Great Falls Tribune from Great Falls, Montana • Page 37

p. MONTANA Parade Call Associate Editor Tom Kotynski at 791 -1 477, (800) 438-6600, or tomkotynskimcn.net Class Act Youngsters fit Family page V3P Public radio 2P Books, music 2P Top Ten 2P Crossword 4P Montana album 4P Travel 4P Dave Barry 5P Miss Manners to fiddle 16V Sunday, February 6, 2000 SECTION E-mail: gftribunemcn.net -nr. One Man's rv Montana Bob Gilluly Of horses, hay and newcomers II Only the Port of Willow Creek structures, signs and flagpole punctuate the lonely prairie where the borders of Canada and Montana come together 35 miles north of Havre. Below, Cad Riordan, the station's lone employee surveys the empty landscape. Tribune photo by Lorry Becfcmr 1 T'fi'r 3 I remote Willow Creek, one of the nation's least-used border crossings Sab (jracod mm FT It's kind of a barren spot It's away from anything else.

We were just saying down the road that it's pretty deserted way out here. Canadian visitor Harold Rogers Lone guard mans Stories By ERIC J. GREENE Tribune Hl-Une Bureau PORT OF WILLOW CREEK -Day after day, Carl Riordan sits in his office chair, sipping coffee, looking out across the great, barren expanse that is the border between the United States and Canada. Between sips, Riordan listens to the wind blowing and the clock ticking. Sometimes he sees a coyote or a herd of pronghorns emerge from the fields that surround him.

And he's got an excellent view to watch thunderstorms amble across the prairie. The 37-year-old Riordan is director of the one-man Port of Willow Creek, one of the least-used border stations in the country. In fact, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service employee 1 MlflL Havre, is one of 15 ports of entry between Canada and Montana, and one of 124 ports on the international boundary that separates Canada and the United States. Of the Montana ports, only the Port of Whitlash sees fewer customers than Willow Creek, which See WILLOW CREEK, 5P 1 I It's a bit amusing to learn that hay is in short supply and heavy demand in several areas of western Montana this winter.

It isn't for the usual reason. Ordinarily, a hay shortage would be the sign of a tough winter for livestock producers, or a poor growing season last summer combined with subzero temperatures. But that just isn't the case. For one thing, the winter of 1999-2000 is pretty much a normal one across Montana, with no extended periods of arctic cold or heavier-than-usual snow. Second, it isn't traditional ranchers who are boosting demand for hay.

Instead, in the Flathead, Bitterroot and Gallatin areas, it's horse owners. I hope the census counts the number of horses in Montana, because there's little doubt there's been an explosion in equine numbers. Just about everyone who buys a few acres in western and southcentral Montana wants to put a horse or two in the pasture. It's become such a fad that real estate agents are advertising their mini-ranches as "horse property." The result: hay in the horse-heavy areas of the state is currently selling at $100 a ton. In the rest of the state, the going price is about $70.

It's ironic the more land that's subdivided into horse property means less land for growing forage. The shortage may not be a long-term trend, because hay production was down last summer in the wake of low moisture. But at least for the time being, genuine ranchers in central or eastern Montana who have surplus hay can probably sell it to horse owners and earn a little extra profit. Another thing: I don't have the figures to prove it, but I'm willing to bet the demand for veterinary services also is booming in western Montana. Ah, change.

Every expert said it was going to happen, but they didn't guarantee it would make sense. TV personalities Maybe I've become jaded, but the fresh young faces appearing on television across Montana (most of them come from places other than Montana, I'm told) are having a hard time making the adjustment here. These news people drive longtime residents up the wall at times. An example: A few weeks ago, a weekend anchor on a Butte-Bozeman TV station reported on accident near "Valley-air" that took the lives of two men. She didn't know how to pronounce "Valier." Another made the most common mistake of all: He referred to Meagher County as "Meeg-her." Others have gone to accident scenes and interviewed officers that they label as "state troopers." Everyone with half a brain knows there are no state troopers in Montana.

A few months ago Don Oliver, a veteran network reporter and a 1958 graduate of the University of Montana, came back to the UM to teach for a semester. He wrote an essay that was generally favorable to TV news coverage across the state, saying it was an excellent training ground. That it may be, Don. But spare me the newcomers who say Shelby is located in eastern Montana and that 10 above is a bone-chilling temperature. Gilluly writes a weekly column.

You may reach him through the Tribune at 791-1460 or (800) 4364600. After hours, visitors go on video to cross border Annual port activity Number of people who entered the United States through Montana ports of entry between Oct. 1 1 998, and Sept. 30, 1 999: is lucky to see 10 cars a day cross onto American soil. "It's pretty peaceful," says Riordan, saying much with few words.

Somewhat withdrawn, the Texas native not only works in the port building eight hours a day, but also lives next door alone, except for the cat he inherited from a previous tenant in a house he rents from the government. Willow Creek, 35 miles north of ing to physically be at the ports. The technology wouldn't replace the staff at Willow Creek, Whitlash and Whitetail, Puckett said. "I see remote video as a long-term solution for access in these remote areas," said Puckett, who supervises a region that includes Montana, a portion of Idaho and pre-clearance functions at airports in Calgary and Edmonton. "The intent is to provide both better service and better security at our small, remote ports of entry.

It's a great inconvenience for the people who live in the immediate vicinity of those ports if they can't cross the border," Puckett said. Jon Weigum, area port director based in Sweetgrass, said the RVIS uses a series of strategically placed cameras at each border station. Movable cameras would enable INS examiners to look inside vehicles and zoom in and out to closely inspect trunks. 'No 3 II Port used by I I 's appointment II in summer To make after-hours travel more convenient for border-area residents, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service plans to turn three remote border inspection stations into video-controlled, 24-hour ports.

Alan Puckett, deputy district director for INS, said the remote video inspection system (RVIS) is already installed at the Port of Whitetail, but not expected to be operational until summer. The ports of Willow Creek and Whitlash, the least used of the 15 in Montana, are also slated for RVIS. Potentially, Canadian and American residents who apply for participation in the RVIS would be able to cross the border after ports close at 5 p.m. Tourists who happen by after hours and aren't enrolled in the program likely wouldn't be granted admission. Using video, INS agents at the Port of Sweetgrass would make admission decisions without hav After an inspection, the examiner in Sweetgrass would trigger the opening of the gate at the remote port.

Plans for the RVIS in Montana have been in the works for several years, Puckett said, but delays in funding have pushed the project back. The governments of the United States and Canada have yet to determine how to share costs, which could be up to $100,000 to bring the three proposed ports in Montana on-line. Presently, only three of Montana's ports Roosville, Sweetgrass and Raymond are open and staffed 24 hours a day. The Port of Scobey made history in 1996 when it became the world's first voice-activated border crossing. Residents on both sides of the border enrolled in the system can open the border gate by entering an identification number and speaking a predetermined phrase.

only. JLU Source: U.S. Immigration Missoula Havre Great Falls ana Neurotization Service Glasgow Glendive TaUUdaTribune Miles Cih 4 Helena Butte 7Z- Bozeman nan 'im Antler artist carves his niche in market antler dreamcatchers, walking sticks, lights and tables. "Now we are strictly into the chandeliers, lamps, coffee tables, end tables, wine racks and sconces. Lately it has been chandelier after chandelier I have done 19 chandeliers in the last two months." They now have a part-time broker, do their own wholesaling to 30-some accounts and market their goods in stores, at shows and on the Internet.

They travel every, where west of the Mississippi, although the East Coast is this year's target area, since 75 percent of last Christmas' orders were shipped east of the Big Muddy. By NATALIE FISHER For the Tribune SHELBY Ray Waller can lock horns make that antlers with the best. Ray and his wife, Johnine, own and operate Mountain Feathers Sculptures, which specializes in intricately carved and interlocked antler furniture and accessories. Ray, 50, is a lifelong artist, -but his hobby became his living after a Christmas craft show in Dillon in 1989. He had fashioned a slide out of antlers that would keep cowboy hats from blowing off in the wind.

A salesperson saw it and ordered five for Christmas. "After that, I figured this earrings, hat pins, scarf slides and decorative pins. The Wallers' first wholesale account was Morey's Jewelry and Gift in Helena. Morey's would buy 12 dozen pairs of earrings at once, so there were times when Ray would carve 50 pairs a day. That first account was key to starting their business, Johnine said.

"Without them, we wouldn't have done it," she said. "Then I found that it was more feasible to get into the larger items rather than carving earrings all day, and I could make more money on the larger things," Ray said. In 1989, he and Johnine created Mountain Feathers Sculptures, featuring carved Antler chandliers are big sellers for Ray Waller. He's made 19 in the past two months, he said. was pretty cool, so I started carving antler feather earrings, did 50 pair and took them to a craft show in Dillon and sold out in less than an hour," Ray said.

From that he started a line of antler jewelry MeMemMJi.MiTeil iTeMeXinemieeMeeee Shelby artist Ray Waller turns antlers into pieces of art See ARTIST, 5P 1 1.