The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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I spent a large part of my youth fishing: the Blackfoot River, Nevada Creek, Brown's Lake, the small creeks near Helmville, plus the pond behind our house. We fished for a large variety: natives, browns, rainbows, brooks, and bull trout, depending on which water we were on. A small creek about three miles from us produced buckets of small natives, so hungry even the smaller kids could catch them. The fish that we hooked lightly were put in water and hauled to our pond to be...
From downtown Lincoln you can now head for miles in any direction and still say you're within the Crown of the Continent, thanks to the work done by University of Montana Geography Professor Rick Graetz and his former graduate student Katie Shank. Last Friday, Graetz and Shank unveiled a new southern boundary for the Crown, which highlights the region around Lincoln and adds about 275,000 acres and 87 miles of the Continental Divide to the 13-million-acre ecosystem. Over the...
The past month has been fantastic. I did not win the lottery. I did see the results of many months of preparation as we had our annual five-day Bible camp. It is a great but stressful time. Stressful because there is a lot of preparation. I should not stress about camp because God always blesses my feeble efforts and camp always turns out to be a great time. I did not stress out too much this year. Maybe after 19 years of being involved with camp I finally “get it”! There are...
Most descriptions of Stuart Ian Frost's work sound like a narrative of the very idea upon which Blackfoot Pathway's: Sculpture in the Wild itself was founded: site specific sculptures related to a specific environment that are rooted in the history and culture of the area. Frost, is one of two artists slated to create new artwork at Sculpture in the Wild in September. He visited Lincoln at the end of June to get acquainted with Lincoln, the sculpture park, the area and its flo...
The 4th of July Festivities are over, the crowds have slightly thinned, the weather has been wet and cool, but the fishing remains hot! With all the rain over the last couple of weeks, Mother Nature is keeping the rivers flowing. The levels are lower than normal and are a bit concerning. For instance, as of the day of this writing, the Blackfoot at Bonner was almost half of what is considered the ten year average; despite a cool beginning to summer and a decent snow pack this...
A Blackfoot Valley Dispatch photograph of a falling bronc and rider – and the crowd's shocked reaction - earned recognition as the 2019 Mel Ruder Photograph of the Year at the 134th Annual Montana Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Awards ceremony June 8 in Big Sky. BVD Editor and Publisher Roger Dey shot the image of Blackfoot, Idaho bronc rider Cooper Clemons during a wild ride last year at the Annual Helmville Labor Day Rodeo. "I almost didn't enter the contest t...
When I think of the last week of school, my mind instantly wanders to cleaning out lockers and classrooms, time spent signing yearbooks, talking about summer plans, or tying up loose ends and missing assignments. This definitely wasn't the case for Mrs. Mannix and Ms. Spencer's 5th & 6th grade classes. Not even close. They took this time to plan an overnight outdoor adventure that would take them to the Raymond Ranch, a house originally built around 1917, on part of the Mannix...
Two and a half months after local fisherman James Savstrom, 70, was found dead on the Blackfoot River west of Lincoln, the state crime has lab released its findings in his cause of death. Information provided by Lewis and Clark County Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton listed Savstrom's primary cause of death was Atherlosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, also known as hardening of the arteries. Hypothermia was listed as the secondary cause of death. According to Dutton, Savstrom's...
With cleanup work at the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex set to resume next week, representatives of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resource Damage Program returned to Lincoln Thursday, June 6 to provide the community with an update on the progress of the cleanup. "We said last winter we'd come back and give an update before construction. They're starting to mobilize now onto the site." Project Manager Dave Bowers told this...
Explosive growth was on the horizon for Lincoln in early 1969. Just 12 years before Lincoln's population and economic prospects saw a boost when, Highway 200 - then Highway 20 - officially opened in 1957, providing a direct route between Missoula and Great Falls. In 1965, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company began exploring development of a copper and molybdenum ore body in the Heddleston mining district - now known as the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex- and by 1968 there was...
The Blackfoot River Chapter of Ducks Unlimited celebrated 20 years last weekend, and at the same time paid tribute to the man known for developing the organization's largest, most successful sealed bid auction program. Former Lincoln District Ranger Daina Bambe, her husband Dick Denslinger and Ernie and Renee Lundberg started the Blackfoot River Chapter and annual banquet in 1999, as a way to help Ducks Unlimited preserve wetlands and also to help the community's economy with...
Lincoln’s April 5 Government Day meeting covered a lot of ground. In Town Trails Karyn Good presented information on the progress of the Envision Lincoln in-town trails project that has been in the works since last year. “Our overarching goal for the in-town trails plan was to create a connected trails system that would connect our existing assets safely, and would be available to all,” she said. “We realize this is a costly process and likely a very long process so we’re starting small.” Good said they began looking fir...
John Robert "Jack" McInnis was born Aug. 26, 1935 in Great Falls, Mont. to Archie Leo and Mayme (Dunn) McInnis. He was preceded in birth by one brother, Francis (aka Fr. Mac). Jack was raised on the family homestead north of Raynesford on the southern slopes of the Highwood Mountains-a rugged, remote and beautiful ranch albeit a rather inhospitable place to raise cattle. Jack attended the first four years of school in Raynesford then attended the remainder of grade school and...
A Lincoln man was found dead along the Blackfoot River last Wednesday after failing to return from a fishing trip the day before. A friend of James Savstrom called the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Department Tuesday night, April 2 after seeing Savstrom’s truck parked along Highway 200 near the Powell County line that night, Deputy Robert Rivera told the BVD. Rivera, who is based in Lincoln, responded to the report when it came in just before midnight. He searched the river area near Savstrom’s vehicle, but was unabl...
Lincoln's Blackfoot River Chapter of Ducks Unlimited 20th Annual Banquet Blackfoot Chapter of Ducks Unlimited invites you to join us for an evening of fun to support wetlands conservation. The 20th Annual Banquet will be at Lincoln's Historic Community Hall on Saturday April 27. The event features a great dinner, silent and live auctions, raffles, and numerous games. Items available to bid on or win include shotguns and rifles, decoys, wildlife art, variety baskets, home...
The bitter cold temperatures that gripped the area in February and early March is believed to be the culprit behind a fish kill near the bridge at the end of the 4x4 Road, east of Lincoln. Billy Smock of Lincoln noticed dozens of dead fish around the bridge Friday while out walking in the area. She reported the kill to Lincoln-area Game Warden Ezra Schwalm, who arrived that afternoon to check it out. At first, Schwalm didn't suspect cold weather or ice was the cause. "This...
Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild has been chosen as one of three finalists up to receive a Montana Tourism Award in the category of Heritage and Cultural Tourism. Nominated alongside Sculpture in the Wild are Helena’s Archie Bray Foundation and the Kootenai Country Montana Chainsaw Carving Championship. Visitors and friends of Sculpture in the Wild nominated the park, and BPSW President Becky Garland said board members were notified of the park’s selection as a finalist last week. She said she hopes several boa...
An open house designed to provide a look back at the 2018 cleanup efforts at the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex drew only about half a dozen area residents to the Lincoln Community Hall Thursday evening, Dec. 13. Unlike past community meetings, which took the form of presentations of facts and figures followed by a question and answers session, Montana Department of Environmental Quality opted for the Open House format to provide interested residents with a chance to talk...
The construction season at the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex is expected to draw to a close this week with the completion of winterization work at the site. According to Karen Ogden, Community Involvement Coordinator for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, work that has been successfully completed this year includes the removal and reconstruction of the stream channel and flood plain from the confluence of Mike Horse and Bear Trap Creeks down to the Water...
Trails, traffic, tourism and teamwork were all topics of discussion as Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney sat down with Lincoln stakeholders and Main Street Montana Rural Partners Monday, Oct. 22. Administered by the Community Development Division of the Montana Office of Tourism, Main Street Montana helps communities revitalize and preserve their historic downtowns by uniting community ideas and efforts with program organization and resources. Focusing on economic development, urban...
Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte has served as Montana's sole representative in Washington DC for a year and half, after defeating singer Rob Quist in a May 2017 special election for the seat left vacant by Ryan Zinke, President Donald Trump's pick as Secretary of the Interior. Gianforte is currently running for re-election this year against Democrat Kathleen Williams of Bozeman. Gianforte, who prides himself on getting out to all the counties in Montana and not spending...
Work at the UBMC has been proceeding rapidly this year, despite getting off to a late start. The plan for this year included a flexible three-section approach that started with a base bid that ensured remediation of Bear Trap Canyon, from the confluence of Mike Horse and Bear Trap Creeks down to the Water Treatment Plant, would be completed this year, at a minimum. By Aug. 10, the contractor for the project, Missouri River Contractors, had made enough progress that the...
Last Wednesday, about twenty people boarded vans at Hooper Park for a three-hour tour of the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex for a look at progress that has been made since remediation and restoration work began there in 2014. Cleanup of the UBMC resumed this year on July 23, nearly a full year after efforts were suspended due to a debate among the partner agencies – the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the Montana Natural Resource Damage Program and the U.S. F...
Mary Hillerman didn't have to go far to find herself teaching 2nd grade at Lincoln School. Born and raised on a small ranch in Helmville, she attended Helmville School, Drummond High School and Montana State University. She then found her way back to Helmville for her student teaching and her first teaching position. "I think I always knew I would be a teacher." Hillerman said "My mother has inspired me to become a teacher." Hillerman's mother and sister are also teachers. In...
LINCOLN - The fifth anniversary of Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild this September promises to elevate further the surprising art park in this small mountain community. In addition to playing host to renowned sculptors Cornelia Konrads and Kate Hunt who will be working on new installations in the 26-acre sculpture park on the eastern edge of town, visitors and residents will be treated to an eclectic range of musical concerts curated by Composer-in-Residence Adele...
