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Newsletter from Montana
May 2005
We had heavy snow and rain storms in the middle of the month, which filled up our water reservoir to the rim and then some... The dam held up fine in spite of the heavy overflow. I posted some aerial photos and topo maps so you can see what it looks like now.
What did not hold up was the Beartooth Highway. There were heavy mud slides in the mountains, which collapsed the famous road in several places. Luckily the road was not yet open for traffic when it was destroyed. I posted some
aerial photos of the slides as well.
It will take more than one season to do the repairs. There are still ice caves from the last ice age in our mountains and that is not helping the stability either. To get into the Yellowstone Park from Red Lodge, you now have to go through Bearcreek, Belfry and down to the St. Joseph Highway, which is also VERY pretty, but doesn't soar up quite as high as the Beartooth Highway.
If you enjoy waterfront, I listed an
irrigated river front ranch
along the Clark's Fork River - if you like, you can just buy the home and barn on 52 acres for $ 580,000. The price for all 147 acres is $ 1,030,000
It is a productive ranch and could be a farm; since most of the land is river bottom, you have excellent soil. The owner has an alfalfa field that can be cut 3x a year and produces 3.5 tons of hay per acre. He runs 100 sheep and they bring in $ 60,000 a year by selling the lambs. There used to be an old homestead by the river, just a shed and six producing apple trees are left of it though.
Another new listing of mine is a log home which was built during the year when I came to the United States in 1976. I remember all the festivities around the bi-centennial. The home was contracted by a local rancher, Frank Cole, cutting a 40 acres piece out of his ranch, which is overlooking the whole stretch of the Beartooth Mountains and the Crazies. The present owners bought it shortly after it was built.
The home resembles a Swiss Chalet
as you would find it among the Alps in Switzerland and the lady of the house is indeed from Switzerland. The home features three huge rock fire places. The rocks for the one in the master bedroom came from the Smith Coal Mine, here in Bearcreek and are red. The river rocks in the den are interlaced with petrified wood and there are some moss rocks (they need to be sprayed with water once in a while) around the living room fire place and along the foundation. True to the theme of "Swiss Chalet," there is a large deck with flower boxes and a small waterfall in the court yard. The owners had 11 horses there at one time, and the next door rancher did not mind when they left the gate open to the ranch land; be sure to invite the neighbors for dinner and drinks before you do the same...
Sheep Mountain
has two 40 acres tracts left for sale.
The road is in the process of being built, but of course the special feature of these parcels is the spectacular access into the National Forest. The trail is soaring 600 feet along a narrow ridge with views for a hundred miles along the mountains in both directions. This is the very reason I bought a lot there myself. The owners of the little cabin on the cliff planted more Douglas fir trees and I asked them where they obtained the trees:
"The trees are specially ordered for spring delivery I bought them through a very nice fellow in Roberts His name is Todd Blanchard 406/294 3000 (It is an investment office but ask for Todd) He actually lives in Billings but he and his dad have a property south of Roberts where they deliver the trees They are 6-8 feet balled and burlaped and they order for spring delivery. Prices run $165-185 depending on height. Billings Nursery (Frontage Rd) 406/656 2410 still has some b&b's trees and I think that Rocky Mountain Flowers 406/446 3338 has some. Lowes in Billings (on King Ave West) has smaller blue spruce in containers."
They planted the trees on Sheep Mountain Ranch with a water retaining crystal, which comes under a variety of names: Agri-soak, Water-sorb, Soil-moist, but whatever the name, it is a hygroscopic granule for xeroscaping. (Xeroscaping is creative landscaping that uses very little water. Xeroscaping also eliminates the use of pesticides; attracts wildlife and uses native and naturalized plants that require less maintenance.) Home Depot had some one pound containers a couple of weeks ago in their outside greenhouse area on the west side of the store I don't remember which brand they had It is about $35 for a pound but it goes a LONG way Each tree only needs about half a cup per wheelbarrow of soil...mixed very well If you put too much in a pot, it will explode the pot due to all the expansion. I took a look at the crystals; they are about the size of salt grains and expand to the size of a sugar cube when soaked in water. The roots of the plants can tap into those little water reservoirs and therefore the trees will strive even though they have been planted in a high desert area. There is also RainSorb,
I found a website for them, which is quite informative
When I lived in Flagstaff, I went swimming every day, but then my hair became thinner and thinner, so I quit. While I was looking for links for the water retention cubes, I found a website on salt pools.
Well, if salts can be used to keep the bugs to a minimum in a pool, that should keep me exercised and keep the hair on my head instead of in the brush :-)
Speaking about watery things, when I showed the log home in Luther
with the creek and ponds, we saw two Sandhill crane pairs. They seemed to be nesting there.
I put a link to the Montana Water Course
in the margin of the Montana Rainfall website and added a link to the booklet they are publishing
on the website for each property that would lend itself for constructing a pond.
If your pond is 12 feet or deeper, you can keep fish in there year round since the bottom will not freeze and you will not have an algae problem either. Also you might want to think about getting a pump on a timer that will aerate the ponds; your fish will appreciate the extra effort.
If you live in an area where the cell phone coverage is sparse, take a look at the OnStar website,
it tells you which cars are equipped with this feature.
Another website Tanja (my clever 12 year old daughter) found is Phonescoop. It gives you the latest regarding cell phones. She is traveling to South America next month and was checking for world roaming phones and such. Satellite phones are not a bad idea in Montana either. So far I lost my spare tire and knocked a whole into my transmission with a rock, driving on rough ground. I think I will invest into an armored truck, or at least one that has a plate on the bottom and get a phone that actually works in remote areas...
Since we had so much rain, and as a rule of thumb we are getting 85% of our moisture in spring, chances are grasses will not only be dry but also very high at the end of the summer, which increases the fire danger Be sure to cut back tall grasses around your home. Pointy trees are also more prone to fire, than trees with a round crown. The fire department will only help those who help themselves. They figure if the homeowner does not care enough to cut trees back from the home, then why should they risk lives to rescue the home in spite of the home owner? Another tip which I received from a fire fighter is that if you live on a one car lane, stay home and fight the fire until help arrives. If you leave, you will block the road with your car, so the fire trucks can not get to your home, causing it to burn for sure. You can do a lot to help yourself by watering down the outside of your home if a fire comes near.
The 80 acres for $ 27,000 are back on the market. The access cannot be insured by the title company; therefore you will not be able to get a construction loan. But we found there are turtles in the pond, and there is a road that is being used by others as well that goes through the property. We also obtained a letter from the attorney who had a hand in creating this subdivision, stating that there is legal access along the property lines. At any rate, it makes a great place for a base camp to go fishing and hunting, just park your camper there, or build a cabin with alternative power.
Also the 20 acres for $ 27,000 in the Big Horn Canyon above the Yellowtail Dam fell out of escrow.
A desert setting, but stunningly beautiful surroundings. Owner will carry.
If you have construction related skills, you will be sure to find a job in Montana. No matter how one feels about recent population growth in Montana, it has been undeniably good for the state's construction industry. For the past several years, construction has been one of Montana's fastest growing industries, consistently outpacing the state's overall employment growth. With a projected average of 805 construction job openings per year through 2012, this growth is not expected to end anytime soon While such growth in an industry with relatively good wages seems to point to a sunny future for the state's economy, one key factor in the health of any economy is whether or not a suitable pool of skilled workers exists for growing industries.
Montana has both a small population, estimated at 927,000 in 2004, and a small labor force. In March 2005, Montana's seasonally adjusted labor force numbered only 490,300. The most prominent employment sectors include: trade, transportation and utilities (21%), total government (21%), leisure and hospitality (14%), private education and health services (13 %), professional and business services (8%), and construction (6%). Overall, the service-providing industries account for 87 percent of the state's non-farm wage and salary employment. Construction is the largest goods-producing industry in terms of employment. Manufacturing (5%) is a much smaller employer in Montana than in other parts of the country Through 2012, Montana expects to have more than 125 annual openings for electricians and 90 for plumbing-type occupations…. Annual apprenticeship completions, on the other hand, have been running about half that level over the last six years.
There is a website that will show you the projected need for a certain profession
in Montana.
Anna Coulter is from Switzerland. She is a designer/architect and artist. I have posted one of her paintings on my Listings page. She painted all her life and in Switzerland she would usually sell 70% of her paintings on any given exhibition. She is now struggling to establish herself in the USA. Right now she is looking for a commercial project (like medical clinics or new hotels) where she can do part of the design and the paintings. She can do many different styles. Take a look at her website.
Her paintings are mostly large and fun to be around, they are uplifting, beautiful, happy and colorful, representing a tribute to life and the joy to live. Her home is now in northern California and her email
is Coulteranna@aol.com
And if you need some stress relief or have a squirmy child on your lap,
help Duffy fly his parachute.
If you can make it to our
Hangar Dance on June 11th, call me and let me know!
I am looking forward to meeting you!
:-)
Best Regards,
Dorothea Lowe, Broker
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