Ribbon cutting held at state park
<p>Region One Park Manager Dave Landstrom explains the planned improvements to the Thompson Falls State Park's fish pond following the ribbon cutting ceremony last week.</p>
THOMPSON FALLS – Montana State Parks hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony held at Thompson Falls State Park last week to honor the permanent easement purchase at the park.
Officials from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and Avista Utilities were in attendance at the ceremony last Wednesday morning.
The permanent easement being celebrated last week was made possible through the collaboration of the aforementioned entities.
According to a press release from Montana State Parks, DNRC offered a permanent easement agreement to Montana State Parks at a cost of $275,000. The division paid $137,500 from its Capital Projects budget. Avsita funded the remaining $137,500 with recreation funds provided through the Clark Fork Settlement Agreement.
Region One Park Manager Dave Landstrom noted the permanent easement agreement helps ensure the state park continues to provide public access and recreation to the community.
The agreement will assist the park with several infrastructural projects and Landstrom stated the permanence of the agreement helps the park get funding from programs like the Clark Fork Settlement Agreement.
“It’s been decades since this park has seen any infrastructural improvements,” Landstrom said.
Landstrom noted the park will look to improve camp sites and camp locations at the park, while replacing shelters and improving the group camp sites offered at the state park.
He added the park would also work to draw residents and visitors to the river front areas of the state park.
“We want to maximize visitor use of the river front,” Landstrom said.
Over the course of the previous decades, prior to the easement, Montana State Parks leased the land from the DNRC on a yearly basis.
In addition to Avista’s contributions to the permanent easement agreement, the company is also contributing $208,000 in Clark Fork Settlement Agreement Recreation and Fishing funds towards improvements to the state park’s family fishing pond.
The improvements to the fish pond include increasing the pond’s depth from 13 feet to around 20 feet and to create additional parking around the fishing area.
The project will also increase the surface area of the pond by a total of 1.1 acres.
Other planned improvements to the pond area include two universally accessible fishing platforms, a picnic shelter and construction of an easily accesible trail form the parking area.