Greetings, Flathead Valley! Maggie Dresser here, and by the time you read this, I will be boarding a Cessna aircraft and preparing for takeoff from the Kalispell City Airport to fly over the Swan Range and eventually land on the Schafer Meadows airstrip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. This first logistical step signals the start of a 30-plus mile raft trip down the upper section of the Middle Fork Flathead River, a waterway that served as inspiration for the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.

It would be gratifying to stop and visit all the artifacts I learned about during my reporting on the proposed Spruce Park dam site, which includes remnants of old concrete block pilings from a cable car that surveyors used  to shuttle back and forth across the river during field work in the 1950s along with a small segment of old road that still exists on the River Trail before it became designated wilderness. But I will probably be distracted scouting the final rapid known as “Last Drop” located at the very site of the proposed dam at the end of the two-mile Spruce Park rapid series.

Fingers crossed that my river party runs clean lines and we will not need services from search and rescue (SAR) crews with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, a department Brian Heino will continue to lead in his third term following his victory in the race against his Republican challenger Evie Cahalen. With no Democratic challengers, the primary race decided the election.

Heino has been busy picking up the 1,300 signs staked across the valley after winning the election with 89% of Flathead County’s vote.

“Overall, we’re excited,” Heino said. “There are a lot of things we’ve accomplished with the community and now we’re moving forward. The first step is breaking ground on the new jail facility. We’ve also got staffing discussions with the commissioners and we are evaluating some of the training for the following year.”

After Flathead County voters last year passed a $105 million public safety levy, construction crews are preparing to break ground this year. The project will double the current jail’s inmate capacity and relocate the facility to south Kalispell.

As the busy summer recreation season approaches, Heino said SAR crews have been sharpening their skills and teams recently finished swiftwater rescue training as spring runoff continues.

Heino said SAR teams have already responded to multiple boating incidents this spring on the Flathead River system after Memorial Day Weekend sunshine lured recreationists to the water where they were caught off guard by high water hazards including swift water, log jams, cold temperatures and boat-flipping holes.

While a lull in precipitation and dropping water levels are presenting less-hazardous conditions, Heino warns spring conditions still exist.

Following a winter hiatus, Heino said Two Bear Air is operating again now that their new state-of-the-art bird has been outfitted with the latest SAR equipment as crews continue training and preparing for a busy summer.

Here’s the rest of today’s Daily Roundup.