Visiting

By JOHN CRAMER of the Missoulian

Western Montana's snowy winter has given way to a cool spring, but it's never too early to start thinking about the wildfire season.

Although the snowpack remains mostly intact in the high mountains, spring's green-up hasn't fully arrived and the wildland fire season doesn't typically start until July, don't be fooled.

Many lower-elevation areas have already started to dry out, with precipitation about 2 inches below normal for this time of year, including in the Missoula Valley.

By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian

KALISPELL - Americans love to play, feel they're entitled to it, actually.

“So much so that people won't cancel vacations or recreation just because the price goes up a little bit.”

So said Racene Friede, executive director of the Glacier Country tourism center, one of six official tourism regions under the Big Sky.
“Even though gas prices are high,” she said, “we're not seeing any substantial impact here in Glacier Country.”

By JOHN CRAMER of the Missoulian

Watch a video from Monday's release of trumpeter swans

OVANDO - Six more trumpeter swans were released in the Blackfoot Valley on Monday, the latest batch of the imperiled waterfowl to be reintroduced here by a coalition of government agencies, nonprofit groups and landowners.

Sometime during the January doldrums, we decided that a trip on the famed Smith River would be the proper way to launch spring. Our experience with the permitting process was that Smith River float permits for the middle of April are relatively easy to get, and two years ago an April float turned out to be a perfect time to be on the river.

By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian

Richard Layne’s long walk is finally over.

The Helena backcountry hiker emerged at the Sam Billings Memorial campsite on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River on Wednesday morning.

He’d been walking for 19 days, picking up where he left off in early April, when a busted snowshoe and fiercely cold weather forced him to temporarily abandon his plan plan to make a 125-mile trek through much of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian

Take a video tour of the Mullan Road near Cyr

View a map of the Mullan Road route.

May 1860.

The Pony Express had just begun its quick gallop across the West. Not a year later, the Civil War broke out back east.

By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian

It wasn't a bad gig, rubbing elbows with the stars in 1950 and '51.

Missoula got a full dose of Hollywood when Twentieth Century-Fox came to town - twice - to shoot “Red Skies of Montana.”

Dick Doyle, fresh off winning the 1950 NCAA discus championship for the Montana Grizzlies, chopped wood at Camp Menard in the Ninemile in a background shot that was never used.

“I always feel good about Special Olympics. I hope you all love it as much as I do,” Ask told everybody as the spring games of the Five Valleys Area Special Olympics got under way Wednesday. Ask, 40, is a bowler - that event comes Thursday - and he'll compete in power lifting at the State Special Olympics in Great Falls in three weeks.

By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian

Now that the University of Montana's $131 million capital campaign has ended, plans are under way to celebrate the historic fundraising achievement.

For top donors, that means a special invitation to a gala, star-studded event Friday, May 2, envisioned and planned by Phyllis Washington, and paid for by Dennis and Phyllis Washington.

The party is a sit-down dinner with a private concert given by several “big name” stars in Dahlberg Arena, said Laura Brehm, UM Foundation president and CEO.

By JOHN CRAMER of the Missoulian

A stretch of the Blackfoot River near Missoula once plagued by rowdy summer behavior has become more family friendly, authorities say.

In 2004, a growing amount of illegal parking, drunkenness, littering and other problems prompted a crackdown by local, state and federal agencies.

Since then, the number of arrests, citations and warnings has dropped significantly. Many families have called authorities to thank them for the crackdown.