Outdoors

The Mission valley isn’t generally balmy in December, but the record-setting month brought temperatures above average this year.  St. Ignatius recorded 60.88 degrees on December 21. The average temperature for that date is 35 degrees. Kalispell and Missoula broke high-temperature records for December 20 and 21, and Kalispell tied the record on the 22nd.  “If you planned a barbeque party for the solstice you were pretty lucky,” said Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes hydrologist Casey Ryan.  According to the National Weather Service, this December was the sixth warmest on record for Kalispell. The warm temperatures melted snow, leaving bare gree...

News from the Flathead Audubon Society Robert Gentry will be the featured speaker at the Monday, Jan. 13, meeting from 7-9 p.m. at the Gateway West Community Room in Kalispell. Gentry has a biology degree from Hendrix College and attended the University of Missouri for graduate school where he studie...

News from FWP MONTANA – The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Becoming an Outdoorswoman program is hosting an ice-fishing workshop on Jan. 24-25 in Missoula, and registration is open now. The workshop starts with an indoor class from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24 at FWP’s Miss...

FLATHEAD RESERVATION – Three grizzly bears have lost their lives due to separate vehicle collisions on U.S. Highway 93 on the Flathead Reservation this year.   Although collisions are down compared to 2018, when six bears were lost on the highway, ranging from cubs to an adult female and male, ...

MONTANA — Chad Bauer, a member of Gov. Steve Bullock’s Grizzly Bear Citizen Advisory Council, expressed a sense of urgency and unease on the second morning of the council’s Dec. 4-5 meeting in Missoula.  Bauer and Bullock sat across from each other in a crowded conference room on th...

News from CSKT Division of Fire Prevention   Flathead Indian Reservation outdoor burning is closed for the winter season. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Division of Fire Prevention program would like to let the public know that debris burning closed on Nov. 30.  Open debris...

News from Montana FWP MONTANA — Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation jointly propose the purchase of a permanent recreation easement for Big Arm State Park along Flathead Lake. A draft environmental analysis detailing the proposal, includ...

News from FWP MONTANA – Samples from 25 deer harvested around the state tested positive for chronic wasting disease in November. The majority of the new positive samples were from animals harvested within CWD Management Zones, where the disease is known to exist. Two of the positive samples wer...

News from FWP MONTANA – Even though the summer season at Montana State Parks is over, plans for the management of those parks is really hitting its stride. It’s been a busy 18 months for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and state parks. Gov. Bullock’s Parks In Focus commission issue...

News from SKC  There is a public scoping meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Polson Indian Senior Citizens Center, located at 701 1st Street East, next to Western Building Center, from 3 to 7 p.m. to discuss the formation of a program to implement annual herbicide treatments on flowering rush on th...