Friends of Beaver Creek Park activities move forward

A recently formed group is pushing forward with some new activities, with weather delaying its efforts to clean up Beaver Creek Park until Friday, one day before its first major scheduled fundraiser.

Park Superintendent Chad Edgar said Monday during the Hill County Park Board's monthly meeting that, after two weeks of bad weather pushed off Friends of Beaver Creek Park's "We Love Our Park" cleanup day, the effort now is set for Friday.

Dana Pyette, Edgar's assistant and executive director of the nonprofit Friends of Beaver Creek Park, said people should meet at the Beaver Lodge at Camp Kiwanis at 5 p. m. Friday to organize for the cleanup.

That puts the cleanup one day before the first major fundraiser for Friends, "Spring for Beaver Creek Park, " which is set to start Saturday with an open house at Camp Kiwanis from noon to 5 p. m., including children's and family activities and games, and a dance and live and silent auctions in the lodge from 5 p. m. to midnight. Transportation to and from the event will be provided by North Central Montana Transit on the hour at HRDC at the south end of 5th Avenue.

Tickets are on sale online and in town, including at PJ's Restaurant, Creative Leisure, 1st Street Mane Attraction, the Shanty Bar, Shamrock's Bar and Casino, High Plains Gallery, Bright Ideas Advertising, Bearly Square Quilting and Angie's Wildflowers, or via email [email protected] and [email protected].

In other action Monday, the board agreed to work with the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce to have it start selling park use permits.

"We do promote that treasure in our own backyard …, " Chamber Executive Director Debbie Vandeberg told the board Monday. "We love to be able to talk about it, because Beaver Creek Park is pretty special. "

Vandeberg told the board about the impact of tourism — which has grown from bringing $12.6 million to Hill County in 2006 to more than $48 million in 2010, the last year data is available, including growing from $177,000 paid by nonresident campers to $477,000 — has in the area. She said the Chamber works to promote tourism, including at Beaver Creek Park.

"It's big dollars for us. It also creates jobs and business opportunities in our counties, " she said.

Vandeberg and the board agreed to start having the Chamber sell park use permits, which are $35 for county residents and $45 for nonresidents and $7 for one-day permits, along with telling people about the park.

Permits now are sold at the park offices at Camp Kiwanis in Beaver Creek Park, the Hill County Courthouse, Big R at the Holiday Village Mall, Stromberg's Sinclair on 1st Street and Bing 'N' Bob's on 3rd Street.

The board agreed to delay looking into changing to permits that could be displayed in the windows of vehicles until the issue could be researched more fully.

It also heard a report on the trapping of beavers in the park.

Edgar told the board that trapper John Holmes had taken 149 beavers by last month, the end of the normal trapping season.

Community members have raised concerns at the last several park board meetings that more trappers are needed because the large number of beavers on the park, following two years of flooding, are taking down too many trees.

Board Chair Steve Mariani said he had received a letter asking for the reverse. The letter urged the board to end all trapping on the park, and gave a recipe for a special paint that could be applied to the bottom of trees to keep beavers from cutting them down, he said.

"There's every side to every issue, " he said.

The board also gave approval to a new set of rules on haying in the park.

The board had established a committee to formalize the policies of haying on the park, done every year as part of the park maintenance. The haying is a source of revenue for the park, and has been documented to help maintain the health of the park by removing excess vegetation.

Robbie Lucke, who participated in the work of the committee, read the policy to the board, including procedures setting a waiting list for people who want to start haying on the county park and eventual removal of hayers who violate the policies.

The board unanimously approved the policy, which now will go to the county attorney for review.