Partying problems close public access on Missouri River

Partying and other “unsavory activities” have resulted in the loss of prime public access to the Missouri River south of Great Falls for the second consecutive year.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission, meeting in Helena, voted Wednesday to reinstate a seasonal closure beginning Friday at White Bear Fishing Access Site, meaning the gate will be locked at the picturesque location among the cottonwood trees along the Missouri.

The closure will extend until Sept. 16, allowing duck and big-game hunters to access the river in the fall and early winter.

Long-term, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is considering selling or trading the land because of the partying and traffic problems.

“The location has value, and it’s sad the abusers come down here and run off all the good people,” said Gary Bertellotti, supervisor of Region 4 for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

White Bear Fishing Access Site is located six miles south of Great Falls on the Missouri River. From the city, it is reached via Fox Farm Road, Highwood Drive and Hawk Drive.

It’s become an attraction for non-sporting type use during the summer months including underage drinking, illegal drug use, fights, vandalism and litter, according to FWP.

Those activities have caused numerous disturbances with neighbors and other site users and requires a high law enforcement presence and maintenance resources, FWP said.

Four years ago, when the same problems were occurring, FWP hired a neighbor of the area to lock the gate at night. One evening, the person asked visitors to leave as he was closing the access site.

“They got in his face and basically beat him up,” Bertellotti said.

Neighbors first approached the commission in September 2014 to raise concerns.

At the commission meeting Wednesday, before the vote to reinstate the seasonal closure, neighbors testified that visitors also travel at dangerously high speeds on roads to the site, which wind through rural residential neighborhoods.

“Beer drinking, partying, everything goes on down there,” said Mike Winn, who lives near the access on Fawn Drive

In 2015, based on the complaints, the commission closed the site for the first time from June to September to eliminate the problems while a long-term solution was explored.

After the closure, visitors kept entering the site via foot, parking their vehicles on the narrow road, prompting FWP to put up no parking signs.

A trade with a landowner in Vaughn who owned property on the Sun River was explored, but that recently fell through, prompting the request for another seasonal closure in 2016, Bertellotti said.

FWP will continue to explore trades, selling the land or developing the site in a different way, Bertellotti said.

Winn, speaking at Region 4 FWP headquarters in Great Falls, told commissioners via teleconference that problems are not as severe when temperatures are cooler.

“But come summertime this place is a complete disaster,” Winn said. “It’s not if somebody gets hurt, it’s when somebody gets hurt.”

Jim Edwards, who also lives on Fawn Drive, said a few people are ruining it for everybody. White Bear, he said, is more of a swimming hole than a fishing hole.

The closure will allow FWP to issue citations for trespassing or violation of the closure rule, FWP said.

David Phillips of the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office said the office supports the closure of the fishing access for safety reasons.

Commission Chairman Dan Vermillion of Livingston said nobody likes to see public land closed by people breaking the law.

“It is truly sad and tragic to be in a position because of behavior of some to have to close this area for all,” Vermillion said.

Vermillion asked Phillips if he had any suggestions for addressing the problems short of closing the site down.

The only way to prevent the problems is to staff the site, and budgets are tight, Phillips said.

Three people were at the fishing access site Wednesday afternoon including Felicia and Clifford Bowers, who were fishing.

Felicia Bowers said she was disappointed that the access would be closing.

“It’s perfect,” she said. “The scenery is beautiful.”

Follow Karl Puckett on Twitter @GFTrib_KPuckett

What’s next

White Bear Fishing Access will be closed July 15 to Sept. 6 in an attempt to control the use at the site. FWP will continue to search for along-term solution such as a trade or disposal of the site.