Neighbors concerned over high use of Swan River access

Lake County commissioners are meeting in Bigfork today to find a solution to the closure of a popular river access on Rainbow Drive near Bigfork.

The commissioners closed the access recently over concerns from neighboring landowners who said the site has become unsafe. They say heavy traffic, parking problems and disorderly river floaters are common in the summer.

The 60-foot-wide swath of county property includes a small, paved turnaround and unimproved access down a dirt bank to the river. John Pettigrew lives adjacent to the county property. He said he’s had people trespass on his property, leave litter and park in his driveway. He has lived there for 45 years, he said.

“I’m not opposed to public access,” Pettigrew said, but he noted that the site receives far too much traffic for its size.

Last year he counted over 600 people in an afternoon float past his house, which is on the downstream side of the county access. Pettigrew advocates the site be used as walk-in only, with limited parking.

Lake County parks director Mike Roberts said the parks board and county commissioners are working to find a solution. He said closing the river access is a temporary fix.

Roberts and Lake County commissioners were scheduled to meet at the access at 11 a.m. today (Wednesday.) Roberts said a comprehensive plan of Lake County parks is underway and should be completed this month. “This is definitely not a closed issue,” he said. “We intend to do what we can to get it reopened.”

Since parking along the narrow road has become an issue, Roberts suggested that perhaps purchasing a nearby lot across the street and making a parking lot would alleviate congestion. That idea doesn’t sit well with Diana Bell, who lives just across a dirt road. “It’s too dangerous here,” Bell said. “We want safety here. This never should have been built.”

Bell describes people “yelling and screaming, drunk and stoned” during the peak summer season. “This is not a party place,” she said.

The Rainbow Drive river access has become heavily used over the last several years. It’s the only developed public access to the Swan River between Swan Lake and Ferndale. There is a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks access about a half mile downstream from the Rainbow Drive access. Some floaters and anglers, however, prefer the upper section and access from Rainbow Drive because it has better whitewater and better fishing.

“I don’t care they get their rapids,” Bell said. “I want my area and my house safe.”

Bell said she fears for her son’s safety during peak use of the access in the summer. She said her son, Matthew, was nearly run over by a vehicle.  “We have a right to feel safe,” she said. “We’re the ones who pay taxes and mortgages. We’ve been living in hell for the last 10 years. We just want our neighborhood back.

“We’re fighting a battle against people who don’t live here, who don’t pay taxes here.”

Bell said Lake County did not notify her and her neighbors about the paving and improvements that went into the site over last few years. “We were not notified this was going to happen,” she said. “Next thing, we’ve got droves of people coming in here and we had no say in it.”

Steve Wingard flyfishes the Swan River. He said the increased use of the Rainbow Drive access has degraded the Swan River. He said the Pacificorp spillway downstream of Ferndale “turns a fluorescent green from all the people peeing in the water.”  He said rainbow trout in the river have developed “big, open sores.”

Last Thursday, Bell showed photos of Rainbow Drive crowded with cars on a busy summer day. Getting to the west side of Swan Lake and Swan River means navigating through the cars, and people toting coolers, inner tubes and rafts to the river.

Jim Strainer lives upstream on the Swan River and drives past the access to get to his house. He, too, said neighbors were not involved in discussions about creating the river access. The property was given to Lake County when Swan Sites was developed. “It happened so quickly,” he said. “No one on the street knew this was going up. We’re talking about access to a place that is too small.” Strainer said a sign showed up three to four years ago saying “river access.”

He said the access is like a “pig pen” in summer. Cars need to be ticketed and towed, he said. “They have to learn to behave,” he said. “The people who live down here have been abused.”

Located in the far northeast corner of Lake County, Ferndale is often treated as the “lost soul” of Lake County government, Strainer said.

“There needs to be a solution,” Strainer said. “It won’t be here long if people abuse it.”