1975 Lakeshore Protection Act was designed to keep control of Montana lakes on local level

Two bills would be introduced to the 1975 Montana State Legislature with similar aims. Protecting Montana lakes. 

Both would be discussed at length and changed, but ultimately the one that would prevail, and become law, came from a local grassroots effort that sought to keep the lakeshore protection regulations local.

Bob Brown was a young senator from Whitefish at the time. Before the session, several developments had happened near Whitefish Lake that he said adversely affected the water quality and raised concern among citizens.

On one particular project, Brown recalled, an out-of-state developer had purchased property at the mouth of Lazy Creek, where it feeds into Whitefish Lake, and filled waterfront when the water was low. When water came up again in the spring, it washed the fill into the lake.

“The whole lake was the color of coffee for a while that spring, and people were upset about it,” Brown said.

Some of those concerned citizens approached Brown about introducing legislation to help give them control over what happened to their lakeshore.

Brown worked with the group of citizens and together they drafted what is now the Montana Lakeshore Protection Act.

“It came from local people who were concerned about a local problem,” Brown said.

It was that aspect of the bill he thinks, which ultimately made it prevail in the legislature.

The competing lakeshore protection act that session was more stringent Brown said. And while his bill adopted parts of that act, he thinks the other legislators liked that his bill came from community members, and not a company or environmental agency.

The key component of the bill, was giving local governing bodies primary control in protecting the lakes.

The idea behind keeping the control in local governments Brown said, was so the public could be involved in protecting the lake they cared about.

“Our idea was if you proposed doing something, then the public had a right to look over your shoulder and make sure what you were doing wasn’t going to adversely affect the public lake,” Brown said.

The act called for local governments to adopt regulations to protect their lakeshores. “Local governments do not have adequate statutory powers to protect their lake areas, and it is the purpose of this act to confer such powers on local governments,” the bill read. “A person who proposes to do any work which will alter or diminish the course, current or cross-sectional area of a lake must first secure a permit for the work from the local governing body.”

It also allowed for local governments to have a local lakeshore protection advisory committee, which would keep an eye on the lake and make recommendations to the local government.

Whitefish residents immediately formed a committee. That system Brown said, worked really well until recently, when doughnut litigation killed the committee.

Flathead County is now in the process of absorbing Whitefish Lake regulations into Flathead County regulations.

Flathead Lake never had such a committee.

Though the act gave local governments the authority to adopt their own regulations, it did lay out a few guiding principles — work can not materially diminish water quality, fish or wildlife habitat, interfere with navigation or other lakeshore recreation, create a public nuisance or create a visual impact “discordant with natural scenic values.”

It also states that the local government must seek the recommendation of the planning board on projects, and the planning board has to determine if the proposed work fits within regulations.

Regulations in the act include 20 feet around the lake from the high water mark. This area is considered the “lakeshore protection zone.”

Flathead County’s Lakeshore Protection regulations were adopted in 1982, but were amended as recently as 2002.

It also lists projects that are not allowed in the lakeshore protection zone, including “roads or driveways except to serve boat ramps.”

It lays out the application procedure and says the planning staff is to review all projects. If the project is deemed significant it has to be forwarded to the planning board for review before going to the governing body for final approval. If it is deemed insignificant, it receives “administrative review.”

Brown continued to work in state government until 2004 when he lost the race for governor. He is now retired. He spent his career teaching around the Flathead Valley, including seven years at Bigfork High School.