Essex skiing

The Izaak Walton Inn in Essex will host the Kick Out The Kinks cross-country ski races on Sunday, Dec. 16. Freestyle races will include 3, 5 and 10 kilometers. A $10 entry fee includes chili. A free 1-kilometer race for children will also be held. Registration will take place from 11 a.m. to noon. Racing will begin at 1 p.m. For more information, call 888-5700 or e-mail skipro@izaakwaltoninn.com.

Park retirement

A retirement reception to celebrate Chas Cartwright’s 40 Years of government service will take place at the Community Building in Glacier National Park’s Headquarters Area on Thursday, Dec. 13, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Formal presentations will take place at 4 p.m. Light appetizers and refreshments will be served compliments of the Glacier Association and Glacier National Park Fund. For more information or to schedule a presentation, contact Connie Stahr at 406-888-7901.

Wilderness art

The Flathead National Forest, Hockaday Museum of Art, Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation and Swan Ecosystem Center invite artists to apply for the 2013 Artist-Wilderness-Connection Program. Professional working artists of various disciplines, media and styles in the program spend up to two weeks in a remote forest cabin to focus on their respective art. The program connects artists with wild lands like the Bob Marshall and Great Bear wilderness areas. More than 25 artists have participated in the program since its start in 2004. Applications and information about the program are available at www.hockadaymuseum.org. Deadline is Feb. 28. For more information, contact Teresa Wenum at the Flathead Forest at 758-5218, or Liz Moss at the Hockaday Museum of Art at 755-5268.

Stream work

Glacier National Park is seeking public comment on a proposal to conduct stream bed maintenance and install rip-rap as needed at bridges and culverts along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. High water from spring run-off and weather events can cause bridge spans and culverts along the road to become clogged with sediment and debris. The Park proposes removing or dredging sediments as needed from stream channels at bridges and culverts along the Sun Road beyond what already occurs and placing rip-rap at the Logan Creek Bridge and other bridges and culverts along the road as needed to reduce sediment deposits caused by erosion. For more information, visit online at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/GTSRBridgesCulverts. Comments can be posted online or mailed to Superintendent, Glacier National Park, Attn: GTSR Bridge/Culvert EA, P.O. Box 128, West Glacier MT, 59936. Deadline is Jan. 3.