Fish and Wildlife Commission to consider new regulations for Half Moon Slough, Lake Five

The state Fish and Wildlife Commission is expected to decide Thursday whether to move forward with boating restrictions on Half-Moon Slough and Lake Five.

In anticipation of the Oct. 19 meeting, separate work groups, made up of concerned individuals and stakeholders, drafted suggestions for what restrictions should be implemented, if any.

In February of this year, a resident work group recommended that the commission emplace a no-wake zone on Half Moon Slough. Nearby residents submitted a petition last year calling for increased boating restrictions.

The original petition, submitted on behalf of landowners Bob Borgan, Emmett Quigley, John Stebbins and Butch Clark, claims that wake levels on the slough have been destructive to the river bank and cited severe erosion.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission reviewed the petition at its October 2022 meeting, but chose not to adopt a no-wake restriction immediately. Instead, the commission asked parks and wildlife officials to establish a group to evaluate the situation and weigh possible solutions that address recreational boat use on the slough. This recommendation is the product of that group’s work.

A no-wake zone is an area where boats must travel at a speed where there is no white water in the track of their boats. Under the recommendation, boats could still enter the slough if they maintain an appropriate speed.

“We just need to be good stewards of the land, both fisherman and boaters and the landowners,” said Emmett Quigley, a property owner behind the petition effort, at the work group’s February meeting.

The recommendation includes a seasonal closure for migrating waterfowl as well.

Half Moon Slough covers about 32 acres and stretches three-fourths of a mile long. The slough is around 400 feet wide, making any sort of wake restriction linked to distance from the shoreline difficult to enforce.

According to state rules, any lake 35 acres or less automatically gets a no-wake zone designation, according to Dillon Tabish, the Region 1 information and education program manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Since the slough is part of the river, that automatic designation does not apply.

For lakes larger than 35 acres, there is a designated no-wake zone extending 200 feet from the shoreline.

Due to its size and location, residents support a no-wake zone in the whole area. The commission took public comment on the recommendation this month.

“This petition is not about recreational boating or boating safety. We just want to protect our land. Again, please approve this small body of water and land in a no wake zone,” Quigley commented on Sept. 19.

Other commenters also supported the no-wake zone, but one commenter rejected the proposal.

“[It] seems if there have been no accidents or erosion created by wake, it would be unnecessary and burdensome to create a rule or regulation governing speed and access,” commented Matt Metcalf out of Hamilton.

LAKE FIVE, near the gateway to Glacier National Park, could also see new boating restrictions.

In an early September work group meeting, interested parties suggested that enhancements and wake surfing should be prohibited on the lake until July 1. After that point, ballasts, wake enhancers and wake surfing are only allowed from noon to 6 p.m.

“It comes down to conservation, which means wise use,” Dan Simonson, a member of the work group and the original petitioner, said during the September meeting.

The work group was tasked with discussing recreational boating on Lake Five, near West Glacier, after the commission received the original petition in October 2022. The petition requested the prohibition of wake surfing and devices used to increase wake size throughout the year, and to implement a no-wake restriction on the whole lake from April 1 to July 15.

Dan Simonson, in the petition, originally advocated for a July 15 start date to ensure water levels begin to lower before allowing big wakes. Other members of the work group argued for a June 15 start date to lengthen the season.

The group compromised on July 1, reserving the right for boaters to be on the lake during the Fourth of July holiday.

Officials received one public comment on the restrictions, which panned the work group’s proposal.

“We ask you to support the [agency's] recommendation to not accept the work group's recommendation,” wrote Aaron Hallenberg, the Northwest Government Affairs Manager for the Water Sports Industry Association. Hallenberg cited a lack of evidence and the possibility for increased confusion as reasons to reject it.

THE FISH AND Wildlife Commission will either agree to move forward with the rule-making process for these requests, or they will deny the motions altogether.

If the board decides to look into establishing the recommendations as a rule, the proposals would go through another round of public comments.

The meeting is on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 8:30 a.m at the State Capitol Building and will be accessible remotely via Zoom. The Region 1 Fish, Wildlife and Parks office, located at 490 N. Meridian Road in Kalispell, will livestream the meeting.

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