NFLA – Page 55 – North Fork Landowners Association

2016 North Fork Interlocal Meeting Notes

Allen Chrisman attended the 2016 Interlocal meeting that was held on February 17, 2016 hosted by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Click here for a complete copy of his notes. Allen, thank you for being so diligent. Everyone is going to appreciate these detailed notes.

Lois Walker sent the following from her Interlocal notes. Thanks Lois!

Gary Danzig, Staff Officer for the Flathead National Forest, briefed the Interlocal on a proposal that the Forest Service is preparing to submit under the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP). Montana has received $22M a year in FLAP funds so far. Flathead County first submitted and got approval for a project to pave the approach to Blacktail Mountain, first one mile over private land and then an additional distance to reach USFS land. One quarter of the cost to build the new bridge over the South Fork this summer will also be paid for with FLAP money.

The program requires 13.42% in matching funds; i.e., $134K for every $1M in FLAP money and has been extended for another 5 years, with $19M a year allotted for Montana.

The project that the Forest Service wants to submit, in cooperation with Flathead County, Border Patrol (Homeland Security), and Glacier Park, would rebuild the North Fork Road from the border eight miles south and apply a gravel lift, and rebuild the road from the Merc to the Polebridge entrance to the Park, also with new gravel. That represents $1.5M in total work.

The proposal document should be ready by May, to be signed by GNP Superintendent Jeff Mow, Flathead Forest Supervisor Chip Weber, and Border Patrol station chief Kip Stratton, plus the county commissioners. The Project Decision Committee will meet in June and July. There will be heavy competition from other projects in Montana.

Homeland Security has pledged to come up with $100K in funding. The Park Service will throw in a little more. The county’s part will be to provide gravel from the pit on Whale Creek, which they will re-open.

They are asking for letters of support from North Fork organizations and individuals, saying that we’ve heard about the proposed project to improve sections of the North Fork Road and we support the idea. Address letters to:

Flathead County Commissioners
c/o David Prunty
Flathead County Road Dept.
1249 Willow Glen Drive
Kalispell, MT 59901

And Kip Stratton from the Border Patrol has asked that copies be sent to him as well:

Kip Stratton
US Customs and Border Protection
Whitefish Station
1295 Hwy 93 West
Whitefish, MT 59937

Marietta Downes Has Passed

We received word yesterday from Lois Walker that Marietta Downes passed away yesterday, January 17. Marietta was born in 1936 at Mason City, Washington and came to the North Fork with her husband Lee. Many North Forkers have fond memories of Marietta and she will be missed.

Lee and Marietta were interviewed by Tom Edwards in 2012 for the North Fork History Project. You can listen to their interview here.

Carl Pittman has Passed

We recently heard that Carl Pittman, long time North Forker and good neighbor, died on December 2, 2015 at his home in Newberg, OR after a brief decline from accelerated renal failure.

Carl was born June 7, 1931, in Caldwell, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City. He attended UCLA and Oxford for his bachelors and masters degree and “half of a PhD.” He and his wife Linda came to the North Fork for the first time in the summer of 1964. Over the next decades, Carl and his family enjoyed all that the North Fork had to offer including floating, fishing, hiking, and visiting with neighbors.

Carl is survived by his wife Linda. Carl and Linda were interviewed for the North Fork history project in August of 2015. You can read all about them and listen to their interview on the North Fork History Project web page.

The North Fork Cookbook Makes a Great Gift

There are still North Fork Cookbooks available for sale. These would make a great gift for the holidays to a family member or friend. The cookbook includes recipes from current North Forkers along with a bonus section of recipes and history from North Fork old timers. It’s interesting and fun to read too. So, fill out the the form and send it in along with your check to get a cookbook mailed to you. Download the form from here.

Sondreson Hall has New Bookcase

Thanks to Kevin and Emily O’Bryan, North Fork landowners, who donated a bookcase for the Community Hall. Kevin built the beautiful wooden bookcase in Ohio (where he was building cabinets and shelves for their North Fork cabin) and transported it here. The bookcase will display books on the flora and fauna of the Northern Rockies which were donated by North Fork landowner, Randy Lakes. There will also be a shelf of books written by local authors. [Any North Fork author who would like to donate a copy of their book(s), please contact debopowers@gmail.com]. All of these books can be checked out (and returned) by NFLA members beginning this summer when the library will be set up.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Sondreson Hall

Come join your North Fork neighbors at Sondreson Hall for our annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner. Turkey and ham will be provided. Please bring a side dish and your own table setting. The doors open at 3 p.m. and dinner is served at 4 p.m. This event is hosted by Christina and Steve Berg and cohosted by the original Thanksgiving dinner hosts, Pat and Jon Elliott.

Thanksgiving dinner at Sondreson Hall has a long tradition. We recently received the following from Pat and Jon Elliott telling all about the first (see the North For History Project page for this and other North Fork stories)…

As Thanksgiving approaches, we think it appropriate to recognize that this will be the 40th Anniversary of what has become a very special celebration for people of the North Fork. We hope to note this in the history of the North Fork .

It began in 1975. We had just moved in August with our teenage children from Alaska to the Knutson homestead. Marlene and Johnny Mathison had moved to the Holcomb family homestead earlier that summer. As Thanksgiving approached we discussed how we could celebrate this first Thanksgiving with our many new friends. Mathisons joined us with a visit to Loyd and Ruth Sondreson where it was quickly decided that we would join together to host a community dinner. Marlene and Pat cooked turkeys, a prime rib was furnished by Ruth and Loyd, others brought traditional potluck dishes and desserts. We had a wonderful celebration. Continue reading Thanksgiving Dinner at Sondreson Hall

The Fall Enrollment Letter is in the Mail

The Fall Enrollment Letter was mailed today. The Post Office now requires address confirmation on bulk mail, which we can either do by a return service to correct a bad address, or addressee “or current Occupant”. Because we didn’t know that until I was taking the mail to the counter, we borrowed a stamp from Insty Prints “Occupant” and stamped all the pieces. So, everyone will get a mailer stamped “Occupant” followed by their name and address. That allows the Post Office to deliver the item regardless of whether the name is correct or not. We’ll consider options for next year to avoid the “Occupant” stamp.

You can also access the Fall Enrollment Letter on line by clicking here. If you have any questions about the letter, don’t hesitate to contact Treasurer Heather Sullivan via e-mail.

Thanks to Heather and all for doing the address labels and tabbing. Bulk mailing is fraught with rules and regulations, so we appreciate all the help it took to get this out!

NFLA Members Donate to Local Food Bank

The annual NFLA food drive has concluded and over 100 pounds of food items were delivered by NFLA President Randy Kenyon to the Columbia Falls food bank.

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 meetings of the year.

We want to thank everyone who participated this year. And a special thanks to Randy for hauling the load down to Columbia Falls.

Have a great fall and see you on Thanksgiving at the Hall.

October 1 National Fire Potential Outlook

Attached is the October 1 National Fire Potential Outlook: http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf.

While it states that the fire season is over in the Northern Rockies:

Northern Rockies: Significant wildland fire potential will be normal for the outlook period October, November, and December 2015 through January 2016.

Wet storms in early September greatly reduced fire potential with most indices across the geographic area near normal conditions. Some increases occurred with the warm and dry conditions over southeastern and south central Montana but shorter days and cooler nights will keep fuel moisture rising into the fall. Some evidence of drought stress in live vegetation across the western half of the area will likely be a factor for the 2016 fire season. El Niño conditions deep into the winter suggest poor snow conditions and continuation of drought across the area.

Fire season for 2015 is essentially over for the Northern Rockies. However, significant wind events during the fall-to-winter transition could produce brief fire concerns in the fine fuels east of the continental divide until snow falls. This will likely be delayed given the forecast of El Niño conditions.