Conservation board orders removal of home on McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park

Flathead Conservation District Hearing Officer Laurie Zeller on Nov. 13 found that the district has jurisdiction over a house allegedly built illegally on the banks of McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park.

After Zeller presented her findings, the Flathead Conservation District Board passed a motion to require homeowners John and Stacy Ambler to apply for the necessary state permits, called 310 permits, by Jan. 1 to tear the house down. It also gave the San Diego couple until April 1 to remove the structure, which is substantially built.

Whether any of that happens remains to be seen. Trent Baker, the couple's attorney, told the conservation board that the Amblers would formally sue the district in Flathead County District Court.

Under state law, the couple has the right to appeal the declaratory ruling to district court and even the Montana State Supreme Court.

Zeller has had about two months to mull the case over — a hearing on the Ambler case was held back in August. She admitted the Amblers “presented a pretty strong case.”

But Zeller found that the case centered on private individuals on private land. It was a private project, subject to the state’s Montana Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act.

In March, the conservation district found the home in violation of the state statute as the Amblers never applied for or received what’s known as a 310 permit, which is necessary for any private landowner doing work along Montana’s rivers and streams.

The conservation district board is charged with overseeing permitting of any sort of construction or other work done near streams and rivers in Flathead County.

The board initially ordered the Ambler home removed by Nov. 1. The Amblers appealed that decision and, under the Streambed law, they were allowed to present their case to a hearing officer — Zeller — who  was appointed by the district back May.

A hearing was subsequently held in August and Zeller presented her findings to the board Monday.

Baker argued at the hearing that the state didn’t have jurisdiction over the Ambler home because Montana had ceded its authority to the federal government when Glacier became a national park in 1910.

Glacier National Park has largely been mum on the whole matter. Superintendent David Roemer previously told the Hungry Horse News that the park’s jurisdiction in the case starts at the high water mark of the idyllic stream.

The Amblers' property, located in Apgar and not far from the park’s iconic Lake McDonald, is part of an old subdivision of private parcels that pre-date the formation of the park. They pay state and county taxes just like any other property in Montana. Such properties are known as inholders and Glacier is home to dozens of them.

Apgar has no zoning. The Amblers also have claimed that they were unaware they needed a permit to build next to the stream.

The Amblers began building the home about a year ago, pouring a concrete retaining wall into the bank and then back-filling it to create more room for the home itself. The matter came before the conservation district after several residents, some of them former Glacier National Park employees, filed formal complaints over the house. The district launched an investigation of the house and property, finding it to be in violation of state statute.

The Amblers continued to work on the house. They didn’t stop until the district issued a cease and desist order last spring. The district has since allowed the Amblers to do some exterior work on the home, including finishing up the roof and installing some windows as winter approaches.

The conservation district didn’t want to be held liable for weather damage to the house if it were to ultimately lose the case.