New plates raise money for lake work

A new specialty license plate that will raise money for Flathead Lake monitoring is now available through the Montana Department of Motor Vehicles.

The design for the "Flathead Lake: Keep it Blue" license plate came from a poster created by Whitefish artist Glen Prestegaard. The artwork depicts Polson Bay with a view to the north.

Rick Hauer and Bonnie Ellis, scientists at the Flathead Lake Biological Station, collaborated with Bruce Young, spokesman and past president of the Flathead Lake Protection Association, to create the new plate.

"The plates are to bring awareness to the public about the treasure that is Flathead Lake," Young said.

"Hopefully, that will translate into people wanting to take care of it. When we're talking about Flathead Lake, we're talking about our quality of life."

The plates require an initial $35 fee plus an annual donation fee of $20. So far, more than $2,000 has already come in to support water quality monitoring by the biological station in Yellow Bay.

Young said he expects that number to climb once the rest of the state begins to notice the new plates.

"The plate is for the entire state because Flathead Lake is a treasure for the whole state," he said.

Incoming money will help support monitoring sites for the major lake input sites such as the Flathead and Stillwater rivers.

"This is very badly needed," Ellis said. "The costs are going up, and we're having more and more difficulty getting enough state support. The Department of Environmental Quality has been picking up the [funding] slack, but it's getting harder for them to absorb the increased costs."

The biological station currently is fully funded, but every two years the Legislature decides whether to continue funding.

"If they ever say no, we're in big trouble," Ellis said.

Scientists have been gathering continuous data from Flathead Lake since 1977.

If funding for the station runs dry, monitoring would decrease, which would leave gaps in the data.

"It's definitely a concern to keep track of what's going on in the lake," Ellis said. "I can't emphasize enough how critical it is to protecting water quality."

Reporter Michael Richeson may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at mricheson@dailyinterlake.com