Today, many people feel both hope and concern about the direction of our country. There are real questions about how our systems—economic, educational, and political—are serving everyday people and especially the next generation. Rather than dividing over these concerns, we can use them as a starting point for honest conversation, grounded in facts, mutual respect, and a commitment to truth.

Supporting our children means giving them not only opportunity, but also a voice in shaping the future they will inherit. That requires fresh perspectives, civic engagement, and a willingness to question the status quo while working constructively toward solutions.

In that spirit, emerging voices like Finley Warden who is running for the House of Representative District 13 (Lake County) represent a new generation stepping forward with energy and conviction. Whether or not one agrees with every position, encouraging thoughtful participation and accountability in public life strengthens the very principles of unity, transparency, and shared purpose that underpin life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A vote for Finley Warden is a positive vote for conservative Montana.

David Passieri
Ronan

The post Support Finley for the House of Representatives appeared first on Flathead Beacon.

If you’ve seen the attack ads targeting Linda Reksten in the House District 13 race, I want you to know something: they are lying to you.

I’ve watched Linda serve this community for three terms. She is a proven conservative, endorsed by Governor Gianforte, and she has never — not once — voted for anything that puts our children at risk. In fact, she voted for the Youth Protection Act (SB 99) in 2023, which prohibits gender transition surgeries and treatments for minors. That bill passed and was signed into law.

The bill these ads keep distorting — HB 9 — has nothing to do with transition surgeries or children’s health. It funds cultural and arts grants through the Montana Cultural Trust: museums, community arts programs, and rural historic preservation. It uses interest from the Coal Severance Trust, not income or property tax dollars. There are no DEI programs, no explicit materials, no gender transition services. None. The funding is publicly disclosed. Anyone can look it up.

So who is behind these ads? Out-of-state dark money PACs with no stake in Lake County and no accountability to Montana voters. They are spending money to take away your representation — to replace a candidate you know and trust with one who’s lying to you with one they can control.

Don’t let them do it.

Do your research. Follow the money. And on June 2, re-elect Linda Reksten to House District 13.

Joe Archibeque
Polson

The post Linda Reksten is a Proven Conservative appeared first on Flathead Beacon.

Live Music & Concert Series

Home Ranch Bottoms 

May 22-Sept. 5

For those of you looking for a more off the grid concert experience, Home Ranch Bottoms, with its intimate outdoor stage framed by the vast wilderness of the North Fork, might be the spot for you. Great food and great cocktails help deliver an atmosphere that’s best enjoyed when the days are long and the sun is shining. The musical lineup gravitates towards country, folk and Americana, but there are exceptions. Paul Lee Kupfer will kick off the summer concert series with two nights of performance on May 22 and 23 and Blue Point Bluegrass will wrap the season up Labor Day Weekend with shows on Sept. 4 and 5. Home Ranch Bottoms is located at 8950 North Fork Road in Polebridge. For more information and to buy tickets: https://www.homeranchbottomsmt.com/livemusic. 

Northern Lights Saloon

May 22-Sept. 6

It’s a little further up the road than Home Ranch Bottoms, but the Northern Lights Saloon has plenty of live music booked for the summer, as well as a food and drink menu, and the adjacent Polebridge Mercantile, which is packed with food, drink, pastries, supplies, and other items. The more than 40 shows scheduled for this summer represent a range of sounds and include local acts like 20 Grand and Accordion Bob. The season starts with Dan Dubuque on May 22 and ends with Blue Point Bluegrass on Sept. 6. The Northern Lights Saloon is located at 255 Polebridge Loop in Polebridge. For more information: https://www.thenorthernlightssaloon.com/ 

Whitefish Summer Concert Series

June 26-28, July 24-26, Aug. 14-16

The Whitefish Theatre Company will be hosting three different tribute concert series starting with The Music of Dolly Parton in June. In July, there will be three nights of The Music of Queen, followed by a trio of August nights dedicated to The Music of Heart — a tribute to the groundbreaking women who redefined rock ‘n’ roll. Each show starts at 8 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center, which is located at 1 Central Ave. in Whitefish. Tickets can be purchased online. For more information: whitefishtheatreco.org/wf-summer-concert-series

Glacier Symphony Night at Rebecca Farm: “America 250”

July 3 

This signature outdoor summer concert from the Glacier Symphony will have the fitting theme this July Fourth of “America 250,” which will be under the direction of Maestro Zoltek. During Symphony Night at Rebecca Farm, you’ll enjoy patriotic and pops favorites, food truck fare, drinks perfect for a summer evening and picturesque views of the vast Montana landscape. VFW Catering will also be providing bar service. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. and gates will open two hours prior. Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for teens and free for kids age 12 and under. Tables are available under the tent ($600) and in open air ($500). Eight complimentary tickets are provided with the purchase of a table. Contact the box office for assistance at (406) 407-7000 or visit wachholzcollegecenter.org/glaciersymphony for more information. Rebecca Farm is located at 1385 Farm to Market Road in Kalispell. 

Under the Big Sky

July 17-July 19

Headlined by Cody Jinks, Zach Top and Chris Stapleton, this three-day festival features more than 35 musical performances. Now in its seventh year, Under The Big Sky regularly brings out thousands of music lovers. In addition to live music, the festival will also have rodeo events, arts and merchandise vendors, food and beverages. The festival takes place at Big Mountain Ranch in Whitefish. Tickets can be purchased online. For more information: www.underthebigskyfest.com

Abayance Bay Summer Concert Series

June 24-Aug. 29

Abayance Bay is the only full-service marina and hospitality facility on the U.S. side of Lake Koocanusa, about eight miles west of Eureka. While the bay hosts a summer concert series with more than a dozen shows lined up, it’s certainly not short on other things to do. Amenities include 200 boat slips, a boat launch, an outdoor bar, a concert amphitheater, a year-round restaurant, tent and RV camping, two beaches and 40 acres of recreation space. The summer concert series will kick off with a five-day Red Clay Strays Fan Fest, which will feature two headlining sets from the Red Clay Strays and headlining sets from Lukas Nelson and St. Paul and The Broken Bones. The sound of Southern rock and soul will also roll into the bay Aug. 19 when Gov’t Mule headlines one night as part of their “Kicking In Your Stall Tour.” For more information and other concert dates, visit abayancebaymarina.com/live-shows.

Sports

Bigfork Whitewater Festival

May 22-May 24

After hitting the half century mark last year, the Bigfork White Water Festival is back again to kick off the summer and raise money for the Montana Kayak Academy. The beloved local event revolves around a stretch of the Swan River that runs through Bigfork, dubbed “the wild mile” for its Class IV whitewater rapids, and features slalom kayak and canoe competitions, a stand-up paddleboard flat water race, raft races and at least one dance party. For more information and a schedule of events, bigforkwhitewaterfestival.com.

Brash Rodeo Summer Series

May 23-Sept. 5

Every year beginning in the spring and continuing into the fall, the Blue Moon Arena in Columbia Falls hosts a weekly rodeo that includes bull riding, bareback, saddle bronc, barrel racing, breakaway roping, team roping and steer riding. The rodeo typically takes place on Thursday nights. The rodeo kicks off each night at 7 p.m., with the exception of May 23 and Sept. 6 and 12, when the rodeo starts at 6 p.m. Gates for the rodeo open an hour-and-a-half before the rodeo starts. The Blue Moon Arena is located at 167 Half Moon Rd. in Columbia Falls behind the Blue Moon Nite Club. For more information: www.glaciercountryrodeo.com

Bigfork Montana Rodeo

July 5-July 8

This professional rodeo event includes live music, food vendors, a kids area, and free parking. The first night of the rodeo, July 5, people are encouraged to wear red, white and blue. On July 6 veterans and active-duty military get in free. July 7 kids 12 and under get in free, and the final night of the rodeo, July 8, features a live concert immediately after the rodeo. Located at Bigfork Arena at 2840 MT Highway 82 in Bigfork. For more information: www.bigforkrodeo.com

Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo

Aug. 12-Aug. 16

The Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo is expected to once again feature more than 100 commercial exhibitors and more than 6,000 exhibits from regional residents. In addition to the PRCA rodeo, the fair will also include carnival rides, fair food, live music and a livestock show and sale. Located at the Flathead County Fairgrounds at 265 N. Meridian Rd. in Kalispell. For more information: www.nwmtfair.com

Glacier Range Riders

May 26-Aug. 30

Whether you’re looking for a date night or a family-friendly summer day, make sure to check out Flathead Valley’s baseball team, which will be entering its fifth season this summer. With a franchise-record number of home games on the schedule this season (nearly 55, in fact), there’s plenty of opportunities to check out the Range Riders over the next three months. The team will open the season with a six-game home stand beginning May 26 at 6:35 p.m. Home games will continue throughout the summer until August 30, with several promotional nights sprinkled in between. For families with kids (and adults) with a love for the work of a cartoon mouse named Mickey, the Range Riders will have three Disney-themed promotional nights: Toy Story on June 7, Cars on July 26 and Star Wars on August 7. The team will also have special promotional games for Father’s Day (June 21) and the Fourth of July (July 3-5). The Range Riders play at Glacier Bank Park in north Kalispell. For tickets and more information, visit www.gorangeriders.com. 

The Event at Rebecca Farm

July 15-July 19

Summer 2026 will mark the 25th year of this Flathead Valley staple event. The multiway equestrian triathlon competition draws thousands of people to Rebecca Farm for its Olympic qualifier level courses, and competitions that go through the three eventing disciplines of dressage, cross-country and show jumping. Spectators will be able to shop from vendors featuring regionally made goods, art, apparel and jewelry. Rebecca Farm is located at 1010 W. Spring Creek Rd. in Kalispell. For more information: www.rebeccafarm.org

Arts and Festivals

Whitefish Woody Weekend

June 26-June 28

Now in its 14th year, the Whitefish Woody Weekend held at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake brings together a range of historic and modern wooden boats from across the West for the public to view for free. Sponsored by the Big Sky chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society, the event aims to celebrate the craftsmanship of wooden boats and coalesce its owners to share the history and upkeep of each vessel. Event highlights include a wooden boat parade on Whitefish Lake from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and a boat show from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Spectators will get the chance to vote for their favorite boat, enter to win a boat ride and enjoy food and drinks and live music at the Tiki Bar. For more information, visit lodgeatwhitefishlake.com.

Arts in the Park

July 10-July 12

Hosted by the Glacier Art Museum, this arts, crafts and music festival will include over 80 juried artists and artisans’ booths offering handmade paintings, jewelry, ceramics and housewares. Attendees can also visit community partner booths with free activities. Each day will include multiple live music performances, and there will be a wine and beer garden on site and food trucks. Ticket sales support the Glacier Art Museum’s educational art exhibitions and programs and can be purchased online or at the gate. Children 12 and under get in free. Arts in the Park is located at Depot Park in downtown Kalispell. The festival will go from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. For more information: glacierartmuseum.org/park

Bigfork Festival of the Arts

Aug. 1-Aug. 2

The festival, now in its 48th year, brings arts, crafts, food and music to Bigfork over the course of a weekend. The festival debuted in 1978 and in recent years it has included more than 145 booths. Annual festival attendance is estimated to be in excess of 6,000 people. The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. For more information: www.bigfork.org

Huckleberry Days Arts Festival

Aug. 7-Aug. 9

The 37th Annual Huckleberry Days Arts Festival in past years has included more than 100 artists and food vendors. The free admission arts festival highlights handcrafted items and there will events and activities on location and around town with an emphasis on huckleberries, including a pancake breakfast at the Whitefish Moose Lodge #642 with freshly picked huckleberries courtesy of Whitefish Boy Scouts Troop #1936. Located at Depot Park in Whitefish. For more information: business.whitefishchamber.org

Whitefish Trail Hootenanny

Aug. 21

The Whitefish Trail Hootenanny will be held on Friday Aug. 21 in Depot Park in downtown Whitefish from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The community event celebrates local trails and open lands with live music, local beer, food trucks, a raffle, and kids activities, with 100% of proceeds supporting the nonprofit Whitefish Legacy Partners, the Whitefish Trail and local conservation lands. For more information, visit www.whitefishlegacy.org. 

Farmers Markets

Bigfork

Those of you living in Bigfork luck out in the summer as the city features not one, but two farmers markets each week. The Bigfork Monday Market takes place — you guessed it — each Monday from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Memorial Day through Labor Day. The market’s selection includes local farmers, live music, craftsman and food trucks The Bigfork Monday Market is in downtown Bigfork at Lake Baked/River View Bar, on the corner of Mill and Bridge Street. Bigfork’s original Farmers’ Market takes place each Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the corner of Highway 35 and 83, next to the Bigfork Liquor Barn. The vendor owned market, established in 2007, provides a low-cost venue for local Artists and craftsmen, and local farmers.

Columbia Falls

The Columbia Falls Community Market, which garnered more than 31,000 attendees and raked in more than $775,000 in vendor sales in 2025, runs each Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., starting May 14 and continuing through Sept. 24. The market brings together local food, art, music and community every week and takes place at 165 Veteran Dr.

Kalispell

For more than 50 years, the Kalispell Farmers Market has been a vibrant gathering place where local farmers, ranchers, artists and makers come together to sell their goods, share their talents and connect with the community. The spring edition of the market this year will run every Saturday from May 2 to July 18, while the fall dates for the market will be July 25 through Oct. 17. The market is at Flathead Valley Community College, 777 Grandview Dr., and runs from 9 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. 

Polson

The Polson Farmers Market Co-op is the oldest running farmers market in Lake County, Montana, operating in Polson on the south shore of Flathead Lake and nestled at the foot of the Mission mountains. The market features more than 50 vendors providing a variety of local grown, hand crafted and baked goods. Polson Farmers Market opens the first Friday in May and continues through the second Friday in October, running every Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Whitefish

Entering its 23rd year, the Whitefish Farmers Market is the place to be Tuesday nights this summer for rotating live musical artists, a variety of prepared food and the season’s freshest products. The market runs from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., starting June 2 and continuing through Sept. 29 at the North end of Central Avenue.  

The post Can’t-Miss Events for Summer 2026 appeared first on Flathead Beacon.

The Montana Chamber of Commerce, the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, and the Billings Chamber of Commerce have taken a clear and united stand against Initiative 194. We believe Montanans deserve a full and transparent explanation of why. 

No doubt, I-194 would prohibit Montana businesses and nonprofits from participating in the political process. Under this initiative, family-owned businesses including farms, ranches, restaurants, and retail stores could not respond publicly to a ballot initiative targeting them. A Main Street restaurant could not support a local levy to improve public safety. A small business coalition could not push back against misleading claims that threaten their livelihoods and their employees’ jobs. These are not hypothetical concerns; they are the everyday realities of how Montana businesses engage in the civic life of our communities. 

But make no mistake, I-194 does not remove big money from our politics. 

While cleverly named “The Montana Plan”, I-194 should be called the “California Plan” since California is home to more than 200 individual billionaires and places no restrictions whatsoever on out-of-state wealthy individuals. Under I-194, a single well-funded outsider could bankroll a campaign to devastate a Montana agricultural practice, a logging operation, or a ranching family, while the Montana businesses under attack would be legally silenced. That is not campaign finance reform. That is a one-sided disarmament of Montana’s own voices. 

The supporters of I-194 like to reference the Copper King’s influence that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. And while this initiative would have prohibited the Anaconda Copper Company from supporting candidates, the actual individual Kings of copper–the millionaires that owned those companies–would have still been free to bankroll their preferred candidates, while the rest of Montana’s small business community sat in silence. They would have loved this proposal. 

Montana has a proud history of fighting outside influence in our politics, from the battles against the Copper Kings to the Corrupt Practices Act of 1912. But that Act targeted corruption and covert control of government, not the right of businesses and community organizations to have an open voice in the state they call home. There is a meaningful difference between a corporation secretly buying a legislator and a chamber of commerce publicly advocating for its members. 

We raised constitutional and legal questions about I-194’s scope before the Montana Supreme Court because those questions deserved an answer. We respect the Court’s ruling. And now we are doing exactly what any organization or individual is entitled to do: making our case openly, with our names attached, and letting Montanans decide. 

That is what chambers of commerce do. We advocate for Montana’s businesses and workers—the coffee shops, hardware stores, family farms, and yes, the larger employers whose presence helps keep smaller businesses alive. We are Montanans representing Montana’s economic engine. 

We agree that Montanans deserve a political system where their voices matter more than outside money. Silencing Montana businesses while leaving out-of-state billionaires free to spend without restriction does not achieve that goal. It simply changes who gets silenced. 

We urge every Montanan to read I-194 carefully—all of it—and ask: Does this make our democracy stronger, or does it make some voices louder by making others disappear? 

This guest column was submitted by the Montana Chamber of Commerce, Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, and Billings Chamber of Commerce.

The post Montana Plan Hurts Montana Business appeared first on Flathead Beacon.

Democratic candidates Nathan Dugan, 36, and Colton Little, 20, are facing off in the primary race. Neither have previously held elected office. The winner will move on to challenge Abell, who was elected in 2020 and is seeking a second term on the three-member commission.

Both candidates are running on platforms that center around the affordable housing crisis, and say Abell has failed to provide adequate leadership on affordability issues. Still, Republicans have retained a party stronghold on the commission since 2010, and previous attempts by Democrats to crack the electoral lock have proven unsuccessful.

In Dugan and Little, Democrats must choose between two candidates hoping to challenge that balance of power while elevating an affordability agenda that’s struggled to gain traction in Flathead County’s partisan political bubble.

Dugan, who lives in Whitefish and works as a physical therapist, co-founded the housing nonprofits Shelter WF and Livable Flathead. He said building more homes while promoting responsible land use is an essential step toward tackling affordability.

As large-scale projects continue to clear the commissioners’ desks, such as last year’s unanimous approval of a preliminary plat for a private luxury golf course and marina in Lakeside that drew widespread opposition from neighbors, Dugan said careful and long-term planning are important factors in deciding controversial proposals.

“To some extent, there are some things that need to be allowed,” Dugan said, referring generally to development proposals. However, he added, “fast tracking developments and not going through proper channels, things that lead to lawsuits — those are things that cost the taxpayers money.”

Little, a political science student at Flathead Valley Community College who lives in Columbia Falls, said controversial projects are often “bulldozed” through the commissioner’s office. To that end, he said he would support more community engagement.

As his top priority, Little said affordable housing could be solved with stronger community partnerships while also taking advantage of state and federal grants.

“I think we should have a Flathead County Housing Authority,” Little said. “We truly do need to build more housing and there is housing in the county that is under-utilized.”

As a member of the Flathead County Transportation Advisory Committee, Little said he would also prioritize public transportation if elected. He said the Mountain Climber bus is “not meeting the needs or demands of public transportation” with limited coverage and a failure to connect municipalities.

“My goal is to have a low-cost and potentially … fare-free county-run bus service that connect Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls and potentially Bigfork,” Little said.

As a large demographic of county residents continues to age, Dugan said he would support Flathead County’s seniors with emergency services and resources like meals and transportation to allow seniors to age in place.

Following recent tension between the board of commissioners and the Flathead County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, which says hiring recruitment remains challenging amid non-competitive wages, both candidates agree that deputies should be earning more.

“We should not be losing deputies to other sheriff’s offices or city departments that pay substantially better,” Dugan said.

Little, too, believes any public employee should earn fair pay and benefits.

“I am always in favor of people getting fair and livable pay,” Little said. “If you’re putting our life on the line, I think it should be compensated.”

maggie@flatheadbeacon.com

The post Flathead County Commissioner Race: Democratic Primary Features Candidates Prioritizing Affordable Housing Crisis appeared first on Flathead Beacon.

The only rental place nearby was closed, and buying a canister just to throw it away after a couple days seemed wasteful. They resorted to knocking on strangers’ doors, hoping someone might lend them some. Eventually, the front desk clerk at a hotel gave them a canister left by a guest. But they had no idea if it worked. If the former owners had deployed it, there might not be enough to deter a bear. And even if it were full, had it been stored right? Heat and improper storage can weaken the propellant. That’s the thing with bear spray: The only way to know if it works is to use it when you need it.

Frustrated, they drove down the Kenai Peninsula toward Seward. Why, in one of the most bear-dense places in the country, was it so hard to find bear spray? As they continued to drive, a roadside coffee shack — a tiny trailer in an empty dirt parking lot — came into view. And that’s when it came to them: Why not a bear spray shack? 

In the 40 minutes it took to reach Seward, they mapped out their vision for Bear Spray Shack, a fully automated bear spray vending machine. That night, they bought the website domain while waiting for their dinner reservation. 

Five years later — after two years of development and a soft launch in 2023 — their bear spray vending machines are equipping visitors with the potentially lifesaving deterrent, from Glacier and Grand Teton national parks to Denali. 

The process is simple: Customers swipe their ID and credit card — the machine requires renters to be 18 or older and agree to a digital waiver — and out pops a canister of bear spray complete with a belt holster. They return the canister to any machine when they’re done hiking. 

“Last season, we put over 7,000 canisters in people’s hands over five machines,” said Febo. 

It costs $10 the first day and $5 per additional day to vend a canister — low enough to change the calculus on one of the biggest barriers to carrying bear spray in the first place. Renters are only charged the full canister price if it isn’t returned, or if it’s deployed — at which point, most people would agree, it’s worth it. But spending $40 or more to buy a canister, especially when it’s not allowed in checked or carry-on luggage, is hard to justify for many visitors. And if you’re only going for one hike, it seems easy to opt out — and many do.

But it’s a gamble, and one I’ve lost before. I took my parents hiking in Alaska in 2022, exactly a year after Longen and Febo’s trip. We chose a popular trail less than an hour from Anchorage. The parking lot was packed, so when I realized I’d forgotten my bear spray, I didn’t worry. There were so many people around, I assumed bears would steer clear. 

I was wrong. Less than a mile into our hike, my mom heard rustling in the brush. I told her not to worry, but secretly stayed alert. Not five minutes later, I threw my arm out, stopping my parents in their tracks as a black bear barreled across the trail toward a large group of people at an overlook. They screamed, and the bear veered off into the woods — a bluff charge. No one had reached for their bear spray. Carrying it and being ready to use it, it turns out, aren’t the same thing.

Managing the coexistence of people and bears is no small task. Glacier, for instance, is home to more than 1,000 bears, and earlier this month the park closed 10 hiking trails after a hiker was killed in an apparent bear attack — the first fatality there in nearly 30 years. Bear spray was found nearby. Investigators haven’t disclosed whether the victim had managed to deploy it. After the infamous 1967 “Night of the Grizzlies” incident, in which two campers were killed by two different bears on the same night, Glacier implemented bear safety policies that remain today: bear-proof trash cans, food storage lockers, public education, and the relocation of problem bears. These have reduced conflicts at campgrounds and backcountry campsites, but they can’t prevent a close encounter on the trail.

Bear spray offers no guarantees, and how to handle bear encounters is a perennial debate in outdoor circles. But a 2010 study in the Journal of Wildlife Management found bear spray — which sprays a cloud of deterrent up to 40 feet — stops aggressive bear behavior more than 90 percent of the time. To Longen and Febo, the challenge isn’t whether it works but whether visitors have it when they need it.

Before starting Bear Spray Shack, Longen and Febo had no prior business experience, but they did have backgrounds in programming and engineering that allowed them to design and build the machines in the garage of their Salt Lake City home — literally in-house. The shacks’ retro exteriors pay homage to the iconic national parks artwork commissioned by the WPA during the Great Depression. But the minimalist shapes and clean lines of the artwork belie the complexity of what goes on inside. 

“We stumped a lot of experts in the vending machine field,” Febo said. “Bear spray isn’t symmetrical so you can’t stack them like cans of Coke. And the machine needs to be able to check the canister before it’s rented out again.” 

Each canister must pass six inspections before it can be re-rented. Any that fail are pulled into a reject pile and recycled. 

The machines are designed with a visitor like Juan Melli in mind — open around the clock, so there’s no race to beat store hours. I found Melli online while looking for people who had used Bear Spray Shack. He’d planned his first Glacier trip from Hoboken, New Jersey, and wanted bear spray waiting when he arrived. He texted the number on the website to confirm the Columbia Falls kiosk was stocked and heard back within a minute. When the machine gave him an error message, one of the founders logged in remotely and dispensed the canisters while he was still on the phone.

“I was beyond impressed with the responsiveness of the owners and the use of technology,” he said.

Some visitors arrive with bear spray but don’t know how to use it. Longen and Febo have thought of that, too.

Canisters rented from the shacks have a QR code linking to their “On the Go Guide” on bear safety, which includes how to use bear spray. This year, they’ve added a multilingual demonstration video that plays on the kiosk’s screen while the canister dispenses. 

“We have a captive audience,” said Longen. “We’re going to use that time to make sure you’re getting some bear spray education.”

Navigating the logistics of installing kiosks inside national parks has proven to be one of their biggest challenges. Small businesses are often excluded from national park contracts in favor of bigger companies. Longen and Febo have had little success securing contracts inside Glacier or Yellowstone — the five shacks associated with those parks sit outside hotels and gas stations in nearby towns such as Whitefish and West Yellowstone.

Grand Teton National Park is a different story. There, a partnership with a nonprofit concessionaire got them two machines inside the park — a model they’re now using to pursue similar arrangements elsewhere. 

“It’s a very complicated path to being in the park,” Febo said. “You have to find the right threads to pull.” 

While they’re not alone in the bear spray rental space — Bear Aware and TrailQuipt have lockboxes around Yellowstone — they have the only fully automated machines and the largest network by geography. A customer can rent a canister in Grand Teton and return it in Alaska. 

Last season was their first in the black, and they’ve since taken on an investor. They hope to hire their first employees this year and commit to Bear Spray Shack full-time.

This season, they’re installing six new machines, including one at the entrance to Denali and another at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole — going from five machines to 11. One is at Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula, where the idea for Bear Spray Shack was born. It’s a new model, more compact but with the same capacity, built from everything they’ve learned so far.

Now, they hope, someone who shows up without bear spray won’t have to knock on a single door. They can find a machine and do what they came there for: hitting the trail. 

Libby Riddle is a science journalist and master’s student in the Environmental Science and Natural Resources Journalism program at the University of Montana. In her previous life as a wildlife biologist, she chased grizzly bears through the Alaskan bush, searched for songbird nests along the Clark Fork River and collected bison poop in Yellowstone National Park. She is passionate about translating research into stories that explain the science shaping our lives. You can read more of her work at www.libby-riddle.com.

This story originally appeared in The Pulp, which can be found online at thepulp.org.

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Over the course of my career in county government, I learned that leadership matters, but so does service. The best public servants are the ones who know their job, respect the responsibility they have been given, and never lose sight of the people they are there to serve.

Sheena Sterling brings those qualities to this race.

She has had the benefit of being mentored by Debbie Pierson, the current Flathead County Clerk and Recorder, who is retiring after three terms of service. That kind of mentorship matters. At the same time, Sheena has built her own experience through years of dedicated work in the Clerk and Recorder’s Office, preparing her well for this position.

I have also been impressed by Sheena’s commitment to customer service. In county government, the public should be able to expect professionalism, courtesy, and knowledgeable assistance, and Sheena has demonstrated those qualities in the way she serves others.

Flathead County will be well served by someone who is experienced, grounded, and ready to lead. I believe Sheena Sterling is ready, and I encourage your support for her as our next Clerk and Recorder.


Jed Fisher
Kalispell

The post Proud to Endorse Sterling for Clerk and Recorder appeared first on Flathead Beacon.

Visitors will encounter a silhouette of that proposal this summer when, for the first time in a half-decade, they can drive through all of the park’s entrances without a vehicle reservation. But they’ll confront other changes in 2026, including parking restrictions at Logan Pass and a new reservation-only shuttle system.

Still, with the rollback of vehicle-reservation requirements, which took a slightly different shape each summer as park officials refined a strategy to manage congestion and break up gridlock, Glacier National Park Superintendent Dave Roemer said the long-term goal balances parking predictability with resource protection, and visitor experience with visitor capacity.

“I think it’s fair to say that most people in the community would like us to graduate from piloting different methods of access and instead provide a long-term predictable solution for access to key destinations in the park,” Roemer said at a recent community meeting in Kalispell. “And I think my staff would agree with you. It’s a lot of work each year to be wrapping up summer and already feeling the pressure of trying to lock in our system for next year. Well, we’ve been talking about this for a while. And it all leads us to where we are now.”

For the park’s planning specialists, “where we are now” looks a little like where they’ve already been. But to hear Roemer and his team describe the path forward, it’s where the park is going that’s important.

The new proposal, which magpies elements of a pre-pandemic transportation plan while drawing from a deep well of community input, could be approved as early as next winter, with phased implementation beginning next summer. In addition to signaling a total departure from the vehicle-reservation system the park has been optimizing over the past half-decade, the new proposal would restrict personal vehicles in the park’s alpine reaches by setting a three-hour time limit at Logan Pass while implementing a lottery for longer-term parking. Critically, it would scale up an outmoded shuttle network to ferry visitors between the park’s most popular destinations while adding hundreds of new parking spaces at key locations near park entrances and in outlying valleys. And it would establish a bicycle-only season during which personal vehicles would be prohibited.

Without any guarantee of federal funding, however, stakeholders worry they’re moving forward without a fallback plan.

Glacier Park launched its current fleet of 36 shuttles in 2007 to mitigate congestion during the rehabilitation of Going-to-the-Sun Road, the park’s only alpine thoroughfare connecting its east and west entrances. With an annual operational cost of $1.7 million, the shuttles are funded through visitor entrance fees, which, according to Roemer, “is not very sustainable for us.”

“While people have loved the shuttle system, they’ve also found a lot to not love about it,” Roemer said, including long wait times, a narrow schedule and unreliable service. To improve the system, park officials are proposing adding between 540 and 600 new parking spaces at strategically located “hiker hubs” near the east and west entrances. From those hubs, visitors would be served by a reservation-based “alpine delivery system,” Roemer said, as well as by lower-elevation “circulator shuttles” available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The park would also add 150 park-and-ride spaces in outlying valleys such as Two Medicine, East Glacier and Many Glacier, where Roemer noted the park recently added 170 new parking spaces to the Swiftcurrent area, with a total of 339 spaces available this summer. (The park currently has approximately 2,250 spaces.)

Meanwhile, half of the parking spaces at Logan Pass Visitor Center would be available through a lottery to accommodate personal vehicles that require parking for more than three hours, while the other half would be available on a first-come, first-served basis under a three-hour time limit.

Park officials will test the three-hour Logan Pass parking limits for the first time this summer. Although Roemer was reluctant to discuss the details of the park’s enforcement plans, he warned that “scofflaws” could return to their vehicles to find them immobilized by a parking boot.

“I have heard that scofflaws are planning to take advantage of our ability to enforce the time limit, and to that I would just say that it will take a commissioned ranger to put a boot on a car, and it will take a commissioned ranger to take a boot off a car,” Roemer said. “And it’s not unreasonable to model a day on Logan Pass in which a ranger puts a boot on the car and then gets called away for multiple hours. That could be a real bummer.”

The park currently has the transportation infrastructure to “deliver somewhere north of 780 people” to Logan Pass per morning, which matches the threshold for management action on the Highline Trail, the park’s most popular alpine hiking route that begins at Logan Pass. It’s also the same daily average use the Highline Trail received in 2017, when the park set its all-time record for visitation with more than 3.3 million people. In July 2017, visitation hit more than 1 million people in a single month. In the past decade, the park has recorded more than 3 million visitors five out of the 10 years.

“So, knock on wood, if everyone who gets on a shuttle to Logan Pass is a Highline hiker, then we will have piloted just about the perfect system for the Highline for any summer in Glacier Park, now and for future years,” Roemer said. “By adding between 560 and 600 parking spaces at hiker hubs on the east and west sides, we’ll also be able to deliver people to other alpine areas; not just the Highline, but at some other stops along the way, like Siyeh Bend.”

“We’re trying to work backwards from what the right capacity is for those destination trails, and then build the transportation system so that people can arrive at the park’s hiker hubs, reliably find the transportation they need to do their thing, and then go do it,” Roemer said.

But some stakeholders worry that, by working backwards, the park is overlooking an essential step toward moving forward: funding.

On Thursday, after months of warning from park advocates across the country that national parks are in dire need of financial support, a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee rejected dramatic cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Instead, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies maintained funding at $2.9 billion, which represents a 1.3% overall reduction to the National Park Service budget.

Even as park advocates commend Congress for rejecting the steepest budget cuts, they’ve been warning of a deepening crisis for years.

“Just last year, members of Congress came together to pass a budget that supported our parks and their staff. They must do it again,” said John Garder, senior director of budget and appropriations at the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). “Our parks and the people who protect and keep them running deserve more investment, more protection and greater commitment to their future.”

NPCA Glacier Program Manager Sarah Lundstrum attended this week’s community engagement meeting and expressed concerns about the proposal, in part because it hinges on a pair of assumptions: that funding will be available to revitalize the park’s floundering shuttle system and expand parking, and that this summer’s untested visitor-access system will work.

“And those are pretty big assumptions,” Lundstrum said. “They’re doubling down on this summer’s plans without knowing whether the plan is going to be effective, and they’re proposing a long-term solution without knowing that the money is going to be available. And it’s wholly dependent on the money being available.”

For Roemer’s part, he acknowledged that the plan is in its preliminary stages.

“Let me be clear, we don’t have a fully baked plan right now,” he said. “There’s not a stack of paper that we’ve already written and reviewed. We’re still early in the process. But we do feel like we’ve identified what our preferred alternatives would be. And it involves making heavy investments in the park to increase the parking capacity and increase the number of shuttles and shuttle services to effectively serve the people that come to the park and help them get where they want to go.”

“Approval of the plan doesn’t mean approval of the money, but it does help to show that we’ve already done this preliminary work,” Roemer added. “And we’ve heard from our gateway communities and stakeholders. The people have spoken to the need for this level of investment in order to solve these issues for us.”

tscott@flatheadbeacon.com

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But for young baseball players across Montana, the last few years have been a continuous cycle of “firsts” as more teams join the high school ranks following the state’s inaugural sanctioned season in 2023.

This year, Kalispell saw its two Class AA high schools join the fray of firsts with the Flathead Braves and Glacier Wolfpack fielding their first-ever baseball squads in March. 

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, had some great jobs, and I don’t care what happens in the season … this is the best coaching job I’ve had,” Wolfpack Head Coach Erik Brink said. “When you look at things, you only get a chance to be first, like very few times in life, you know? I get to be the first to start a program at … the place I love. 

“When I got offered the job, I kind of got a little emotional saying I’m the first. I feel blessed that I am the first to get this thing kickstarted, then get somebody younger down the road and let them take it.”

The historic moment itself has been a main catalyst throughout the inaugural seasons, guiding and motivating both teams’ first swing at the high school landscape.

“With the kids, it was really important to let them know that, hey, you guys are the first block; you guys are the foundation,” Braves Head Coach Rich Burland said. “That’s the most important part of a building, and it’s the most important part of a program. You guys are going to be the foundation of this program.”

“You’re gonna be in that trophy case,” Brink told his Wolfpack team at the start of the season. “Your picture will literally be there 80 years from now and you’ll be that old, faded photo. They smiled. I think they’re embracing it.”

This message of history and legacy has also served as a unifier for both teams, which are made up of players from several different club and travel teams in the area. 

While high school baseball in Montana is only in its fourth season, baseball — and its rise in popularity in the Treasure State — isn’t an entirely new phenomena in the Flathead Valley. Brink, who was part of the Kalispell Lakers Baseball organization, said he’s already coached half of his 18-player roster through the baseball club, while the remaining players come from a mix of other teams. Burland’s Braves squad is composed of three local ball clubs, he said.

“We have kids that play for each program and they’ve come together and gelled really quick,” Burland said. “There hasn’t been any ‘this program’s better than this program’ talk or anything like that. I think they’ve all really bought into the inaugural season and setting that good foundation for the program, and I think that’s what kind of brought them together really quick.”

Eli Coopman, a senior for the Braves, said it’s been a “completely different feeling” playing for his high school instead of playing for a club team.

“Going to school with these guys for four years and then all of a sudden being put on a baseball team, it’s just kind of cool how you can even just deepen your connection with all your friends through this,” Coopman said. “And I made new friends playing this that I’ve gone to school with all four years, and I just now realized I have a connection with them through baseball.”

Establishing a difference between club and high school baseball was a key first step for Brink when building what he hopes to be a long-lasting culture in Wolfpack baseball. 

“For the most part, it takes a little bit to understand practice every day; make sure you’re in class every day; make sure your grades are good; every day we work out,” Brink said. “So that’s probably been tough for a lot of them, if not all of them.

“My goal always is to create good baseball players, good men and create a culture that’s going to last forever.”

Brink’s young Wolfpack team has certainly shown signs of buying into this culture already this season, with the payoff being racking up 11 wins so far and a third-place finish in Class AA’s West division. Glacier will host the West’s 6-seed, Hellgate, in a state tournament play-in game on Friday for a chance to go to the state tournament next weekend, where the first-ever Class AA baseball state title will be up for grabs following classification realignment late last year.

“I think we have a really good team, and we have a team that can make that final push into playoffs and into state,” Wolfpack senior Teagan Dixon said. “I want to play our last game, no matter which game it is, play the last game and not have any regrets or feel like we should have done better in the season.”

At 7-13, the Braves haven’t had the season they thought they would where the win column is concerned, but Burland said the team is filled with talent, from the top to the bottom of the batting order, and has been “dialing in” the last few weeks with the team’s sights set on its Friday state play-in game. Flathead, the West’s 5-seed, will need to beat the 4-seeded Butte High School twice on the road to get to the state tournament.  

With some of the top hitting in the state, all Flathead needs is to string together complete hitting and pitching performances to achieve their full potential in their first playoff push, senior Hunter Fann said. 

“I know we can make a really good run at it,” Fann said. “Our coaches believe in us. We all believe in each other. I think we can all get together at the right time and we can go really far at state.”

No matter where each team’s inaugural seasons come to a close, both head coaches have already felt overwhelming support from the Kalispell community in yet another installment of the crosstown rivalry — which has already yielded two nail-biting one-run affairs that saw both Flathead and Glacier walk away with a win. 

“I didn’t expect the community happiness and the excitement to see high school baseball,” Burland said. “I came from Washington state, where high school baseball was around for 100 years. To come here and just see the excitement and see the community get behind both schools … it’s been just awesome to see the community reach out to both programs and help them get off the ground and everything.”

lauren@flatheadbeacon.com

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During my 18 years as a Montana 11th Judicial District Court Judge, it was my distinct pleasure to come to know and respect Amy Eddy, both professionally and personally. She was an exceptional attorney, representing her clients skillfully and always with the highest ethical standards. When she took the bench over 10 years ago, I had no doubt she would bring those same characteristics to her work as a District Court Judge. My belief proved true.

For more than a decade, Judge Eddy has served Montana with the greatest distinction. She has managed a very heavy workload efficiently, fairly and in an unbiased manner, while giving all participants her utmost attention and respect. Moreover, Judge Eddy is vested in the community, piloting programs to assist families and children in child abuse and neglect cases and teaching regularly at local high school government and law classes.

Judge Eddy is committed to the rule of law and the Constitution; she understands that the judicial branch was created to function as a separate, independent, impartial, nonpartisan branch of government, operating as a check and balance on the other branches of government. Judge Eddy’s decisions are governed solely by the facts and the law pertaining to each case; you won’t find her pandering to politicians or seeking favor from political parties.

Judge Amy Eddy’s values, experience and work ethic make her the best candidate to be our next Montana Supreme Court Justice. I hope you will join me in supporting her with your vote.

Judge Katherine “Kitty” Curtis (Retired)
Whitefish

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