Montana State Parks Foundation

When most people think about far Northeastern Montana, images of or turquoise blue waters, freshwater reefs, and shrimp are not the images that first come to mind.  Situated just inside the Montana State Line from the busy Bakken oil fields of Northwestern North Dakota, Brush Lake is a natural wonder, recreational hub, and visitor destination all wrapped in one.

Once the community lake of the Scandinavian Communist Party in the early 1900s, this glacially formed lake is now known for its quiet, peaceful settings and the brilliant night skies that make it a certified “dark skies” location.

Growing up in Eastern Montana, it was not uncommon to see the Aurora Borealis during solar events, especially during the fall and winter.  Brush Lake’s northern latitude and remote location make it a “stellar” destination for your next stargazing or northern lights viewing adventure.

Check out Prairie Populists’ recent article about Brush Lake and learn more about this amazing park in the corner of Northeastern Montana.

The Montana State Parks Foundation recently completed its largest investment in parks to date, raising over $20,000 for Milltown State Park to install benches and trees that the government otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford.

“Third-party fundraising and advocacy groups are common in the national park system, but we didn’t have any group supporting our state park system,” said Coby Gierke, Executive Director of Montana State Parks Foundation. “Before the Foundation was created a few years ago if you loved parks and wanted to give money to state parks, you literally couldn’t do it. There was no organization to accept the money and channel it into projects.”

Anchor funders for the Milltown project were onX Maps and River Design Group. “onX is passionate about products and projects that help the public access the outdoors”, said Eric Siegfried, founder of Missoula-based onX. “When the Foundation approached us to help develop Milltown it was a no-brainer. A new park on previously inaccessible land? That’s right in our wheelhouse.”

Despite the possibilities of new funding streams like this one, funding remains very challenging for all of Montana’s 55 state parks. “This just steps one in a long process,” said Diane Conradi, founding board member of the Foundation.

“Parks need a whole heckuva lot more dollars than this and the Foundation can’t do it all. But what we’re doing demonstrates that parks are important enough to donors, to businesses to step up and make a difference. Private dollars and the advocacy that come with that are going to be an important piece of the puzzle moving forward.”

You can read more about Milltown State Park in a recent article from Prairie Populist by following the link below.

You can be a part of important projects like Milltown by making a contribution to the Montana State Parks Foundation.  The first 12 donors to make a contribution of $250 or more will receive a limited edition print of Monte Dolack’s Milltown based painting, “A Witness to Change”

“Witness to Change” by Monte Dolack

Even on a bitter cold, windy but clear January day, a half dozen ice fishing shacks dotted the frozen surface of Ackley Lake this past winter.  The tough conditions and slow fishing were not enough to deter the twenty or so hardy individuals that made their way to the State Park for a bit of wintertime fun.

Ackley Lake serves the function of being a great regional resource for recreation and for agricultural irrigation, as it was originally intended for.  In an area surrounded by federal land in the form of National Forests, National Wild Life Refuges, and BLM lands, Central Montana really values its State Parks.

Prairie Populist recently ran a great article about Ackley Lake and the people who visit the park for a variety of reasons.  Check out the article using the link below and if you find yourself traveling along highway 200 from Great Falls to Lewistown, make sure you find time to make a visit to Ackley Lake State Park.

On February 14, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis released a report outlining the financial contribution outdoor recreation makes to our nation’s Gross Domestic Product. The federal government’s analysis found that outdoor recreation
contributed $373.3 billion, or 2%, to overall GDP in 2016, beating out the contributions of all
mining, including the extraction of gas and oil. For many conservation groups, and Montanans
alike, these findings confirm an existing view held by many that outdoor recreation is a big
business, and it’s here to stay.

The real significance of the report, aside from the financial contribution the industry makes to
the economy, is the seriousness in which the federal government is taking in its analysis of
the industry. According to the Missoulian, this report was the first one not conducted by a
private industry group, such as the Outdoor Industry Association, signaling that Washington
D.C. is beginning to take notice of the growth and potential of the industry. In 2016, the
outdoor recreation industry grew 3.8% in comparison to the overall growth in the economy of
2.8%. In Montana alone, the Outdoor Industry Association estimated that in 2017 the outdoor
recreation industry contributed $7.1 billion in consumer spending, created 71,000 jobs, and
contributes $286 million in state and local tax revenue.

Although these numbers are significant, the idea of placing a dollar amount on a recreational
experience is something Montanans have been hesitant to adopt. Who can blame them?
Generally, studies concerning an area’s financial potential are centered around ideas of energy
or commercial real estate development, not conservation. Imagine arriving at the end of your
float on the Blackfoot River and someone asked you, “How much do you think that experience
was worth?” “Do you think that was a $93.26 Rainbow Trout you caught on Belmont Creek?”
“Would you be interested in subscribing to the Bitterroot River for $49.99 a month?” Sounds
ridiculous, right? These experiences, and their essence, cannot be reduced down to a financial
transaction, and that’s why we protect and defend them even when they aren’t the most
financially viable or profitable of situations.

As a lifelong Montana resident, I’ve had the privilege of enjoying and benefitting from the
exceptional recreational opportunities that are available to my community. Like most
Montanans, my opportunities to recreate are directly tied to the protection, management, and
maintenance of these precious public lands and waterways. If this type of fiscal validation is
what’s needed to get people to understand that our most important export as a state is our
natural world and not our natural resources, fine by me.

By Carter Bermingham, Events, Promotions, and Communications Intern                            Montana State Parks Foundation

February 28, 2018, was a great day for Montana State Parks. The three largest bighorn ram skulls from Montana, including the new world record bighorn, were officially scored in Bozeman.

The record ram lived for 9 years on Wild Horse Island and died of natural causes. The skull and horns were collected by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks staff and taken to the region one headquarters in Kalispell. This is a common practice at Wild Horse Island State Park. The skulls of bighorn rams are often removed by park staff to discourage illegal horn harvesting.

Bighorn sheep have over 2100 wild acres of the state park to roam at Wild Horse Island but park managers have less than $15,000 a year to protect and maintain the park.  You might be thinking “wait, what is there to maintain at Wild Horse Island?”.  While the island is largely undeveloped, State Park Managers are tasked with a lot of tasks that are critical to maintaining the island in its current state.

Wild Horse Island is largely covered in shortgrass prairie and mixed conifer forests.  This ecosystem is adapted to fire and relies on natural fire to maintain the botanical balance of forests and prairies on the island.  Wildfire has been suppressed for decades in the western U.S. including on Wild Horse Island.  This creates an imbalance in which Ponderosa Pine trees are continually encroaching on meadows of shortgrass prairie that species like bighorn sheep depend on.

State Park staff and volunteers remove encroaching Ponderosa Pine trees by hand, a measure needed to maintain the balance on the island of prairie grasses and conifer forests.  This is a time-intensive process for an agency that is consistently understaffed, to begin with.

Park managers must also deal with botanical intruders on the island.  Noxious weeds such as cheatgrass and knapweed wreak havoc on landscapes across western Montana and beyond.  Every year Montana state park staff and volunteers spend weeks manually removing and spraying non-native invasive weeds on Wild Horse Island.

Additionally, park staff and volunteers deserve a measure of gratitude from everyone who has had the good fortune of visiting Wild Horse Island.  The staff and volunteers who care for the island are the hard-working folks who clear and maintain the trails, spray invasive weeds, remove encroaching trees, and, of course, maintain the composting toilet on the island.

Wild Horse Island truly is one of the best parts of the Montana State Parks system.  Its wild, undeveloped characteristics make it a perfect home for wildlife and a great place for us all to enjoy a primitive park experience.  Let’s work together to help the great staff and volunteers with Montana State Parks so they can continue to take care of special places like Wild Horse Island.

Great article about Wildhorse Island in the Daily Inter Lake newspaper.

It’s pretty incredible that so many world-class Bighorn Sheep are living and growing to record sizes on Wildhorse Island State Park. Wildhorse is such a special place and an amazing natural resource. It’s truly a jewel of the Montana State Parks system.

We hope this news gets you excited about State Parks and thinking about how you can help ensure parks like Wildhorse Island remain spectacular forever. Your donations are used to protect and preserve state parks for the people who visit and creatures who live in them.

We are planning to work with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to find homes for these amazing Bighorn Sheep specimens.  We hope that the excitement and interest a new world record Bighorn skull creates will help us raise awareness of the challenges facing Wildhorse Island, the five other Flathead Lake State Parks, and the Montana State Parks system across the state.

Stay tuned for news about the potential world record Bighorn skull as the official Boone and Crockett Club score is confirmed.