Threating a Waterfowl Production Area with an Office Complex

[AKSkeeter]

The Fish and Wildlife Service staff was displaced from the Bison Range when the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
reclaimed the refuge in 2020. Since then, FWS employees have been stationed on leased tribal land.
The current proposal is to develop the Montgomery Waterfowl Production Area with a $12 million office complex.
You can read the Environmental Assessment here.
And a local newspaper article here.

Public comments should be email at: FW6NorthwestMontanaWMD@fws.gov
DEADLINE: WEDS 3-APRIL-2024

My public comments were as follows:
I have studied the document,
New Northwest Montana Wetland Management District Administrative Facilities
Environmental Assessment Supplement January 2024

I have the following comments:

1) To replace land dedicated to the mission of the USFWS
" to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats"
with an office complex, should entail at least one public meeting in
either Charlo, Ronan, Polson or St. Ignatius. Preferable would be
2 public meetings, one at St. Ignatius, one at Polson.

2) The EA considered only Waterfowl Production Areas as alternative sites.
There are other lands owned by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that have
not been considered. For example, there are several parcels near the
Pablo National Wildlife Refuge that would be a better alternative in terms
of public access, lower construction costs due to coarser textured soils.

 

[AKSkeeter]

The Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers
opposes this office complex development.
They state "Surely there can be an appropriate building site identified that isn’t in a WPA, lands acquired with Federal Duck Stamp dollars “to conserve some of the most threatened and productive migratory bird habitat in the nation,” according to the USFWS’s website."
"We remain convinced that either the acquisition of property not currently owned by the USFWS or utilizing USFWS lands that are already developed would be the best choices of action for both the resource and hunting opportunities, and we therefore oppose the Proposed Action."
Their letter is linked here.

 

[Birdman2]

The Fish and Wildlife Service staff was displaced from the Bison Range when the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
reclaimed the refuge in 2020. Since then, FWS employees have been stationed on leased tribal land.
The current proposal is to develop the Montgomery Waterfowl Production Area with a $12 million office complex.
You can read the Environmental Assessment here.
And a local newspaper article here.

Public comments should be email at: FW6NorthwestMontanaWMD@fws.gov
DEADLINE: WEDS 3-APRIL-2024

My public comments were as follows:
I have studied the document,
New Northwest Montana Wetland Management District Administrative Facilities
Environmental Assessment Supplement January 2024

I have the following comments:

1) To replace land dedicated to the mission of the USFWS
" to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats"
with an office complex, should entail at least one public meeting in
either Charlo, Ronan, Polson or St. Ignatius. Preferable would be
2 public meetings, one at St. Ignatius, one at Polson.

2) The EA considered only Waterfowl Production Areas as alternative sites.
There are other lands owned by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that have
not been considered. For example, there are several parcels near the
Pablo National Wildlife Refuge that would be a better alternative in terms
of public access, lower construction costs due to coarser textured soils.

You can thank the Supreme Court in their decision several years back for this. They ruled if it is in the best interest of ?, they can take the land for whatever reason.