Montana's state parks celebrate 75 years

It’s been three-quarters of a century since the Montana Legislature established a state parks system and set up an oversight commission. Since then, the system has grown to 56 parks statewide, posting a record 2.1 million visits last year and $289 million in spending by visitors.

The call to create state parks systems in the U.S. began in earnest with creation of the National Conference on State Parks in 1921. The National Park Service, which administers Glacier and Yellowstone national parks in Montana, took the lead in advising states.

The caverns

Montana’s first acquisition was Morrison Cave in 1936. Renamed Lewis and Clark Caverns, it was designated America’s 12th national monument by President Franklin Roosevelt. As a jobs project during the Great Depression, Roosevelt sent the Civilian Conservation Corps there to blast a 538-foot long tunnel and build steps to access the caverns. About 55,000 visitors now tour the caverns each year.

Three years later, in 1939, the legislature established a State Park System and Commission. Two years after that, Lone Pine State Park was established on a rocky bluff overlooking Kalispell, one of five state parks that now exist in Flathead County.

The state parks system was transferred to the State Highway Commission in 1953, the same year Makoshika State Park was established near Glendive — at 11,538 acres, the largest state park. It was recently named one of the Top 10 Hidden Gems in the U.S. by Country magazine.

Montana’s first territorial capital was protected in 1954 with creation of Bannack State Park. More than 60 structures remain standing in the former gold-mining town once home to road agent Henry Plummer and the Vigilantes. Next door are two excellent campgrounds in high elevation desert country. Bannack posted higher visitation numbers last year despite a flash flood that closed the park for seven weeks.

Parks funding

The legislature shut off general fund allocations for state parks in 1987 and implemented an entrance fee system beginning in 1989. That ended in 2004 with creation of an annual vehicle registration fee. The voluntary $6 fee means Montana residents can visit any state park for free. Nonresidents pay a $5 daily fee.

Five of the state’s 56 parks are located in Flathead County — Les Mason and Whitefish Lake in Whitefish, Lone Pine in Kalispell, and Wayfarers and West Shore on Flathead Lake. Another seven are close by — Wild Horse Island, Big Arm, Yellow Bay and Finley Point on Flathead Lake, Lake Mary Ronan west of Flathead Lake, and Logan on U.S. 2 west of Kalispell.

Montana State Parks also administers federal money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund that has been used to pay for 800 community recreation projects across the state, from ball fields and swimming pools to land acquisition.

The state has received more than $38 million in LWCF money over the past 50 years and will get $409,615 in fiscal year 2015. To be eligible, the state must draft a Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan every five years.

Looking forward

Recently completed, the 2014-2018 SCORP bears a number of warnings about the future of outdoor recreation.

Federal agencies are seeing smaller recreation budgets, the report said — a 48 percent decline at the Forest Service since 2009, a 35 percent decline at the Bureau of Land Management since 2008, and a 78 percent decline in LWCF money since its peak in 1979.

The result has been a significant backlog of deferred maintenance at outdoor recreation facilities statewide. In addition, the report says, outdoor recreation in Montana lacks statewide guidance and direction, and “agencies are challenged to look past their boundaries to access the overall recreation landscape in Montana.”

On top of that are significant demographic changes. While two-thirds of Montanans participate in wildlife-associated recreation, fewer young people are taking up hunting and fishing, and the state’s hunters and anglers are aging.

At the same time, motorized recreation has grown — since 2000, off-highway vehicle registration has tripled and snowmobile registration has doubled, according to the SCORP report.

Tastes have changed, but inevitable population trends continue. Montana’s population is projected to grow by more than 16 percent between 2010 and 2030 while it continues to age. By 2020, one in four Montanans are expected to be over 65, surpassing the number of Montanans under 15.

The good news for the economy is that outdoor recreation in Montana generates $5.8 billion in consumer spending, creates 64,000 direct jobs, generates $1.5 billion in wages and salaries, and accounts for $403 million in state and local taxes.

For more information, visit online at http://stateparks.mt.gov.