Swan Lake access gets surveyed

Lake County Commissioners are hoping a meeting Friday with the Swan Lake community will help quell an at times heated controversy over a public access to the lake.

The access in question was gifted to the county in 1925 by resident MaBel Bond and is a 25-foot strip of land stretching from Montana Highway 83 to the high water mark of the lake. The debate surrounding the access is an issue of public versus private property rights.

The commissioners have scheduled a public meeting for 2 p.m. July 30 at the Swan Lake Community Clubhouse to share the results of a recent survey of the access, which is located between the Bosworth and Fenner properties on Swan Lake.

Commissioner Bill Barron met with concerned residents June 29 at an informal meeting at Swan Lake attended by more than 20 residents.

"It was pretty contentious," Barron said. "But the thing that came out of it was to get it surveyed."

That surveying work has now been done. Commissioner Paddy Trusler said he's so far been in touch with one of the two homeowners to discuss the boundaries.

"I believe strongly we can develop a plan for public access and mitigate private property concerns," Trusler said. "I can say without question that as far as public access is concern, all rules are meant to control 1 percent of users. The other 99 percent are very conscious of property rights."

Trusler said the issue emerged when a boat launch fee of $4 was instated at the U.S. Forest Service Swan Lake day-use area. Non-motorized boaters, like those who canoe and kayak, didn't feel the fee was acceptable, he said.

That was followed by an increase in use of the access that had seen infrequent use prior.

"As the demand grew so did the potential for trespassing," Trusler said.

Steve Wingard was one such resident looking for a place to drop in his canoe. He found out about the access earlier this season and tried to head down. He said he was confronted by one of the neighbors and "No Trespassing" signs.

"I went down there on June 5 with a canoe. An adjacent homeowners said I can't use the access, that I would be trespassing," Wingard said. "I decided it was a good idea to leave even though I know it is a public access."

For Wingard who describes Swan Lake as one of his favorite places, this was a major disappointment.

"Swan Lake is pretty private. We're losing access left and right," Wingard said. "It is now to get surveyed so we can know with confidence (what is public)."

Residents said landowners approached the county commissioners before about having the access abandoned, but that was backed off when Swan Lake area residents got wind of it.

That's when some locals started getting "hot" about the issue.

Kathleen Moon, resident and owner of the Laughing Horse Lodge, said she and other residents have asked repeatedly to have it surveyed to know for sure where the public access is and get it clearly marked.

Moon said she occasionally sends her guests down to the lake through the walk-in access, but that is rare. She said this year she's only sent seven people to the access.

Most of those she sends down would have a more difficult time walking down to the day-use park or those who just got in and want a quick view of the lake at sunset.

Those of a more rowdy or active crowd, she sends to the day-use park.

"We have not abused it," Moon said of the access. "It's public. That means anyone can come down."

Linda Bosworth, who owns one of the adjacent properties, writes that the strip has caused an "unnecessary stir" in the community.

"Our desire for this 25-foot wide road has been to protect the naturalness of it by the lakeshore for the wildlife that use it daily for watering, protect the shoreline from further erosion and, yes, to protect our own private property boundary and privacy, just as it was my husband's grandfather and family's desire who maintained the road for over 80 years, and who owned the lots originally on both sides of the 25-foot road before Mabel Bond gifted it as just that, a 'county road' to Lake County," she said in a statement about the issue.

She said she hopes that the commissioners will uphold their word to allow public walk-in use only as well as make no changes to existing vegetation buffers and to educate residents that "backyards, docks and beaches are private property, not public."

"To those people who have continued to take the liberty of trespassing on our property when they know we are not at home, putting us at risk for liability in the event of injuries and damaging our land by driving on it, please respect our rights and stay off our property," Bosworth said.

The key to any solution, Trusler said, would be a community developed understanding of the access, which is partially the reason for Friday's meeting.

On the surface, it appears most are in agreement that it should be preserved as a non-motorized access.

"I hope we can come to a resolution," Trusler said.