These 70-degree days make ski season seem like months ago. I found out last weekend there's still some great turns to be had on Big Mountain, but alas, not for long.

There's a sentimental ache that comes with putting the skis away after a great winter. A recent piece of news reminded me even more how lucky we were these last few months.

Big Sky Resort near Bozeman announced there were over 340,000 skier visits, the most the resort has ever had despite the season being two weeks shorter than before.

While a lot of ski areas around the country were tormented by a lack of snow, Montana was blessed with an abundant ski season. Whitefish Mountain Resort had a record breaking powder day and Blacktail Mountain had record attendance; both reached about 300 inches of total snowfall.

“The consistently good snow at Big Sky is key,” Big Sky General Manager Taylor Middleton said in a statement.

“Even while other resorts across the country struggled to keep slopes open this winter, Big Sky started off with a great base and continued to get powder throughout the season. Skiers go where there’s snow.”

The record attendance could be partially attributed to low season pass prices, which led to a 25 percent increase in overall pass sales. Big Sky Resort dropped adult season pass prices 40 percent during its early season pass sale, and cut college season pass prices lower than ever.

In addition to an overall record season, Big Sky had record visits during the holiday week between Christmas and New Years and Presidents Day.

“More skier visits means more business - for the Resort and for the entire community,” Middleton said.

Cheers to a great winter, Montana.

 

E-mail Story   Print Story

 

The Swan Lake Ranger District is starting the public planning process for a restoration project on Forest Service lands in the Beaver Creek Planning Area. The public is invited to attend a meeting scheduled for May 2 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at the Swan Valley Community Hall in Condon.

The area under consideration is located in the southern most portion of the Swan Lake Ranger District, bordered by Lindbergh Lake and the Mission Mountains Wilderness to the west and the Swan River to the north.

Restoration activities under consideration include road decommissioning, rehabilitation of stream habitat and critical wetlands, hazardous fuel reductions, vegetation treatments to improve forest health and resilience to disturbance, restoration of old growth conditions, and other actions consistent with the Flathead Forest Plan and the Forest Landscape Restoration Act of 2009.

For more information, or to provide comments, contact Joleen Dunham, planning team leader, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 406-837-7510. Send mail to: Attn: Beaver Creek Project, Swan Lake Ranger District, 200 Ranger Station Road, Bigfork, MT 59911.

 

E-mail Story   Print Story

 

This Saturday, April 28th, Snappy's Sport Senter will sponsor a great FREE fly fishing seminar for women only. Learn all about fly fishing from local experts and get tips on casting, tying, tackle and fly selection.

This exciting seminar will be held from 9am to 2pm at Snappy’s, 1400 Hwy 2 East in Kalispell. Enrollment is limited so call Rusty Wells at Snappys at 406-257-7525 to sign up ahead of time. Bring your own fly fishing equipment if you have it. If you don’t yet have gear, it will be provided free of charge for the seminar.

All this and a FREE LUNCH. I don’t see how you can pass up this great opportunity. You won't want to miss this one, we hope you can take advantage of this free seminar.

 

E-mail Story   Print Story

 

The Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center at Glacier National Park is hosting a brown-bag lecture on Wednesday, May 2, from 12– 1 p.m. at the Community Building in West Glacier. The public is invited to join Dr. Cristina Eisenberg as she presents her recently completed doctoral dissertation, The Complex Food Web of Fire, Aspen, Elk, and Wolves in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

Dr. Eisenberg, a Ph.D. graduate from Oregon State University, focused her research on the impacts of predator presence on prey behavior and how the food chain interacts with fire to shape vegetation communities in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. For her master’s degree in environmental studies at Prescott College, she studied wolf ecology and management, with a focus on the work of Aldo Leopold. Her first book, "The Wolf’s Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades and Biodiversity," was published in 2010. She is working on a second book about the ecology and public policy underlying large carnivore conservation in the West.

Dr. Eisenberg is currently the research director on the High Lonesome Ranch in north-central Colorado, where her research interests involve living sustainably with large carnivores and utilizing food web concepts to restore ecosystems.

 

E-mail Story   Print Story

 

Get the rods ready. It's fishing season, and two youth fishing days are being held this spring.

Kids, ages 12 and younger, will be allowed to fish during the morning at the grand opening of the Pine Grove Pond just north of Kalispell on Saturday, April 21 from 9-11 a.m. Pine Grove Family Fishing Pond is just off Rose Crossing. The pond will open for family fishing after that. There will be a number of contests for three age classes of kids. Some loaner fishing outfits and assistance will be available.

The second fishing day is the Flathead Fishing Fair at Snappy Sport Senter on Saturday, May 5 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Along with the kids fishing derby for ages 12 and younger there will be a number of fun and educational activities for kids and adults. Fishing will be limited around Snappys Pond for safety.

New this year is a fishing regulation that requires all anglers 15 years and older to release their catches from Family Fishing Ponds to leave harvest for the younger anglers. Daily trout limits for younger anglers vary by pond.

For more info, contact Jim Vashro at 751-4550.

 

E-mail Story   Print Story

 

Rick Graetz said there is more to the region surrounding Glacier National Park than stunning vistas and he hopes that message is conveyed in the newest e-magazine, “Crown of the Continent.”

Produced by the University of Montana's Crown of the Continent Initiative, the online periodical has published a half-dozen issues since 2007 and helps inform readers of new scientific research coming out of the area. According to Graetz, initiative co-director, it reaches more than 40,000 readers every time it's published.

“Most people love (the crown) for what it looks like, but in reality it's one of the most untouched ecosystems in North America,” he said. “One of our main purposes is to gather research and put it in public speak.”

Graetz, who works for UM, is no stranger to the publishing business, having headed up Montana Magazine at one time. He said the reason he picked the e-magazine format (which basically presents the publication as a PDF on your computer) was that it could reach a wider audience.

He said the Blackfeet Indians once called the region surrounding Glacier “the backbone of the world.” Graetz added that what's interesting about the region isn't just the natural beauty, but the people and culture that surround it.

Current issues of “Crown of the Continent” are available here and for more information check out crown.umt.edu.

 

E-mail Story   Print Story

 

Registration is now open for a trapper education course scheduled for Saturday, May 5 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Lawrence Park in Kalispell.

Register for the course and pick up pre-course materials and a schedule at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks office on North Meridian Road in Kalispell, or call FWP at 752-5501.

In the course, instructors will emphasize trapper ethics, regulations, trapping heritage and trap sets. Instructors include members of the Montana Trappers Association and the Montana Fur Harvesters.

People of all ages are invited to attend. The course is not mandatory for trappers but it is strongly recommended, the FWP said.

 

E-mail Story   Print Story

 

Biologists near Thompson Falls have been netting and electrofishing walleye in Noxon Reservoir in the lower Clark Fork Drainage the last two weeks as a way to monitor fishery populations, according to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Walleye were first detected in the reservoir in 1991 as the result of several illegal introductions. In 2000, standardized annual monitoring was implemented to monitor trends in fish abundance and showed that walleye were naturally reproducing. Walleye abundance gradually increased between 2000 and 2009, but catch rates increased dramatically after that.

In this spring’s sampling, the FWP said a total of 61 walleye were collected through netting and nighttime electrofishing. Biologists said these walleye mostly ranged from 17 to 22 inches in length, with some smaller and larger fish. Two fish larger than 26 inches will be distributed for wildlife rehabilitation because of public health advisories.

Since the detection of walleye in Noxon Reservoir, fisheries managers have been concerned about how the new nonnative species may affect the fishery. Walleye are voracious predators capable of efficiently exploiting their prey base, FWP says. Based on case histories across the West, when introduced into new waters the highly fertile walleye have the ability to quickly over-populate and reduce prey species, causing populations of forage species such as perch to crash. Following the loss of forage, the overpopulated walleye often stunt. The addition of a new predator will also have to come at the expense of popular largemouth and smallmouth bass and pike fisheries, the FWP said.

The FWP also said predation by walleye could also affect the success of an ongoing multi-million dollar fisheries mitigation program funded by Avista, PPL Montana and government agencies to protect and enhance the threatened bull trout and other native fish such as westslope cutthroat in the lower Clark Fork and Lake Pend O’Reille.

According to a life history study completed in 2009, walleye were spawning in a small portion of the reservoir between Flatiron Ridge fishing access and Prospect Creek.

FWP said additional information is needed before managers can determine management objectives. If it's determined that suppression is feasible and warranted an environmental assessment will be prepared prior to implementation.

 

E-mail Story   Print Story