Fish, Wildlife and Parks commission denies local requests for Echo Lake changes

There will be no changes for boaters on Echo Lake this summer after the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission voted down three proposals Thursday.

The state agency’s Region One office in Kalispell recommended denial of two proposals and adjustment of a third, but all three were rejected at a hearing last week in Helena.

A group of Echo Lake property owners had petitioned the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commission to enact a permanent no-wake zone on Echo Lake’s Causeway Bay. The property owners also sought to enact a rule that would prohibit wake-enhancement equipment, such as those used on boats that create large wakes for wakeboards and wake surfers. Those two proposals were rejected, but the third proposal was close.

Petitioners asked that a no-wake rule be enacted for Echo, Abbott and Peterson lakes when flood water comes with five feet of a survey pin on Causeway Road. Region One Warden Captain Lee Anderson recommended approval of that regulation at two feet instead of five. The two-foot level prompted an emergency no-wake rule on the lake in 2011 after a request by Flathead County commissioners.

On Thursday, chairman Dan Vermillion of Livingston made a motion to establish a committee to work on a compromise over the next year. If the committee is unable to come to an agreement, Anderson’s recommendation of a no-wake zone when water reaches two feet below the survey pin would take effect on May 1, 2014. The commissioners — who have a one-seat vacancy — tied 2-2 on that proposal, effectively nixing it.

The vacant seat on the commission represents Region One. Bob Reams previously served in the position and was re-nominated by Gov. Steve Bullock. However, Reams withdrew last month due to a lack of support in the state Legislature. Reams’ successor will need to be approved by the state Legislature, so anyone nominated by Bullock now could conceivably serve until the 2015 session.

Matt Tourtlotte of Billings voted in favor of Vermillion’s motion to work on a compromise. Commissioners Richard Stuker of Chinook and Larry Wetsit of Wolf Point voted no.

“I was trying to give them one year to come up with a better solution,” Vermillion said Friday. “What struck me was the silence of Flathead County because they’re the ones having to repair that road every year.” Vermillion has served on the commission for seven years. “It seems like Echo Lake has been before us almost every year,” he said.

The people opposed to the five-foot rule were also opposed to the two-foot rule, he said.

Stuker, one of three new commissioners, said one of the reasons why he voted against the two-foot no-wake rule was due to lack of scientific evidence. “Scientific evidence is usually there to back up the proposal,” he said. “There have been no studies done ... to say the erosion is due to wave erosion.”

Echo Lake resident Tom Gilday was disappointed in the commission’s decisions. He said there should be a compromise for times when the lake reaches flood level. “My shoreline got eroded almost up to my deck last year, and I think it’s going to flood this year,” he said. “Who is going to pay for road repair if the road floods? We have the same amount of water up in the mountains as we had last year.”  

There has been a no-wake rule within 200 feet of shoreline on Echo Lake since 2000. Public comment at a meeting in February was overwhelmingly in favor of enforcing the current no-wake rule, but not creating new ones. “We’re looking at increasing our presence, to a point,” Fish, Wildlife and Parks regional supervisor Jim Satterfield said.  Those who observe the no-wake rule being broken can report a violation to local game warden Chuck Bartos at 253-2934 or by calling 800-TIP-MONT.