Changes in the wind for reservoir campgrounds

Four developed recreation sites and one dispersed camping site on the east side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir may see major renovation by the Forest Service. An environmental assessment on the proposal has been completed, and comments on the proposal will be taken through mid-July.

The five sites have fallen into disrepair, and the Forest Service wants to address health and safety issues by installing new toilets and boat ramps and separating day use from overnight camping.

To meet the new demand for family and group camping, individual camp sites will be enlarged. Dispersed camping will be eliminated to address social problems and resource damage.

Because the sites are in grizzly bear habitat, bear-resistant food lockers will be installed to prevent habituation. The Forest Service notes that similar lockers have worked well in Glacier National Park. Campground hosts and Forest Service personnel will educate campers on how to use food lockers and remove garbage. Eliminating overnight camping and dispersed camping at some sites is expected to help prevent bear-human conflicts.

Chris Prew, the project leader at the Hungry Horse Ranger Station, said work at the Murray Bay Campground and Riverside Boat Launch will start in summer 2012. The work is in the initial design phase and is estimated to cost nearly $600,000 in Forest Service capital improvement funding. About half of that money will go to recreational facilities, with the rest going to road work. Work on the remaining sites might not start until 2015, Prew said.

Copies of the environmental assessment are available at the Hungry Horse Ranger District station and Flathead National Forest Supervisor's Office or online at www.fs.fed.us/r1/flathead/nepa/nepa.shtml.

Comments can be mailed to District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera, Hungry Horse Ranger District, P.O. Box 190340, Hungry Horse MT 59919 or e-mailed to comments-northern-flathead-hungry-horse-glacier-view@fs.fed.us with the subject name "Eastside Hungry Horse Recreation Site Renovation."

For more information, call project leaders Marsh Moore at 758-5325 or Chris Prew at 387-3818.

Five sites to see work

• The Emery Bay Campground, less than six miles from U.S. 2, was constructed in 1965. It has 26 camp sites, two large group sites, a host site, six toilet buildings, a drinking water system and a boat ramp. The site sees a lot of day use but lacks overflow parking. Average occupancy is 37 percent.

The preferred alternative calls for separating day use from overnight use by directing day use to the FK & L site across the bay. Improvements would include new tables, fire rings, benches and vault toilets and enlarged camp sites, but camping capacity would remain the same.

• The FK & L site on the north side of Emery Bay began as a landing site for logs during construction of the reservoir in the early 1950s. It's named for the Foster, Kartheiser and Larson logging company. It has a large parking area and has become popular for large groups of 80 to 100 people at a time. The site provides dispersed camping for a wide range of users, including campers and RVs, but there are no facilities. Campers typically go to the Emery Bay Campground for water.

The Forest Service reports more social problems and resource damage at FK & L than other dispersed camping sites. In addition to sanitation problems, reported violations include inappropriate use of firearms, illegal drug use, assaults, loud noise from late-night partying, vandalism and violence. All of this is disruptive to campers at the Emery Bay Campground, the Forest Service states.

The preferred alternative calls for changing FK & L into a developed multi-family camping site with a vault toilet and space for 88 day-users and 50 overnight campers, and putting in a new boat ramp. Dispersed camping would no longer be allowed, and the concessionaire from Emery Bay would manage the site.

• The Abbot Bay Boat launch, about 6 miles from U.S. 2, has seven camp sites and an older toilet building in disrepair. Dispersed camping takes place below the reservoir's high-water mark. The average occupancy is 49 percent.

The preferred alternative calls for rebuilding the boat ramp and allowing day use only from May through August and overnight camping during the shoulder season. No dispersed camping would be allowed.

• The Riverside Boat Launch area, about 21.5 miles from U.S. 2, has 12 parking spaces, six camping sites and a toilet building. A camp host is present during the summer season.

The preferred alternative calls for rebuilding the boat ramp and adding five pull-in camp sites suitable for truck campers, motor homes and small camp trailers.

• The Murray Bay Campground, about 22 miles from U.S. 2, was built in 1986 and has 46 camp sites on two loops, a day-use area and boat launch, a camp host and an average occupancy rate of 14 percent from May 15 through Sept. 30. Three of the five toilet buildings are in disrepair, and the B Loop is closed. The preferred alternative calls for adding three camp sites in place of the picnic area and enlarging the individual camp sites. The B Loop would remain closed for the time being, and a road would be decommissioned to protect the wetlands there.