Cooperative solution lifts closure of Mollman Pass Tr. Road

The temporary closure of Mollman Pass Trail Road, south of Ronan, was lifted last Thursday thanks to an agreement between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Lake County and the Montana Department of Transportation.

The closure, in effect for about a week, was attributed to two culverts that ferry water out of the Kicking Horse Reservoir via the South Crow Creek Feeder Canal as part of the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project (FIIP). According to the initial notice, issued by the county on April 14, the highway department had determined that the two large culverts “are in danger of failing and advised the county to close the road.”

According to Tribal Chairman Tom McDonald, the closure impacted several families, including those living in four homes at the former Kicking Horse Job Corps, as well as tribal employees who work at the complex.

According to county commissioner Gale Decker, the closure order from the state came after a recent inspection revealed that bracing inside the culverts, installed by the county in 2021, had been removed.

Decker said the county had taken out much of the bracing because it collected debris, which then had to be frequently removed by the county’s bridge department.

“The state ordered the county to either reinstall the bracing, replace the culverts, or close the road,” said Decker. “The county declined to put the bracing back because we felt it was not our duty to clean debris from FIIP culverts moving forward.”

He added that CSKT decided that cement box culverts would be a better solution for the canal, although delivery of the box culverts could take several months.

“Ultimately, the county agreed to replace the bracing, the state agreed to rescind the closure order, the FIIP is going to clean debris, and the CSKT is ordering box culverts,” Decker said. “It took numerous phone calls and emails to get a resolution, but it got done.”

A press release from CSKT, issued last Thursday, praised cooperation between the Tribes, the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project and Lake County, “to ensure that the Mollman Pass Trail Road stays open to the public. We understand how a road closure can disrupt the daily lives of community members and we know how important it is to our community members to have access to their homes and their place of employment.”

In addition to replacing the bracing, trash gates now cover the culverts and a weight limit of eight tons continues to be in effect.

Decker says the temporary closure reflected an ongoing dispute over who is responsible for maintaining FIIP infrastructure that passes under county roads.

According to Decker, the Montana Water Rights Protection Act designates CSKT as the entity with the legal authority to receive and manage the nearly $1 billion that’s been set aside to rehabilitate the aging irrigation project, which delivers water across 127,000 acres on the Flathead Reservation.

The project is under the management of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and new infrastructure will be paid for by the CSKT under the terms of the water compact.

“But whether or not the BIA owns the infrastructure is still in question,” Decker says. “This is the issue that the county has repeatedly asked for clarification of.”

He adds that Lake County “has replaced the infrastructure of the FIIP for 100 years,” but commissioners believe the language of the water rights settlement “seems to remove the county from any kind of responsibility to do this.”

Meanwhile, the Tribes and county signed a short-term Memorandum of Understanding in 2022, “while the whole ownership/responsibility issues get resolved.” Under the agreement, the Tribes and county will continue working together to replace project infrastructure when it threatens the safety of county roadways.

Decker says the Tribes and county “have a very open line of communication when it comes to replacement of this infrastructure. We want to work together and keep our roads and bridges safe.”

Both governments, he added, “are working with the legislation that has been handed to us, while waiting for the state and federal governments “to step up and provide some direction moving forward.”

“But we’re not holding our breaths,” he added.