Hoping to provide better access and safety, Montana State Parks is proposing to install a floating dock at Wild Horse Island in Skeeko Bay.
The agency is accepting public comments on the proposal through May 30.
At 2,163 acres, Wild Horse is the largest island on Flathead Lake and annually draws over 16,000 visitors. The island has been protected since 1978 and is home to numerous animals, including wild horses and bighorn sheep. Over 60 percent of visitors to the island access the site through Skeeko Bay, according to state officials.
The state is proposing to place a floating dock 8-feet wide and 60-feet long in Skeeko Bay, allowing boats to load and unload visitors.
The island does not currently have a public dock for visitors. To access the park, visitors typically beach their boats and climb over the bow and leap to shore, according to state parks officials. This kind of access can be hazardous, particularly for visitors who are physically challenged, according to state parks officials.
Montana State Parks staff also frequently conduct work at the park that includes off-loading equipment and supplies that are also hazardous without a dock.
During shoulder seasons, the dock would be available for visitor boat mooring. If shoreline degradation from the beaching of boats becomes too severe in the future, a public dock could be configured to provide better boat mooring opportunities as well, state officials say.
The state Legislature passed a bill in 2015 amending a law prohibiting the construction of docks on state-owned islands, of which Wild Horse is the only one. Polson Rep. Greg Hertz spearheaded the bill, following Montana State Parks’ recommendation for better public access to the island.
Wild Horse is one of six units that comprise Flathead Lake State Park, and is located within the Flathead Indian Reservation. There are 54 private lots around the perimeter of the island that are one acre or less in size. Approximately 36 of these lots have been developed to include residential dwellings and private docks.
The island is designated as a primitive state park, and development there is limited to amenities that provide for safety, sanitation and natural resource management of the park.
State parks officials acknowledged that some backlash could emerge for the new dock as it could lead to increased visitation at the island.
“It is possible that this proposal will generate public controversy. There is a strong public sentiment that the setting at this popular state park unit should remain rustic and natural,” the state’s environmental impact statement stated. “(Montana State Parks) shares this desire, and park management is conducted in compliance with all applicable laws and management directives governing Wild Horse Island. MSP believes that controversy can be mitigated through a well designed and aesthetically pleasing public dock. As numerous private docks are already in place, a public dock would not be aesthetically unique or out of place on the island. In the long term, a public dock has the potential to limit or reduce shoreline damage caused by repeated beaching and tying off of boats to vegetation.”
The public is invited to comment online.