Bigfork Outdoor Recreation Alliance gathers public input for action plan

The Bigfork Outdoor Recreation Alliance has been reaching out for public input during the month of November to ask community members what they would like to see when it comes to the future of recreation opportunities in and around Bigfork.

Established earlier this year, BORA was formed in an attempt to get everyone on the same page when it comes to recreation in and around Bigfork. Now, they are formally beginning their planning process for their “Recreation Connection Action Plan,” or RCAP, intended to guide safe, connected and sustainable high-quality access to nearby rivers, mountains, parks, and Flathead Lake.

BORA is composed of many different groups and people who have stakes in recreation opportunities in the area, some of which include Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Flathead Land Trust, the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork, Montana Access Project and PacificCorp— among many others. BORA held two meetings in November where they outlined their planning process and had attendees participate in workshops to gather input from the community.

At previous meetings, BORA primarily explored the idea of connecting existing recreation areas through new partnerships with public and private landowners. Still pursuing that idea, they are also setting their sights on how to make it all more sustainable. BORA consultant and Montana Access Project Founder Diane Conradi said the area is getting more and more use— which can’t be ignored.

“This community was getting a lot of usage during COVID and a lot of off season usage. So recognizing that some of these patterns, both opportunities and challenges, were really changing the way and the urgency of how we needed to work together to make sure that the opportunities are sustainable,” Conradi said.

Early on in their virtual meeting, an attendee asked if they could define what they mean by “sustainable tourism,” and another pushed back on the idea that anyone should be drawing more attention to these recreation areas at all.

Another member of BORA’s consulting team is Kate McMahon from Applied Communications, who has decades of community planning experience. She’s done some work in sustainable tourism and said it’s key that the livability of the community is not compromised by an increase in tourism. She said this plan isn’t intended to promote recreation, but rather to educate and find areas of cooperation to deal with the use that’s already happening.

“It’s important that not just the recreation resources, but the other resources are not degraded because we have an increase in tourism. So, it's looking at the recreation assets, as well as a community, as well as the surrounding areas— especially when we have so much public land and valuable natural resources in the area,” McMahon said.

A survey conducted at the meeting revealed 38% of attendees have lived in Bigfork 15 plus years, with 34% of them living there for three years or less (the remaining lived here between six and 15 years.) BORA organizers asked them a few key questions: what are the key recreation destinations in this area? What recreation experiences are missing? How are the current facilities functioning and what would make the facilities better?

Later on in the meeting, they also asked attendees to help them plan an overview of the role outdoor recreation will play in the Bigfork area over the next five to ten years.

While everyone advocated for more public access to areas like the Swan River and Flathead Lake, connectivity remained a big concern. Laura Hodge offered an idea to connect parts of downtown and Bigfork Schools to the new library, which will sit behind the Bethany Lutheran Church off of MT 35, with another attendee offering an additional connection to Wayfarer’s State Park.

“I'll say it from being downtown for so long, we definitely need more and better defined paths for walking for not just for visitors, but for locals as well. Like a historic walking tour, for instance, that's just one idea that we were working on quite a while ago with the history project at the Art Center,” Hodge said.

McMahon said improving walkability for everyone should be a goal, as many people who live in Bigfork recreate closer to town on a regular basis, rather than always choosing to go out in the front and back country.

The Harrell Forest Project sits very close to downtown Bigfork and is on its way to becoming the village’s next hiking destination. Flathead Land Trust Executive Director Paul Travis said they are working with the Montana Land Reliance and the Trust for Public Land to develop and take ownership of the 236 acre property. The area will include about four and a half miles of non motorized trail, but conservation is also a priority for the project.

“We're also working with Montana Land Reliance to conserve that property's open space and natural values, the forest values and the wildlife habitat, through extending a conservation easement on to all the acreage of the property,” Travis said.

The property will officially be under the Flathead Land Trust by the end of the year, and Travis said they are hoping to have it open for public use late next summer.

The north shore of Flathead Lake was also identified by BORA as an area that has high community value and conservation value. With the recent formation of the new Somers Beach State Park, the group has been looking at ways to extend that area closer to Bigfork, with hopes it can be eventually connected to other areas. One opportunity to do that could potentially be fulfilled through the replacement of Sportsman’s Bridge and its fishing access site by the Montana Department of Transportation, which will include a wider shoulder for pedestrians and cyclists.

Flathead Lake State Park Manager Amy Grout said they are still in the planning stages for Somers Beach. More public comment opportunities concerning the park will be available again after a final planning document is issued at the end of this year.

When asked about other areas where they would like to see expanded public access areas, the Bigfork Bay was a top contender, with many people chiming in to voice their support.

Doug Eastman said he has raised all of his children in Bigfork and has rarely found themselves wanting more when it came to the nearby recreation opportunities. When asked about boat or fishing access, he did say it would be helpful to improve boat launching areas into the Swan River.

BORA started their planning process in September, said Conradi. They are currently in their community engagement phase, where they will gather public input before compiling recreation plan elements and finalizing the plan. They will then go back to the community for additional input. Conradi said BORA will be sending out a community survey sometime in early December, and encourages anyone who has additional questions or input to reach out to organizers through the BORA page on the Montana Access Project’s website.