Flathead Wildlife, INC.

Conservation and Public Access in Montana’s Flathead Valley

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Access Projects Completed:

Flathead Wildlife, Inc. has created a promotional video detailing some of the club’s achievements with a focus on McGregor Lake and public access. Share with friends. The video was filmed by Kier Atherton of Trego with funding by the Montana Wildlife Federation.

Flathad Wildlife, Inc. from Motion Noise on Vimeo.

Somers Beach: The Sliter family has been working with Fish, Wildlife and Parks State Parks Board to purchase the 106 acre Somers Beach. The area was historically used by valley residents but was closed due to contamination from the Somers Tie Plant. Remediation is mostly completed. The State Park will offer nearly ½ mile of family-friendly sandy shoreline for wading, swimming, kayaking and canoeing. The property also has wetlands that tie in with the extensive waterfowl areas along the north shore. The new beach could help take pressure off the nearby Somers Fishing Access and Somers County Park. The project awaits approval from the Montana Legislature. FWI has supported the project. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the Sliter Family.

Montebello Fishing Access: Public access is sorely lacking on the shores of Flathead Lake, and slipped a little more when FWP had to abandon the DNRC lease for the Elmo Fishing Access due to rising costs. Fortunately, the Mattson family offered nearly 15 acres to FWP at a bargain price. The parcel has 650’ of shoreline and sits nearly due north of Skeeko Bay on Wild Horse Island. The site will have a caretaker and offer access to good fishing spots as well as Wild Horse Island. FWI supported the purchase and thanks the Mattson family.

Pioneer Road: Successfully sued Flathead County to reopen an illegally abandoned county road providing access to the Flathead River and 80 acres of US Forest Service land.

Lake 5: Worked with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to work through lakeshore owner lawsuits to successfully acquire and develop a Fishing Access Site on Lake Five near West Glacier.

Church Slough/Wagner Lane: Threatened Flathead County with legal action over proposed abandonment of a county road providing access to Church Slough. Negotiations resulted in a county fishing access site, day-use area and boat ramp being built.

McGregor Lake: Filed a lawsuit in 2017 against Flathead County over an illegally built house and lawn and other encroachments on a county road that blocked access to 64 acres of Fish, Wildlife and Parks land on McGregor Lake. The full Right Of Way (ROW) had not been cleared despite a 2011 District Court ruling.

FWI negotiated with the County and landowners to alter and survey in a narrower ROW. As of July 2018, FWI withdrew the lawsuit in an agreement that was reached with Flathead County and the landowners to resolve the issues. The (ROW) has now been surveyed, marked, and memorialized for continued public use and all encroachments have now been cleared.