Outdoor news
Road closure
The Hay Creek Road in the North Fork, Forest Road 376, will be closed to all vehicle traffic Mondays through Fridays from now until March 31 from the North Fork Road to the intersection of Cyclone Creek Road, Forest Road 909. Logging trucks will be operating on this stretch of road during those days as part of the Hay-More Stewardship project. The road will be open from Friday at 6 p.m. to Monday at 12:01 a.m. for vehicle traffic. This stretch of road is being plowed which means it is not be open to snowmobiles traffic. For more information, contact the Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger District at 387-3800.
Fishing derby
The Babb/St. Mary Volunteer Fire Department's annual ice-fishing derby fundraiser will be held at Duck Lake on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 12 and 13, with hourly prize drawings and 50/50 ticket drawings. Fishing on Saturday will be allowed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon. Entry fee is $20 per person available at the lake. Children under-12 fish for free. Prizes for biggest fish range from $100 to $700 for adults and children. For more information, call 406-732-9292.
Grizzly DNA
Kate Kendall, a U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist who has studied grizzly and black bears in Northwest Montana since 1997, will be the second speaker in the 10th annual John White Series at the Museum at Central School, in Kalispell. Her talk on Sunday, Jan. 29, at 2:30 p.m. will be about techniques that led to DNA profiles that reveal bear population density, distribution and genetic health. Tickets for historical society members are $20 for the series of four and $6 for any single event or $30 and $9 for the general public, available at the museum. For more information, call 756-8381.
Birds of prey
The Glacier Institute will offer an all-day wildlife course titled "Winter Birds of Prey" on Saturday, Jan. 28, led by Denny Olson, aka Critterman. Beginning with a short session at Flathead Valley Community College, the class will travel the Flathead's back roads searching for raptors, including bald and golden eagles, red-tailed and rough-legged hawks, and snowy, great-horned, long-eared, short-eared and pygmy owls. The course fee is $65. For more information, call 755-1211.
Bird watching
Flathead Audubon will host a free bird-watching trip to search for pygmy and snowy owls, raptors, wintering waterfowl and other winter birds of the Lower Flathead Valley on Saturday, Jan. 28, guided by wildlife biologist Bob Lee. Participants will meet at 8 a.m. at the Park ‘n' Ride at the intersection of U.S. 93 and Highway 82. For more information, call Lee at 837-4467 evenings or e-mail rml3@centurytel.net.