Permit denied for wetlands proposal

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has denied a Washington developer's plan to fill in 2.5 acres of wetlands at the head of Flathead Lake for home construction.

The corps issued the permit denial Sept. 30 after a review that took more than two years.

Roger Sortino, a developer from Bellevue, Wash., had proposed filling in wetlands to make way for the eight-lot Eagle Cove subdivision.

His proposal was controversial from the start, attracting stiff opposition not only from the public but also from several key agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Flathead County and the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes.

"It was pretty much a unanimous opinion that this area was not suitable for a residential subdivision," said Jean Ramer, a project manager for the corps in Helena. "Just about every agency that we normally coordinate with weighed in on this one in opposition."

Mark Lorang, a research scientist with the University of Montana's Yellow Bay Biological Station on Flathead Lake, summarized the opposition:

"It's not any old wetland. It's a really sensitive one, particularly for Flathead Lake. Those wetlands are the kidneys of the lake. They are sucking up the nutrients that are coming off the developed land, particularly from the golf courses near there."

Wetlands degradation at the head of the lake will have a long-term impact on the lake's water quality, along with impacts on fish and wildlife, Lorang said.

Flathead Lake's wetlands are already being degraded by severe erosion from wind-driven waves. Adding development on top of the wetlands compounds the problem from the other direction, Lorang said.

The corps denied the fill permit on several regulatory grounds, most notably that it would "contribute significant degradation" to the lake's water quality.

"Not only by placement of the fill," Ramer added, "but also the secondary and cumulative impacts that would result."

The subdivision would have involved the construction of boardwalks and docks, along with homes, that would have an impact on water quality and fish and wildlife habitat, Ramer said.

The permit was also denied because measures proposed to offset the impacts were inadequate, Ramer said.

The developer had proposed creating a wetlands area on land northwest of the lake.

"The main deficiency of that plan was that it was off the shoreline," Ramer said. "And that's all that was on the table."

The corps also denied the permit through findings of a broad "public interest review" that considered water quality, fish and wildlife values, shoreline erosion, general environmental concerns, wetlands and aesthetics.

Ramer said that since 1975, the corps has denied only 20 permits while issuing hundreds for various types of projects in Montana.

"We don't take this lightly. There's a lot of deliberation and research that goes into this evaluation," she said.

The review was unusually lengthy, Ramer acknowledged, considering that Sortino filed for the permit in the spring 2003. Comparable permits are typically issued within three to five months.

Lorang said the fill proposal had the potential to set a precedent around the lake. "If they did allow this to go through, then every landowner up there could choose to fill, and where does it stop?" he said. "That definitely was a big concern."

Conversely, the corps may have set a precedent by denying the permit.

"I think if anybody else would propose to fill in their wetlands and develop on them they could expect to be denied," Lorang said.

Sortino has an opportunity to appeal the corps' decision, but Ramer said she has yet to hear from him.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com