The Confluence, Spring/Summer 2025

The Confluence

spring/summer 2025

From the Directors As we begin a new year, it’s often a time to reflect upon the challenges and successes from the previous year and look forward to another turn around the sun. An entire year can be as varied as the winter weather we’ve experienced over the past couple of weeks.

From February 13-18, we saw a dump of deep, dry powder that reminded me why I still have skis and that yes, we occasionally do get so much snow that it is still possible to get stuck in my driveway. During this timeframe, 50 inches of snow accumulated at the North Jocko SNOTEL site. Less than a week later, it poured over an inch of rain and washed away all that wonderful snow. It’s now the last week of February, and I just heard my first redwinged blackbird outside in the 50-degree sunshine that feels too much like April.

2024 was just as variable as this February’s weather, Managing Directors Sara and Luke Lamar at the fifth-annual and presented a monumental Summer Soirée in the Swan at The Nest on Swan River obstacle for Swan Valley Connections, with the news that the US Forest Service plans to sell our beloved Condon Work Center that has been our office, visitor center, gathering place, and home for the past 28 years. With those plans, the Forest Service asked SVC to vacate the property. SVC and our community responded to the challenge and adapted to the unfortunate situation. We identified a house and property at 6787 Highway 83 that suits our needs for an office space, visitor center, and a place to convene partners and store all our gear, all while maintaining visibility along the highway in ‘downtown’ Condon. SVC ultimately purchased the property with a combination of financial commitments from numerous supporters, drawing from our reserve fund, and securing an owner-financed loan. However, we needed to pay off those investments so that we could remain financially stable and focus our fundraising efforts on ensuring retention of our quality staff, continuing to serve our communities, and delivering our mission of inspiring conservation and expanding stewardship in the Swan Valley and beyond.

Starting in January, we began a capital campaign to raise the remaining funds needed to pay for the full purchase of the house, as well as several necessary upgrades. We have been blown away by the response we have received from those willing to help in our time of need.

The Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, which has a long and generous history of supporting Swan Valley Connections and other worthwhile efforts in the Swan Valley, kindly offered to match (dollar for dollar) $117,000 to close the final fundraising gap. Since that match campaign, 175 donors have contributed $128,950, surpassing our goal! Thank you to all who donated to make this dream a reality!

We currently have a contractor working on some electrical and ADA upgrades. Once they are finished, we’ll make our big move to our new home! Stay tuned for the date of our new office and visitor center grand opening. No matter when our opening date is, we’ll be open during the Fourth of July festivities, and encourage everyone to stop by to say hello and see our new home!

While it is bittersweet to have to leave the Condon Work Center, SVC will stay involved and engaged in a collaborative effort with other interested parties who are seeking an outcome that will benefit conservation and the local community.

In addition to the precarious February weather, the new presidential administration began making sweeping changes and cuts to the federal workforce and some programs.

A handful of these cuts have hit some of our valued federal partners particularly hard, with staffing cuts, hiring freezes, and funding uncertainties for the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and others. Our hearts go out to the people who have lost their jobs and who provided invaluable public services, such as cleaning outhouses

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Swan Valley Connections P.O. Box 1309 Condon, MT 59826 p: (406) 754-3137 f: (406) 754-2965 info@svconnections.org

Board of Directors

Jessy Stevenson, Co-Chair Rich Thomason, Co-Chair/Secretary Donn Lassila, Treasurer Rachel Feigley David Holmes Caitlin Jindrich Maria Mantas Jon Simon Dan Stone Aaron Whitten Tina Zenzola

Emeritus

Russ Abolt Anne Dahl Steve Ellis Melanie Parker Tom Parker Neil Meyer Rebecca Ramsey

Advisors

Steve Bell Jim Burchfield Larry Garlick Steve Kloetzel Chris La Tray Zoë Leake Tim Love Alex Metcalf Pat O’Herren Casey Ryan Mark Schiltz Lara Tomov Mark Vander Meer Gary Wolfe

Staff Luke Lamar, Managing Director Sara Lamar, Managing Director Andrea DiNino Kirsten Frazer Mike Mayernik Jackie Pagano Uwe Schaefer Taylor Tewksbury The Confluence is published by Swan Valley Connections, a non-profit organization situated in Montana’s scenic Swan Valley.

Our mission is to inspire conservation and expand stewardship in the Swan Valley.

Images by Swan Valley Connections’ staff, students, or volunteers, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved to Swan Valley Connections. Change service requested.

SwanValleyConnections.org Cover artwork by Lindsey Nielsen, LEN Scratch Art

at trailheads, clearing trails, and restoring wildlife habitat—services that we all have grown accustomed to and benefit from. As I write this, the final outcomes and funding related to some of these programs remains unknown. For example, there has previously been strong bipartisan support for federal programs that reduce wildfire risk on private lands. These federal funds are subawarded through a competitive grant process to various organizations like SVC. This program is now experiencing a federal funding freeze, and SVC and contractors have been ordered to halt all grant-supported fuels reduction projects (14 in total), which account for nearly $480,000 towards the local economy. Beyond the negative economic impacts from the block on those projects and the logs that were going to local mills, there is no on-the-ground work happening to reduce wildfire risk to local communities and increase firefighter effectiveness and safety.

There are numerous other federal funding sources and programs that SVC relies on to deliver important stewardship work in the Swan Watershed that are now also in limbo. About 40% of SVC’s 2025 budget is federal or federally-sourced funds. These funds supply important dollars to the local economy and also help deliver irreplaceable conservation work for many of our projects and programs, such as forest stewardship, wetland restoration, human-bear conflict prevention, trail maintenance, and rare carnivore monitoring.

Amid all this uncertainty, nonprofit organizations like SVC, who leverage federal and private dollars to increase the stewardship impacts and capacity for landowners and public land management agencies, will be even more important during these times of federal cuts. But in order to help deliver these projects and programs, we need you to invest in us. We turn that investment into something far greater than your gift: more resilient forests, restored wetlands, clean water, improved wildlife habitat, humanbear coexistence, cleared trails, clean campsites (free of garbage and human waste), and so much more.

So, please donate today, whether it’s an annual, monthly, or planned gift, to support our staff and programs! Politics change, but SVC’s mission, vision, and values will not. In a time of unpredictability, I am certain your investment in SVC will be one that will have a lasting positive impact on the world.

Onward & Upward,

Luke Lamar, Managing Director- Conservation & Operations

Aerial photo of the new Swan Valley Connections office and property at 6787 MT-Hwy 83.

Photo by Austin Seaback

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Annual Report summary balance sheet

Summary Profit & Loss 2024

as of december 31, 2024

Dec-23

Dec-24

522,293 273,627 9,711 15,697 821,328

547,553 155,680 5,829 220 709,282

Fixed Assets Equipment Vehicle Land & Buildings Accumulated Depreciation Total Fixed Assets

15,139 115,230 282,000 (107,954) 304,415

18,038 115,230 784,105 (116,739) 800,634

Investments

39,903

43,623

TOTAL ASSETS

1,165,646

1,553,539

ASSETS Current Assets Cash & Equivalents Accounts Receivable Inventory Prepaid Expenses Total Current Assets

LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS Liabilities Current Liabilities Accounts Payable Payroll Liabilities Tuition Deposits Other Current Liabilities Total Current Liabilities Long Term Liabilities Loans Total Long Term Liabilities Total Liabilities Net Assets Unrestricted Net Assets Board Designated Net Assets Temporarily Restricted Net Assets Permanently Restricted Net Assets Total Net Assets TOTAL LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS

2023 410,168 122,704 196,169 275,048 109,839 22,379 1,136,307

2024 456,872 100,032 144,500 604,772 117,246 28,845 1,452,267

Expenses: Stewardship & Restoration Education Wildlife & Aquatics Recreational Trails Outreach & Communications Public Info & Visitor Services Conservation Elk Creek & Swan Legacy Forest Mgmt Total Program Expenses Administration & Fundraising Depreciation Total Expenses

267,115 204,782 125,245 68,283 101,790 68,122 23,681 5,037 864,055 252,752 11,391 1,128,198

295,231 167,586 123,985 59,783 83,255 50,248 10,178 14,930 805,196 358,711 8,785 1,172,692

8,109

279,575

8,109

279,575

Net Surplus/(Deficit) Other Income:

7,342 68,124 19,660 0 95,126

54,990 77,444 30,152 2,069 164,655

46,056 46,056

84,745 84,745

141,182

249,400

672,837 208,394 108,684 34,549 1,024,464

1,154,721 47,289 67,580 34,549 1,304,139

1,165,646

1,553,539

Swan Valley Connections’ executive committee oversees the fiscal management of assets, balancing long-term financial stability with current operational needs.

The executive committee provides oversight for investment (through a professional investment manager) of fiscal assets to provide long-term growth, as well as current income within a balanced and appropriately conservative investment portfolio.

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Revenue: Government Agency Grants & Contracts Tuition & Course Fees Private Foundation & NGO Grants Donations & Sponsorships Program Services, Events & Other Investment Income/(Loss) & Interest Total Revenue

In addition, the executive committee recommends for approval, by the entire board of directors, an annual operating budget and the strategic allocation of unrestricted and board designated net assets to support the continuing mission of Swan Valley Connections.

Total Change In Net Assets

Page 1 of 1

2024

Landowners served and projects completed with SVC

Fue l s

Reduction

16 projects

220 acres 55 bear-resistant trash cans 7 electric fences

Land Stewardship

2024 Operating Expenses

72 landowners

8,703 a c r e s

Beetle

Repellent

157 landowners 10,710 p a c k e t s

TOTAL:

307 landowners + projects 9,000 acres managed EDUCATION 36 p r o g r a m s 645 participants 896 h o u r s

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LEARNING

TO LIVE WITH FIRE: a Before and After

By Andrea DiNino

A beautiful handmade card that SVC board member Jessy Stevenson made, which was somehow one of the very few things to (mostly) survive the fire.

Fire.

I now have a complicated relationship with it.

While I know and appreciate its necessity on the landscape, its ability to renew the soil and bring new life that supports many species…its mesmerizing dance and crackle in a fire pit, its ability to keep us warm in the cold winter months…it took a lot from me. In October of 2023, a devastating house fire took all of my sentimental belongings — old family photographs, letters and cards from deceased grandparents — and most importantly, it took my beloved cat, Murphy, who was my first pet as an adult; she traveled from Boston to Connecticut to San Diego to Montana by my side, and the way she died will haunt me for the rest of my days.

It’s a grief that I don’t wish on anyone. And while it’s brought me immeasurable sadness, I know that fire’s not all bad. And there’s plenty that we can do together to mitigate the possible negative effects.

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In the back of my mind, I knew that choosing to live in the Swan Valley meant I was choosing to live in a landscape that’s been shaped by fire, that requires fire, and that’s at risk of large wildfires; it’s not a matter of if, but when. Part of the problem is, we all think we’ll have time.

The Colt Fire of 2023 was about 11 miles as the crow flies from our home. While I’ve lived in the valley since 2016, it was the first time my partner and I got serious about having an evacuation plan, choosing possible meet-up points to the north and to the south (if it came to that), and talking about putting all of our important documents in a certain location (either near a go-bag or in a fireproof safe…that we didn’t own yet). Unfortunately, we thought we had more time, and we didn’t have the opportunity to implement that plan. And even if we had, it wouldn’t have made a difference for us. But as we chose to clear out the ashes and rebuild in the same location, it’s impossible for me not to think about the possibility of losing our home yet again to fire, but this time a wildfire.

Before the Colt Fire, I felt the effects of the further-south Rice Ridge Fire of 2017 much more intensely. I have photos of a

friend who was visiting - she’s covering her face with a t-shirt and wearing sunglasses outside, doing her best not to breathe in the smoke that burned our throats and eyes; I have an eerie photo of my Jeep pulled over on Highway 83, unable to see 20 feet beyond where my car is parked, and another of horses on the Gordon Ranch appearing and disappearing into the thick smoke that filled the field…it was hard being so confined to the indoors, unable to spend time in the river and mountains during the best months of our fleeting summer.

As with other tragedies and disasters, one beautiful thing witnessed during these times is the way people and communities come together to support one another and build back what was lost. Differing worldviews and political stances disappear, as we’re all reduced to our compassion, easily recognizing others’ humanness and our shared will to just… survive. But imagine the impact if we could all come together in this way before tragedy strikes. I appreciate that I live in a place where the community understands and accepts the state of our landscape and the real threat of high-risk wildfires that exists. And I am even more grateful that there are many groups dedicated to, and resources available for, decreasing the overall severity and impact of the inevitable natural events to come.

The cycle of life and death, burning and regrowth will keep on; nature will keep nature-ing (as I was reminded by the ground squirrels who quickly took up residence in the pit where our house once stood). Snowmelt and spring rains may make fire feel far away and fool us all into thinking we have time, but as we can see across the west, the fire season is growing. And those who work hard to keep us all safe are often stretched thin and worn down during the thick of the season.

So please don’t wait. Do your part now to keep yourself, your home, and your neighbors safe.

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As we all know, and witnessed at the beginning of the year in Los Angeles, things can get out of control in split seconds. The entities we rely on to keep us safe need all of us to do our part to make their jobs safer and more effective.

Those trees close to your house that should probably come down? Take them down. SVC offers free property visits; if you’re unsure about which ones should stay or go, or if you’d like help making sure your property remains wildlife-friendly, we’re here to help. And we offer costshare funding to help you get your fuels-reduction projects done! The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation also has service foresters throughout the state, ready to assist you.

reduces fire risk and makes it easier for fire trucks and emergency vehicles to get to you and do the life- and homesaving work they’re attempting to do. (SVC and Euchre Mountain Logging just completed one of these projects, known as a “shaded fuel break,” this past fall along the Elk Creek Conservation Area and Elk Flats Road in Condon.)

• The go-bag you keep thinking about putting together? Make it now! Just from my own experience, IDs and other documents weren’t too hard to replace, but there are some things that are truly irreplaceable - decide what those are and put them where you can quickly grab them. And if you’re displaced from your home, familiar clothes will provide comfort, especially if you face tremendous loss.

• Inventory your home each year. What insurance companies don’t tell you is that once you lose everything and while you’re grieving, you’ll have the painstaking task of listing every single item you owned, when you purchased it, what its value was, what its condition was…often insurance will want proof, and a quick video on your phone will go a long way in helping you provide the list and the proof. Take photos inside and outside of the home.

• And get involved! Groups like FireSafe Swan (of which SVC is a part of) and FireSafe Flathead hold meetings that are open to the public and the groups exist to pool resources together and work together to prevent catastrophic events from affecting our communities and neighborhoods. The Firesafe Swan website (www.FireSafeSwan.com) has a host of information from burn permit info, fire history, meeting minutes, landowner pamphlets, and more. Fire Adapted Montana is a great resource, too!

Learn more about SVC’s services at www.SwanValleyConnections.org/fire-preparedness, and read more about the preventive efforts and successes that helped keep the Colt Fire from growing out of control in our Fall 2024 issue of The Confluence.

• Do your spring cleaning. Those dead and dry pine

needles around your house and in your gutters? They’ll turn into highly flammable fuels that could threaten the safety of your home. MTFireInfo.org has a great list of other simple mitigation measures you can complete in your “Home Ignition Zone” to better prepare your property.

• Help those who will be trying to help you. Thinning trees along access roads and around nearby power lines

Euchre Mountain Logging thinning along Elk Flats Road this past fall, creating a “shaded fuel break,” or a strategically thinned area to increase firefighter effectiveness.

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2024 photo year in review

great grey owl surveys with owl research institute

avalanche in the swan mountains

weeklong wildlife tracks & sign course

bigfork elementary campout wildlife in the west • tracks & sign

swan valley bear resources • bear awareness event

6 8 spotted in the field: dark-eyed junco nest

wildlife in the west • field journaling

Creative Connections: Lindsey Nielsen (Len Scratch Art) Can you describe the creative practice(s) you use to explore the natural world?

Growing up in Montana, I always had ample access to the outdoors. I started keeping a nature journal in high school as a way to practice sketching from life and to keep track of what I saw when exploring the mountain ranges around the Gallatin Valley. The simple practice of sketching and making notes in nature has played a huge role in how I approach the natural world. Sketching from life has taught me to slow down and really look at what I’m seeing. I have made it a practice to stop for at least 30 minutes on every outdoor activity to take down some notes and to draw/paint. For me, it has become a form of meditation – trying to focus on my senses and take in what is in front of me without distraction. Nature journaling has been the first step to every final scratchboard piece I have created.

Can you share an example of how a particular landscape, species, or ecological relationship has inspired your creative practice or shaped your perspective?

I really enjoy watching and thinking about interactions as an overarching concept– whether social behavior between animals in a pack or herd, or the ecological relationships between animals and their environment. I think different forms of relationships or interactions between individuals or species and their environment gives context and shows connection.

I think when trying to capture an image that tells a story, showing relationships or giving some kind of context to the subject is important to give the piece relevance; it helps to ground the image in a space or context that a viewer can relate to. The fact that nothing exists in isolation is an important thing to remember, both as a human in the world, and as an artist trying to tell a story through imagery.

Can you describe a particular creative effort that you are proud of?

For several years I worked with College of the Atlantic in Maine co-teaching a short, intensive course for incoming college students called Islands Through Time. We brought students to several different Maine islands and discussed issues of ecology, history, and culture. Part of the goal of the course was to get students to think about how they interact with and interpret the

world around them. There are many ways that we as humans can look at a landscape, an animal, or a place and form an understanding of it, whether through scientific data collection, writing, or drawing. In the course we tried to facilitate an environment for students to think about these different forms of interacting and interpreting place. For me, mentoring and working with students to deepen their understanding of a place and help them interpret it through art was a wonderful and rewarding challenge. Seeing the different ways students found to express their creativity, in turn, inspired and refreshed my excitement for creating in the outdoors. It has been endlessly rewarding to hear from past students about how they have continued to incorporate art into their experiences in nature.

How can creative practices like yours help people to understand, appreciate, and conserve the natural world?

I remember hearing a quote once from Baba Dioum that stated: “In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we understand only what we are taught.” To me, nature is a brilliant teacher, if you are willing to go into natural places conscientiously. I feel like creative forms, such as journaling or sketching, are amazing ways to facilitate intentionality when going into the natural world, which helps to build an understanding and love for it. Forming a human connection and love for places, ecosystems, animals, etc., is crucial for conservation, because we will only really fight for the things we love. We need people to love the natural world in order for them to conserve it, and being creative in nature is just one avenue to get people into that mindset.

Do you have any creative goals or upcoming projects that you are looking forward to?

Well… I always have far more ideas than I seem to have time for! While Scratchboard has been my primary medium of choice for several years now for its versatility and ability to capture texture, I have started to experiment with forms of block printing, and mixing different mediums into my works. For the time being, however, I have been traveling a fair bit, and I have been rediscovering the simplicity of keeping a nature journal.

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Following Woodland Wingbeats

By Cedar Mathers-Winn There are lots of things in nature that are easier to hear than to see. The cricket in the bush, the frog on the pond, the little songbird way up at the top of the tree – the songs are beautiful, but it’s nearly impossible to watch the performance.

For me, the ultimate example of this is the drumming display of the ruffed grouse. If you’re not familiar with the sound of this display, it is truly impressive. A series of pulses so deep and so loud that they’re felt with the body as much as heard with the ears. The pulses come slow at first, but quickly accelerate to an impossible speed before stopping abruptly. If you haven’t heard it, imagine a subwoofer having heart palpitations.

Perhaps even more impressive than the sound itself is how they make it. It’s not something they can do with their voice – they do it by flapping. They actually use their wings to create a series of sonic booms. Yes, really. They flap their wings so forcefully, that the feathers move faster than the speed of sound.

Why would a bird need to do such a thing? How could this ridiculous behavior have evolved? As with many of the most extraordinary things birds do, it really comes down to males showing off. To females, he’s showing off how awesome he is at performing this extremely challenging behavior, and wouldn’t all the grouse hens like his genes in their eggs? To other males, he’s showing off how fit he is, letting the neighbors know he’s ready to kick some ass if need be. For the same reasons many birds sing, grouse drum.

So, every spring, I’d try to sneak up and watch one of these wood chickens break Mach 1, but I apparently spooked them every time. The drumming would stop, and the grouse would be gone. I’d about given up, when one Memorial Day I had an opportunity too good to pass up. I was sitting by a little creek at dusk when I spotted a grouse up in a young aspen, gobbling down new spring leaves. I watched him defoliate a few branches, then flutter down into the brush along the stream. A few minutes later, I heard him drum. I followed the sound, and soon found myself squeezing between branches and through juniper bushes, moving as silently as I possibly could.

After contorting myself through bushes all along the bank, I reached a culvert – I might have passed by him already.

So I sat, looking vaguely at a downed log, and waited for him to drum again so I’d know where he was. Then, with the next explosive stream of wingbeats, I saw him.

Right there on the log I was watching. A fluttering shadow under a canopy of conifer branches, lit only by a clear half-moon and the afterglow of the sunset. I slowly raised my binoculars, and there was my bird, his neck feathers extended like a Victorian collar (the eponymous “ruff”), his head crest raised like a crown. I watched and waited for minutes, as silent and still as I could be, while my heartbeat mimicked his drum.

He stood there on his log, attentive and alert, listening for his neighbor’s response.

Eventually, the agonizing wait paid off. He reared back, raising himself upright like a penguin. He puffed his chest so far forward that the feathers grew thin over his skin. Then, he began to beat his wings against his chest with powerful strokes, slowly at first and then building to that breakneck roll, his wings beating faster than a hummingbird’s. And each beat was so incredibly powerful – even at top speed, the strength of each stroke was unwavering. The overall performance was just so utterly intense, the sound was almost unremarkable by comparison.

Eventually I climbed out of the streambank, listening to his drumming as I walked back, listening as he waited, and as the neighboring grouse responded in kind. They drummed back and forth until long after the sunlight was gone, until the moon and stars filled the sky. I laid down in my bed, not far from the creek, still listening to their competition in sound, their conversation of endurance, speed, and skill.

Cedar Mathers-Winn is a naturalist, biologist, and educator based in Bozeman. He earned his Master’s degree studying animal communication in southwestern Montana, and has studied ecology and animal behavior in mountains, tropics, and desert. As an educator, Cedar emphasizes the everyday subtleties of nature, revealing worlds of wildness hidden in plain sight.

Cedar’s experience highlights a key element of Swan Valley Connections’ Master Naturalist Program—the value of careful observation and learning directly from the landscape around us. In this course, participants will spend four weekends in the lower Swan River Watershed, engaging in field-based education and earning their Montana Master Naturalist certifications. Led by Cedar and SVC instructors, you’ll learn to identify species, interpret behaviors, and understand ecological relationships. Topics include botany, birds, forest ecolgy, wildlife tracks, and more. The course will meet on May 3rd & 4th, July 19th & 20th, and October 11th & 12th, 2025, as well as January 17th & 18th, 2026. For more information on how to register, visit www.swanvalleyconnections.org/montana-master-naturalist or reach out to Taylor Tewksbury - taylor@svconnections.org.

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wildlife field techniques with queer nature & home range

annual bear fair • ferndale

mission mountains youth crew • weed pulling in Holland Lake

montana fwp grizzly bear trend monitoring

5th-annual summer soirée in the swan

northern lights above the mission mountains elk flats road fuels reduction project

annual community firewood day

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A Warm Welcome

to our new board members!

David Holmes An accomplished interventional cardiologist, teacher, international scholar and inventor, David Holmes decided to leave the practice of medicine and continue the lifelong practice of learning by shifting his focus to creative writing and poetry. He has published poems and essays relating to the natural world around us. He lives with his wife, Ginger, in the Swan Valley.

Caitlin Jindrich Caitlin grew up in the Swan Valley and currently lives in Missoula where she works as a CPA specializing in audit services for nonprofit organizations. She enjoys trail running, skiing, and adventures with her husband and dog Jazzy.

She visits the Swan Valley frequently to see family and recreate.

Maria Mantas Maria came to the Swan Valley in the early 1980s where she lived and worked for the US Forest Service. She was the Flathead National Forest’s first Botanist, studying the Swan’s rare plants and wetlands. She later worked as the Science and Stewardship Director for The Nature Conservancy where she was involved in major land conservation efforts in the Valley. Maria led SVC through the merger of Swan Ecosystem Center and Northwest Connections in 2016. She is now retired and lives near Swan Lake.

Jon Simon Jon and his spouse came to Condon after 35 years serving as a global health Senior Scientist and Professor at the World Health Organization, Harvard University, and Boston University. He built and led two large research units focused on using interdisciplinary science, linked with community engagement, to solve practical problems in child survival in low-income settings. He chose to trade hiking in the Swiss Alps for the opportunity to hike in the Missions and Swans and contribute to the local community as a year-round resident.

And welcome back to Rich Thomason!

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They come.

Clothed in exquisite tailored tunics.

Form fitted, active with hues of many shades and colors sometimes red neck scarves.

They appear at the edge of your vision either trumpeted by their sound or carried with it.

Indescribable vibrating, humming immediately felt in the air and recognized for what it is.

They take up their transient positions around the chalice which hangs from the eaves in the coming darkness of evening.

A sentry or a centurion enforcer to guard the nectar there in the yellow plastic flower petals used for sipping.

The enforcer seems more often to be clad with a scarlet neck scarf but may not seem to feed.

The others battle for position.

When one appears to assume the position of sipping, the enforcer may suddenly appear to drive the newcomer to flit or dart away, although they sometimes seem to float stationary in the air with wings aflutter until the chalice position is again vacant at last.

War of the Worlds

by David Holmes

From whence do the hummingbirds come and where do they leave to go at the end of day remains unanswered by the watchers.

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Photo by Melissa DiNino

Connecting to Good Medicine

By Mike Stevenson

When most of us Swan Valley woodrats consider the word “connections,” we probably think of Swan Valley Connections (of course, right!). But then we may think of our own personal connections to the natural world we know.

Or perhaps we think of ecological, biological, and social connections within those landscapes. Other folks may first think of the natural world as a playground, a laboratory, a commodity warehouse, a church, or simply connect with it through the pretty view out their window. Indeed, our connections vary as widely as our individual perspectives do. And they are all valid.

Our connections reveal the story of our backtrail and shape our worldview.

My own connection to the natural world began behind ranger stations in Montana and Alaska, where my curiosity often tested the limits of my parents’ safety boundaries and nudged me into the woods beyond the woods. After high school, that trail led into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, where I worked as a guide and packer and where I also spent many solitary winters trapping and exploring. After that, I used those skills in wildlife and habitat research work with Northwest Connections (co-founder of Swan Valley Connections) and with the Rocky Mountain Research Station. Through those adventures, especially in the silence of the wild places, I always sensed there was much more to the story around me than I knew how to interpret. Eventually, the trail took me into ceremonies with the Amskapi Piikani (Southern Blackfeet), where I have been invited into three of their old-time societies.

Coming from a Christian family as a kid, and then later a more Photo by Leon Rattler science-based worldview, the Blackfeet connection has been an amazing step into yet another world that I thought was only in the history books. Within the communities of our Native neighbors, however, there are still some who keep the old ways. Their connection to the natural world is a supernatural one. As Roslyn LaPier, a Blackfeet/Metis author, describes in her book Invisible Reality, “The old-time Blackfeet lived in a multi-layered reality where the extraordinary experiences with the supernatural were interwoven with the natural,” and “believed that the visible dimension was only a small part of their total reality.”

For a glimpse into that reality, step inside a Beaver Bundle opening. As with all ceremonies, the first thing you will hear is laughing. Lots of laughing. Lynx Man, the bundle keeper’s helper, eventually begins the ceremony when he lays smudge on a hot cottonwood coal at the altar. There, he has

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built a small replica of a beaver house with mud and twigs. A ten-hour protocol follows with pipes, prayer, songs, dances, stories, food, and... more laughter. Some of the bundles are thousands of years old, and all contain objects that connect with the supernatural and cosmos. Women keep and open the largest part of the bundle, which is a vast collection of animal skins representing every connection between beaver and other animals. Each animal is carefully removed, recognized for their contribution to the medicine circle, and honored with a song.

When we dance with them, we emulate their movements in the natural world and invite them to share their medicine from the supernatural world.

What is medicine? Good question.

Dr. Leroy Little Bear from the Kainai Blackfeet speaks to this in his lectures on Blackfeet metaphysics and quantum physics. “Energy waves are spirit and everything has spirit,” says Little Bear.

In old Blackfeet worldview, medicine is spirit energy, and it comes through all parts of the natural world. Everything is considered to be a kindred relative with unique gifts from Apistotoke—the great mystery. Plants, water, rocks, animals, stars—all have medicine, which, with proper reverence and protocol, can be accessed for help. There is no veil between animate and inanimate.

Everything is alive, in movement, and in flux. In ceremony, as well as in everyday life, those relationships are sought, sustained, and celebrated. Even their Algonquin language is spoken in an ever-present verb tense. Everything is always connecting.

Science can now see into the quantum particles inside atoms. What is found there is vibration and energy waves.

Those same particles, in various combinations, build everything we know, even our own thoughts and intentions—all flowing through the electromagnetic field around us. The old-time Blackfeet could not see quantum particles, but they were well aware, through their intimate connection with the natural world, of this flow of energy. And they were aware of the matrix of collective consciousness, communication, and connection that it helped form.

Our world seems to be moving faster and faster these days. In the blur of our great achievements, it is easy to leave old ways behind. It is clear, though, that humanity needs help.

Help in healing itself and the Earth, and help in finding the way to peace and love. As we move through this year of uncertainty, be aware on your journeys. Your encounters along the trail may be connections with good medicine to help us along the way.

Sixth-Annual Summer Soirée in the Swan Saturday, July 26, 2025 4:00PM-7:30PM • Oro Ranch, Condon

Live Music | Delicious Food | Hosted Bar | Auction/Raffle | Lawn Games Tickets: $50 Early Bird | $65 Standard (starting May 15th) limited!

Space is Learn more at www.SwanValleyConnections.org/Summer-Soiree-in-the-Swan

Other Events

Always check our website for the most up-to-date information! april

17: FireSafe Swan Public Meeting 18: Annual Spring Bear Wake-Up Social (Ferndale)

16-17: CyberTracker Standard Trailing Certification 19-20: CyberTracker WTS Specialist Certification 21-22: CyberTracker WTS Standard Certification

may

july

1-30: Seeley Lake Change Your Pace Challenge 1-2: Missoula Gives Fundraiser 3-4: Weekend Warrior Master Naturalist (Bigfork), 1 of 4 5: Adopt-A Highway Cleanup (Volunteer) 6: New Office Soft Opening 7: Swan Valley School: Plants & Insects 10: Global Big Day Bird Count (Swan River Nat’l Wildlife Refuge) 19-June 28: Wildlife in the West June

4: Swan Valley School: Wetland Ecology 13: Trailing Workshop 13: “Big River” Multimedia Event with David Moskowitz 14: Bear Awareness Event with People & Carnivores (Bigfork) 14-15: CyberTracker Standard Trailing Certification

4: Fourth of July Open House (new office) 5-13: Summer Weeklong Wildlife Tracks & Sign Course 19: Annual Bear Fair (Condon) 19-20: Weekend Warrior Master Naturalist (Bigfork), 2 of 4 26: Summer Soirée in the Swan at Oro Ranch (Condon) august

6: Quarterly Potluck: Managing Stream Habitat for Wildlife 9: Huckleberry Festival (Swan Lake) 16: A Woman Among Wolves Diane Boyd Book Reading 16-21: Montana Master Naturalist Course OCTOBER

1-31: Wild for Wildlife Campaign 2: Annual Community Firewood Day 11-12: Weekend Warrior Master Naturalist (Bigfork), 3 of 4

15

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