Montana News Roundup: ID Quake Swarm Uncomfortably Close

The number of earthquakes in Central Idaho continues to grow this week, as a significant quake "swarm" has been happening along the Sawtooth Fault. The U-S Geological Survey has recorded upwards of 52-small quakes since last Sunday, with a number of them ranging between 2.5 and 4.0 magnitude.

The largest quake hit just before 5 pm Wednesday. Nearly all of the quakes have been centered in the country between Stanley and Challis, the same location where a 6.5 quake struck in March 2020. That was the so-called "Lockdown" or "Pandemic Quake" that rattled Western Montana.

      The fault has remained very active over the past 5 years. There's been no damage, but people as far away as Boise have noticed the shaking.

READ MORE: New Maps Show Montana Quake Risk

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Mopping up on the Banana Lake Fire

Firefighters working the Banana Lake Fire in Sanders County believe they're getting the upper hand on the blaze north of Plains.

Public Information Officer Nick Holloway says that's good news, considering how the fire erupted Saturday. He says local firefighters from Plains, the DNRC, and others helped until a Type 3 Team could arrive.

Holloway says this is what's known as a "dirty fire", with lots of unburned vegetation because it's early in the season and the fire was moving fast.

Crews have 25% containment, and have kept the rare early season blaze under 1-thousand acres.

     Holloway says the explosive nature of the fire should be a warning for people rep recreating this week to be extremely careful because of rapidly drying conditions.

Would you buy the Lolo Ranch for cattle? Or skiing?

If you've got an extra $24,000,000, you might be interested in buying a legendary Bitterroot Ranch that was once proposed as a new Montana ski resort.

Brokers Hall & Hall have taken up the list for the Lolo Ranch, south of Missoula, a nearly 2000-acre spread that includes everything from forested slopes to irrigated pasture land.

      The ranch, formerly owned for generations by the Maclay Family, was once pitched as the home of the "Bitterroot Resort", with former owner Tom Maclay even carving out ski slopes.

But he could never get Forest Service approval for a permit to operate on the upper elevations and lost the property in foreclosure.

West Yellowstone's fancy new airport

After 20-years of planning, fundraising and hoping, West Yellowstone's new $46,000,000 airport terminal this week, elevating the once small tourist town into next level transportation.

Airport leaders in West had wrestled with the old terminal for several years once it fell out of federal compliance for security and ADA access. It had served since 1965.

     It was decided the best course was replacement, rather than renovation, with the FAA paying for nearly all of the construction.

The new airport will not only handle larger plans, but give travelers looking to drop in for a visit to Yellowstone more options. It may even offer an option for residents using the "back door" into Big Sky. Delta and United will provide service during the summers.

Montana Friday Fact

The most expensive ranch ever sold in Montana was the Climbing Arrow Ranch, extending over Gallatin and three other counties, with a total of 80,000 acres.

     It sold in 2021 for $136,000 for the five ranch units.