The Montana State Parks & Recreation Board on Wednesday will decide whether to extend the lease for Big Arm State Park another four years while negotiations continue for a permanent easement for the popular site on Flathead Lake.
Board members will vote on the matter during the Feb. 24 meeting in Helena, scheduled to start at 1 p.m. The meeting will be live streamed at http://stateparks.mt.gov/.
Located on 217 acres along the southwestern shores of Flathead Lake, Big Arm State Park has 48 tent and RV campsites, a group campsite, three yurts and day-use facilities, including toilets and picnic tables. One of six state parks serving the largest natural freshwater lake in the West, Big Arm also provides year-round boat access and is the primary launching point to Wild Horse Island State Park.
Big Arm is typically the second most popular state park on Flathead Lake in terms of visitation. In 2015, an estimated 40,500 people visited the site, a 15 percent increase over 2014, according to state data.
State officials have spent the last few years negotiating a long-term deal keeping the park intact. Big Arm, established in 1966, sits on state trust lands, so the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation leases the land to the state parks agency. The DNRC is mandated to maximize their revenue by reappraising the land value while a memorandum of understanding between the two agencies increases the fees by 2 percent annually.
The latest lease expires Feb. 28.
State officials are proposing a four-year lease extension, which requires approval by the state parks board.
“A long term solution such as a permanent easement or fee title acquisition is optimal for keeping this site in Montana’s State Park System,” a memo by state parks officials states. “With that in mind, DNRC has proposed a four year extension of the annual lease to provide an opportunity for the two agencies to pursue a permanent easement or some other alternative to continue to provide public access at this important site.”
Failing to pass the lease extension would force the state to divest from Big Arm, the memo stated, while passing the extension would allow state officials to work to secure a long-term easement while continuing to allow public service and recreational access at current levels.