The Bonner Milltown area is a collection of neighborhoods, old and new. The cleanup, restoration, and redevelopment of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers and their confluence and the shut down and subsequent sale of the mill has brought unprecedented change to this once stable community in the span of a decade. Change can be unsettling, but it offers tremendous potential as well. These stories chronicle events as they are unfolding.
Bear Aware Program Eases Human/Bruin Conflicts
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.
In mid-May, 2010, I noticed our small forest had several medium-sized Ponderosa Pine with needles in varying stages of turning brown . Some needles were all brown; some still pale green and yellowing. These colors, present in all the needles of the tree, identify trees recently killed by beetles. At this time of year, trees with all needles uniformly reddish brown will usually have been killed the previous year. I cut the recently killed trees and used a drawknife to peel off the bark, exposing and killing the larvae.
The Mountain Pine Beetle is a native insect that has always been present in our Montana forests. Hundreds of acres of dead and dying trees show that beetle populations are out of control. What has happened and can anything be done?
Friends of Two Rivers sponsored an informational program about the Mountain Pine Beetle on April 29th, 2010. Service Forester Eric Norris, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, was the featured speaker.
We're surrounded by the reddish brown, dead trees that are signs of a major infestation of the Mountain Pine Beetle. The beetle is native to Montana. Why are over 2.8 million acres of Ponderosa and Lodgepole forest in Montana now more vulnerable to the beetle? What can we expect in the future? What control measures can we use on our own property?
Forester Eric Norris, State Division of Forestry, address these questions and others on Thursday, April 29, 7 PM at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Bonner. This free public program is sponsored by Friends of Two Rivers.
Sustainability
Deconstructed / Reclaimed
Story by Warren Hampton, photos by Heritage Timber
"Wood warms you twice," unless you're Gary Delp of Heritage Timber. Dismantling buildings and reclaiming historical, useful and beautiful materials for resale and reuse multiplies the use of wood.
In mid-May, 2010, I noticed our small forest had several medium-sized Ponderosa Pine with needles in varying stages of turning brown . Some needles were all brown; some still pale green and yellowing. These colors, present in all the needles of the tree, identify trees recently killed by beetles.