Columns
Searching for opinion based articles? Below we'll share opinion news articles on a wide variety of topics.
Northern Pike: Love or hate?
Before we get full time into outdoor columns about hunting, let me do a final end-of-summer column about fishing.
Is hunting always great?
When I return from a hunting trip, people frequently ask me, “How was hunting?” My response is almost always the same, “Hunting was great!”
Finding value or lack thereof in treasured items
Flathead treasure hunters and keepers flocked to the Northwest Montana History Museum for the sixth Montana Antiques Appraisal Fair on Oct. 26. Organized by the Foundation for Montana History, the fair brings in ex…
Saddled up for stories
About a hundred of us leaned in to hear every word said in honor of this occasion — the 60-year anniversary of the Wilderness Act — and also the recent publication of Elser's memoir, “Hush of the Land: A Lifetime i…
Opening day excitement builds
This Saturday is the opening day for the general rifle season for deer and elk hunting in Montana. This is the grandaddy of all opening days for the fall of 2024 hunting seasons. This is the day that probably over …
Clock doctor makes house calls
The museum’s Seth Thomas wall clock that hangs in the museum’s Swanberg Classroom hadn’t worked in years. Gentle prompts from our volunteer teachers spurred me to action.
For the love of hunting
Is hunting and are hunters an endangered species? Living in Montana, where most adults, especially males, hunt, it seems that our tradition of hunting for food and fun has rock-solid public support.
Let’s leverage common ground
When I moved to Kalispell a few years ago I visited a new friend’s house and saw that neighbors at the end of her street had hung a massive banner across their garage.
Some duffers don’t need to bluff
We were a few holes into what would be one of the highlights of our summer: A grand tour of prime Flathead Valley terrain during the golden hours of a summer evening.
Dahlia growers bloom at Northwest Montana Fair
Two big fellas load a cart just outside the Mini Horses Barn, a tied-up Clydesdale whinnies at me, and the signs along “Hamburger Road” make their pitches, including for Blended Red Bulls and the alluring combo of …
Summer on the lakes is set to loon music
Last week I enjoyed an early morning fishing trip on a beautiful lake, using only my quiet electric trolling motor. Using my onboard electronics, I slowly cruised around the lake searching my favorite spots for sch…
Lifelong love of trees bore fruit
The valley lost a real good apple recently — Rod McIver.
Book lovers stack up a win
Sara Busse of the ImagineIF Library Foundation floated among the sellout crowd of Flathead Valley folks in their finery and sandals. The temperature hovered at 98 degrees Fahrenheit, but heat couldn't keep readers …
Benediction to merging art forms
A dozen people gathered June 20 under tents outside as photographer Barbara Michelman and writer Charles Finn talked about their collaboration, “On a Benediction of Wind: Poems & Photographs from the American West.”
Don’t quit your daydreaming job
At the University of Montana in the late 1970s, Pete Fromm admits he wasn’t a great student. Consumed by the mountain man stories he’d absorbed as a youth, he much preferred adventure and daydreaming.