Cattle back at Beaver Creek Park Tuesday

The last major camping holiday often brings many visitors to Beaver Creek Park south of Havre, and its end brings more visitors of the bovine type.

The cattle grazing season, the single largest source of revenue for the park, starts the day after Labor Day, and drivers on Montana Secondary Highway 234 — Beaver Creek Highway — are urged to use caution and watch for cattle on the road.

Ranchers contract with the park board to bring cattle onto the park starting the day after the holiday, which this year is Tuesday, with the season generally running through Dec. 31, although the season can be cut short depending on grazing conditions.

State highways generally are required to have fences to keep livestock off the road, but while work was being planned to rebuild the highway early last decade, the state Legislature approved an exemption for the highway through Beaver Creek Park after local residents opposed fencing the highway.

Work has been done to reduce the chance of car-crash collisions in the park, including developing springs away from the highway to draw cattle away, and signs are put up to remind people that cattle could be on the road, as well as signs listing a special speed limit during grazing season.

The night-time speed limit drops to 35 mph on the north end of the park, where the speed limit is normally 55 mph, from the day after Labor Day through the end of the grazing season.

Montana Department of Transportation employees also install a reader board just south of Havre by the highway at the start of the grazing season reminding drivers cattle could be on the highway through the park, which starts 8 miles south of Havre.