State wildlife commission says no to boating restrictions on Church Slough

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission voted against placing boating restrictions on Church Slough on Wednesday, denying a resident work group’s petition and subsequent recommendations.

The work group had proposed a 200-foot no wake zone, a ban on wake surfing as well as a required minimum operational speed for personal watercraft on the Flathead River slough.

Most of the commissioners agreed to a motion — filed by Vice Chair Patrick Tabor, the representative for Region 1 and the Flathead Valley — to deny the petition request for increased boating restrictions. Tabor’s motion earned a second from Commissioner Brian Cebull, who represents Region 5.

According to Tabor, the commission’s responsibilities are focused on looking at these petitions from three stances: safety concerns, the effect on natural resources and their enforceability.

“Unfortunately, despite the good efforts of the committee, this proposal doesn’t check any of those boxes,” Tabor said.

The commission had three options: deny the petition, ask for further research alongside the petitioner’s approval or initiate rulemaking as presented. The majority of commissioners backed Tabor’s motion. Two commissioners dissented, including KC Walsh, who represents Region 4.

Concerns of enforceability and consistency were cited as the main reasons for the denial. Phil Kilbreath* with the law enforcement division of the state wildlife agency told commissioners that there are no documented safety issues or boating mistakes on the slough. Kilbreath deemed the proposal inconsistent with the department’s state-wide recommendations.

Tabor cited consistency as a major concern. According to Tabor, there are seven sloughs associated with the Flathead River and he worried about imposing different regulatory schemes on each of them.

He advised state officials to consider creating a system for the Flathead’s sloughs to help with enforceability. Ceball agreed, arguing that an overarching solution would be better than taking these issues as they come, “lake by lake, slough by slough.”

Jeff Lukas of the Montana Wildlife Federation spoke in support of the proposal, saying that the recommended restrictions would help keep the shorelines undisturbed, preventing erosion and protecting wildlife. Lukas urged the commision to initiate rulemaking.

Brad Fralick with the Water Sports Industry Association encouraged the commission to deny the proposal, citing its strict wake rules.

The process to get before the commission is a lengthy one. In October 2021, the commission received the petition to limit motorized boating on Church Slough by enacting a no-wake zone. Proponents cited public health, prevention of shoreline degradation, improvement of wildlife habitat and reduction of noise as the rationale for the request.

After that, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks recruited an 11-member work group to discuss possible boating restrictions. The group met twice in August 2022 before drafting the recommendations.

While that proposal was denied this week, Tabor, among other commissioners, wants to look at the issue from a broader standpoint, especially as more petitions related to sloughs trickle into the hands of state officials.

A petition to create a no-wake zone on Half Moon Slough, near Church Slough, was submitted last year. In a recent work group meeting, members finalized a recommendation to implement a no wake zone there as well as a yearly closure in the spring to protect migrating birds.

The commission will hear the recommendation at a meeting in the future and will have the same three options as they did with Church Slough: deny, continue studying the issue or accept the restrictions.

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or at 758-4459.

*This article has been updated to correct a name.