FWP proposes lease extension on North Shore Wildlife Management areas

Piggybacking plan development with lease logistics led to the recently proposed lease extension for two North Shore Wildlife Management areas. 

Released July 6 for public comment, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks plan extends current farming leases one year, giving the agency time to create a long-term management plan while matching the cycles of the two leases.

The proposal includes two adjacent areas, the 160-acre North Shore State Park/WMA and the 189-acre North Shore WMA. Alan Wood, FWP wildlife mitigation coordinator at Kalispell, said the extension would change the dates and lengths of the leases but not the terms.

Wood summarized the leases as sharecropping agreements: Farmers grow their crops but leave part of the harvest standing as food for waterfowl. The leases also have specifications on property maintenance, like weed and fence care.

Wood said one of the proposal goals is to match lease cycles. The current leases would end on Aug. 31 for the North Shore State Park/WMA and Dec. 31 for the North Shore WMA. If approved, both would restart on Sept. 1 for one year. 

Wood added the new date would also allow farmers to plan for fall crops like winter wheat. 

Zach Brosten leases the North Shore WMA, continuing fields farmed by his father and grandfather. While he appreciates the timing, Brosten is not planning any fall planting with current moisture conditions.

Brosten has rotated several crops on the land, from wheat to canola to peas. Now the lease is growing seed barley for MillerCoors. Regardless of what he plants, Brosten always negotiates standing crop into his harvest patterns for bird habitat and food plot areas.

Brosten knows part of the lease and management plans call for cropland reduction but said that change wouldn’t affect his decision to renew.

“As long as it’s not turning it into a maze,” he said.

This reduction is part of the lease proposal’s larger goal: planning.  FWP will use the year to create a long-term management plan for both North Shore WMAs.

Jessy Coltrane, Kalispell-area wildlife biologist for FWP, said decreased cropland is part of the overall management plan. Those areas will go to restoring wetlands, ponderosa stands and other natural landscapes for bird cover.

Coltrane said while some land will be used for restoration, farming will be a permanent part of the WMAs. She explained standing crops provide grain but farming itself provides defense. If the area was left wild, Coltrane said, noxious weeds would overrun native wetland grasses.

“By providing croplands, we have a higher value as long as we leave some of those crops for the waterfowl,” Coltrane said.

Both WMAs focus on waterfowl and border the 1,887-acre Flathead Lake Waterfowl Production Area. The North Shore WMA was created last spring after the state purchased the land from Bigfork attorney Darrell Worm. The North Shore State Park/WMA was created in late 2008.

The proposed lease extension was released July 6 for a two-week public review. Comments will be accepted through 5 p.m., July 20. Copies of the draft are available at

FWP office, 490 N. Meridian Rd., Kalispell; Montana State Library, 1515 E 6th Ave., Helena; FWP State Headquarters, 1420 E 6th Ave., Helena; and available for viewing at local libraries. It is also available online at fwp.mt.gov.

 Public comments should be sent to nivy@mt.gov.