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| June 1999 Flathead Lake Biological Station
UM's Flathead Lake Biological Station will commemorate its 100-year existence with a centennial celebration, including an open house, special guests and birthday cake on Sunday, July 11. The public is invited to the celebration and to learn about the station at Flathead Lake's Yellow Bay, located roughly halfway between Polson and Bigfork on Highway 35. Those who attend the celebration will be eligible to win a door prize, and their names will be placed in a time capsule -- with other memorabilia -- that will remain buried until the station's bicentennial. From 1 to 5 p.m. the biological station will hold an open house. The public can meet with students, faculty and researchers to learn about the station's education program and current research projects. Guests also can explore the station's history in the museum. Station tours and short lake tours on the research boat, the Jessie B, will be scheduled throughout the afternoon. Vintage boats, such as the old Waterton Lake vessel, also will be at the station. Birthday cake will be served at 3:30 p.m. From 2 to 3:30 p.m. guests will hear about the station's history, future and significance from various speakers, including George Dennison, president of UM; Jack Stanford, director and Jessie M. Bierman professor of ecology at the biological station; and Lloyd Chesnut, vice president for research at UM. Professor Charles Goldman from the University of California, Davis, will discuss "Science, Economies and Common Sense," and Bruce Young, president of the Friends of the Flathead Lake Biological Station, will talk about the importance of the station to Montana. Other special guests scheduled to speak - though subject to change - are U.S. Sen. Max Baucus; John Lithgow, star of NBC's "3rd Rock from the Sun"; and Phil Jackson, former Chicago Bulls head coach who now coaches the Los Angeles Lakers. Lithgow and Jackson are both members of the biological station's centennial advisory council and have homes on Flathead Lake. Goldman, a world-renowned limnologist who has researched Lake Tahoe extensively, will speak again at 7 p.m. about "Lessons Learned and Lessons Lost: Science and Lake Tahoe." It is free and open to the public. Morton Elrod established the Flathead Lake Biological Station in 1899 on the bank of the Swan River, where Bigfork stands today. Elrod taught science in the field each summer, while also pioneering the area's scientific research and influencing the establishment of the National Bison Range and Glacier National Park. By 1912 Elrod had moved the biological station to Yellow Bay, onto land granted to UM by the federal government. There the station's summer program continued until 1922, when the station closed for financial reasons. It wasn't until 1948, with the help of World War II surplus, that the biological station reopened. In 1977 it became a year-round research facility. Since then the station -- dedicated to education, research and community outreach - has become internationally recognized for its expertise in limnological study, particularly the limnology of Flathead Lake. Station scientists use their knowledge of the Flathead system to inform the public and regulatory authorities about the ecosystem's health. For more information about the station or the centennial celebration, call (406) 982-3301 or visit the station's Web site at http://www.umt.edu/biology/flbs. -- Janelle Lamb |
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