Marvin and Olga shared their 120 acres for over 40 years with Albert and then Earl. As time passed, the land became more accessible to Marvin and family, Earl became less involved with raising cattle, and the 3rd generation began assuming more of a role. Marvin and Olga invited their adult children to participate in the next stage of managing their family’s land. After input by all, it was decided that Audrey and Judy would receive the ranch land along Blanchard Creek. Bruce opted to receive land closer to town which he has been managing for many years.
Missoula County allowed landowners to bypass the torturous subdivision process when land was being divided in order to transfer ownership to a family member. A survey company in conjunction with an attorney prepared documents which were approved by the County Commissioners. This cleared the path for Marvin and Olgato transfer 80 acres of their land, along with Marvin”s Stetson, to Audrey in June of 2009. Even though Judy will receive her 40 acres in the future, she has begun working to improve the forest and creek.
The ranch continues to be rustic. There is still no well, telephone pole, nor power line to the ranch. These have become less of a difficulty with the advent of cellular phones and solar power.
The fires of 1910 and 1929 led to the growth of large stands of lodge pole pine throughout Idaho and Montana. This monoculture was susceptible to diseases. Millions of acres of forests, including those surrounding Blanchard Creek became infested with mountain pine beetle. In 2003, Marvin arranged for his land to be logged in advance of total destruction by the beetles. The beetles have devastated many beautiful areas of the ranch, the forests, along the creeks, and around the original log houses, barn and work areas.
Information on Pine Beetles (3MB PDF)
The logging and the purchase of a road Easement from Plum Creek in 2006 allowed for easier access to Marvin and Olga’s land. In 2008, Audrey and John cleaned up an area near the end of long meadows and brought in a picnic table. This led to several family picnics. Audrey and John camped several nights that summer in their Vanagon. They watched deer browsing in the meadow and twinkling stars at night. Judy became increasingly focused on improving the acreage that would be hers one day. She planted numerous wildflowers and shrubs, and some trees. The next year, she planted and carefully nurtured 250 larch trees.
Missoula County Planning Department invited community members to participate in creation of a development plan for the Clearwater watershed which included hundreds of square miles to the north, east, and west of the ranch. This generated significant controversy within the community of Seeley Lake and surrounding areas. Some wanted to preserve the Crown of the Continent by protecting the land from any further development, some wanted to keep all control over their lands, and others were somewhere in-between. There was talk of having the minimum parcel size in the ranch area to be 640 or 160 acres. Audrey, Judy, and Bruce became very involved with this process due to concern that the plan would make it impossible for Marvin and Olga to divide their land for transfer to their grown children. We attended numerous community meetings, met several times with the county land use planners and wrote letters in October, 2006 (96KB PDF), December 2006 (568KB PDF), and January 2007 (3MB PDF). The final decision, in 2010, was for the ranch and surrounding area to have a minimum size of 40 acres. The map to the left shows the final recommendations.
Following the transfer of 80 acres to Audrey, she promptly purchased a large picnic table. The family celebrated Father’s Day and Olga’s birthday at the new picnic table and swing. The swing has become a favorite place to relax, tell stories, and enjoy the beauty of Blanchard Meadows.