North Fork Landowners’ Association

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Bird watching is best in June when the birds are courting and nesting. Join Randy Kenyon and Donna Harrison for a birding walk on June 6. Meet on the road to Sondreson Meadow/Schnaus Cabin at 9:00 A.M. We will explore a variety of habitats. Beginners are welcome. Bring binoculars and a bird identification book if you have one.

The North Fork History Project will meet on Tuesday, June 22 at 2:00 at Debo Powers’ cabin, 3 miles north of Polebridge. Everyone who is interested in participating on this committee is invited to attend. We will be starting to record oral history from the North Fork this summer. Make sure to inform the committee of any pertinent information that you might have in your possession that could be of interest to future generations. If you know of a person who should be interviewed, please contact Debo at powersd@leonschools.net.

Fiddlin’, Dancin’ and Eatin’ On three evenings this summer, you’ll hear the sounds of bluegrass tunes coming from Sondreson Community Hall. On June 26th and on August 21st, we’ll begin the evening with a 6:00 pm potluck. Then we’ll put away the tables and chairs and at 7:30 live music and dancing will begin. On July 17, the evening will begin with the Pie and Ice Cream Social at 7:00 with live music and dancing at 8:00 pm. For our first dance on June 26, we’re fortunate to have an entertaining and easy-to-follow caller, Mark Matthews, who will guide us through basic contra and square dance steps. Our caller for the July and August dances will be Sarah Burdick, who will also make dancing fun. Whether you’re out on the floor dancing or taking a breather and listening, you’ll enjoy the acoustic bluegrass tunes played by members of the Grin and Bear It String Clan. Experienced and beginning dancers of all ages are welcome! No partner is needed. These are alcohol free events.

Do you have a Mountain Bike? Val Cox, Linda Pittman and Danny Dill have scheduled 5 favorite local bike rides this summer season. Check the summer NFLA schedule of activities for dates, destinations, and times. Also, three “out of area” bike rides are in the works: The Hiawatha Trail on the Montana/Idaho border, the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes from Wallace to Harrison, Idaho; and the “Last Best Ride” from The Loop on Going to the Sun Road to St. Mary (after Labor Day). Look for sign-up sheets at both Polebridge area stores, on the community information board in downtown Polebridge, and at the Community Hall.

Community Float Load up your rafts, inflatable rubber duckies, downriver kayaks, or canoes. Grab your boating gear, life jackets, water, a lunch, and some friends and float the North Fork of the Flathead River with us on Saturday, July 24th for the annual Community Float. Meet at the Ford launch site at 11 am to get underway and finish the day at the Forest Service take-out across from the Polebridge Ranger Station. This section of the river is an easy Class I/II float. Don’t forget sun bloc and water cannons! Additional floats are shown in the summer schedule!

Bob Grimaldi has volunteered to spearhead our Second Annual Food Drive. Please bring baby food contributions to the July 3 meeting. He will be collecting general, non-perishable food items at the September and October NFLA meetings. Cash donations by check are welcome as well! Contributors who are unable to deliver foodstuff to a meeting can deliver it instead to Bob at 30 Beaver Drive in Polebridge. Kudos to Bob and Jan Caldwell for partnering to pull off a highly successful NFLA Food Drive last October. North Forkers packed, loaded and delivered 387 pounds of food as well as $290 in cash to the Columbia Falls Food Bank.

Landscaping with Native Plants Growing beautiful flowers and shrubs in the upper North Fork Valley can be a mixture of good planning, hard work, a little love, luck, and maybe even a bit of Zen mysticism thrown in. Whether you’re a veteran gardener or a beginner, you’ll enjoy “Landscaping with Native Plants” presented by expert native plant grower, Terry Divoky. Terry will treat us to an inspiring power point program. Then she’ll display a collection of native plants from her nursery that are not only well suited to our unique growing conditions, but will enhance wildlife habitat. So, please join your fellow North Fork native plant lovers at 10:00 am until noon on Wednesday, June 16, at Sondreson Hall to learn how to beautify your property with plants that thrive in our tricky gardening environment. Bring a sack lunch if you’d like to stay for an informal native plant identification walk afterward.

Volunteer Weed Wrangler Training Come on out on Friday, June 18 and help your NFLA Weed Committee by becoming a volunteer “Weed Wrangler”. Volunteer training takes place on the 18 from 9:30 a.m. until noon at Sondreson Hall with lunch provided. As part of our recently awarded Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) grant, Tris Hoffman of the Forest Service and Dawn LaFleur of Glacier National Park will be on hand to train volunteers to identify the 14 species of noxious weeds that have invaded the North Fork, and to teach us how to plot weed infestations using a GPS unit. During the “weed season”, volunteers will be called upon to help map weeds. As part of the grant, volunteers will be reimbursed for mileage. Join us on June 18 and receive your free “Weed Wrangler” T-Shirt. Bring work gloves, a hat, sunblock, water, and a notebook. You will be provided with a complementary weed identification handbook.

The NFLA’s Fire Mitigation Committee will sponsor a workshop on July 7, immediately preceding the Summer Inter Local meeting. The theme of the workshop is “Save Your Home.” It will feature presentations on smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, fire extinguishers, dry sprinklers, water tanks and trailers, and the use and abuse of propane. The workshop counts as the North Fork’s annual Firewise Day, required to maintain our Firewise Community status. It will begin at 9 a.m. in Sondreson Hall, with time for demonstrations and questions before the Inter Local lunch at noon. For Other Fire Mitigation Committee news go to the Fire Mitigation Committee home page.

NFLA Road Committee

In the fall of 2008; then NFLA president, Molly Shepherd appointed a NFLA committee to look at various issues concerning the North Fork Road. The committee was chaired by Betsy Holycross and included Margaret Heaphy, Steve Weber, Steve Berg and Ed Heger. In August of 2009 after Betsy had been elected president of the NFLA, Margaret Heaphy took over as chairman.
     During the course of the past year, the committee has met with and worked with numerous federal, state and local officials regarding the road, to include: Glacier National Park, Flathead National Forest, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Department of Transportation, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, County Commissioner, Public Works Director and County Road Department. Summaries of all these meetings can be found on the NFLA website. The road committee reported its findings to the NFLA and the North Fork Road Coalition for Health and Safety.
      The committee has striven to educate the community on the history of earlier efforts to pave the road and the environmental issues that arose during that process in the early ‘80’s. It also has helped to educate the community as well as local officials about the possibility of doing a feasibility study on the road. Additionally, Margaret has done extraordinary research on dust abatement and control measures and reported those to the community. She has worked with and liaised with the county and state regarding these issues.
      Now, over a year later, at the NFLA president’s request, the BOD unanimously agreed to suspend road committee activities and the duties and responsibilities of its members. The email address will be disabled. The summer may be a busy one for road issues but the focus does not belong on the NFLA road committee. Rather, because a State and Flathead County sponsored feasibility study is underway which is looking at the road and road issues, folks should focus on that process and get involved in it! Members who want to stay abreast of what’s going on and/or comment on the process and issues should visit the study website at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/. We will make sure that any updates we receive will be posted on NFLA Road Committee home page, however, the most up-to-date information will be available at the State of MT feasibility study website linked above and members are urged to visit it to stay informed.

Newsletter Editor Jon Elliott welcomes any and all suggestions of stories for inclusion in the bi-annual newsletter. Especially desired are events to be shown on the coming social and meetings schedule. Please get your articles and events to him at jonnpate@hotmail.com.

NFLA Newsletters Archive
2010: Spring
2009: Autumn, Spring
2008: Autumn, Spring
2007: Autumn, Spring
2006: Autumn