The Flathead Avalanche Center is hosting an Advanced Avalanche Awareness class beginning Jan. 7. The class is free and open to the public. No registration is needed.

The classroom sessions will also be held at the Flathead National Forest office in Kalispell from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 7 and 9, and Jan. 14 and 16.

The two field sessions will be held at the Whitefish Mountain Resort from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 12 and 19.

For additional information on avalanche education classes and avalanche conditions, visit the new Flathead Avalanche Center website at www.flatheadavalanche.org. You can also sign up to follow the center on Twitter. Avalanche advisories are issued weekly on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The phone number to call for recorded avalanche advisories is 406-257-8402.

Join Flathead Audubon on Monday, Jan. 14 when Dr. Richard Mace presents “30 Years of Grizzly Bear Conservation in Western Montana: Progress Toward Recovery.” Audubon meets at 7 p.m. in the United Way Conference Room at the Gateway Community Center in Kalispell. The program is free and everyone is welcome.

Join the Flathead Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society for a discussion about whitebark pines, “the oldest residents in Glacier.”

Rebecca Lawrence of Glacier National Park will discuss the perils of whitebark pine and the challenges and successes of restoring them in the Park at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan.16 at the Teakettle Community Hall in Columbia Falls.

The program is free and open to the public. Everyone is also invited to a 5:30 p.m. general meeting to discuss Native Plant Society business and projects.

For more information contact Betty Kuropat at 892-0129 or Jen Hintz at 270-7028.