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Infractions driving river trail closure

by Richard Hanners Hungry Horse News
| March 25, 2015 6:53 AM

Trespassing, littering, vandalism, graffiti, theft, chainsaw “lumbering,” camp fires, biking, unrestrained pets, motorcycle use, drinking, illegal drugs — even fornication.

That’s some of infractions on the Kreck Riverwalk Trail that Mark and Inge Cahill have compiled since November 2010. According to the county’s 911 Dispatch Center, the Cahills have made 22 calls over that time about the trail that crosses their property.

“The calls have gone out for assistance only when we feared for our safety,” Mark said. “Many other instances have gone unreported because the individuals we approached complied with our requests to abstain from abusing our property.”

Anyone who’s been to the historic Red Bridge in Columbia Falls has seen the graffiti covering the concrete pylons. But the Cahills also have photos of box springs and bed frames dropped off at the site — twice, once on each side of the bridge, like it was a garbage dump.

“I saw a dirt bike on the trail just the other day,” Mark said last week.

This ongoing problem has driven the Cahills to take legal steps in an attempt to close the trail that runs along the Flathead River from the Red Bridge to the Cedar Pointe subdivision.

Their first effort in 2011 sought to eliminate the 450-foot long, 8-foot wide easement the city holds across their property next to the bridge. Previous owner Loren Kreck agreed to create a trail easement along the mean high water mark in July 2007, but that route ran into a cliff by the Red Bridge. His children agreed to an amended easement in October 2010 after Kreck died. Under that agreement, the trail could run up from the river to the Red Bridge abutment.

When the Cahills purchased the Kreck property, it came with the easement, and Mark agrees he’s stuck with it. The agreement specifies that users must stay on the trail, but many drop down from the trail to the river, crossing the Cahills’ property, which according to a certificate of survey from the county plat room extends to the mean low water mark.

“Some people think that because they’ve lived here all their lives that they can go wherever they want,” he said.

Their next effort involved claiming legal title to about 5,000 square feet of land between the river and the eastern boundary of the adjacent lot to the north, which the Cahills also own.

The city of Columbia Falls contests that claim and is preparing a legal case, but it agrees for now that the Cahills hold title to the little piece of riverfront land.

The Kreck Riverwalk Trail runs across the contested piece of land below the mean high water mark and is underwater during the late spring. The Cahills claim ownership to the mean low water mark, and they claim they can close the trail to the public under conditions contained in Montana’s Stream Access Law.

The law states that the public may travel along the Cahills’ property below the high water mark to “make recreational use of the surface waters.” As the Cahills interpret the law, and city attorney Justin Breck agrees, that means people traveling across the Cahills’ property below the high water mark must be doing something water-related — not just walking from the Red Bridge to the Cedar Pointe subdivision.

Some people have summarized the law to mean people traveling across the Cahills’ property below the high water mark need to be carrying a fishing pole or a paddle or wearing a bathing suit.

Columbia Falls police chief Dave Perry said that if the Cahills report trespassers in that area, his officers will respond accordingly.

“If the public understood this and didn’t abuse the trail, we wouldn’t have to take these steps to close the trail,” Mark said. “It can’t just be a free-for-all.”

City staff and city councilors met with Mark on March 16 to discuss his concerns. That night at the city council meeting, Mayor Don Barnhart asked the Land Use Committee and Parks Board to meet and come up with some solutions, including signs advising people about stream access regulations.