Lake access poses problems

Resident Dave Hadden has walked parts of the North Shore of Flathead Lake nearly every morning for about 10 years and he's never seen traffic on the beach like there's been this spring.

Every week, particularly on the weekends, people are coming in droves to enjoy the exposed Lake bed near what is known as Docksteader island on the east side of the North Shore.

People enjoying the shore isn't the problem for Hadden, but their methods of access and treatment of it are.

"This is the worst it's been frankly," Hadden said.

The evidence is on the Lake bed, which is covered with the tracks from ATVs and motorcycles, which even go into the Flathead Waterfowl Production Area, where they are not allowed.

"People do anyway. Some don't know, but some do and do it anyway," Hadden said. "The best solution at this point is to find ways to close the area to motor vehicles until more responsibility is shown. People on foot have a much lighter impact."

The reason for the closure is to protect the birds, such as geese and eagles, which are nesting in the area. Increased traffic can drive them to abandon their nests and disrupts their habitats. The production area is a haven and resting place of migrating birds, but the shore area and wetlands are also home to a variety of wildlife whose habitats are also being damaged or disturbed, he said.

People are also having bonfires or picnics on the exposed Lake bed and leaving their trash behind. These bits of broken glass, aluminum cans, plastic and other remainders are also hazardous to the environment.

The other problem is a matter of how all of these people and their machines are getting to the Lake bed, since many are seen crossing through private property, Hadden said. Officials at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks say that the area, at least on their property, should be considered closed to even foot traffic right now because of the nesting season.

PRIVATE PROPERTY

Immediately east of the waterfowl area is the recently acquired FWP property, followed by a number of private lots, the first several owned by Roger Sortino's family.

The property on Holt Drive is now divided through family transfers to his kids, but Sortino has concerns about the trespassing, which is mostly happening through a pathway on his property created for construction vehicles that had been doing work on the property.

"It is a big problem," Sortino said. "You post signs, but they seem not to have any effect. It's a pretty sad deal. I don't know what I can do."

Sortino, who has "No Trespassing" signs on trees throughout the property, said he in the past has called the Flathead County Sheriff's Office, but it doesn't seem to be a deterrent. To him, it demonstrates a lack of respect of private property.

"I wish people would stay off of it," he said.

The motorized traffic is also eroding the dynamic equilibrium beach, or the mounds of gravel that work as a natural beach to protect the shore, that his family paid more than $100,000 to install. Similar structures were also installed by other property owners along the east side of the North Shore.

PUBLIC LAND

In September, FWP completed the purchase of the strip of property between the Sortino family lots and the Flathead Waterfowl Production Area to serve as a buffer between the habitat and private property.

It wasn't in the department's budget to put up signs in the current fiscal year, but that's scheduled to happen starting in July. Those signs will mark the properties, clarify public access and provide warning about regulations like closures, said fisheries technician Kris Tempel, who deals with this property.

For Tempel, education is a key factor. Many people don't know that area even is FWP land, she said, including wardens.

FWP plans to manage the area through increased warden patrols and the signage, she said.

Legal public access is available across the FWP land, if residents enter near the green gate at the bend in Holt Drive. However, like the waterfowl production area, it's also considered closed between March 1 and July 15 — and that includes to foot traffic, Tempel said.

"We kept the regulations the same so not to confuse people," she said.

Even when access is allowed, the same regulations as the waterfowl area apply. That means dogs need to be on leashes, she said.

ACCESS

However, many residents still want access to the North Shore, particularly while the water levels are lower. Legal access options are few.

Hadden said based on his research and the Flathead County GIS map, he believes the strip of land between FWP and Sortino's to be an easement, which could be considered a strip of public access to the Lake bed.

"It's my understanding that it's never been abandoned," Hadden said. "It's had continued use for many years. To my knowledge, it's the only public and legal access on the east side of the North Shore until the Swan River and Bigfork Bay. I'm not aware of others."

Officials in the county GIS office say there does appear to be an easement there, but further research would need to be done to determine who exactly it belongs to. It could even by state-owned or power easement.

Tempel disagrees. When FWP was considering the purchase of the land, officials did research and studied maps and did not see the strip of land Hadden refers to, or the easement, on it as a public access point, she said.

"I'm not aware that it is," she said.

Public access to the Lake is prized in the area, and that's why Hadden took up the issue last week with the Bigfork Parks Advisory Committee, which was working on a list of priorities to pursue. Public access to the Lake will be one of them, starting with exploring who owns the titles to perceived public access trails and easements, resolving ownership and developing a management plan.

"Public access is so important. It needs to be guarded," Hadden said. "Today a lot of people from all walks of life enjoy and use the Lake shore. We need to preserve the public access so we have it, but we also need to protect it to keep from degrading the wildlife value. We can have both."

That includes doing the research to find out more about the easement.

"You've got to start somewhere," Hadden said.