Behind the Curtain

S P EC I A L R E P O RT

Curtain the

Montana’s state parks system is struggling, even as employees do all they can to keep sites clean, accessible, and enjoyable.

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my Grout is nearing her breaking point. The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks state parks manager oversees five of the six state parks on Flathead Lake—including 2,160-acre Wild Horse Island and the always-crowded Wayfarer near Bigfork. Grout says her nine paid employees and 21 volunteers struggle to accommodate the 300,000-plus state parks visitors who throng to the mountain-framed lake each summer—and increasingly during the “shoulder seasons” of March, April, September, and October. On busy summer weekends, she and her assistant manager—a young mother with an infant at home—race from park to park helping other staff unclog toilets, empty trash cans, patrol beaches, take camping reservations, handle visitor conflicts, and respond to medical emergencies. The volunteers work long hours in hot parking lots, sometimes with just one 15-minute break all day. “We can barely hold it together,” Grout says. Throughout Montana’s state parks system, employees are feeling the strain of insufficient staff and failing infrastructure. While state-

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MARCH–APRIL 2019

FWP.MT.GOV/MTOUTDOORS

wide park visitation has increased nearly 50 percent over the past decade, budgets and staff size have remained flat. To maintain basic visitor services, managers have had to postpone repairing sewage and electrical lines, roads, docks, and other aging infrastructure. The parks system now faces a $22 million maintenance backlog. “We have underinvested in our parks, even as they have become more popular and staff struggle to manage growing demands and failing infrastructure,” a governor-appointed citizen commission created to improve and strengthen Montana’s state parks recently concluded. “The result is a system that is stressed to the breaking point.” Yet despite the pressures, parks employees make sure parks are clean, safe, and enjoyable. A recent audit by the Legislative Auditor’s Office found that state parks are tidy and well run. In surveys, visitors regularly give the sites top marks. “Every grain in our being is about doing whatever it takes to keep parks open and making sure people have a positive experience,” Grout says. Ironically, that dedication could be part of the problem.

CRAIG MOORE

BY TOM DICKSON

BARELY AFLOAT A stand-up paddleboarder glides over the glassy waters of Flathead Lake, a treasured Montana weekend and holiday destination. Several state parks on the lakeshore are often full to capacity, forcing employees and volunteers to work long hours with little relief. MONTANA OUTDOORS

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