Flathead Valley Sports & Outdoors: Kalispell, Montana News

A proposed logging project in a heavily-used network of trails near Whitefish has residents there mobilizing to make sure that recreation is considered as part of the plan. In October, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation announced plans for a timber sale on state school trust land encompassing the Spencer Lake area, three miles west of Whitefish.

According to the DNRC, work on the sale layout could begin next summer, with actual thinning taking place in the late summer or fall of 2011. But although the proposed sale is in its very early stages, some recreational users of the area and local leaders are being proactive in meeting with the DNRC to ensure that the character of Spencer Lake, and the mountain rising above it, isn’t inexorably altered.

MISSOULA – Saturday was just another day at the office for Chase Reynolds.

The junior ran for 151 yards and three touchdowns to lead Montana to a 38-10 victory over Northern Colorado.

BOZEMAN – Everett Gilbert did a little bit of everything on Saturday.

Returning kicks, running out of the wildcat formation and catching two touchdown passes, Gilbert helped Montana State defeat Sacramento State 27-17 on Saturday.

Even as the weather sporadically changes between light chilling rain and sunny blue skies, the Old Steel Bridge fishing access is a high traffic area for anglers and those looking for an accessible outdoor break.

The new bridge spanning the Flathead River, connecting Holt Stage Road, where the Old Steel Bridge once stood, is still the centerpiece for the area. A pedestrian walkway borders the new sleek bridge making plenty of room for bikers, walkers and those fishing from the bridge.

HELENA – The state Land Board on Monday will have the chance to offer up for lease a vast tract of coal in the southeastern corner of the state.

Opponents of development are expected to call for a delay so they can further review the proposal.

POLSON – Wildlife officials are keeping an eye on the gray wolves living on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

The wolves are living under a new management plan on the western Montana reservation. Wildlife managers plan to leave the animals be as long as they aren't excessively killing off livestock or big game living on the tribal lands.

A strange thing happened on the chairlift at the Yellowstone Club this afternoon. It stopped for an hour while my wife and I were forty-three feet above nine feet of snow. Usually when a lift stops you are stuck in a wind blown part of the hill. In our case it didn’t matter too much, because we were alone on a detachable quad chair, snug in a giant plastic bubble. No wind and no cause for alarm because within 15 minutes of when the lift stopped, Jon Reveal, the mountain manager of the resort, came roaring up the hill in his snowmobile. He stopped underneath us and said, “Not to worry, there is a power outage in the entire southwestern corner of Montana. Besides that we have a separate auxiliary power for each one of our nine chairlifts.”

On Saturday, Flathead High School graduate Brock Osweiler will become the first quarterback to start as a true freshman for Arizona State University since Jake Plummer in 1993. Most football fans are aware of Plummer, who led the Sun Devils to the Rose Bowl and went on to the NFL. When Osweiler suits up against No. 13 Oregon on Saturday night, he will be just the fourth true freshman to start at quarterback in school history.

If it looks like Osweiler is being thrown to the wolves by making his first start against a highly ranked Oregon team on the road, keep in mind that Osweiler already dealt with perhaps fiercer wolves when he played the second half of last weekend's game against formidable USC. In that game, he was 11 of 27 for 153 yards with a touchdown and interception in a 14-9 loss. On the season he is 19 of 45 for 235 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.