Krause Basin Trail opens to the public

Swan View Coalition and the Swan Lake Ranger District announce the opening of the Krause Basin Interpretive Trail on May 26 at 1 p.m. The quarter-mile loop trail is located 2.8 miles up Strawberry Lake Road #5390 from Foothill Road. The trail is being constructed and maintained by Swan View Coalition, a local conservation group, through a volunteer agreement with the U.S. Forest Service.

The trail has 12 numbered stations with interpretive information provided via a trail guide brochure available at the trailhead, the Swan Lake Ranger District, or the Flathead Forest Supervisor's office. The trail loops through an old stand of western hemlock forest and a regenerating clearcut logged in the 1960s. The trail guide provides information on how forests recycle themselves and provide benefits to humans from medicine to lumber.

The trail was constructed by Swan View Coalition volunteers last summer, with help from the Montana Conservation Corps. The trail has a compacted gravel surface suitable for baby strollers and wheelchairs. This feature is a unique part of the project and will provide an opportunity for people with limited mobility that is not generally available elsewhere on the Flathead National Forest. Trail signs are being installed and May 26 will mark completion of construction as volunteers and a Montana Conservation Corps crew add the finishing touches.

"We're happy to provide a fun educational opportunity for both kids and adults," Keith Hammer said. "These western hemlock forests provide a unique outdoor classroom for everyone. We hope schools and parents take advantage of it."

"We appreciate the volunteers wanted to make this trail accessible to folks with physical disabilities," ranger Steve Brady added. "Now folks that aren't able to hike the Strawberry Lake trail can still enjoy this wonderful hemlock forest from their wheelchair or powered cart."

In the 1960s, the hemlock forest in Krause Basin was logged for wood products and to establish a different kind of forest preferred for making lumber. The Multiple Use Plan for the area recommended that this grove be used as a living example of a hemlock old-growth forest, and recommended an interpretive sign program be developed. Krause Basin harbors some of the finest western hemlock forest on the Flathead.

Swan View Coalition volunteered in 1997 to build and maintain an interpretive trail for the Forest Service, which then conducted a public environmental review of several locations in the western hemlock grove. The final location was selected to utilize an old log landing as a parking area and to utilize old log-skidding trails to minimize disturbance to soils and vegetation.

Swan View Coalition volunteers invested 400 hours developing the trail, including several workdays donated by the Montana Conservation Corps. The work was supervised by Swan Lake Ranger District according to a formal volunteer agreement.

The writing of the trail guide brochure was a collaborative effort involving Swan View Coalition volunteers and Flathead National Forest staff, including a botanist and public education specialist.

Numerous individuals and businesses donated or discounted labor, artwork, welding, gravel, dump trucks, heavy equipment, and other services to the project.