — To accompany siblings Allen Chrisman and Kari Wiley in the Chrisman Family Forest is less of a nature walk than it is a meander through the woods to meet old friends. Read the full story here.

2017 NFLA Fall Newsletter

The 2017 NFLA Fall Newsletter comes to you courtesy of the North Fork Landowners Association (NFLA). A copy of the newsletter is sent out every fall to NFLA members reminding them to renew their membership and includes a membership renewal form as well as a letter from the NFLA President.

We invite you to join us! Membership dues are only $15 a year per person. Your dues are important to us. They help us maintain the Community Hall and organize lots of exciting activities that bring the community together. We have activities for everyone, whether you are interested in reading, gardening, hiking, biking, dancing, birding, or floating the river. We hope to see you at NFLA activities this fall/winter including Thanksgiving day dinner. More information about joining the NFLA may be found here.

Get a copy of the current newsletter and access to past newsletters on the NFLA Newsletter page.

2017 Annual Financial Report Available for Review

Treasurer Chris Heitz reports that the Annual Financial Report for the 2017 fiscal year has been audited and is now ready for your review. Read the full report here.

Thank you, Chris, for all of your hard work throughout the year. And thanks to the Audit Committee who performed the audit!

Don’t forget, you can get access to all of the associations documents including this report on the Documents/Meeting Minutes page.

Thank You for the Sunshine Committee

Here’s a message from Tom Marx… Thank you, Bonnie Ogle, of the Sunshine Committee for the Card and thoughts. I crashed a motorcycle on the first day of my “Once in a Lifetime” trip through the Alps. I managed to ride an hour and a half into a two week trip. It still was “A trip of a Lifetime”. I am in physical therapy now for a stretched and twisted left knee and ankle. Thanks again for the card and for thinking of me.

Final NFLA Business Meeting of the Year – Oct. 8

Message from Treasurer Chris Heitz… Our last NFLA meeting of the season is Sunday, Oct 8. Larry Wilson will be showing some of his wonderful slides at 7PM, and the meeting will be at 8PM. We are asking our members to bring donations of canned goods for the Food Bank or the Veterans Pantry, and of course, monetary donations are also welcomed. This 70th Anniversary summer has been one of the best and we hate to see it end, but our new Board is already planning events for next summer! If anyone has ideas or suggestions for next year, please email Chris Heitz at treasurer@nflandowners.org and they will be forwarded to the Social Committee. Thank you so much for your past support, and we look forward to seeing you on Sunday, October 8, and next year.

National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy September Newsletter

We thought that North Forkers would be interested in reading the Western Region National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy September Newsletter. It begins…

This has been a particularly tough season for stakeholders in the West. Cohesive Strategy’s Western Region and its partners are leading the charge to facilitate identification and implementation of collaborative, cross-boundary solutions to the complex, landscape-level issues we are facing today. The Cohesive Strategy is the right framework from which to continue to build social, political and scientific support to address these issues. Change will not occur overnight but together we can change the trajectory that can be plainly observed in recent fire seasons.

In this issue:

Collaborative Landscape Planning and Fuels Reduction Pays Off
“Why I Burned My Property and How I Shot It”
Public – Private Partnerships Paying Off During Montana Fires
An Assessment of Wildfire Transmission and its Implications for Risk Governance
Teaching Fire with Fire
Increases in Wildfire-Caused Erosion Can Impact Water Supply and Quality
What the Joint Fire Science Program Can Do for You
Upcoming Learning Opportunities

Tap here to read the full newsletter.

Food Drive for the NW Montana Veterans Food Pantry

Larry Wilson announced at last night’s NFLA Business Meeting that we will once again be conducting our October food drive.

The annual food drive, originally proposed by Bob Grimaldi years ago, is a way for the NFLA members to get involved in a community service project and provide others with a small share of our good fortune. North Forkers set aside appropriate items while cleaning out and closing their North Fork homes for the season and bring them to the Sondreson Hall during the final business meeting of the year.

This year we’re collecting for the NW Montana Veterans Food Pantry. According to their website, “You can help by donating coffee, canned and boxed goods, juice, frozen meats, grains, cereal, produce and peanut butter.” They’ve provide a Food & Nutrition Chart as a guide to what might be most appropriate to donate.

If you want to write a check, you can give it to one of the Board members and they’ll see that it gets turned in with the food. For those who want a receipt that they can use for tax purposes, just let Larry or someone on the Board know and they’ll make that happen.

In years past we’ve collected over 100 pounds of food. We can do it again! So gather up your food donations and either bring them with you to the hall for the Sunday, October 8th, Business Meeting or drop it off with a neighbor who will be coming.

September Wildland Fire Outlook

Here is the link to the September/October/November Wildland Fire Outlook: https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf

For September in the Northern Rockies: Above Normal significant large fire potential is expected in all areas except Yellowstone National Park and eastern North Dakota in September where Normal Potential is expected.

In October Above Normal significant large fire potential will continue across the southern Idaho Panhandle and across most of Montana, except the Kootenai Region and Southwest Montana. Western North Dakota will also experience elevated potential in October as well.

This is grim news. While we will see diminished potential for lightning starts as the season progresses, the relief we need in terms of a season-ending moisture event looks elusive. And with the number of new starts across the state during the past few days, there is a lot of fire on the landscape that will not go out on its own. In addition we don’t have enough overhead teams/crews/engines/aircraft to staff the fires that are active now.

This is going to be a very tough September and October for Montana. I’m hoping that escaped hunter fires don’t add significantly to the fire situation….

Let’s be careful out there.