NRMB AALAS Annual Meeting

The Northern Rocky Mountain Branch meets once a year at the Annual Scientific Session, on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Since our branch covers a large geographical area, we have centralized our meeting location in Northwestern Montana. We meet at the Flathead Lake Biological Station at Yellow Bay. The meeting facilities are located on a peninsula that protects Yellow Bay from the main body of Flathead Lake.The scenery consists of a spring brook and many beautiful trees that include Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine, and Larch. In keeping with rustic traditions native to Montana, many people prefer to stay in the cabins along the lake shoreline, but have the option of staying in the more modern style dormitory. The Prescott Center is a commissary that features a full indoor dining room, but many of us prefer to dine outdoors on the deck, enjoying the view of Flathead Lake. The lake is fed by the Flathead River that gathers a lot of it’s waters in the mountain ranges of Glacier National Park. The lake has adjacent mountain ranges that offer homes to rare species such as the grizzly bear, bald eagle and westslope cutthroat trout. This location offers a relaxing atmosphere with sounds and sights of the lake and the beautiful land that surrounds it. It is an ideal place for an AALAS Branch Meeting. A word of warning, if you attend our meeting once, you’ll be coming back for more. The closest airports to the Flathead Lake Biological Station are located in Kalispell, MT and Missoula, MT. Ground travel from Kalispell to the Station requires a 40 mile drive south on Hwy 35 along the east shore of Flathead Lake. From Missoula, ground travel begins at the junction of Interstate 90 and Hwy 93. Travelers take Hwy 93 to Polson, which is 66 miles. This route takes you through the Flathead Indian Reservation and past the National Bison Range. From Polson, Hwy 35 then takes you up the east shore of Flathead Lake 13 miles to the Biostation. Both routes offer unprecedented scenery as you drive through the heart of the Mission Valley and are well worth the effort.