Glacier Park Openings, $1.3M Fraud Case, Land Deal & Wildlife Stories

This week on News Now, reporter Taylor Inman is covering the biggest stories shaping northwest Montana - from Glacier National Park openings and major conservation efforts to a complex fraud case and community development projects.

Glacier National Park is beginning to open key roads for the season, including access along Going-to-the-Sun Road, as crews continue snow removal and infrastructure work ahead of peak summer travel.

A major land conservation milestone has been reached in the Flathead Valley, with more than 1,100 acres secured near Herron Park to create a continuous public recreation corridor between Foys Lake and Blacktail Mountain, preserving access and protecting the landscape from development.

In Whitefish, agencies are tackling persistent flooding caused by beaver activity using innovative, nonlethal solutions designed to balance infrastructure needs with ecological benefits. Plus, a new citizen science effort is tracking osprey populations across the region, giving researchers valuable insight into nesting habits and ongoing environmental threats.

In the Mission Valley, a long-awaited indoor ice arena project gets a major boost from a multimillion-dollar state tourism grant, bringing the community closer to a new hub for recreation and economic activity.

And in Lincoln County, prosecutors are pursuing a complex case involving an alleged $1.3 million scheme targeting a vulnerable adult in a multi-state investigation involving fraud, property transfers, and financial exploitation.

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to News Now. I'm your host, Taylor Enman. We're going over the week's biggest headlines for Northwest Montana. Several of Glacier National Park's secondary roads have opened for the season. The mini glacier and inside North Fork Road to Camas Creek opened last week. The Camas Road, Grist Road, and Quarter Circle Bridge Road are all open as well. The Tube Medicine Road is open to the boat dock. The park is doing construction and utility work in the Main Valley this summer. The project includes replacement of the full water distribution system in the Two Medicine developed area and campgrounds. The campgrounds will be closed in 2026, but boat tours and the two medicine store will remain open during the summer between May 29th and September 7th. The Cut Bank Road is also open for the season. And the going to the Sun Road is open to vehicles to Lake McDonald Lodge on the west side and rising sun on the east side. On the west side, hikers and bikers are allowed as far as Logan Creek. Crews have been clearing trees as far as the loop. On the east side, the closure is at the Golden Staircase when road crews are working and just below Sayee Bend when they're not working. Flathead Land Trust bought a 1,131-acre property directly south of Heron Park last week, marking a milestone in a long-standing effort to secure a continuous public land corridor between Foys Lake and Blacktail Mountain. The land was previously owned by the Griffith Family Foundation, a nonprofit associated with Georgia-based company's Southern Pine Plantations. Flathead Land Trust is working with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks to place a perpetual conservation easement on the land, prohibiting its conversion into housing or commercial development. The terms of the easement will include provisions to ensure perpetual public recreational access to 12 miles of forest roads and trails, including a three and a half mile segment of the FOIS to Blacktail Trail. Paul Davis, Executive Director of the Flathead Land Trust, said in a statement that they are, quote, proud to play a significant role in the realization of what has been a community dream for decades. The State Wildlife Agency has received confirmation of funding for the project from the U.S. Forest Service Legacy Program, though approval from the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission is pending. The conservation easement will likely be completed within one to three years. Once the deal with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks is sealed, Flathead Land Trust plans to transfer ownership of the property to FOIS to Blacktail Trails, a local nonprofit dedicated to maintaining and expanding non-commercial outdoor recreation opportunities in the Flathead Valley. The latter will be responsible for guiding recreational growth on the property, including the development of new trail connections and active management of the forest to mitigate wildfire risk. Nathan Russell, Executive Director of Foys to Blacktail Trails, said this project aligns with their mission and goals to advocate for access and trail connectivity between Blacktail Mountain, Heron Park, and the Greater Flathead Valley. Flathead Land Trust and Foys to Blacktail Trails have launched a joint fundraising campaign to raise $350,000 for the long-term maintenance and stewardship of the property. The organizations will celebrate the project's launch at a May 1st event at Foys Community Center in Heron Park. Details will be provided at Flatheadlandtrust.org and at Foys to BlacktailTrails.org. Three agencies, two nonprofits and one government department joined forces to address an ongoing flooding problem near a busy road and pedestrian path in Whitefish last week. An eight-man team from the Montana Department of Transportation was no match for a pair of beavers who continuously dammed up the double culvert on Viking Creek beneath Wisconsin Avenue last fall. Colton Scholler, the Whitefish Section Supervisor for the Department of Transportation, said his crew cleared debris from the grade and culvert near the lodge at Whitefish Lake every day, including weekends for a month. He said they'd go there for repairs mid-morning, but part of the bike path would be underwater by the time they returned the following day, adding that the beavers are, quote, crazy fast workers. A solution to the constantly clogged culvert was put in place Friday when Alyssa Chod and Tanner Clegg from the National Wildlife Federation's beaver conflict resolution team worked with representatives from the Department of Transportation and the Whitefish Lake Institute to install an exclusionary fence. Clegg said an exclusion fence is a device called a flow device that sits in the stream and discourages beavers from damming at the inlet of culvers. He said beavers find the flowing water at the culvert an attractive place to build dams. Since repeatedly unplugging culverts is costly, the National Wildlife Federation works with private landowners as well as public entities like county and state road departments to install durable conflict resolution systems. The agency works to reduce beaver conflict via non-lethal methods whenever possible. Clegg said the Federation is also interested in encouraging beavers to be in areas where they can do their work in an ecologically beneficial way. Eric Parker, the Whitefish Lake Institute program coordinator, said beavers are also important for drought resilience as they slow runoff and improve groundwater storage. The team, including WLI liminologist Cassie Roberts and M. District Environmental Engineer Michael Ivanov, built the exclusion fence on site with cattle panels held together with hog rings. The larger grid cattle panels allow fish to pass through, and the fence is designed with a floor to prevent the beavers from tunneling beneath the structure. Clegg said the fence requires minimal maintenance and should last up to 10 years. Education Coordinator with the Flathead Audubon Society, Jess Garby, has spent the better part of last week scanning the skies, hoping to catch sight of her first offsprey of the year. The birds migrate to the Flathead Valley in droves each spring, often flying thousands of miles north from overwintering grounds in Mexico to reunite with long-term partners in nests that they built in years prior. They spend the next five months trading feeding and nesting duties as their clutch grows from hatchlings to nestlings to fledglings. This year, participants in a new monitoring program organized by the Flathead Audubon will follow the birds through every stage. Volunteers will visit an adopted osprey nest each week to record observations about the inhabitants, including the number and approximate age of the offspring. Garby said it's a unique opportunity to engage with an iconic animal in an intimate way. Once compiled, the data that volunteers collect this summer will likely represent one of the most complete studies on ospreys in northwest Montana in years. In 1966, brothers Donald and Douglas McArthur launched a first of its kind study on ospreys around Flathead Lake, with the aim of uncovering what exactly was to blame for its precipitous decline in the bird's population. They spent 10 years observing nesting ospreys around Flathead Lake, ultimately recording data on dozens of adult osprey pairs and more than 240 fledglings. The final study published in 1979 linked the sudden decline in raptors to DDT, a commonly used chemical insecticide that blocked calcium production when ingested by birds, causing them to lay thin-shelled eggs that cracked under the slightest pressure. The effects were most pronounced in ospreys and other raptors because the toxin accumulated as it moved up the food chain. Six decades later, some of the nests the McArthur brothers observed are being used by a new generation of ospreys. While DDT is now banned, Garby hopes the flathead Audubon's Osprey Monitoring Project will help spread awareness about the threat that baling twine poses to nesting ospreys. The birds often layer their nests with loose bits of baling twine snagged from nearby farms. The plastic strands can easily nod around the legs and wings of adult ospreys and fledglings alike, sawing deep gnashes into their skin and severely inhibiting movement. Without quick human intervention, it is almost certain that an entangled bird will die, either by infection or by starvation and dehydration. Beth Watney, Executive Director of Montana Wild Wings, said the sooner they can get to a bird, the better their chances of surviving. The nonprofit Raptor Rehabilitation Center typically responds to about three entanglements each year. Volunteers for the monitoring project will gather data on the percentage of synthetic materials used in each offsprey nest, which Garby plans to use as an educational tool to present to farmers and 4-H groups. Nearly 50 people turned out for two initial training sessions, and Garby said she has already placed some volunteers on a wait list as she scouts out more potential nest sites. The initial interest makes her hopeful that the project will be able to continue for years to come, generating valuable long-term data that can be used to track changes in the population over time. A $1.25 million tourism grant from the Montana Department of Commerce slides the Mission Valley Ice Arena significantly closer to becoming a reality. With $4 million in hand plus $1 million pledge for an endowment, the organization launched a major campaign last fall to raise the remaining $2 million needed to construct the multi-use indoor arena on Ridgeway Drive in Pulson. The Montana Tourism Development Grant provides $1.25 million over the next two years, with the possibility of an additional $1.5 million over the following three years based on construction milestones for a total of $2.75 million. Representative Linda Rexton said the phased approach ensures that the arena's development remains on track and supports a long-term vision for a vibrant community-centered facility. The board hopes to break ground on the two-acre parcel this summer or early next fall. The vision for an ICE arena first took shape in 2013 and has slowly been maturing since then, spearheaded by a very dedicated group of volunteers, many of whom travel to Missoula each week to play hockey. Hockey player and board member Steve Todd acknowledged the personal benefits of finally having a local arena. He said for the group that travels to and from Missoula once or twice a week to play hockey, they're ecstatic for the potential to have a local ice, playing closer to home and getting a lot more sleep, adding that they don't often get home until well after midnight. Todd also noted that the arena will open opportunities for area ice enthusiasts to enjoy figure skating, curling, and public skating, and for kids to add year-round ice skating to their recreational repertoire. Todd also praised the efforts of Rexton, who supported Senate Bill 540, the legislation that created funding for the Montana Tourism Development Grant program out of bed tax revenues. The funds are designed to help rural and undervisited communities by diversifying local economies, fostering community pride and creating tourism destinations that represent the qualities that make rural communities special. Rexton had encouraged the organization's board to apply for the grant last August and wrote a letter of recommendation. Both the organization's treasurer, Carmine Mowbray, and Rexton emphasized that local contractors and service providers will be used in almost every phase of the project, except for the specialized ICE infrastructure. According to Mowbray, the board has hired Everything Ice, a Pennsylvania-based company, for the very technical critical part of the project. Board Chair Devin Huntley said that the grant gets them moving forward, but there is still important fundraising and growth ahead to fully realize the vision. A former attorney who founded a firm to handle claims of elder abuse, fraud, and unfair business practices became the alleged victim of a woman who professed her love to her in an attempt to rob her of more than one million dollars. That's the allegation of local and state investigators against the woman accused in the crime, 57-year-old Diane Elizabeth Agles Beam of Houston. Egli's Beam appeared Monday, April 6 in Lincoln County District Court for an arraignment on a felony count of exploiting an incapacitated person or vulnerable adult. She pleaded not guilty to the offense. District Judge Matt Cuff scheduled an omnibus hearing for May 11th and a pretrial conference for July 20th. A trial would not occur before September. Court records indicate that the defendant posted $75,000 bail on April 1st. And as part of conditions of her release, Agleese Beam had to surrender her passport. County Attorney Marcia Boris is prosecuting the case, and DOJ Elder Justice Unit prosecutor Angie Rolando is assisting, while Nicholas B. Johnson, a member of the California firm Openhayd, is defending Agleese Beam. The extensive investigation spans several states in multiple years, which led to charges against the Texas woman accused of taking advantage of a vulnerable adult and a $1.3 million theft in Northwest Montana. The investigation was led by Lincoln County Sheriff's Office Detective Dan Holsky and Montana Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation agent Christopher Benson. A possible list of witnesses also indicates the complexity and range of the query, including residents from Montana, California, Florida, and Virginia. The court filing indicates the alleged victim is a 70-year-old woman who used to work as an attorney before suffering a serious head injury in a motorcycle crash in 2016. The injury forced the woman to retire from her career after she had established a legal defense firm in 2006. She also suffered from other physical injuries and a diagnosed mental illness. Agent Benson reported that the woman was dependent on a caregiver and vulnerable to exploitation. The woman then met Agleese Beam in July of 2019 through an online dating site and began a romantic relationship. The alleged victim was living in Palm Desert, California at the time. The court filing alleges Agleese Beam convinced the woman to sell her California residence in law firm, liquidate her retirement account so she could move to Northwest Montana and buy property. The alleged victim bought a 63-acre property with a residence and other buildings in September 2019 in Rexford. The purchase price was $769,000. The couple committed to living together, and the victim agreed to put both of their names as joint tenants with the right of survivorship on the Rexford property deed. Investigators say Agle's Beam didn't own a home at the time, had few assets and vehicles, and not much cash. Then in August of 2020, the defendant allegedly persuaded the woman to grant her general durable power of attorney. The woman said Agle's Beam was then able to take money from her bank accounts, individual retirement accounts, and money after the woman sold her law firm. The woman also said the defendant convinced her to deed the Rexford property to her. The alleged victim then filed a lawsuit in September 2020 to recover the title to the Rexford property. The suit was settled in October 2020, and in December, Agleese Beam deeded the property back to the victim. But investigators allege that Agleese Beam was not done manipulating the woman and convinced her to deed the property back to her, which occurred in March of 2021. The alleged victim said Agleese Beam returned to the Rexford property in early 2021 and professed her love to the woman. She said that she wanted to live and work with the woman for the rest of their lives. The alleged victim relented and allowed Agleese Beam to move back in with her. In April 2021, investigators alleged the defendant drove the victim back to California, dropped her off at a retirement home, leaving the woman with few assets. The woman continued her fight to recover her property when she hired a law firm. A lawyer who was not specifically identified was supposed to record a notice of Liz Pendins with the Lincoln County Clerk and recorder, but never did. Eliz pendants is a record of notice pending litigation concerning real property, designed to warn potential buyers or lenders that the property is subject to a lawsuit. It prevents the transfer refinancing of the property until the legal dispute is resolved. Without the notice, Agle's Beam sold the Rexford property to other buyers on May 25th, 2021 for $1.4 million. Agent Benson reported the defendant netted $1.3 million in the sale. The alleged victim did not give up her fight to reclaim the money from the sale of the Rexford property and hired another law firm. She also sought compensation from the law firm that failed to record the lives pendant notice. The new law firm traced the sale of the Rexford property and learned a Gleesbeam had created a limited liability company. The LLC bought land in Rivali County with the money from the Rexford sale. The LLC was named Great Northern Wilderness LLC and had an address in Houston, Texas. Its registered agent was a lawyer in Whitefish who is also not identified in the charging document. On August 5th, 2021, the LLC received deed to a home on a 20-acre parcel near Derby. Agent Benson said it appeared Agle's Beam used the money from the Rexford sale to buy the Darby property and used the LLC to hide the transaction. The alleged victim's lawyer discovered a Glease Beam's actions and compelled her to give the Darby property to the woman, according to the court filing. A settlement was reached in June 2023 with the defendant deeding the land to the former attorney. A conviction on the offense may result in a 10-year term in the Montana State Prison. Thanks for joining us. NewsNow is a podcast from the Daily Interlake. We're proud to be the largest independent newsroom in Montana and the longest continuously published newspaper in the region. Today's stories were written by Hungry Horse News Editor Chris Peterson, Daily Interlake reporter Hayley Smalley, Lake County Leader Editor Christine E. Meyer, and Western News Editor Scott Schindledecker. You can read the full versions of these stories at dailyinterlake.com. And if you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel to never miss an episode of The Pod. Everybody stay safe and have a great week.