Blankenship camp could become day-use only

The Blankenship Bridge area on the Flathead River is proposed to be a day-use only area under the new Comprehensive River Management Plan.

Glacier View District Ranger Rob Davies made the announcement during the North Fork Interlocal last week. A draft of the plan is expected in the coming months.

The Forest Service manages a plot of land to the south of the Blankenship Bridge that in recent years has become a de facto free campground, with up to 60 campers at the site each night.

The site became particularly popular during the pandemic, as Glacier National Park closed down its campsites and people learned via social media that the site was free and had few regulations, outside of a three-night stay limit and a mandate to pack in and pack out garbage and human waste.

Last year, a man driving an old school bus got stuck in the river trying to get to the camp at high water, causing an outcry by local residents.

A decision on whether the Forest Service will allow camping this summer hasn’t been made, Flathead Forest spokeswoman Tami MacKenzie said after the meeting.

Davies also told North Forkers that the river plan could employ trigger points and capacity limits on sections of the North Fork to control overcrowding.

That could come in simple ways, such as limiting the amount of parking in an area. Having said that, areas like the access at Coal Creek could be more developed, which would increase at least some capacity on the river.

More details will emerge when the draft is released, which is expected this spring or summer.

“We’ll be having public meetings,” Davies said.

In other Forest related news in the North Fork:

• Law enforcement is investigating the poaching of larch trees in the area. The state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is also investigating tree poachings as well. It is illegal to cut down live larch for firewood.

• With Glacier National Park going to a reservation system for the Polebridge entrance, the Forest Service is expecting more use on its trails outside the Park. The bulk of the Whitefish range is Forest Service lands. As such, Davies said the top priority this spring is to get Glacier Rim and Demers Ridge trails open as well as others in the area.

• The Frozen Moose Project, a multi-faceted logging and fuels reduction project up the North Fork has been delayed by litigation that impacts roads and road building across the forest.

A new biological opinion is near completion on the roads matter and could be done in the coming weeks, which means the project could start in the coming months.