Allen Chrisman attended the 2016 Interlocal meeting that was held on February 17, 2016 hosted by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Click here for a complete copy of his notes. Allen, thank you for being so diligent. Everyone is going to appreciate these detailed notes.
Lois Walker sent the following from her Interlocal notes. Thanks Lois!
Gary Danzig, Staff Officer for the Flathead National Forest, briefed the Interlocal on a proposal that the Forest Service is preparing to submit under the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP). Montana has received $22M a year in FLAP funds so far. Flathead County first submitted and got approval for a project to pave the approach to Blacktail Mountain, first one mile over private land and then an additional distance to reach USFS land. One quarter of the cost to build the new bridge over the South Fork this summer will also be paid for with FLAP money.
The program requires 13.42% in matching funds; i.e., $134K for every $1M in FLAP money and has been extended for another 5 years, with $19M a year allotted for Montana.
The project that the Forest Service wants to submit, in cooperation with Flathead County, Border Patrol (Homeland Security), and Glacier Park, would rebuild the North Fork Road from the border eight miles south and apply a gravel lift, and rebuild the road from the Merc to the Polebridge entrance to the Park, also with new gravel. That represents $1.5M in total work.
The proposal document should be ready by May, to be signed by GNP Superintendent Jeff Mow, Flathead Forest Supervisor Chip Weber, and Border Patrol station chief Kip Stratton, plus the county commissioners. The Project Decision Committee will meet in June and July. There will be heavy competition from other projects in Montana.
Homeland Security has pledged to come up with $100K in funding. The Park Service will throw in a little more. The county’s part will be to provide gravel from the pit on Whale Creek, which they will re-open.
They are asking for letters of support from North Fork organizations and individuals, saying that we’ve heard about the proposed project to improve sections of the North Fork Road and we support the idea. Address letters to:
Flathead County Commissioners
c/o David Prunty
Flathead County Road Dept.
1249 Willow Glen Drive
Kalispell, MT 59901
And Kip Stratton from the Border Patrol has asked that copies be sent to him as well:
Kip Stratton
US Customs and Border Protection
Whitefish Station
1295 Hwy 93 West
Whitefish, MT 59937