Michael Howell

Volunteer organizations from all over the valley are gearing up once again for the annual Youth Conservation and Education Expo at the Teller Refuge near Corvallis. It’s a free event held in May for the valley’s youth ages 6 to 17 years old that is designed to educate them about the great outdoors and the […]

At its March 14 regular meeting, the Stevensville Town Council declined to pay approximately $26,000 in claims to various local contractors who were hired for snow removal during the recent record-breaking snow storm. Mayor Brandon Dewey issued a proclamation during the storm, which was forecast to continue, for residents not to travel or park on […]

Sapphire Community Health Clinic in Hamilton is offering a series of wellness classes this spring designed to provide some valuable skill sets to anyone of any age in the community that can help them handle stress, anxiety, depression, fear, unworthiness and chronic pain. Although not all stress is bad, long-term stress can harm your health. […]

Regional U.S.F.S. officials have announced that their expected response to objections filed over the issue of mountain bike use within the Sapphire and Blue Joint Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) will be delayed.  When the updated Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan was adopted in 2016 it was challenged in court. The court upheld the travel plan […]

The Bitterroot Valley started out the new year around 20% below average in snowpack. Then came the snows of February. It was a lot of snow and a lot came down all at once over a couple of days. It turns out, by March 1, it was enough to bring the Bitterroot back up to […]

Senate Bill 24, a bill increasing the optional light motor vehicle registration fee for parks and recreation, appears to be headed for approval by the Senate. It would then be taken up by the House. The bill would increase the optional fee from the current $6 fee to a $9 fee. The bill, sponsored by […]

Senate Bill 224, sponsored by Sen. Tom Jacobson, D-Great Falls, has passed the Senate and been transmitted to the House. Proponents of the bill say it gives county attorneys a tool to prevent public road closures by increasing the fine for illegally gating established county roads. It would increase the fine for an encroachment on […]

Montana is blessed with some of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the country. These special places have come to define our state in the minds of most Americans and for most of us who live here. But actually, getting out into the wilderness and enjoying it can be a very trying and even dangerous […]

Almost thirty years ago, Lowell Smith decided to “buy himself a job.” What he did back in June of 1990 was purchase the chainsaw and small engine/mower repair business owned by Frank Lewis and then employ himself for the next thirty years. His business, called Montana Saws, was located on the Stevensville Cut-Off Road where […]

  The Ravalli County Health Board will begin discussions concerning a draft revision of the Ravalli County Subsurface Wastewater Treatment and Disposal Regulations on Wednesday, March 6, at 2 p.m. in the Board of County Commissioners meeting room. A subsequent public hearing for the first reading of the rule changes is scheduled for Wednesday, March […]

Proposed amendment would clarify commercial floating regulations on the Bitterroot River The commercial use permit restrictions for floating the upper Bitterroot River and West Fork appear to be working, according to Christine Oschell, the River Recreation Coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, who gave an update to members of Bitterroot Trout Unlimited last week.  The […]