We’ve found no evidence of fresh infestation among our Ponderosa Pine growing where neighboring trees were killed last year by mountain pine beetles. The combination of cutting and peeling dying, infested “brood” trees and using Verbenone hormonal beetle repellant seems to have worked in this small area of less than 1 acre.

There are fresh infestations among trees about 300 yards above the treated area. Two trees inside a circle of beetle killed Ponderosa are loaded with pitch tubes. I’ll cut and peel these brood trees next year, and perhaps limit further spread.

A dead Ponerosa among healthy trees

A fresh pitch tube on a newly infected tree.

Most of us have heard it - the clang of garbage cans during a midnight raid by a bear; or seen it - a bear's face peering in through the livingroom window; of felt it - the disappointment of a prize fruit tree broken by a bear climbing up to snatch ripening fruit.

The Bear Aware Program seeks to ease these conflicts. www.missoulabears.org

Not a Spelling Bee, but a Primer on River Restoration

Natural River and Floodplain Function Goal of Design

A team of engineers, ecologists, hydrologists, geomorphologists, and biologists assembled by the State of Montana collaborate to restore the Clark Fork.