The Montana State Parks and Recreation Board met last Tuesday, February 20, at Travelers’ Rest State Park in Lolo, and formally endorsed State Parks Regional Manager Chet Crowser’s recommendation that Fish, Wildlife and Parks work with the new landowner surrounding Fort Owen State Park “to explore opportunities, up to and including acquisition of additional state park property, to enhance public access and address private landowner concerns for improved management of Fort Owen State Park.”
Crowser told the board that Fort Owen State Park had great historical significance for the state.
“It had the first grist mill. It had the first water right. It had so many firsts,” he said.
But the park also faces some serious challenges by the small size of the park itself (one acre), an access road that is shared by the surrounding ranch, and existing parking capacity that can serve only 1-2 vehicles. Crowser said in recent years, the previous landowner and the public faced ever increasing frustration regarding the balance of appropriate public access and respectful public use of the park in relation to the adjoining private property.
In 2017, the property was purchased by Myla Yahraus, whom Crowser said, “promptly approached Fish, Wildlife & Parks with a keen interest in finding solutions to management of the state park that balance both public and private interests.”
Crowser said that various options to address the challenges had been considered historically.
“Files on this date back decades,” said Crowser. “You could go back over them and change the date and the names and they would still apply today.” He said various site designs had also been put forth over the years to address the problems.
“All this made us think that we should look into how this might work,” said Crowser. He said they had also been involved for over a year in discussions with the Stevensville community and the newly formed Friends of Fort Owen. He said there was “a lot of energy and interest there.”
Margaret Gorski, President of the Friends of Fort Owen, told the board that the site was very important not only to Stevensville as an educational asset and tourist site, “but to the history of pioneer settlement in the Bitterroot valley, the state of Montana, and settlement in the West generally.”
Gorski said that the Friends group was formed in response to the state’s strategic planning process and the result that Fort Owen landed in the Class 4 category of state parks. There was talk of reducing the state’s inventory of parks.
“It came across to us as putting Fort Owen at the bottom of the heap. It may not have been clear what it meant, but it got our attention,” she said.
Gorski said that she and her group members couldn’t be more excited about the prospects that the new landowner seems willing to consider. She said they have a landowner representative on their board now.
Fort Owen ranch manager Kent Smartt told the board, “It’s a whole new picture now.” He urged the board not to forget the big picture when they consider the future of Fort Owen State Park. He said the bigger picture includes a public fishing access site by the bridge, and the town’s existing River Park. It also includes the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge and the whole trail system, he said.
“Investing in Fort Owen State Park is an investment in a bigger picture and we are willing to look at that bigger picture,” said Smartt.
“It’s a new day,” said board chair Angie Grove in response to Smartt’s remarks.
Randy Arnold, Region 2 Supervisor for FWP, said, “We have been equally fortunate in working with the new landowners on the Fishing Access Site issue.” He said that historically there was robust public access at the site but that over the last few years under the former landowner, the access was almost eliminated. He said the agreement already signed between FWP and the new owner, called a “Private Land Fishing Access Agreement,” officially allows public access to the river at this time. He said FWP was officially responsible for the footprint there now and was in conversations about long term ownership of the property in perpetuity. He said it meant working hand in hand with the new property owners, the Town of Stevensville and the community, as well as State Parks.
Friends member Victoria Howell emphasized to the board that the management at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge should also be involved in these discussions. She noted that the Town of Stevensville had formulated a plan for the area 20 years ago that envisioned a connected trail system between the town, the river and the refuge.
Asked if all this represented an opportunity to reconsider the park’s classification in the state’s planning process, Crowser said, “It could be. Certainly, this is a much different day today with a much different set of opportunities for tomorrow. It could warrant re-consideration.”
Board member Jeff Welch, from Livingston, said, “This is the reason we did that classification process. The status quo can’t hold on some of these properties. I think that it’s fantastic that it’s been a catalyst and you are all here saying it’s an asset.” He said with the community getting so involved and the new landowners getting involved, “It’s great news. I really commend you all for turning out. The point was how to break the status quo and we are lucky here that opportunity has sort of come out of crisis.”
There are more parts to the bigger picture than were mentioned at the meeting. The Fort Owen Ranch is looking to be a good neighbor to the Stevensville community in a number of ways. For instance, Smartt recently purchased a used fire engine from Butte/Silverbow County. It is housed in a large garage to be used for ranch maintenance and fire protection. It’s got a 750,000-gallon capacity. Smartt has already notified the Stevensville Volunteer Fire Department and told them if they ever need it they can call on it.
He and his mother Jackie, who sits on the board of Friends of Fort Owen, are also looking for input on some potential use for a very large building located on the property near the Fort. The building houses several small office type spaces and a larger “conference room” but the largest portion of the building houses a large kennel with over a dozen concrete cages where dogs were kept and trained. The existing kennels could be removed, providing a huge empty space with very large doors covering the western wall that can be opened. Anyone with an interesting idea can contact Kent or Jackie and throw it in the pot for consideration.