Park Board talks lodge replacement, grazing and cabin compliance

The Hill County Park Board discussed plans for the Camp Kiwanis Beaver Lodge on Beaver Creek Park, conditions on the park, and possible changes to grazing allocations and cabin non-compliance procedures at their monthly meeting Monday.

The board had originally meant to repair the existing lodge, but after studying the cost of repairs and being denied a grant that would have payed for much of the project, they determined it would be more economically sensible to just replace it, paying for the new structure with a three-mil levy.

Board Chair Jeff Jensen said there have been meetings to brainstorm design ideas for the new lodge and park staff and board members are planning to write letters about the lodge, advocating for people to vote in favor of a levy to pay for the structure’s replacement in the upcoming election.

Jensen said one letter about the lodge’s economic value is set to run soon, and board member Lou Hagener said he’s writing one about the lodge’s aesthetic and cultural value.

As for the design, board members said they’re looking at a building with a patio on the westside with an east facing entrance, and a cistern for their fire-suppression systems.

After discussing the lodge the board also discussed ongoing efforts to take inventory of the park’s forage and come up with more accurate numbers for how much land they should be offering for cattle grazing.

Hagener said they should be looking into having a comprehensive survey done to evaluate how much they should be allocating, and based on his observations the number they get will probably be significantly lower than what they are offering now.

He also brought up an issue the board had talked about before, regarding how they count cow-calf pairs compared to individual cows when allocating grazing area and time.

The park now counts cow-calf pairs and individual cows equally in terms of the amount of grazing they are expected to do, but Hagener has argued that the pairs should be counted 1.3 units, as opposed to the individual cow’s one unit.

Board Vice-Chair Larry Kinsella said this change will bring down the park’s revenue and they need to find a way to make up the difference.

Jensen said that’s something the board and its committees will be talking about in the future, as the potential change is discussed.

Hagener also raised some concerns of his own, saying his evaluations of the park’s grazing conditions suggest that the southern cross fence the board has been discussing will not solve the overgrazing issue that area of the park sees.

The board also discussed possible changes to their procedures when dealing with cabin owners who let their properties on the park deteriorate.

Jensen and Hagener said they had suggestions about how that procedure should go when it comes to warnings, fines and legal action and they’d like their Rules and Regulations Committee to look at the issue.

Hagener also briefly discussed looking for a grant writer for the park as well.

After these discussions Park Superintendent Chad Edgar gave a report on park usage, which he said is pretty slow despite still having some campers.

Edgar said conditions on the park are pretty dry, but recent rains appear to have put out the last of the Eagle Creek Fire which started up early last month and has been smoldering for the last couple weeks after it was fully contained.

He also mentioned that he was extending the park’s thanks to Wipfli in Havre for painting their dumpsters, and although it only took a day for more graffiti to appear, they still look infinitely better than before.

He also said there is a group of feral dogs on the park that have been reported, and while they generally flee as soon as they notice humans around, he wants people to report them to the park office if they spot them.