Montana Ski Report

Facing foreclosure

One woman’s story

By Victoria Howell

It was a touching moment when prominent Stevensville businesswoman Desera Towle stood up at a recent Civic Club meeting and with deep emotion in her voice, told the assembly that her commercial building was in foreclosure. There was a stunned silence as people tried to figure out how to respond to this admission. More...

Dan Floyd stands in front of the Bell Crossing Bridge where three quarters of the span has been blocked by gravel deposits. Michael Howell photo.

Local fishermen Gary Murabito (L) and Richard Holcomb (R) were keenly disappointed on a recent fishing trip on the Bitterroot River downstream from the East Tucker Crossing Fshing Access Site. They can be seen here walking across the river and barely getting the toes of their boots wet. The only fish to be found were huddling in a few pools. Murabito said it was one of his favorite places to fish, that he has fished this branch of the river for over twenty years and never seen anything like this. Holcomb said that the river channel had been changing dramatically recently. He said that one day it would be around his ankles, the next day up to his knees and now he couldn't even get the toes of his boots wet. Both men wondered what was going on. Michael Howell photo.

The Bitterroot River – an ever shifting dilemma

By Michael Howell

The Bitterroot River is continually changing course as it winds its serpentine way along a braided path in the valley bottom. Log and debris jams or simply piles of deposited sediment can send the river mainly down one channel one year and down another the next. The results can sometimes be catastrophic for humans living and working along the banks. When it turns against you it can wash away your home or wash away the property itself. When it turns away from you it can leave you high and dry. This can be devastating to both irrigators and to recreationists as irrigation diversions dry up and old established fisheries turn into barren sand and gravel beds. Both these dramas are constantly being played out along the banks of the Bitterroot River. More...

Bitterroot College draft plan released

By Michael Howell

When Deputy Commissioner of Two Year Education Mary Moe said that she would form a small working group and produce an outline for a community college in the Bitterroot Valley within a couple of days, she wasn’t kidding. The draft outline, prepared by Moe, University of Montana Provost Royce Engstrom, Darby School Superintendent Tim Bronk, and Literacy Bitterroot Director Dixie Stark, lays out a proposed structure, form of governance and funding for a satellite college of the University of Montana in the Bitterroot. More...

FWP issues 64 citations for use of unlicensed outfitter

By Michael Howell

Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP) officials recently issued 64 citations related to the ongoing investigation of an unlicensed outfitter in Ravalli County. Each of the 64 people so far cited are alleged to have engaged the services of an unlicensed outfitter working out of Ravalli County. It is illegal according to statute in the state of Montana to retain the services of an unlicensed outfitter. More...

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