Auction sale of restored wooden boat to benefit conservation project

A wooden boat restored by Polson resident Greg McCormick is for sale through an online auction to benefit the Bad Rock Canyon Conservation Project. More than 600 hours of labor went into the restoration of the 18-foot 1953 Century Resorter, McCormick will donate half of the proceeds from the sale of the boat to help complete the Bad Rock Canyon Conservation Project.

More information on the boat and auction is available at www.flatheadrivertolake.org/boatauction. The auction ends Dec. 1, and a minimum bid of $10,000 is required.

The Bad Rock Canyon Conservation project will conserve almost 800 acres of exceptional and strategically important habitat for wildlife at a focal point of landscape connectivity at the mouth of Bad Rock Canyon, a geographic pinch point where the Flathead River flows through a narrow canyon between the Swan and Whitefish mountain ranges just east of Columbia Falls. The project will add to a 12,000-acre network of conserved riparian lands protecting the healthy function and excellent water quality in 43 miles of the Flathead River and Flathead Lake.

The Flathead Lakers, the Flathead Land Trust and other Flathead River to Lake Initiative partners are committed to raising $500,000 by August 2021 to help Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks purchase the 800-acre property. The funding raised will help partners secure $6.5 million in state and federal grants needed to purchase the property. Learn more about the project at flatheadlakers.org/current-projects.

“The online auction is one of several exciting fundraisers we are planning over the next year. The winner not only gets a beautiful boat, but also helps protect an incredible place in the Flathead,” said Kate Sheridan, Flathead Lakers’ executive director.