Park board discusses natural resources study

A local consultant proposed Monday to partner with the Hill County Park Board at no charge to help the board gather more data and resources to make decisions for a long-term management plan for the park.

 “This is just a fact-finding, informational-gathering process to begin with,” Norsman Consulting Group Managing Partner Todd Hanson said. “Once that was complete we would bring it to the board. If the board decided to pursue all of them or none of them that is within the jurisdiction and authority of the board.”

Board member Renelle Braaten said she would like to rename the agenda item about the proposal from beaver management, to Beaver Creek Park natural resource management plan because the park faces a number of issues, in addition to beaver management. 

“It is a natural resource management issue, a park health and watershed issue … along with probably many more things, not just ‘beaver management,’” she said in a written statement.

She added that it is the park board and the members of the community who are responsible for promoting, preserving and protecting the park for the future. She said she doesn’t like trapping as a method of management and the park should be preserved naturally.

“I feel we have been doing what we felt we needed to, but with very little data, research and or knowledge about what is really needed or what is at stake,” she said. “We need the research, get the facts and using that data, do what we feel is necessary or best to make sure we have a healthy park.”

Hanson said Norsman Consulting is offering to provide the park board a way to identify potential funding sources to help the board collect data and resources for a long-term management plan.

He said he submitted a proposal and an example of the consulting group’s work to the the Hill County Attorney Aug. 20, but has not heard anything back from her office yet.

He said his group typically use a filtering system to find what options available would work best. For the park board, it had to filter through either foundational dollars or agency dollars to see what can work best for the board. He added that they came back at first with more than 3,000 options, but after filtering it twice more by adding more of the specifications of the park, they identified 20 options that Norsman would ask the park board to consider, believing that they are the best options for the specifics of the park.

“At this point, we’re prepared to move forward and work with the board and the community to identify, not only those resources, but if there are any opportunities to actually draft and submit a funding application,” he said. “We are prepared to do that work. Also as part of our original offer as outlined to the county attorney, we would be doing that work pro bono and at no charge to the board.”

Hanson added that the park board would have no obligations or responsibilities to take what the group finds, they are only suggestions to help the board create a long-term management plan. He said he also has already contacted the Montana Association of Counties and was told no statutory prohibition against the board accepting these services exists, and the Association of Counties actually supports counties taking these kinds of initiatives.

“If you are going to gather the data and you’re going to do the research, that comes at a cost, and the board doesn’t necessarily, in its current configuration, have the expertise or the capacity to answer those more technical questions,” he said.

He added the offer is to provide an opportunity to gather information to support the efforts of the board and help them make good decisions in the future.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean said that if conditions exist in the agreement it could be counterproductive to the board. She added that she also believes the board already makes good decisions. She said she likes the park and when she goes out there she feels proud of the work the board has done, but during the meetings it seems like the park board is always under scrutiny.

“We come here and we feel under attack,” she said.

Hanson said that he was not trying to attack the board and believes the board does make good decisions, but the information Norsman can provide can help them make better, data driven decisions in the future.

“There is no inference that the board doesn’t make good decisions,” he said. “I am offering services to help you make more and better decisions, not a reflection that I think you’ve made any bad decisions.”

Braaten said that she didn’t feel attacked by Hanson and supports the board utilizing his services.

“I feel like it makes unbelievable sense to get somebody in here who knows what they are doing and study the park and tell us what we need to do to keep it the way it is,” she said.

Park Board Chair Steve Mariani said that the park board will not make a decision now on the issue and should wait to hear back from the county attorney. He added that the park is in need of a strategic plan and policies on how to manage the park and supports the idea of utilizing Norsman.

“I think we are on the right track here,” he said. “We’ve got things happening and it’s all good, maybe we can put it all together with your help and the community’s help.”

Local resident Lou Hagener said that the park needs a common language of data and management. He said that the board needs solid evidence to go on.

“What we want to do is to put good, believable, accurate information together, not someone’s opinion,” he said.

The park board also approved a nine hole flying-disc course to be constructed 15 miles out into Beaver Creek Park, just before Bear Paw Lake near the start of Havre Trails Rotary Loop hiking trail.

The board has been discussing creating a folf course for about a year after Havre Trails President Lindsey Bennett approached it to say Montana State University-Northern graduates were willing to come up with a design for the folf course and donated the old folf course equipment from the college to the park. 

McLean said at the meeting she is excited to see people use the course once it is finished.