The Pittmans are inviting their neighbors and friends from the North Fork to a celebration of Carl’s life on Friday, July 8th, starting at Noon. Please bring a side dish to share at a pot luck lunch. Also please bring a folding chair if you have one. Come and share your memories with Carl’s friends. The address is 9340 North Fork Road.
Hall Cleanup Draws a Crowd
On Saturday, a large number of North Fork landowners participated in the annual Hall Cleanup Day at the Sondreson Community Hall in the North Fork. Equipped with gloves, tools, and cleaning supplies, landowners washed windows, tables, counter tops, floors, outhouses and everything else they could get their hands on. In addition, wood was chopped and stacked, rafters were dusted, yard debris was burned, and noxious weeds were pulled. There were so many volunteers that the work was finished quickly and everyone enjoyed a lunch prepared by NFLA board members.
We want to thank all the volunteers who came to help!
Click on a photo to see a slide show of the cleanup.
Annual Hall Cleanup
Next Saturday, May 28th, is the annual cleanup of Sondreson Hall. Inside volunteers please bring cleaning supplies. Outside volunteers please bring appropriate tools, rakes, gloves, etc. A light lunch & drinks will be provided.
This annual event is a great way to start the summer season on the North Fork. Come see all your neighbors and get the hall ready for all the summer fun.
Burn Permits Are Required
Burn Permits are Required May 1- June 30. Permits are only required in May and June and they are FREE! Call Flathead County Air Quality at 751-8144 or click here for today’s ventilation forecast. Click here to apply for a permit.
If you have additional questions or would like information regarding survivable space guidelines, wildfire preparedness, or home assessments please call the Fire Prevention Specialist for the Kalispell Unit of the DNRC at 751-2270. For more information, see the DNRC’s website.
May 1 Wildland Fire Outlook
The May 1 Wildland Fire Outlook is posted: http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf
This is showing the Northern Rockies as a pretty normal active fire season beginning in mid-July. We will get better predictions as we get farther into the season – the July 1 Outlook will be the one I am looking for.
There will be a lot of activity in Alaska, Hawaii, the Southwest and the Great Basin Areas. Glad to see that Western Oregon and Washington got good moisture over the winter.
NFLA 2016 Spring Newsletter
NFLA members should have received their copy of the 2016 Spring Newsletter in the mail by now. This year’s newsletter includes not only a note from President Randy Kenyon and some excellent stories about upcoming activities on the North Fork, but a paper version of the 2016 NFLA calendar, a signup form, and an updated version of the Emergency Services fact sheet.
A thousand thank yous to Allen Chrisman and all of his helpers in putting together this year’s newsletter and getting it mail. All of your neighbors appreciate the time and effort spent in making this happen.
PDF versions of this newsletter as well as newsletters from years past may be downloaded from the NFLA Newsletter page. Check it out here and enjoy all of the summer activities.
New North Director Needed
NFLA President Randy Kenyon announced recently that North Director Paul Marotz resigned from the NFLA Board of Directors. Randy is asking folks who live north of Whale Creek (just north of Sondreson Hall) to think about who they might like to nominate for a replacement or volunteer themselves. The current plan is to present candidates to the membership for a vote, hopefully at the June meeting.
Forest Service Seeks Comments on NEPA Decision
Rob Davies , District Ranger for the Flathead National Forest, says …
We will be issuing a NEPA decision for a small simple project that was presented at the Inter-local Meeting last February.
We would like to know if anyone has concerns or wishes to provide comments on this project. Please read the attached letter for details.
Essentially the State and the Forest Service want to breach a log jam and several small beaver dams where migrating bull trout were blocked from upstream movement to their normal spawning area (last fall). The work would be accomplished using a Spider Backhoe…… if you never have seen this type of heavy equipment it is really interesting…….. it’s essentially a small excavator but instead of using steel tracks, it moves on 4 robotic-like legs so that soil and vegetation disturbance is very minimal.
We would like to complete this work before peak runoff occurs this spring so natural flows will help scour and maintain the channel. Normally bull trout projects never remove or disturb large wood in streams but in this case, the Flathead bull trout populations are so depressed from other Lake issues…… doing all that we can to assure spawning success is important.
Read the full announcement here. To provide comments, or if you have questions or concerns, please contact me at 406-387-3801 or rdavies@fs.fed.us by Wednesday, March 30, 2016. I appreciate your input on this proposal.
2016 Winter North Fork Patrol Meeting Update
Mark Heaphy reports that the North Fork Patrol recently held their annual winter meeting. Here are some highlights: The North Fork Patrol has about 150 properties signed up and almost all have been physically checked at least once this winter. The good news is that out of all of those checked only one had any problem, a damaged vent stack. They plan to get business cards that say “North Fork Patrol” that they may opt to leave at places checked, writing notes on the back with the date, etc. And the Patrol is getting close to putting up the new sign near the southern end of the Home Ranch Bottoms pavement, replacing the old one that’s falling down.
The Patrol has also recently made several updates. They have a new email…. northforkpatrol@hotmail.com that folks can use to get in touch with them. They have also updated their signup form (click here to get the new form). Finally, the Patrol has updated the Emergency Services on the North Fork information sheet (click here to see the new sheet). It is strongly recommended that you print out this new version of the form, fill in your GPS coordinates, and have it handy in case of an emergency.
A patrol member will be making a complete report at the first NFLA meeting scheduled for Saturday, June 4. And you can get more information about the North Fork Patrol by going to their web page.
FLAP Letter to the Flathead County Commissioners
President Randy Kenyon has sent a letter dated February 18th to the Flathead County Commissions in support of the FLAP (for more information about the FLAP, please see our post by clicking here.) Following is the content of that letter:
Flathead County Commissioners
Flathead County Courthouse
Kalispell, MT 59901
To the Commissioners:
The North Fork Landowners’ Association represents some 270 member landowners in the North Fork of the Flathead. In a briefing to the North Fork Interlocal meeting on February 17, we learned of the project to be proposed under the Federal Land Access Program to improve the north end of the North Fork Road through improved base course, drainage, and gravel surfacing.
We welcome the improvement to the North Fork Road and we believe the project has importance for several reasons:
· Improved primary access to the US Forest Service Canadian Border River Access Site. This is a very important and popular recreation access point for river float trips for the public.
· Improved access for U.S. Border Patrol to their primary road access to the Canadian Border in the North Fork. The Border Patrol provides critical Border security at a point that is vulnerable to cross border traffic in a remote setting.
· Improved access for Flathead County Law Enforcement and Emergency Services to respond to emergency calls from residents along this section of road. This includes the full range of law enforcement responses as well as structural fire and ambulance services.
· Improved primary access for US Forest Service firefighting resources to respond as necessary to wildland fire starts. The Forest Service has the wildland fire protection responsibility in the North Fork and safe, rapid access is critical to support their mission.
· Improved access for Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in management of their lands north of Trail Creek.
This section of the North Fork Road consists of native materials only, and has had no gravel improvement in its history. The improved access provided by the project will increase service to the public, and increase safety for both public access and emergency responses. We commend the Border Patrol on their financial commitment to the project as an indication of the importance of this project to their mission.
Sincerely,
RANDY KENYON
President