No Trespassing signs notwithstanding, FWP says folks can walk into WMA
Posted signs greet visitors to the Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area, but FWP says it's OK to walk in, as far as they're concerned.
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
Folks heading into the new Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area may be a bit confused. Since Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks took ownership of the land earlier this year, an adjacent landowner has put up no trespassing signs on the south entrance.
But as far as FWP is concerned, the public has walk-in access to the property on the south end, FWP Region 1 spokesman Dillon Tabish said last week.
“We’re in the process of verifying it as a legal access point,” Tabish said.
He said FWP is completing surveys on the WMA.
He said people should park on the public right-of-way at the U.S. Highway 2 Bridge and walk-in from there, not on the road near the gate.
They can also walk-in at the red gate at Columbia Heights, where there’s public right-of-way as well.
Tabish said FWP hopes to reach a conclusion to the access issue soon.
The 772-acre WMA was purchased from the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. by FWP earlier this year in a sale that was brokered by the Flathead Land Trust. It had broad local financial support, as well as funding from the federal government and state.
The area does have some private inholdings, however. There is a home inside the management area that is served by a dirt road.
Tabish said bowhunting is allowed in the area, so people should be aware of bowhunters when the season starts Sept. 3.
In addition, FWP plans on having youth-only hunts when the general hunting season opens in October. That proposal goes before FWP commissioners soon for approval.
When the rifle hunting season begins, the WMA will close for general public access, assuming the youth hunt is approved by the commission.
It will remain closed through the winter and will reopen next May 15. That 6-month closure is to protect wintering wildlife.