Meeting on Tiber station, campsites a success

As I mentioned in my last update, we scheduled a meeting at the Tiber Marina to address the possible relocation of the boat decontamination station and some campsites. I was very pleased with the turnout. The meeting was attended by Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Bureau of Reclamation, county representatives, members of the general public, Marina concessionaires and myself.

Getting all parties together and having a conversation on how to move forward is a great start. As we discussed the issues, it was evident that the station needs moved to be more convenient for the public. Before everyone left, we had a proposed site and many suggestions, which are being incorporated into a draft by FWP.

I hope to have that information available for an article next week that Dennis Hanson will be doing. Apparently, the recreational use of the lake has dropped. FWP said it may be because of the issue of zebra mussels and the misconception on the inspection requirements of boats. If a boat is drained, dry, and clean, they said the inspection should not take more than five minutes. FWP wanted to assure boat owners and lake patrons in the surrounding counties that they are doing their best to make the experience as painless as possible.

A note on this new project: When I served as a commissioner, we did four previous projects with cooperation between BOR, state, county and private. This will only be a FWP and BOR project in hopes the campsites will be taken over by the Marina Concessionaires when the mussel issue has been permanently resolved.

As harvest winds down, please be careful. The fire danger is not over. From haying equipment to combines, a number of units have been lost or severely damaged. This may be as bad of a year as I recall. Smoke is still filling the air from wildfires. Let’s do our best not to add to it.

The state has gone to a new email server so my email is now [email protected].

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State Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, represents Senate District 14 in the Montana Legislature. He faces a challenge in his bid for re-election this year from Havre Democrat Paul Tuss.