Hearing could decide fate of house in Glacier

The Flathead Conservation District will hold a hearing Aug. 25 on a home it argues was built illegally on the bank of McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park.

The hearing begins at 9 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell in front of hearing officer Laurie Zeller, the former bureau chief of the Montana State Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

In late 2022, John and Stacy Ambler, who own a small private lot in Glacier National Park, built a house along the banks of McDonald Creek in Apgar, not far from the foot of Lake McDonald.

Apgar has numerous private parcels that pre-date the creation of the park in 1910.

The conservation district board earlier this year found that the Amblers, of San Diego, California, built the home in violation of Montana Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act, also known as the 310 law.

The district, in turn, told the couple they had until November 2023 to tear the house down and restore the bank. They also need to obtain a 310 permit to remove the home, which is framed in, but has no siding.

The district also ordered the Amblers to stop construction on the house and they complied.

Today, it sits there, unfinished.

The Amblers say they didn’t know they needed a permit and have since asked for a declaratory ruling in the case.

The Amblers’ attorney, Trent Baker, argues the state doesn’t have jurisdiction in the matter — it ceded it to the National Park Service when Glacier was created in 1910.

The state claims otherwise, noting that the Amblers’ house is private land within the park, and thus, subject to state law like anywhere else in Montana.

Glacier National Park Superintendent David Roemer previously told the Hungry Horse News that the Park’s jurisdiction in the matter started at the high water mark of the stream.

After the hearing Zeller has 60 days to make a ruling in the case and submit her recommendation to the Conservation District board.

If the Amblers disagree, they can then petition Flathead County District Court for a review of the matter within 30 days.

If they disagree with the ruling of the district court judge, they can appeal to the Montana Supreme Court.