Join us for a Trail Camera Movie Night at the Hungry Bear Bar & Grill in Condon!

We’ll be playing some of our best footage from recent years and sharing about the wildlife and behaviors seen on screen.

Bring the whole family!

Summer Programs (start date between May 16-Sept 30) Scholarship App Deadline

Applicants will be notified about the status of their scholarship application within 2 weeks of the application deadline.

To apply for a SVC scholarship, please answer the questions on the form linked below. If you have difficulty completing the form, have questions, or need clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact Sara Lamar.

Scholarship recipients will be asked to write a testimonial once they complete their SVC program.

Spend a day honing your senses to the subtle signs left by wildlife on the landscape.One week prior to our field day we will send out a link to an informational lecture and overview of tracking techniques. We will then apply these techniques in the field during our time together. You’ll become familiar with gait patterns and how to measure the stride (length) and straddle (width) between tracks, you’ll learn of signs, other than tracks, to be on the lookout for, and you’ll gain knowledge of some of the common behaviors of our wild neighbors.

Enrich your future walks through the woods and deepen your connection to the natural world around you!

$100 per person

Limited to 10 participants.
Snowshoes available if needed.

Join us for a winter wildlife tracking adventure in Glacier National Park!

This course is in partnership with The Glacier Institute; full details and registration information can be found on their website:

Spend a day honing your senses to the subtle signs left by wildlife on the landscape.One week prior to our field day we will send out a link to an informational lecture and overview of tracking techniques. We will then apply these techniques in the field during our time together. You’ll become familiar with gait patterns and how to measure the stride (length) and straddle (width) between tracks, you’ll learn of signs, other than tracks, to be on the lookout for, and you’ll gain knowledge of some of the common behaviors of our wild neighbors.

Enrich your future walks through the woods and deepen your connection to the natural world around you!

$100 per person

Limited to 10 participants.
Snowshoes available if needed.

Spring Programs (start date between March 1 -May 15) Scholarship App Deadline

Applicants will be notified about the status of their scholarship application within 2 weeks of the application deadline.

To apply for a SVC scholarship, please answer the questions on the form linked below. If you have difficulty completing the form, have questions, or need clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact Sara Lamar.

Scholarship recipients will be asked to write a testimonial once they complete their SVC program.

Purchase pheromone packets to protect your trees from bark beetle infestation.

ORDERS CLOSE FRIDAY, MARCH 14th

Kick the new year off with us at our first quarterly community potluck & presentation of 2025: Harlequin Ducks with UM master’s student Holli Holmes

Swan Valley Community Hall, Hwy 83, mm 42.5, Condon
5:30 pm - Doors Open • 6:00 pm - Potluck Dinner • 6:30 pm - Presentation

Harlequin Ducks (HADU) may be one of the toughest species out there.

Wintering along rocky coastal shorelines up into the artic and breeding in whitewater streams in the mountains, studies have shown they have more broken bones than any other species, and adults often live with multiple healed fractures. However, despite being incredibly tough, biologists and land managers across the HADU breeding range in the Northern Rockies (Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alberta) have struggled to understand the state and trends in breeding populations and are concerned about their status.

For her master’s research, Holli Holmes worked with land managers and biologists across the N. Rockies to identify two main research needs:

1. are there better ways to detect HADU?

2. where might they be that we are not looking but may potentially be important?

Holli evaluated non-invasive sampling techniques, which included ground-based foot surveys, environmental DNA, and game cameras. She is now working on building a predictive occupancy model of HADU in the region as a tool for identifying potentially important breeding streams. Holli’s work is focused on laying the foundation for improving a monitoring program for HADU across the Northern Rockies that aims to identify and address the drivers of population declines of this iconic mountain species.

About the presenter:

Holli Holmes is currently a master’s student at the University of Montana. Holli grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where she first found her passion for the outdoors and for wildlife conservation. She graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology in 2019. Eager to gain different experiences, she worked for 4 years doing various wildlife jobs for different federal agencies in the intermountain west, although a majority of that time was spent in Glacier National Park.

Her experiences and education impassioned a strong ethic for community-based conservation, and this passion has led her to working collaboratively with biologists across the state of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Alberta, also leading her to her master's research on HADU. 

The Upper Swan Valley Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will take place on December 21st, 2024.

This will be the 125th year the National Audubon Society has sponsored this event, and you can contribute to this impressive dataset by counting all the birds you see or hear (by numbers and species within our count circle) on Saturday, December 21 from 12 am to 11:59 pm.

To tally our results, we will gather for a light potluck at the Swan Valley Connections office on Monday, December 23rd from 5 pm-6:30 pm, hosted by Taylor Tewksbury. A virtual Zoom option is also available (link below).

To sign up for this year's count, please email Taylor at taylor@svconnections.org, or call our office (406-754-3137).

Optional Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87503954062?pwd=apTTJPwixy4pLXj4ovQ1cBEnn02sRh.1

Here are a few notes to keep in mind:

1. Please also report any new bird species seen three days before or after December 21. You just need new species (not numbers) for these "count week" birds. If you do get more "count week" birds after our Zoom tally, or if you are not available for the tally, please send your results by email to taylor@svconnections.org.

2. Please be prepared to report your hours, miles, weather, and means of birding (driving, skiing, walking, window-watching, etc.) while counting on December 21st.

3. Bears will increasingly move towards hibernation over the next month, but right now the bears are still out, so bird feeders are not advised.

The Upper Swan Valley Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will take place on December 21st, 2024.

This will be the 125th year the National Audubon Society has sponsored this event, and you can contribute to this impressive dataset by counting all the birds you see or hear (by numbers and species within our count circle) on Saturday, December 21 from 12 am to 11:59 pm.

To tally our results, we will gather for a light potluck at the Swan Valley Connections office on Monday, December 23rd from 5 pm-6:30 pm, hosted by Taylor Tewksbury. A virtual Zoom option is also available (link below).

To sign up for this year's count, please email Taylor at taylor@svconnections.org, or call our office (406-754-3137).

Optional Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87503954062?pwd=apTTJPwixy4pLXj4ovQ1cBEnn02sRh.1

Here are a few notes to keep in mind:

1. Please also report any new bird species seen three days before or after December 21. You just need new species (not numbers) for these "count week" birds. If you do get more "count week" birds after our Zoom tally, or if you are not available for the tally, please send your results by email to taylor@svconnections.org.

2. Please be prepared to report your hours, miles, weather, and means of birding (driving, skiing, walking, window-watching, etc.) while counting on December 21st.

3. Bears will increasingly move towards hibernation over the next month, but right now the bears are still out, so bird feeders are not advised.

Spend a day honing your senses to the subtle signs left by wildlife on the landscape.One week prior to our field day we will send out a link to an informational lecture and overview of tracking techniques. We will then apply these techniques in the field during our time together. You’ll become familiar with gait patterns and how to measure the stride (length) and straddle (width) between tracks, you’ll learn of signs, other than tracks, to be on the lookout for, and you’ll gain knowledge of some of the common behaviors of our wild neighbors.

Enrich your future walks through the woods and deepen your connection to the natural world around you!

$100 per person

Limited to 10 participants.
Snowshoes available if needed.

Winter Programs (start date between Jan 1-Feb 28) Scholarship App Deadline

Applicants will be notified about the status of their scholarship application within 2 weeks of the application deadline.

To apply for a SVC scholarship, please answer the questions on the form linked below. If you have difficulty completing the form, have questions, or need clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact Sara Lamar.

Scholarship recipients will be asked to write a testimonial once they complete their SVC program.

Join us and Montana Poet Laureate Chris La Tray for a reading of his latest book, Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian’s Journey Home, at the Swan Valley Community Hall, as part of the Alpine Artisan’s Open Book Club Series!

This event is free and open to the public.
Refreshments provided

Join us as we celebrate our Wild for Wildlife campaign with a Trail Camera Movie Night at the Hungry Bear Bar & Grill in Condon!

We’ll be playing some of our best footage from the past year.

We’re taking over two rounds of trivia at A-Bar in Bigfork! Test your bear and Swan Valley knowledge for the chance to win some fun prizes.

Trivia starts at 6:30PM

11032 MT State Highway 83 Bigfork, MT 59911

Join us for our annual Community Firewood Day!

We’ll be splitting, delivering, and stacking for a full list of people in need in the community.

*Meet at the Swan Valley Connections office at 9AM for a mandatory safety meeting
Please bring your own lunch/snacks, ear and eye protection, and gloves

Volunteer BBQ to follow sponsored by Mannix Family Grass-Finished Beef!

If you’d like to donate wood, or if you have a splitter to lend for the day, please contact Mike Mayernik at 406-754-3137 or mike@svconnections.org!

Swan Valley Community Hall, Hwy 83, mm 42.5, Condon
5:30 pm - Doors Open • 6:00 pm - Potluck Dinner • 6:30 pm - Presentation

Join us for our quarterly community potluck, featuring a presentation by SVC’s Luke Lamar and Mike Mayernik, who will both be discussing the results from 10 years (2012-2022) of wolverine and Canada lynx monitoring in the Southwest Crown of the Continent.

They’ll also be sharing how this project has led to additional research efforts.

ACQUIRE FOREST MANAGEMENT SKILLS TO CONSERVE YOUR FOREST

Learn about your forest, what species do you have, how are they growing, how old are your trees, what animals share your forest? Establish your own objectives for your forest, inventory your forest, and write a plan to help you reach your goals and may qualify your forest land for cost share opportunities. Receive a personalized site visit with a natural resource professional.

FIND DETAILS ON COURSE HERE.

DATES: SEPT. 5TH, 6TH & 13TH, 2024

Sign up ASAP as spots fill quickly and there is only room enough for 20 ownerships!

This year marks our fifth-annual Summer Soirée in the Swan, an event during which we celebrate this special place and raise funds for the programs, services, knowledge, and experiences that Swan Valley Connections continues to offer.

Bid on beautiful getaways, one-of-a-kind handmade jewelry, stunning artwork, and more, all while supporting our conservation & stewardship projects and our experiential education programs. Our Soirée online auction runs from August 12th-26th!

Join us for our fifth-annual Summer Soirée in the Swan fundraising celebration, which will be ON the Swan at the beautiful The Nest on Swan River in Bigfork!

Sunday, August 25, 2024
3PM - 6:30PM
• Appetizers from Forage Catering
• Hosted Bar with spirits from Glacier Distilling
• Live music by Jessie Thoreson and the Crown Fire
• Silent and Online Auctions (Online auction runs from 8/12/24-8/26/24)

Thank you to our event sponsors:

This year marks our fifth-annual Summer Soirée in the Swan, an event during which we celebrate this special place and raise funds for the programs, services, knowledge, and experiences that Swan Valley Connections continues to offer.

Bid on beautiful getaways, one-of-a-kind handmade jewelry, stunning artwork, and more, all while supporting our conservation & stewardship projects and our experiential education programs. Our Soirée online auction runs from August 12th-26th!

Swan Valley Community Hall, Hwy 83, mm 42.5, Condon
5:30 pm - Doors Open • 6:00 pm - Potluck Dinner • 6:30 pm - Presentation

Join us for our quarterly community potluck & presentation, featuring a presentation by Beth Mendhelson from the Owl Research Institute (ORI).

Beth will share about ORI’s Great Gray Owl study, which is in its sixth year, and includes long-term monitoring of nest sites, surveys of new areas, and learning about nest needs. The Swan Valley was one of those new areas, surveyed this year in partnership with Swan Valley Connections and a team of citizen scientists!

Come hear more about the project, the findings so far, and hear about our volunteers’ experiences this past winter while helping to collect this important data!

Join us at the SVC office for a presentation on beaver ecology and coexistence strategies by MT FWP Nongame Wildlife Biologist Torrey Ritter!

The presentation will be about 45 minutes long, with time for questions and discussion afterwards.

SWAN VALLEY BEAR RESOURCES ANNUAL BEAR FAIR

Come learn about living in bear country from bear management experts, local professionals, and bear-related organizations. Practice with inert bear spray and learn about the resources available to you to prevent human-bear conflicts. We will have local food trucks present to accompany the fair!

Enjoy presentations from MT Fish Wildlife and Parks Lion and Bear Manager, Erik Wenum, and Black Bear Monitoring Biologist, Colby Anton! Presentations will start at 1pm.

The event is from 12pm - 4pm at the Swan River Community Hall on Swan River Rd in Ferndale.