Fair Treatment for Flathead Lake Users on the Table

If you’ve ever tried launching your boat at Flathead Lake on a summer weekend, you already know it’s basically a gladiator arena...But with more sunscreen and a lot more passive-aggressive side-eye. Between tribal water rights, private landowners, tourists with zero trailer-backing skills, and locals just trying to fish in peace, it’s been a bit of a mess.

Now, a new resolution (SJ 18) is trying to bring some order to the chaos. They’ve proposed a formal push to treat recreation (yep, that means boating, paddling, fishing, floating, and swimming) as a legitimate use of the lake. Not just something that gets squeezed in between political arguments and water rights debates.

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To be clear, this resolution doesn’t DO anything yet. It’s more like a very polite Montana-style way of saying, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t treat recreators like second-class citizens.” But it's a start. And honestly, we’ll take it.

Folks in western Montana have been using this lake for generations. It's where we teach our kids to cast a line, try not to crash rented jet skis, and pretend we aren’t sunburned. So the idea that recreation should have a seat at the table when decisions are being made? Feels pretty reasonable.

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The resolution is also a not-so-subtle reminder to state and federal agencies that, yes, people actually live here and use the water for more than just scenic photos. If that sounds like common sense to you, congrats, you might be from around here.

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I spent a lot of time on Flathead Lake fishing a couple of years ago. It was the year that the lake never got to full pool. Why? Because the tribe and the government were more concerned about money from hydroelectric than the people who use the lake every day.

For now, nothing’s changing overnight, but it's nice to see someone officially say, “Hey, let’s not forget about the people who live and play here.” Maybe, just maybe, that’s how real change starts.