The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Anaconda watercraft inspection station intercepted a boat carrying zebra mussels Friday. The cabin cruiser was being transported from Ohio to Puget Sound in Washington.

The inspection station reported that many mussels were found in the boat’s gimbal area, the trim tabs and several crevices. 

The boat was wrapped in shrink wrap, and inspectors hot-washed the exterior of the boat to the best of their ability. The inspectors were not able to flush the motors, bilge pump or any other part of the boat.

The transporter of the boat was not the owner of the boat, and he did not have keys to the boat.Officials in Idaho and Washington were notified. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife will follow up with the vessel to wash and possibly quarantine it.

FWP reminds all those transporting motorized or nonmotorized boats into Montana to have their watercraft inspected before launching. Boat owners are required to stop at all open watercraft inspection stations. To find a watercraft inspection station visit www.cleandraindrymt.com.

Ted Waddell was born and raised in Laurel, Montana, a small railroad community west of Billings. His new book, Memories of Childhood, tells of an idyllic rural childhood with caring parents, close friends, farm animals, and numerous boyhood adventures.

Before cell phones and video games, growing up in the west required exploration fueled by imagination. Nature played a major role as a fertile playground and a stern teacher.  The humble stories relate lessons learned in the joys and heartaches of growing up in a rural environment. Waddell recalls a simpler life, although not necessarily an easier one, as young boy he worked many colorful jobs for low wages.

The fourteen playful illustrations in the book are splendidly populated with chickens and cows, boys and dogs, threshing machines and tractors. Readers will find a common thread in these Montana memories of hunting and fishing, farm choirs and fall harvest.

Parents, and particularly grandparents, will enjoy reading these stories to young people. Memories of Childhood is a book of memories worth sharing. Collectors of Ted Waddell’s paintings, prints and other books will enjoy this addition if this thoughtful boyhood memoir.

Waddell has three other children’s books based on his beloved Bernese Mountain Dogs, Tucker Tees Off (2016), Tucker’s Seasonal Words of Wisdom (2015), and Tucker Gets Tuckered (2006).

Theodore Waddell: My Montana—Paintings and Sculpture, 1959–2016, by Rick Newby was published in 2017. Richly illustrated with the artist’s work, as well as images from his personal archive, My Montana, traces Waddell’s early influences and the development of a career that lead to becoming one the West’s most recognized and celebrated contemporary artist. My Montana is published by Drumlummon Institute of Helena, MT, and is distributed by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Waddell divides his time between a studio in Sheridan, Montana, and a home in Hailey, Idaho, he shares with wife, writer and photographer Lynn Champion. In 2015, Theodore Waddell was honored with the Montana Governor’s Award for the Arts.

Montana State University has received a pair of grants from the state of Montana to expand two current evidence-based suicide prevention programs.

The grants come after the 2017 Legislature passed, and Gov. Steve Bullock signed, House Bill 118 to provide $1 million for suicide prevention in Montana. A total of $750,000 was allocated for schools and community organizations to implement evidence-based suicide prevention programs. The remaining funds support continued implementation of the Montana Native Suicide Reduction Strategic Plan.

From those funds, MSU’s Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery received two grants: a $221,000 grant to offer an online cognitive behavior therapy depression program statewide and a $157,000 grant to implement the Youth Aware of Mental Health program within the Great Falls School District.

“We at MSU are pleased to contribute to the state of Montana’s important suicide prevention efforts,” said Dr. Matt Byerly, director of the MSU Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery. “Both of these projects have the potential to significantly impact people throughout our state in a positive way.”

The computerized cognitive behavior therapy depression program, known as Thrive-Montana, primarily uses video to deliver confidential, evidence-based care to anyone with internet access, said Mark Schure, an assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Health and Human Development, who is leading the Thrive-Montana project.

Schure said that Thrive-Montana is tailored to the needs of the person using it. The program’s responses are based on participants’ answers to a series of questions aimed at determining how much they are being impacted by depression and which aspects of the program would benefit them most. The program is further personalized in response to evaluations as participants continue using the program.

Cognitive behavior therapy – a form of psychotherapy that aims to boost happiness by focusing on emotions, behaviors and thoughts – has been shown to effectively reduce depressive symptoms, which increase thoughts of suicide and the risk of suicidal behaviors, Schure said.

The Thrive-Montana trial was launched as a pilot project in 2017. The yearlong effort included 464 people from more than 100 communities throughout the state. Schure, along with MSU Extension agents and Bill Bryan of One Montana, promoted the study and recruited adult Montanans to participate in the current trial.

Thrive-Montana is an adapted version of the original program. Based on feedback from focus groups and interviews, the program partnered with MSU’s film department  to produce 10 new videos that better matched rural Montanans’ experiences and rural settings. The overall effort was guided by John Greist, a national expert in computerized mental health treatments and an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery.

Because the Thrive-Montana program is delivered via the internet, it can reach individuals in nearly all areas of the state, including rural communities where it may be difficult to access mental health services, Schure said. Another benefit is that costs of computerized treatment are considerably less than traditional face-to-face care, he said.

MSU’s other grant, guided by Byerly and assistant professor Janet Lindow of the Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery, is for Youth Aware of Mental Health. YAM is a program for adolescents designed to teach mental health awareness and risk factors associated with suicide, as well as skills for dealing with adverse life events. The five-hour program, spread over three to five weeks, uses trained facilitators, interactive talks and role-playing. It also shares mental health resources with youth.

Byerly said one important component of YAM is that it is directly delivered to youth, rather than to “gatekeepers” — those people who frequently interact with youth, such as teachers, school staff and community leaders.

In 2016, MSU launched a pilot study testing YAM’s feasibility in Montana. Byerly and the YAM developers trained 12 facilitators who delivered the program’s intervention to 1,387 students in eight diverse Montana schools during the 2016-2017 school year, including schools on American Indian reservations. In addition to positive outcomes on factors related to suicide, the pilot study showed the feasibility of implementing YAM in urban, rural and tribal schools.

MSU Extension Director Cody Stone and project leader Sandy Bailey, professor and Extension specialist, partnered with the Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery recently to pilot a study of YAM delivered by Extension faculty. That effort, which is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Montana Mental Health Trust, allows YAM to be delivered by Extension faculty in about 15 Montana counties.

“This is a big deal, because if it is an effective approach to deliver YAM, it would be a cost-effective method of facilitator delivery,” Byerly said.

The center requested funding to expand the program to Great Falls because it is an area of the state that previously was not included in YAM projects, Byerly said. He’s confident that the grant is a sound investment.

“YAM is emerging as one of the most promising approaches for potentially reducing suicide in the U.S.,” Byerly said.

AMEN Free Clinic in Boze man, MontanaGoals and Strategic Plan
October 19th & 21st
Gallatin County Fairgrounds

Purpose:  The AMEN clinic will be a 2-day community centered event that will offer FREE dental, general medical, vision, preventative and educational services. We are planning to serve up to 500-600 patients in 2 days. There are no pre-qualifications required. This is a first come first serve clinic. Our desire is to help those in need of these services in Bozeman and the surrounding communities. We will serve all those who come to this clinic to the best of our ability expecting nothing in return and connect them to further services already established in the community.

GOALS:  
We will partner with local city officials to promote the AMEN Free Clinic to meet community needs and to connect patients to current services offered locally.
To develop a partnership with the local Dental Association, Dental Hygiene Association, Dental Assistant Association, Optometry Association, and Medical Association to promote and provide volunteers for the clinic.
To partner with local and state universities/colleges that can provide students/residents to participate in vision, dental and medical departments along with their instructors.
Create partnerships with local organizations that can provide on-site resources and follow up resources for the patients.
To recruit 300+ dental/ vision/medical and other volunteers per day to provide services free of charge.
To create additional partnerships to provide extra services like cholesterol screenings, limited prescription services, transportation to the clinic and additional dental services such as root canals and crowns.

Planned Services Offered:

Other Services Offered:
Chiropractic, Massage and Physical Therapy, Lifestyle Counseling, Pastor Counseling, Hair Cuts, Healthy living/nutrition education.

Free Clinic Information
We are bringing a 2-day AMEN Free Clinic to Bozeman to serve the residents of this area by offering FREE Medical, Dental and Vision services. AMEN is a non-profit group out of California that brings the infrastructure for the mobile clinic to cities all over the world.  We will hire AMEN to bring all the equipment needed to run this clinic including approximately 40+ dental and exam chairs, several mobile x-ray machines, autorefractor, retinal camera’s and other ancillary equipment needed to serve approximately 500 people per day.  AMEN brings 6 to 8 staff to assist with organization and training of both lay and medical/dental volunteers. Initially, patients undergo a brief wellness exam, blood glucose testing and are then directed to the area of greatest need. Root canals are generally referred to outside clinics or dentists. We invite other local organizations to participate in the clinic and have their services available for patients beyond the clinic dates. Basic haircuts, along with health talks and information will be shared as people move through the line.

Approximate minimum volunteer count per day:

Interested? Please go to  www.amenbozeman.org for volunteer and program info.

The Montana State University Library has been named the 2018 Library of the Year from the Montana Library Association. The award was presented at the Montana Library Association’s awards banquet held Friday, April 13, at the Best Western Plus GranTree Inn in Bozeman.

The library was recognized for a host of accomplishments, including its leadership on the TRAILS consortium, the annual Tribal College Librarians Institute that MSU has run for nearly 30 years and the library’s work with the Ivan Doig archive.

“The incredible work of our staff and faculty has been recognized by their peers across the state,” said Kenning Arlitsch, dean of the MSU Library. “We are grateful for this honor.”

The MSU Library is part of the Treasure State Academic Information and Library Services, or TRAILS, a consortium of higher education academic libraries in Montana that is designed to provide better services to users statewide while avoiding costs that libraries would pay in contracts negotiated individually. TRAILS leverages its member libraries’ buying power so that high-quality resources can be accessed by more students, faculty and staff across the state. TRAILS currently has 24 member institutions in Montana. Collectively, it owns more than 4 million library items and serves more than 49,500 students, faculty and researchers. Seventeen of those members also migrated to a shared library management system in 2016, putting in place an infrastructure that will support expanded future cooperative efforts.

The MSU Library’s leadership on TRAILS was singled out for commendation by MSU’s accrediting body, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, during its 2017 campus visit as part of MSU’s accreditation process.

Arlitsch noted that the TRAILS consortium – which launched in 2016 – holds “tremendous potential” as a shared service that will benefit students and faculty who learn and conduct research in the state of Montana.

“Consortia allow libraries to develop shared expertise and capacity to serve users on a larger and more sophisticated scale,” Arlitsch said.”

The MSU Library founded the Tribal College Librarians Institute in 1990. The institute is designed to provide continuing education, professional development and networking opportunities for tribal college librarians and librarians who serve tribal college students. It is recognized as the one of the best development programs in North America for librarians serving native people. The 2017 institute brought together more than 60 presenters and tribal college participants from 13 states and two Canadian provinces.

“The rewards (of the Tribal College Librarians Institute) are reaped by the students and faculty of Montana’s tribal colleges,” said Jan Zauha, outreach and humanities librarian with the MSU Library, in a nomination letter she wrote to the Montana Library Association Awards Committee.

Finally, the MSU Library was chosen in 2015 to house the archive of the acclaimed writer Ivan Doig following a joint proposal the MSU Library and the MSU College of Letters and Science submitted. After the archive was acquired, library staff and faculty organized and digitized the 183 boxes of material, making them available to the public in less than one year.

Then, as part of its efforts to promote the archive and share it with people throughout the state, the library created an exhibit about the archive at the Big Sky Country State Fair. The library also participated in the “Doig Days of Summer” celebration in Dupuyer, and – in collaboration with the College of Letters and Science and MSU’s Center for Western Lands and Peoples – it launched a three-day symposium on the MSU campus and in White Sulphur Springs. Titled “Doig Country: Imagining Montana and the West,” the symposium brought together hundreds of scholars, readers, teachers, students and community members. Zauha noted that one community member who attended the symposium called it a “rare chance to interact with MSU, and such a generous gift to Montanans.”

The MSU Library previously won the Library of the Year award in 2003.

More information about the TRAILS consortium is available at trailsmt.org/. For more about the Tribal College Librarians Institute, visit lib.montana.edu/tcli/. The Ivan Doig archive at MSU is available online at ivandoig.montana.edu/.

Yearlong anniversary giveaway will donate $6,500 to charity

The Rocky Mountain West is the most generous region in America, and for the past 25 years, Montana Gift Corral, a much-beloved gift store staple, has felt that generosity in the form of its loyal, growing customer base. Owner Bert Hopeman explains, “We started with one store on Main Street in 1993, and thanks to the support from the local community and traveling visitors, we’ve grown to five locations across Bozeman, the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, and Lewis & Clark Caverns. It’s amazing. We really love the people we serve and the beauty of Montana.”

In the early 90s, Montana Gift Corral’s founder Sharon Hopeman was looking for souvenirs with local flavor to take back to her family in Virginia but came up empty-handed. Sharon and her husband Bert decided to open a store in downtown Bozeman which centered on their love of the rocky mountain landscape, and a philosophy of sharing that love with visitors and locals alike. 25 successful years later, Montana Gift Corral feels like a Main Street staple. Their decades spent serving area customers as part of the Big Sky Country community calls for a celebration, but for the Hopemans, that doesn’t mean a sale or a party. Instead, they are holding a year-long giveaway, celebrating the Montana traditions of giving back, taking care of one another, and appreciating the world around us.

In March, Montana Gift Corral’s giveaway completed its third month of bi-weekly drawings. Based on the philosophy that getting a gift feels good, and giving one feels better, Montana Gift Corral is helping its customers do both: each winner receives a gift card, plus the opportunity to make a financial donation—which matches their gift card dollar amount—to any nonprofit of their choice.

Downtown store manager Mary Kenna has been making the phone call announcements to each winner, and says the response has been overwhelming. “People have been so positive and appreciative. But for me, the best part is when they get to pick the charity that the dollar-matched amount goes to. You really feel how much they care about their community.” Thanks to Montana Gift Corral and their giveaway winners, donations have already been made to Warriors and Quiet Waters, Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter, Meals on Wheel, Right to Life (Gallatin County), and the Snake River Animal Shelter.

In a time when many nonprofits are facing budget cuts, Montana Gift Corral hopes to make a positive impact by putting money back into the charities that their customers care about the most. The company has been a longtime supporter of community events and organizations, donating monthly and annually to area causes. But the 25th anniversary celebration is a different animal, giving locals and visitors the chance to help fund dozens of nonprofits in need—and the people, environments, and wildlife those organizations support. By year’s end, they will have donated $6,500 to charitable causes in this giveaway alone—a milestone for the whole community to celebrate.

To learn more about how these donations have positively impacted nonprofits, or information on how to participate, please contact Montana Gift Corral at GiftCorral.com or visit one of its three Bozeman locations, downtown, in the Gallatin Valley Mall, and inside Walmart.

Montanans can now turn to their phones for help in identifying weeds, insects and crop diseases.

A new phone app provides an additional tool to Montanans who might otherwise text, email or send samples through the mail to the Schutter Diagnostic Lab at Montana State University, said Mary Burrows, lab director and MSU Extension Plant Pathologist. The MSU lab provides identification services for plant diseases, insects, weeds, native plants, and mushrooms.

Farmers who use the app, for example, could take a digital photo of an abnormal wheat stem, then upload the photo and fill out a form with their questions, extra details and contact information. The app will direct the query to the proper expert to determine the cause and suggest possible remedies for the problem. Burrows said the recommendations are responsive to client needs and use the principles of integrated pest management.

Homeowners might use the app to identify an unusual spider that lives in their basement, Burrows added. Extension agents who monitor the incoming questions might learn that a new invasive weed or pest has entered Montana.

"The app is a great place to start and can really speed things up," Burrows said. "People that use smartphones can use this."

The app will not only help Montanans, but it could give diagnosticians more complete information than they currently receive, Burrows said.

The app was developed by diagnosticians in other states, and 10 states currently participate. They are all members of the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture National Plant Diagnostic Network.

Funded by the USDA, the app is free to Montanans and available now, Burrows said. For more information and how to use the app, go to http://diagnostics.montana.edu/sample_submission_app.html

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is proposing a recreation management plan and administrative rules for the Madison River. The proposal is set to be presented at the next meeting of the Fish and Wildlife Commission as a first step in addressing increasing concerns about crowding and social conflict on the river.

At its April 19 meeting, the Commission will not be deciding on the proposal, only whether to allow the Department to seek public input on the proposal as a start to the process.
 
The proposed plan addresses the Madison River in southwest Montana from the outlet of Quake Lake to its confluence with the Jefferson River near Three Forks.
 
It is intended to improve the recreational experience for all users by reducing crowding and social conflicts. As such, it is strictly a recreation management plan, not a resource management plan.
 
The proposed plan comes as a response to years of public input in the form of surveys, scoping meetings, and informal comments indicating a decline in the user experience on the Madison. Specifically, users expressed concern about crowding both on the river and at access points, the level of commercial outfitting and the impact of the increasing numbers of visitors to the Madison.

The Department’s data also shows that overall recreational use on the Madison continues to increase with angling pressure increasing approximately 15-percent every two years. With that, reported commercial use is up 72-percent from 2008.

Therefore, the Department began developing a recreation plan and convened a citizen advisory committee in 2012 which included individuals representing fishing outfitters, landowners, anglers and local business owners.
 
FWP’s proposal combines many of the recommendations made by that Madison River Citizen Advisory Committee and that of FWP staff.
 
The plan as it’s proposed includes:
 
    •    Establishing a cap on the number of commercial outfitters at 2016-2017 levels;
    •    Restricting commercial use based on the reach of river, and 2016-17 levels of use;
    •    Designating one reach of the river every day for non-commercial use (the rotating closed sections include reaches from Quake Lake to Greycliff Fishing Access Site);
    •    Prohibiting any commercial use from Greycliff Fishing Access Site to the to the Jefferson River to preserve the primitive nature of this unique reach;
    •    Prohibiting the use of any vessel or float tube to gain access for angling in the two walk/wade sections to help eliminate conflicts between boats and wade anglers;
    •    Prohibiting the use of glass containers on the river.
 
As with similar plans, the Fish and Wildlife Commission would review the rules governing recreational use on the Madison River every five years.
 
“The objectives of this plan echo the Department’s Vision for the future in protecting the value of this iconic resource and quality of experience for all,” said Region Three Supervisor Mark Deleray.
 
Deleray stressed that staff went to great lengths to consider the effect the proposal would have on all the interest groups and wants to hear from them all in the process.
 
Regional Fisheries Manager Travis Horton said, “In putting this proposal together, we wanted to hear from and incorporate diverse voices of interest and we will continue to do that as proposal moves forward. FWP believes this is a balanced first step to addressing recreational concerns on the Madison.”

 
Fish and Wildlife Commissioners will listen to a presentation on the proposed plan at their April 19 meeting to determine whether to allow FWP staff to start a public input process.
 
Questions about the proposed plan should be directed to madisonrivercom@mt.gov.

Sadie Barac spent months preparing for her third appearance at the Made in Montana tradeshow in Helena, MT at the end of March—preparation that proved successful! The local manufacturer of custom made Tipis and other Montana-made treasures was awarded “Best in Show” among hundreds of other vendors. 

Trade show judges attributed Sadie’s award to her “effective use of space, interesting colors, and great lighting” but the best compliment was the “awesome customer service and customer engagement” that she offered to each and every customer. 

The award is a true representation for Sadie’s entire business. She aims to not only deliver an amazing product but to help as many individuals and other local businesses along the way.  A majority of Little Turtle’s Tipi products are made with the help of clients at Reach, Haven, or even stay at home parents who wish to work from home so they can spend more time with family. The passion for Montana community is evident in everything she does and has now been recognized at the state level. 

Sadie is excited to continue operating her business in Bozeman, MT and has recently expanded her product selection to beautiful custom-made leather bracelets. She looks forward to delivering her products to retailers in Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park and many other local retailers across the state.