Solution sought for emergency boat launches on Holland Lake

SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Community Council hosted a discussion on the poor condition of the Holland Lake boat launch and lack of emergency access at its Sept. 20 meeting.

Members of the Swan Valley Emergency Services (SVES), Swan Lake District Ranger Chris Dowling and Holland Lake Lodge owner Christian Wohlfeil were on hand for the discussion.

Dowling said he received a letter from SVES regarding the unusable condition of the boat launch at the Holland Lake Campground. SVES cannot safely launch a boat to perform rescues on the lake or along the shore where boat transportation would be preferred to taking someone out on the trail.

The boat launch is on the creek, not on the lake so the biggest challenge launching boats is the depth of water. Boats can be launched there but it requires them to be walked out to the lake, greatly extending the emergency response time.

When asked why it can't be dredged out to make it deeper, Dowling said due to the creek, he thinks it would quickly fill with sediments.

"The second challenge with that is that we do have bull trout present there in that body of water which does make it difficult to do that kind of disturbance," said Dowling.

Long time residents argued that the boat launch was usable for years until recently and didn't think that even the spring run off would fill it in very fast.

Dowling agreed that the site was usable in the past but said other conditions such as less beaver activity have also impacted the water depth. Residents said a rock dam was also taken out.

Dowling reached out to Holland Lake Lodge because he knew historically there was a place where boats were launched in deeper water near the Lodge.

Wohlfeil agreed to consider working out a way for emergency boat launches but there are issues with the site. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks told Wohlfeil to barricade and quit using the site due to erosion concerns. The site is also in the middle of the Lodge's driveway and has deep silt with which vehicles may have issues.

Wohlfeil said the site would not be available for the public to launch boats but felt that the few times a year that was needed for emergencies would be doable.

Council Co-chair Marcia Tapp suggested Wohlfeil and SVES meet with the Forest Service and FWP in the coming month to try and secure an emergency launch site and report back to the Council. She then suggested the community work with the USFS to come up with a long-term solution for a permanent public boat launch.

Dowling said options for fixing or moving the public boat launch could be considered but there is currently no funding mechanism to make improvements so that would be another hurdle to overcome.

Resident Ed Klassen suggested camping fees could be raised to pay for the boat launch and questioned when the concessionaire contract would be up for the Holland Lake Campground. The community had previously taken issue with the fees the concessionaire put on day use at Holland.

Rumors have been circulating that POWDR, the future owners of the Lodge, is going to take over the campground as well. Dowling said a new concessionaire contract was due for next season and the time to submit proposals had already passed. He said he thought there were three applicants but he didn't say who they were.

Klassen questioned why the community was not notified in time to put a proposal together to be the local concessionaire. Dowling replied that it was advertised.

In an email to the Pathfinder following the meeting, Dowling said the concession prospectus solicitation opened on Sam.gov May 11 and closed Aug. 10.

"You said you were going to give us a chance the last time this came around and we'd like our chance," said Klassen.

Another concern raised by SVES is the poor condition of the last mile and a quarter of Lindberg Lake Road to the campground.

Dowling said he had talked to the Forest road manager and engineer and they are looking to do some improvements and grading. Dowling said normally roadwork is done in the spring and fall because the road needs the right moisture content for the work to be successful.

The next Council meeting is scheduled for Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. at the Swan Valley Community Hall.