Page 9 - Flathead Beacon // 5.21.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS MAY 21, 2014 | 9

With

EVERY

STEP

you make

Crews move asphalt millings, which will be used to make improvements to the Pine Grove Pond area.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
At Pine Grove Pond, Community

Groups Follow Street’s Example

Multiple organizations unteering resources to improve the ac- zations step forward and make this pos-
cess area.
sible,” Mark Deleray, regional isheries
donate resources for Last winter, Whiteish Credit Union manager for FWP, said. “It’s truly a com-
donated 5.3 acres of land adjacent to munity efort.”
improvements at
Pine Grove, including 1,800 feet along Street, 80, and his family donated 13
popular ishing site
the nearby Whiteish River, to add to the acres of their homesteaded land to the
public site, ensuring the undeveloped state, hoping to create a recreational
section of land to the east will remain ishing pond for children and families.
By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon
forested.
The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Last week four large dump trucks in 2012 awarded Street the Great Chief
After only a few years, the family began shuttling loads of asphalt mill- Award, the community’s oldest and

ishing pond that Robin Street spear- ings — 62 loads overall — to Pine Grove most prestigious honor, for his civic con-
headed on his pastureland on the out- as part of an ongoing upgrade of the tributions to the community.
skirts of Kalispell has already exceeded pathway circling the pond, the road and Today Pine Grove Pond is a beloved
expectations.
parking lot. The path, the road leading gathering ground for family picnics and
Pine Grove Pond, a 5-acre reser- down to the pond and the parking lot afternoon ishing.
voir of Rose Crossing east of Whiteish will be paved in the coming months.
FWP regularly stocks Pine Grove
Stage Road, has developed into one of The overall project is estimated to Pond with rainbow trout and cutthroat
the most popular public ishing sites in cost $40,000, but all of it is being cov- trout, and the agency hosts “Hooked on

town. Open six months a year in a peace- ered through a variety of donations.
Fishing” classes at the site for young an-
ful idyllic setting that seems far re- Jef Claridge of LHC, Inc., donated glers.
moved from the nearby urban cityscape, the trucks for two days of work. The city Anglers 14 years of age and young-
it boasts more than 25,000 visits annu- of Kalispell donated 1,000 yards of mill- er may keep one trout daily from Pine
ally, mostly among youth anglers and ings that were sitting unused. The heavy Grove. For anglers 15 and older, it is
their families, according to Montana equipment class at Flathead Valley Com- catch-and-release for trout.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the site’s man- munity College conducted the loading of “It’s neat to see the families with

ager.
millings last week and will inish up the their kids down here,” Street said, add-
“I never thought it would develop construction in August. Flathead Elec- ing, “some times some things just seem
into something like this,” Street said tric Co-op provided a grant through its to be meant to fall together, and that’s
last week, gazing out at the pond, which Roundup for Safety Program that fund- what happened here.”
reopened for its fourth season in April. ed the students’ work, and also covered Pine Grove Pond is located 3 miles
“Our parking lot is already too small.”
other expenses. Walleyes Unlimited, a northeast of Kalispell of Rose Cross-
In response to the site’s growing local nonproit anglers’ organization, ing east of Whiteish Stage Road and just
popularity, several community busi- applied for the grant on behalf of Pine west of the Whiteish River. The site is

www.ThreeRiversBankMontana.com
nesses and organizations are following Grove Pond.
open April through October.
Street’s example of stewardship and vol-
“It’s great to see all of these organi-
[email protected]