Local Common Sense Conservation
222 E. Main Street Suite 2B | PO Box 606 | Ennis, MT 59729
406.682.7289
Regular Board Meeting
August 18, 2014
Lone Elk Mall Conference Room
Supervisors Present: Mel McKitrick, Janet Endecott, Kevin Boltz, Neil Kent, Kaye Suzuki
Others Present: Kate Arpin, Administrator; Ethan Kunard, BSWC; Nick Parritz, NRCS; Dan
Christman, Sun Mountain Lumber.
Co-Chair Mel McKitrick called the meeting to order at 7:03pm.
Minutes: There were no changes. MOTION MADE by Janet to approve as written, seconded by
Kevin, motion passed.
BUSINESS:
310 Permits:
#14-22: Sun Mountain Lumber. Dan Christman of Sun Mountain Lumber spoke about the
project. They are doing some logging on the Bar K. Most of the road work was done last fall,
but last week there was an existing bridge on Horse Creek that started to come apart and
they need to replace. It never had good abutments, so they’ll have to replace those. It’s a
25ft bridge, and the stream at that point is 14 ft. Mel commented that if there’s any way they
can leave the existing rocks and sealed bank, that would be best. Mike & Mel didn’t have
time to inspect this month, and they’ll inspect next month. Kevin recommended that we give
them an emergency permit and table the current permit until it can be inspected next
month. MOTION MADE to accept emergency permit #14-28 and table permit #14-22 for
next month, seconded by Kaye, motion passed.
#14-14: Flying D. On the North Fork of Spanish Creek. There’s an old existing bridge that
needs to be replaced. Mel & Mike inspected, and recommended that if possible they leave
the existing rocks, etc, and put in an open bottom culvert, leaving the streambed in place.
Recommendation to approve as proposed. Kevin asked how long the section is. Mel said it’s
16 feet, and would have fill on top of the culvert. MOTION MADE by Janet to approve as
proposed, seconded by Bob, motion passed.
#14-15: Flying D. Camp Creek. The project is to replace a culvert that has gone bad on a
logging road. For now they’ll replace it with a temporary culvert, eventually they plan on
taking it out. Mike & Mel inspected, recommendation to approve as proposed. Nick asked if
removing the culvert is included on the permit. Mel said that it was. Since the ranch is
planning on using it for up to 3 years, Janet recommended that we make a modification that
the removal process will require a new permit. MOTION MADE by Nick to approve with
modifications, seconded by Janet, motion passed.
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#14-21: Big Sky Resort. This is a small tributary up on Lone Mountain. A culvert under a
road has failed and has a huge drop which is creating a lot of erosion. Mel & Mike inspected,
and said it looks like the water is washing around the culvert anyway. Team members
recommended changing the culvert to 24” and puttting it at a steeper angle so that it drops
out more gently on some large rocks. MOTION MADE by Janet to approve #14-21 as
modified, seconded by Kaye, motion passed.
#V-14-20: Milner. The Landowner used a tractor to scrape up some rocks from the bottom
of the creek and push it into the dirt bank that has been washing away. Mel said he thought
there would be more damage if we tried to make her put the material back. Janet
recommended that rather than fining the landowner, we require her to pay for an
engineer’s report to assess the best way to repair the damage, and then the landowner shall
pay for the work to repair. Kaye suggested that we should also have a time limit for the
report, and suggested a 60 day limit. MOTION MADE by Janet that we write a letter to the
landowner requiring them to submit a copy of an engineer’s report to mitigate the damage
by October 1, seconded by Kevin, motion passed.
#14-17: Gary Gustafson. The landowner is putting in a pivot that needs to cross a
creek/ditch 4 times. Mike & Mel inspected, and recommended 30” culverts. There was a
discussion about whether it was a perennial stream or a ditch, and what precedence should
be set for permitting on the stream. According to the water survey, it looks like it is a ditch.
Kevin asked about the landowners upstream that have dug a pond and then created an
overflow from the ponds, which now flows into the ditch. The board discussed whether the
decision on this project would affect the ruling on the issue upstream. Kaye said that she felt
like we should have more clarification before making a decision on the project. MOTION
MADE by Nick to determine that #14-17 is not a project, seconded by Neil, motion passed.
#14-18: Ottiwell Jones. Applicant has a bank that is washing away somewhat, and if it
continues to degrade, the applicant would like to rip rap about 25 feet along the lake. Mike
& Mel inspected, Mike said it would have little to no impact on species habitat.
Recommendation to approve as proposed. MOTION MADE by Neil to approve as proposed,
seconded by Kevin, motion passed.
#14-19: Tim Coder. Mike & Mel didn’t have time to inspect this month, and the applicant
said it wasn’t urgent. Table for next meeting.
Budget: We received the budget from the county, and Janet explained the results. They said they
didn’t get the request that Janet sent in, so the budget that came back didn’t reflect that
request. The amount the county gave us was around $96,000, which is $5,000 more than
what we got last year, but about $60,000 less than what we had asked for.
REPORTS:
Nick Parritz, NRCS: Nick and Dan have been busy, Nick is working on some pivots, and Dan has
some grazing projects going.
Sunni Heikes-Knapton, Watershed Coordinator: Sunni was on vacation, so she included a report
in the packet, which Ethan discussed.
 Carcass Composting: The Twin Bridges airport board had concerns about birds near the
airport. They had originally wanted to do a tour of the Drummond site. However, recently
the Airport Board voted unanimously not to allow carcass composting at the proposed site,
because they could lose their FAA designation. So now the group is looking for new sites.
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Montana Conservation Month: Kevin narrated a video for the effort, which Ethan edited.
Kate put together the website, and there are 15 groups participating. Our event will be a
tour of the Norwegian Creek Cooperative Noxious Weed Initiative. Supervisors are strongly
encouraged to attend.
Good Thymes Camp: The camp is finished, and it went quite well. It looks like the current
camp directors won’t return next summer.
Boundary Signs: The 223 grant hearing is September 11.
Spanish Q Horses: BLM had said that another 300 horses were put on the ranch, as discussed
last meeting. Sunni talked to Corny Hudson about the monitoring being done and the
carrying capacity. She said the ranch is showing signs of overgrazing, but the conditions are
far better than where the horses previously were. The board agreed that there was
probably nothing we could do. Ethan added that in regards to the double fencing that had
been installed, Bart Storey had removed the extra fence around Valley Garden Ranch.
Summer Field Tour: Sunni suggested that we should tour the riparian fencing on Janet’s
property. Janet said that would be fine, the last week of September would be best. The
board set a date for the evening of Thursday September 25 for the tour.
Southwest Septage Application: There has been quite a stir around town about an
application to apply septage on two alfalfa fields in Jeffers and on Bear Creek. Ethan
attended a public meeting earlier today with many concerned citizens who are asking for
more science on the issue on potential impacts. The board generally agreed that we have
nothing to do with the permit or the effort to stop it.
Staffing: Since Kate is leaving at the end of September, we had originally advertised for a
replacement, but Janet and Sunni started talking about the future of Ethan’s position, and
realized it would be better to have 2 full time positions rather than 1 full and 2 part-time
positions. Mel said that we should sit down and have a budget discussion before making any
solid decisions. Janet said that she, Sunni, & Ethan would take over Kate’s work for the time
being, until Ethan’s term is finished.
Education: Demetrius is going to do another term, but when he and Ethan are gone, there
will be a gap to fill. Sunni suggested that perhaps the thing to do is to combine with Madison
Farm to Fork, the Madison River Foundation, the Ranchlands Group, and the school to
create a full time natural resource education position. The board added that it would work
well with implementing an FFA program in the school. The board thought it would be best if
the Madison Watershed Partnership took the idea to the school.
Madison Watershed Partnership meeting is in September, but the date hasn’t been set. A
board member needs to attend. Mel said he probably could, depending on the date.
Ethan Kunard, BSWC: Ethan has been working with the Stream Team, and has been doing a lot of
data entry. He also showed the video he made and Kevin narrated for Montana
Conservation Month.
Financial: Janet read and reviewed the financial report; her computer crashed, so she did it with
Excel. We have new map books and the price went up, so we decided to charge $35 for the
large ones. MOTION MADE by Kevin to approve the financial report, seconded by Bob,
motion passed.
Bob asked about a survey for FWP for public comment on the current brucellosis proposal.
Correspondence: Kate passed around the month’s correspondence, which was two subdivision
applications in Yellowstone Club, an Environmental Report from 3Rivers to install fiber
optics in Harrison, and a flyer from Lewis & Clark Conservation District about a cover crop
tour.
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