State looks to buy north shore land

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is proposing to purchase 76.7 acres of farmland and wetlands on the north shore of Flathead Lake about 4.5 miles east of Bigfork.

The parcel would become part of the North Shore Wildlife Management Area. The property borders to the west the existing 189-acres of the North Shore Wildlife Management Area that FWP bought in 2013.

Resource conservation manager Alan Wood said the acquisition’s price is $489,000. It would be funded by the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act program, which uses an excise tax on firearms and ammunition purchased in the state. The $489,000 price is 25 percent below the appraised value of the property, he said.

Wood says it has taken about a year to put the proposal together.

“It expands our existing ownership there, so it has the same benefits and resource values as the other management area,” he said.

He said the shallow groundwater at the site helps protect water quality in the lake, while a sharecropping agreement would leave standing grain in the fields for waterfowl and upland game birds and expand hunting opportunities for the public.

“The long-term vision there is to also do restoration for upland game bird habitats,” he added.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks agreed to accept an existing farm lease on the property through 2016 as part of the acquisition The lessee will continue to manage weeds and provide food and cover plots for migratory birds.

The environmental assessment said that spring waterfowl surveys indicate that portions of croplands on the North Shore, particularly fields that often flood in the spring, provide an extremely important food resource to thousands of migratory waterfowl. Spring migrants need high quality forage during migration to arrive in nesting areas in good shape for reproduction, the assessment said.

The proposed management plan is included as part of the draft environmental assessment.

Copies of the draft are available at the agency’s Kalispell office, 490 N. Meridian Rd., or online at fwp.mt.gov/news/publicNotices/environmentalAssessments/acquisitionsTradesAndLeases/pn_0177.html

Fish, Wildlife and Parks will hold a project presentation and public hearing Nov. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the Somers Middle School, 315 School Addition Rd. 

The public comment period will extend from Nov. 6t through Dec. 5. Written comments can be mailed to: North Shore WMA Proposed Addition, FWP, 490 N Meridian Rd., Kalispell, MT 59901. Comments can also be emailed to nivy@mt.gov.

For more information, contact Kris Tempel at (406) 751-4573 or by email at ktempel@mt.gov.