The winner of the 2009 Montana Junior Dick Stamp design contest was selected last week by a panel of judges at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. This year’s Best of Show award went to Caitlin Sterchi, an 18-year-old student from Whitefish. The winning entry was a gouache (opaque water color) painting of a family of Canada Geese entitled “Family Outing.”

State "Best of Show" winning designs are sent to Washington, D.C., where three national winners are chosen by a panel of five judges. The Junior Duck Stamp Contest winner receives a free trip to Washington, D.C., along with the art teacher, a parent and the state coordinator the following October to be honored at the Federal Duck Stamp Contest. The first-place winner also receives a $2,500 scholarship award.

The Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is a dynamic educational program designed to teach wetland habitat and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school. Using scientific and wildlife observation principles, the program helps students communicate visually what they have learned by creating an entry for the Junior Duck Stamp art contest. This non-traditional pairing of subjects brings new interest to both science and the arts. It crosses cultural, ethnic, social, and geographic boundaries to teach greater awareness of our nation’s natural resources.

Preparation for the Junior Duck Stamp contest and involvement in the program requires students to learn the fundamental principles of anatomy and environmental science, and can be a valid barometer of a student’s grasp of these topics. The program also provides an opportunity for students to express, artistically, their knowledge of the beauty, diversity, and interdependence of wildlife. In fact, preparation for the program often includes a visit to a national wildlife refuge, a prime location not only for observing wildlife, but also for the hands-on educational experience at a visitor center.

The Junior Duck Stamp competition begins each spring when students submit their artwork to a state or territory contest. At the state level, students are judged in four groups according to grade level: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Three first, second, and third place entries are selected for each group. Contest judges select a “Best of Show” from the twelve first place winners. Each state or territory “Best of Show” is then submitted to the Federal Duck Stamp Office and entered into the national Junior Duck Stamp Contest. To further the interdisciplinary goals of the program, students are also encouraged, but not required, to include conservation messages on their entry forms along with their art design. The conservation message is judged in some states and at the national level for “Best of Show” winners. The message should explain something the student has learned about wetland habitats, conservation, or waterfowl. It may also be a statement encouraging others to learn about and participate in conservation.

Sterchi’s message submitted along with her winning picture was: “In order to keep and maintain the animals we love, we must take care of their habitat.”

The first place art from the national contest is used to create a Junior Duck Stamp each year, sold by the U.S. Postal Service and Amplex Corporation consignees for $5 per stamp. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps support conservation education and provide awards and scholarships for participating students, teachers, and schools.

Last week a panel of five judges spent half the day at the Refuge appraising 193 entries from around the state. Almost half the entries, 45 percent, were from Stevensville students, but other entries were received from Missoula, Victor, Glendive, Billings and other towns.

Students from Kindergarten through the 12th grade were eligible and used the medium of their choice. Over half the entries, 51 percent, in this year’s contest were done in colored pencil. The second most popular medium was acrylic (17 percent), followed by oil pastel (9 percent). Six percent of the entries used a combination of mediums and only five percent used water color.

Out of 31 different species submitted this year, the most popular species was Mallards (22 percent), followed by Wood Ducks (16 percent). Six percent of the entries were of Canada Geese, followed by Cinnamon Teal and Trumpeter Swan at five percent each.

Best of Show winner Caitlin Sterchi was home schooled until her sophomore year when she began attending Whitefish High School, mostly to participate in the art program. The students use their own photographs of ducks to produce their art works. She will be selling her art work at the upcoming Huckleberry Days celebration in Whitefish.

Her winning entry depicts a family of Canada geese, two adults with four little goslings. Bob Danley, Outdoor Recreation Specialist for the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge, said that the fact that it depicted a whole family set this work apart from most entries. He said a “family scene” had not yet won in the national competition, but that this one certainly had a chance.

One of the judges, Jim Dushin, a graphic artist from Helena, was impressed by the alignment of the geese in the painting. Stevensville artist and contest judge Kiana Fecteau was struck by the lighting in the scene and the way it was reflected on the underside of the adult goose’s jaws. Other judges commented on the sharp detail in the painting and the lively but contained composition of the group.

“You can see the family interacting,” said Vivica Crowser of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks from Missoula

The Metcalf Refuge’s annual Welcome Back Waterfowl Day and the Montana Junior Duck Stamp Award Ceremony are both scheduled for Saturday, April 4. Bitterroot Audubon, Bitterroot National Forest Refuge staff and volunteers will be available on Wildfowl Lane with spotting scopes for close-up views of the waterfowl and to answer questions from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 2009 Montana Junior Duck Stamp winning entries will be on display in the Refuge’s Visitor Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Festivities will include the living history program of Capt. Meriwether Lewis as Naturalist.

New director at fairgrounds helm

By Michael Howell

On the job for a few weeks now, Deborah Rogala, is excited about her new duties as Ravalli County Fairgrounds Director. Although she is interested in developing new opportunities, her main aim at the present is to bring herself up to speed on the many and varied activities that are already being hosted at the Fairgrounds. The County Fair is a big deal, but the operation of the Fairgrounds goes way beyond that.

Rogala said that many fairgrounds across the state are located in the countryside a good distance from the nearest town. What makes Ravalli County Fairgrounds unique is its proximity to the downtown of Hamilton. While many people think of the Fairgrounds as home to the Ravalli County Fair, the Fairgrounds actually is host to many community activities and the proximity to town makes the site that much more attractive for community events.

“This is a tremendous asset,” said Rogala, “with so many large buildings so close to town.”

The Fairgrounds was recently host to the Montana Association of Counties’ state convention. The Bitterroot Mountettes also uses the facility for its equine activities. Auctions are held on the site, as well as music festivals and concerts. A lot of 4-H activities take place there.

“The rodeo is a huge draw,” said Rogala.

There is also Mule Days and the Bull-O-Rama. The annual Fiber Festival is held there as well. Private weddings are also held there, not to mention many other community meetings making use of the First Interstate Convention Center. That center holds about 40 tables seating eight people to the table. There are also about 500 chairs available for large meetings.

Rogala said that she is interested in developing new uses and new opportunities, but right now she is trying to absorb the history of the place and the long tradition of its use. In that respect, she said, she is relying a great deal on the current Administrative Assistant and Maintenance Supervisor to help bring her up to speed. She said the Fair Board members are a great resource as well.

“These people are a great resource in helping to carry this transition through,” she said.

Despite all the ongoing traditional events, Rogala also hopes to expand community use of the fairgrounds facilities. The upcoming Quilt Show is a first time event this summer and Rogala hopes to attract a lot more community events as well.

“But it is not what I want to see here,” said Rogala, “so much as it is what the community wants to see here.” She said that it is essentially a community resource owned by the county.

“We have an open door,” said Rogala, “And we are bent on expanding our services.”

The annual Senior Pro Rodeo will not be held here this year, she said because the Senior Pro Rodeo organization did not sanction the event. But the Rodeo Queen Contest is on the docket and applications are now available, she said. The Bull-O-Rama will also be held here even though there is also one scheduled in Darby.

Rogala has lived in the valley since 1990. She has worked at various jobs over the years. She was the original grant writer and Program Coordinator for the X-treme Team, an after school program in the Darby School District. She has worked as a freelance grant writer for the last 15 years. She helped form the Darby Community Action Plan and was elected as a Trustee-Elect for the Bitterroot Valley Community College, which recently failed to receive legislative authorization. She was a founding member of the Darby School Excellence Foundation.

For the last 13 years she has also been an innkeeper at a set of guest cabins on her property up the West Fork. That work will continue as she serves as the Fairgrounds Director.

She has two kids in college at Montana State University and her husband is a cabinet maker who works out of their home.

“The Fairgrounds has been at the heart of the community here for a long time, and I hope to keep it there,” she said.

Efforts to increase higher ed options in Bitterroot continue

By Michael Howell

Following the failure of the Bitterroot Valley Community College to gain legislative authorization, the efforts to create a new model for higher educational opportunities in the Bitterroot Valley continue. A meeting of “Bitterroot College Stakeholders” was held at the County Commissioners’ meeting room on March 24. The efforts are making slow progress but not without some tension between BVCC advocates and the university and state officials who helped defeat the four-year college proposal.

“I am cautiously optimistic,” BVCC advocate Victoria Clark told those gathered at the stakeholders meeting, “but skeptical,” she added, “because the very group that killed the community college effort in our valley now says they want to help create a higher education system for Ravalli County. I believe that the BVCC advocates want to be major players in the creation of a higher education system in the Bitterroot. At the very least we should be equal partners, especially with regard to program development, governance, and budgeting.”

“Whose college will this be - ours, theirs or an equal partnership?” asked Clark. “I don’t think we need to be hostile. We should be polite, but we need to stand together and be united in the principle of local control.”

Who is really in control remains an open question. Right now, following defeat of the BVCC initiative in legislative committee, the University of Montana is in control, at least of any funding of higher education opportunities in the Bitterroot.

But if you take Deputy Commissioner of Two-Year Higher Education Mary Moe at her word, the forces that helped defeat a four-year college in the Bitterroot are now ready to work with local advocates at forging a new model for higher education in the valley.

Recent efforts are targeted at establishing a steering committee that will consist of representatives of all sides in the formation of the new model. While the concept of the steering committee itself is still in flux, all parties seem in agreement that selecting a paid director to guide the effort is a key element to its success.

The exact shape that the steering committee will take is still to be worked out, but some members have already been agreed upon. Those include County Commissioner Carlotta Grandstaff, Darby School Superintendent Tim Bronk, Chamber of Commerce director Rick O’Brien, Job Service representative Patti Furniss, and Adult Education representative Dixie Stark. Also being considered but yet to be determined is a representative of the BVCC Trustees-Elect and a BVCC steering committee representative.

Although a position for a non-traditional student representative was considered at the meeting, Moe has suggested that it would be difficult to identify a true representative of the student demographic since there is no student organization in the Bitterroot. She suggests that, given the already large size of the group and the familiarity of most members with adult learning needs, the student slot should be reserved for the permanent structure of the new learning institution.

Working with the steering committee would be Moe, representing the Commissioner of Higher Education’s office, Provost Royce Engstrom representing UM Academic Affairs, Sharon Alexander representing the Hamilton Higher Education Center (HHEC), Lynn Stocking representing the College of Technology, and a Flathead Valley Community College designee and a Montana State University Extension representative, both yet to be decided.

The plan is for the steering committee to initially report to Moe. The committee’s duties will be to follow an open hire process to appoint a Planning and Transition Director. At the meeting the idea of perhaps separating those duties into two positions was considered, but after consulting with Provost Royce Engstrom, Moe is now suggesting that a single director be appointed for both purposes.

In a recent e-mail Moe wrote, “Royce, Sharon, and I talked about the Transition and Planning Director, and we all agree this is very much a one-person job, probably temporary in nature since when the plan is developed we will need to recruit for a permanent position and a different skill set could be needed. All of us have held such positions at some time in the past, and it’s actually easier to be solely in charge of these intertwining tasks than to trip over someone else communicating with many of the same people and overseeing similar and not necessarily distinct processes. As the employer with legal responsibility for the hire, either Royce or Sharon will need to oversee that process. Probably a subcommittee of the Steering Committee would be the search committee, as a search process is time-consuming and seldom includes such a large group. But we can talk about that on the 14th.”

The aim of the steering committee is to facilitate completion of a needs and resources assessment, culminating in a proposal identifying overall programming goals (articulated in a mission statement and name for the new adult learning services entity) and recommending a permanent governance, management, and funding structure along with a business and academic plan for the new entity.

Establishing a funding stream for the new entity is also on the agenda. Right now the university is sponsoring the Hamilton Higher Education Center. That entity has been operating on an annual budget of about $200,000.

According to the current Director, Frank Laurence, the HHEC this past year offered six

courses They are Accounting II (4 credits); Oral Communications (3 credits), which is

public speaking and presentations; an intermediate-level Computer Technology course (3 credits); Business Law (3 credits); and Introduction to Psychology (4 credits) and Introduction to Anthropology (3 credits). These courses (specifically Accounting II and Business Law) earn credit towards the UM College of Technology Associate of Applied Arts degree; or credits towards the UM baccalaureate degree (specifically the Communications, Computer Technology, Psychology, and Anthropology courses). Three of the courses are taught by Bitterroot Valley residents: Jamie Ogden (Anthropology) holds an MA degree in Anthropology from Syracuse University; Colleen Murphy-Southwick has a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Montana; Attorney Jennifer B. Lint (Business Law) practices law with Boatwright Law Office PC (Hamilton), and holds her law degree from the UM School of Law.

Laurence is concerned about the fate of the HHEC given the current efforts at forming a new higher education entity in the valley.

Participants in the new effort are also sensitive to the issue. They have made an explicit point of the need to continue the for-credit activities of the HHEC during the transition period to a new entity, but the means and the funding for doing so are not clear. There is also a desire among new entity adherents to respond to other needs such as establishing high-speed internet access and video capabilities as well as more workforce training as part of the overall efforts.

Another stakeholders meeting is scheduled for April 14. The meeting place has yet to be decided.

Stevi to seek water right change

By Michael Howell

The Stevensville Town Council decided last week to hire Missoula Water Rights Attorney Ross Miller to evaluate the current status of the Town’s water rights and prepare an application for a change in water rights. The move was precipitated by a few different factors. One is the need to expand the place of use beyond the original town site to include all current users, including the potential new users in the proposed Twin Creeks Subdivision. Another factor is the need to change the point of diversion from the existing infiltration gallery located up the Burnt Fork to the new well field being developed in town.

Miller, who has already done some preliminary analysis of the Town’s existing water rights, told the Council that the Town needs to expand the legal description of the place of use associated with its current water rights.

He said that all water users in the state were required to file their water rights in 1973 in conjunction with the adoption of a new state constitution. The Town of Stevensville failed to do so. In 1993 the legislature opened a window for filing late claims. As a result the Town filed ‘late claims’ in 1994 for its water rights and filed for new permits at the same time. Miller said that the filings are redundant and would really need to be honed down to one or the other.

One problem with both those claims, however, is that the legal description of the place of use for the water rights was the boundaries of the original township site. He said that the

Town needed to seek a change authorization from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) to expand the place of use to cover all existing users as well as those in recently annexed lands such as the Twin Creeks Subdivision. The change would not alter the priority date of the water rights, he said. But it may alter the amount of water allowed under the right.

Miller told the Council that since rule changes were adopted at DNRC in 2005, any change in a water right now automatically triggers an analysis of the historical use of the water being claimed. If the amount of water claimed on paper is more than the actual historical use, the right is then reduced to match the actual historical use. He said that an analysis of the Town’s water rights may reduce the amount to that in actual use in 1994, when the late claims were submitted. He said that the purpose of the rule was to prevent the incremental encroachment upon senior water rights in the area.

Besides the place of use issue, the fact that the Town has decided to decommission the infiltration gallery up the Burnt Fork that uses surface water and replace it with a well field located in town also requires a change of water right authorization. Following a court case on the Smith River, the state has recognized the connection between surface water claims and groundwater claims. That complicates the issue of getting new groundwater claims in a river basin, like the Bitterroot, that has been closed to any new surface water claims due to over appropriation. Now, any new groundwater claims must prove that they will not affect any existing surface water claims in the area.

Miller told the council that the Town could transfer the rights associated with the infiltration gallery to the well filed in Town, but this change in the point of diversion alone would also trigger a historical analysis of the water use and perhaps result in a reduction of the right to the amount used in 1994, when its current claims were filed.

Miller said that the Town needed to contemplate making these changes now. He said that sooner or later the changes would have to be made.

Councilor Clayton Floyd said that he thought that the developer of the Twin Creeks Subdivision had agreed to get water rights for the new well field and then transfer them to the Town.

Tracy Turek, a consultant for the developer, said that since the Town was going to end up with the water rights that it made more sense for the application to be made in the Town’s name. She said that for the developer to seek the water rights and then transfer them to the Town would double the process and take that much longer. She said that even if the Town applied today it would be a year or more before the process could be completed.

As a result the Council decided to hire Miller to do a complete evaluation of the Town’s current water rights and move toward filing for a change of right authorization with DNRC.

County responds in Robak case

By Michael Howell

Ravalli County Attorney George Corn recently responded to Tom and Charlotte Robak’s motion for a summary judgment in their case against the county over an alleged floodplain violation.

The Robaks began construction of a new home on property they own along the West Fork of the Bitterroot River a few years ago. But they received a letter from Ravalli County Floodplain Administrator Laura Hendrix in October of 2007 claiming that there was reason to believe that the couple was in violation of county floodplain regulations and that they should cease and desist on the construction of the new home until it could be determined if indeed they were in violation of the regulations. She asked for more information to make that determination.

A surveyor working for the Robaks submitted a survey showing that the house was above the elevation of the floodplain. But Hendrix asked for further information showing the natural elevation of the surrounding area because there was reason to believe that fill had been illegally placed in the floodplain to change the elevation.

The Robaks went to court, asking the District Court to make a declaratory judgment in their favor declaring that the building project was legal. They accused the county of violating their civil rights and their private property rights. Robak claimed that county officials were out to get him over his vocal opposition of their efforts to establish streamside setback regulations.

The County argues in its latest brief that a declaratory judgment by the court is not appropriate because so many actual facts in the case are in dispute. The county claims that the recent affidavits submitted by people who did work for the Robaks on their property actually support the county’s case.

The County claims that the affidavits “present many more questions than answers.”

“For instance, Mr. Morris submitted a three-page affidavit in October of 2008 alleging that fill was not used to raise the residence and then submitted a nine-page affidavit in February of 2009 stating that he was responsible for excavating and ‘spreading out’ at least 290 yards of material. Plaintiffs would have Defendants and this Court assume that in spreading out this material the elevation of the construction site was not altered, yet that defies common sense,” wrote Corn in his brief. He claims that the evidence was presented only after the county confronted them with “the evidence that they tried to conceal.”

Corn also points out that a factual dispute exists over the location of a trench constructed by Morris and filled with rip-rap. That trench, he argues, may also have been illegally constructed in the floodplain. Corn points as well to a factual dispute over the question of whether the Robaks filled in a ditch on their property or whether it was in actuality Wheeler Creek or a high water channel of the Bitterroot River instead. Corn argues that all these disputed facts need to be settled before a determination can be made as to the legality of the activities, making a summary judgment in the case inappropriate.

Corn goes on to argue that aside from the disputes over facts the Robaks are not entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law because the Robaks failed to exhaust their administrative remedies. Instead, he argues, they skipped immediately to District Court without ever even applying for a Floodplain Permit. That decision then could have been appealed.

“They cannot complain about due process when they have bypassed the process for their own purposes,” wrote Corn. “Under the Robaks’ legal interpretation of the statutes and regulations, any landowner with a reasonably tenacious lawyer would be immune from the county’s floodplain regulations. This argument is without merit.”

Corn asks the Court to deny the request for Summary Judgment.

National Main Street rep to visit Stevensville

Todd Barman, a Program Officer with the National Main Street Center, and Julie Burk, Director of the Montana Main Street Program, will visit Stevensville on Thursday, April 2.

Their itinerary includes participation in the Stevensville Main Street Association monthly meeting at noon (note: the meeting is on Thursday this month), a presentation titled “Simple Façade Ideas,” and meetings with the Main Street Executive Director and Board.

Barman will give a presentation on “Simple Façade Ideas” at 1:30 p.m. at the Main Street office, 102 Main. All Bitterroot businesspeople are welcome; however, commercial Main Street property owners are especially encouraged to attend. RSVP to SMSA at 777-3773 so sufficient seating arrangements can be made.

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