Park grazing raises contentious discussion

Editor's note: This version corrects misreporting that Ursula Brese is president of Friends of Beaver Creek Park. Brese no longer holds that position.

In a contentious meeting Monday, the Hill County Park Board again heard discussion on a request from Debbie and Ray Kallenberger that they be given access to grazing land they allege was improperly given to area grazers when they were given no chance to apply to use it.

In a meeting last month, Debbie Kallenberger said that, after a cancer diagnosis in 2009 her family sold the cattle they had been grazing on the park and they requested then that the board's grazing committee let them keep the lease but let someone else use it.

Kallenberger said the committee allowed this, but after three years when the couple still didn't have cattle on the land the allotment was terminated.

She said once they had built their herd back up in 2016 or 2017 they asked to be put on the waiting list for land, and when they called last year to see where they were on the list she was told they were at the bottom.

A year ago, she said, they heard a family member of theirs was moving and would be letting his grazing lease go, and when they inquired about this land they were told to call the family member for permission to use it.

Kallenberger said that under board policy, when existing grazers sell, retire or die their family members may apply for grazing in that area, no permission necessary, but when she inquired about an application she was told there wasn't one and they only needed to get permission from the family member.

She said the parts of the allotment they were interested in were then divided up among area grazers without any consideration of them, and because this violates the board's policy, she said, she's requesting that the matter be looked into.

At Monday's meeting, the Kallenbergers said they are waiting on the board to make a move on the matter, but Board Chair Tony Reum said they need to start at the grazing committee as this was a matter that they would have to weigh in on.

The Kallenbergers said they spoke with Beaver Creek Park Superintendent Chad Edgar who said they should bring it before the board, but Reum said they need to start at the committee.

Edgar, however, pushed back on this, saying he believes the board, as the decision-making entity in this case, needs to address this issue directly.

Justin Kallenberger said the reason they are hesitant to go to the committee is because it is made up primarily of ranchers who graze the park, the very group of people who would benefit from them being kept out. He said he has no particular beef with any of them, but there are clear conflicts of interest that make their ability to provide unbiased recommendations questionable.

He said the fact that the committee and board do not have an application process as their rules require is a problem that needs to be fixed immediately.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean, a member of the park board and its grazing committee, said they have received an updated draft of a potential application form and are working on it.

Last month, McLean said the board and committee are clearly not following their own policies, and in five years of being on the committee she has never seen the applications the Kallenbergers talked about, nor an official waiting list, so something needs to be done.

McLean said the way this allotment was handled needs to be examined.

Justin Kallenberger provided some suggestions on a more fair system, like adding limits to how many consecutive season a grazer can be on the park, which will give more of an opportunity to Hill County grazers to get a chance to use the park.

He said many have spoken to him saying they would love the chance to use the park and give their lands a break from being over-grazed, but, under the current system, they don't have much of a chance, which he said is unfair to them.

Kallenberger's suggestions did not go without pushback however

Bill Bradbury, a Havre-area rancher who also uses the park, said people like him provide a steady income to the park and take good care of the land they use.

Debbie Kallenberger said they are only able to do that because they have the opportunity to use that area.

Justin Kallenberger said that as long as the land is being used, the park will still be making money, just from different people.

Crystal Kinsella, who grazes on the park under a relative's allotment, said the system the grazing committee has in place works for the local ecosystem and she doesn't care if anyone disagrees with her, and attacking the way the committee does things is wrong.

"This has to stop," Kinsella said.

The Kallenbergers and their critics also argued about the specifics of offloading cattle and the merits of the park having a consistent group of cattle that know the landscape.

Ray Kallenberger eventually said the entire situation is being handled terribly by the board calling it ridiculous and disappointing.

"This has gotten completely out of hand," he said.

Reum adjourned the meeting shortly after that.

During the meeting, the board also heard from Havre Trails President Lindsey Bennett, who said her organization is looking to create a new trail loop on the Bear Paw Nature Trail near Brough Coulee.

Bennett said they're thinking it will be about 1.2 miles long and would provide some elevation gain, new scenery and variation to the area for recreation.

Edgar agreed and said the Rotary Canyon Trail has shown how popular developed trails are.

Park Board Member Ursula Brese also agreed it was a great idea.

Retired rangeland management specialist Lou Hagener said he didn't neccessarily have any objection to this particular trail, but one of the outstanding features of Beaver Creek Park is that so much of it is hikeable without trails, providing a unique experience to park goers.

Hagener said many people have told him that too many trails can detract from the experience.

He said the area for this specific trail is hard to get into, so this proposal does seem to have some merit, but it is also a cool place to go without a trail, so it might be prudent to delay decision on the proposal and give people a chance to voice their opinions on the matter.

Immediately after his comments the board voted to proceed with constructing the trail.

The board also heard a number of updates from Edgar, who said a recent windstorm tore a sizable chunk of roofing off of the Beaver Creek Park Beaver Lodge.

He said the lodge is still useable and, thankfully, it happened early enough that they were able to account for it when applying for their grant to remodel the structure.

He said he's filed an insurance claim on the roof damage, and they should know about the grant in the next few months.

Edgar said if they get the grant the project could begin as early as September, and it may also provide them a chance to get started on constructing a kiosk just south of Beaver Creek Reservoir.

He said Friends of Beaver Creek Park have pledged to pay for half of the construction costs which would be about $6,000.

If the grant doesn't work out, he said, they probably won't be able to budget for the project until next year.

Edgar also said wants to work on solving an ongoing traffic issue near the Hagener Campground. He said larger campers seem to be having trouble finding a good place to turn around and he'd like to put in a road so they can safely enter and exit the area.

Brese, who is also a member of Friends of Beaver Creek Park, said her organization might be able to pitch in, depending on how expensive the project is.

Edgar said he would have an estimated price next month so he asked the board to think about it.

He also discussed renumbering the campsites on the park and asked for some help brainstorming ideas.

He said he thinks if he divided the park up into districts he could create a sensible system, but he doesn't want to be the only person making the decision, so he wants a group to bounce ideas off of.

Edgar said many campgrounds don't have numbers at all, which can cause confusion for users.

Brese added that it might be a safety issue if an ambulance ever needs to get called.

Edgar also said two white-tail bucks were poached on the park, but video surveillance provided a suspect, and there has since been a conviction.

Brese also provided an update on the Friends activities and said they're looking to replace their annual dinner with a raffle that will hopefully provide similar revenue while keeping everyone safe from COVID-19.