Outdoor news
Slide show
Flathead Audubon will mark the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act with a slide show by Chris Peterson, “Birding in the Backcountry.” Peterson has been photographing the backcountry for 16 years and hiked 130 miles in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. He is the photographer for the Hungry Horse News and publisher of the online journal Glacier Park Magazine. The meeting will take place in the United Way Conference Room, in the Gateway Community Center on U.S. 2 West in Kalispell, on Monday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m.
Glacier Park fisheries talk
The Flathead Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited will present a talk by Chris Downs, fisheries biologist for Glacier National Park, in the public meeting room at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks offices, 490 North Meridian Road in Kalispell on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. Downs will speak about current projects underway in the Park, as well as the status for updating the Park’s Fisheries Management Plan. Refreshments will be served, and door prizes will be awarded. For more information, contact Larry Timchak at 250-7473.
Avalanche breakfast
The Flathead National Forest will host its regular breakfast chat at the Night Owl/Back Room Restaurant in Columbia Falls on Friday, Jan. 17, at 7 a.m. with members of the Flathead Avalanche Center, including the center’s new interim director, Erich Peitzsch. Those planning to attend or who have questions can contact FNF spokesman Wade Muehlhof at ewmuehlhof@fs.fed.us or 406-758-5252. FNF needs to make plans with the restaurant.
North Fork snowshoe trip
The Montana Wilderness Association and Ellen Horowitz, outdoor educator, writer and naturalist at the Glacier Institute, and Flathead Valley Community College will host a 3-4 mile round-trip snowshoe hike along the upper North Fork of the Flathead River on Saturday, Jan. 11. Meet in front of the Polebridge Mercantile at 10 a.m. Snowshoers will wander through sagebrush flats and beneath ancient ponderosa pines watching for elk, wolves and bald eagles and learn to read their tracks. Space is limited. Register by contacting Amy Robinson at arobinson@wildmontana.org or 406-730-2006.
Park snowhoeing
Glacier National Park will offer its free, two-hour long, ranger-led winter snowshoe walks every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. beginning Saturday, Jan. 11, Winter Trails Day. The snowshoe walks will continue through Saturday, March 22. Snowshoes will be available to rent for a nominal fee at the Apgar Visitor Center. The walks are suitable for most ages and begin and conclude at the visitor center. There is no group size limit, and reservations are not accepted. For more information, call 888-7800 or visit online at www.nps.gov/glac.
Art for the Park
The Stumptown Art Studio in Whitefish has partnered with the Glacier National Park Conservancy to host art parties where participants will decorate hiking sticks to be auctioned at the Backpackers Ball on Aug. 2. The ball is one of GNPC’s annual signature fundraising event. The art parties will be held Jan. 15, Feb. 5 and March 5 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The cost is $25, limited to six participants per workshop. For more information, visit online at www.stumptownartstudio.org or call 862-5929.
FVCC horse packing
Long-time horse packer June Burgeau will teach the “Horse Packing and Wildlands Camping” continuing education course for Flathead Valley Community College this spring. She took her first horse-packing trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness shortly after moving to the Flathead in 1968, a hunting trip with her husband Don. The classes will be held at Northridge Lutheran Church on Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. from April 3 through May 15. For more information, visit online at www.fvcc.edu/continuing-education.html or call 406-756-3822.
Birding trip
Flathead Audubon will host its annual Mission Valley field trip on Sunday, Jan. 12. Birders will look for hawks, waterfowl and other winter residents along Flathead Lake, through Polson and south in the Mission Valley. Meet trip leaders Leslie Kehoe and Bob Lee at the Somers Park ‘n’ Ride, at the intersection of Highway 82 and U.S. 93, at 8 a.m. To sign up, call 406-837-4467 after 5 p.m.
Hunting survey
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is sampling 160,000 hunters in an effort to gather harvest information on this year’s hunt. The survey asks randomly selected hunters about their hunting effort and harvest success for big game, turkeys, upland game birds and wolves. Wildlife managers say the research is vital to understanding the results of the 2013 season and for setting next season’s hunting regulations. The hunter harvest surveys will continue through March.