Woods Bay committee seeking larger group

By ALEX STRICKLAND / Bigfork Eagle

The eight-person steering committee chosen to lead the charge to keep 440 acres of state-owned land in Woods Bay open to the public met for the first time last Thursday and brainstormed ways to get the ball rolling.

The meeting was the first by the small committee, following three large-scale public meetings that each drew close to 100 people and were often more impassioned than productive. The meetings were held in response to a proposal from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to put the Woods Bay parcel into the agency°Os land banking program, which would allow it to be sold and the money placed in an account to be used to purchase another parcel somewhere else.

The 440 acres in question includes an area known as Cougar Canyon and two alpine lakes, all popular with locals as recreation spots. The DNRC has explained that the agency has an obligation to its beneficiary °(TM) in this case the Montana School of Mines °(TM) and must provide financial gain to them from the land.

The first task of the new steering committee, then, was to explore potential members to invite to be part of the larger °()()working group°+/- that will be tasked with coming up with creative solutions to allow the land to remain in public hands, but also satisfy the DNRC°Os responsibility.

°()()We will be with this all the way to the end,°+/- said DNRC Kalispell Unit Manager Greg Poncin. °()()The recommendations that come out of this group will have weight with us.°+/-

Committee member and long-time Bigfork resident George Darrow suggested that because the parcel borders and shares many traits with a section of US Forest Service land designated as a °()()Research Natural Area,°+/- that some sort of natural area designation would seem appropriate. Members also spoke about a possible land exchange with the Forest Service, a possibility that has come up in previous meetings.

The group decided that a representative from the Forest Service °(TM) possibly Swan Lake District Ranger Steve Brady °(TM) should be on the board as well as Dan Vincent, a retired member of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks who now resides in Woods Bay. The addition of those individuals, plus Kitty Rich, a Woods Bay resident who came to the meeting representing °()()all those crazy people at the last meetings who you don°Ot want here,°+/- would put the total group at 11 people. It was agreed that with many more that about a dozen people, discussion would suffer.

While Poncin was unwilling to set a firm timeline for the group, he said he anticipated that within 12 months there would be a range of ideas and opportunities to pursue.

The group will hold its next meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 18 at the Saddlehorn Discovery Tower in Bigfork. A permanent meeting schedule will be decided at that meeting.

For more information, meeting notes or to sign up for the e-mail list, visit the DNRC°Os Woods Bay parcel Web page at: http://dnrc.mt.gov/trust/woodsbay/