Park Board presented overview on toxic algal bloom study

Montana State University-Northern Professor Terri Hildebrand presented to the Hill County Park Board Monday an overview of her findings regarding water chemistry in Beaver Creek Park and the potential for toxic algal blooms to occur.

Hildebrand said she’s been taking readings from six sites on Beaver Creek Park since 2019 and the waters’ high phosphorus levels could prove to be a serious issue, leading to these toxic blooms.

She said algae tends to thrive and populate out of control in phosphorus-rich water and while many kinds of algae are harmless the toxic varieties can pose a serious threat to people and pets that may swim in it unknowingly, causing severe rash, illness, or even death.

“Do not let your dogs into that water. It will kill them,” she said.

Hildebrand said she isn’t completely certain what the cause of these high phosphorus levels is, but a likely contributor is manure runoff.

She said when manure runoff finds its way into water bodies it tends to enrich the them with nitrogen and phosphorus, the former being mostly used up by plants.

She said while water chemistry tends to fluctuate significantly over time, her findings, especially in the area south of Bear Paw Lake, suggest a serious potential problem.

“It doesn’t take long for your phosphorus numbers to get really problematic,” she said. “… that makes the algae grow like crazy.”

Hildebrand said she has been working on a survey to gauge the public’s awareness of the toxic algal issue and plans to use the data from that survey to tailor an awareness campaign for the public health issue.

She said she’s considering signage related to the issue and requesting children learn about it in school, but the more responses they get to the survey the better of an idea they’ll have for what to do.

She said she and the students she’s been working with on this project have put up posters in town with QR codes to get the survey.

Hildebrand said the survey will appear as an insert in the Havre Daily News Friday, one that can be mailed back to her directly or left in drop boxes in locations around town like Gary & Leo’s Fresh Foods.

“The more information we get, the more we can get out of it,” she said.

See more in Friday’s Edition of the Havre Daily News.

Audience member Lou Hagener also spoke regarding an apparent increase in invasive species on the park.

Hagener said the Hill County Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation Service has been measuring plant composition and the effects for grazing since the ’90s, and recent observations seem to show and increase in invasive species.

He said the park has an opportunity to investigate the causes of this increase and come up with methods of addressing it.

The board also voted to accept Boyce Construction’s bid for a south cross-fence to be constructed later this year.

Beaver Creek Park Superintendent Chad Edgar recommended that the board approve the fence to be built with mainly wood posts, which are more expensive than steel, but much more aesthetically pleasing.

He said steel would need to be used in some areas of the park for practical purposes, but the fence will be mostly wood posts.

Edgar said all three companies that made bids were known for doing good work and he didn’t have a preference beyond the fact that one was significantly more expensive than the other two.

He also provided an update on the park’s usage, which he said has been down in the last month due to the extreme temperatures of the last few weeks.

He said ice fishing is still going on, and some people are still hiking and sledding despite the recent cold.

Edgar said the south end of the park still has snowcover and they’ve had to do a lot of plowing.

He also said construction of new garbage cans is being finished up and Jason Tanner of Northern should have holders assembled next week.

He also said he found a good truck down in Billings that the park could make use of.

Cliff Plum of the Bullhook Bottoms Black Powder Club also spoke at the meeting regarding his request from last month’s meeting that the club be allowed to use a section of the park for a shooting event on Memorial Day weekend despite the park’s rule prohibiting firearms.

Plum said last month that his organization would put in all the work necessary to make the event safe, throughly clean up after themselves, and be as unobtrusive as possible.

Some board members expressed concern about the event, but after being told that the organization is insured and some discussion the board voted unanimously to allow the event.

Plum said they normally hold the event at Montana State University’s Northern Agricultural Research Center , but due to COVID-19 they may not be able to use the area and Beaver Creek Park is their backup.

He said the club doesn’t make a lot of money, but they are looking at making a participation fee to give back to the park for their accommodation.

The board voted that as long as participants bought park permits, which Plum said many of them already have, that would be good enough.

The board also approved a request from the Multi-County 4-H Camp that it be allowed to purchase an extra day for the event.