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The price goes up on everything, my only issue is how large of a jump it is. It is more expensive to maintain these campgrounds as the price of maintenance is going up, just wish it was such a significant hike. I think you'll find most of the out of stater license plates at the day use areas will be happy to pay the price, considering its cheaper than elsewhere.
It would not bother me to see less people on Flathead lake or other lakes/rivers. Maybe taking more from the 100k wake boat owner’s.
The goal is not to eradicate the lake trout in Flathead Lake, impossible without literally serializing the lake completely. numbers of lake trout in the lake have gone way down, even with my personal experience on that lake (used to catch and tag the money fish in college) numbers have gone down dramatically and the MackDays "tournament" has done its job in brining the numbers of lakers down. Bull trout are slow to rebound but numbers are going up for them as well. the price increase scares me as well even though im a resident of the reservation and love to do multiple day floats on the lower flathead river, it does hurt to think about having to pay 400 for my family to camp. I would highly recommend all of you on this thread that are opposed to the change to write to them on the above provided emails.....and to do it tastefully. I personally count myself lucky that they opened the reservation waters back up after the Covid shut down...they could have kept all of us "none natives" out for good.....think about that a little
So with fewer lake trout... any chance of a kokanee rebound? Or has that ship sailed, wrecked, and sank with the mysis shrimp?
The solution to these situations is just like some hunting/fishing licenses for non-resident. Make it reciprocal - if the tribe sells there license at $100 then Montana should sell to tribal members at the same fee. At some point a line in the sand needs to be drawn as tribal members shouldn't get to shoot more game - on reservation and off reservation elk, deer, moose just like the rest of us. You can hunt on reservation, but have to have a guide and cost might be $10k for a moose. If it went both ways then it would even out quickly as it should. We shouldn't have two sets of rules...it not healthy or fair to anyone. They lost a long time ago...that's what it means...they lost. We shouldn't have to pay for that...no one alive today had anything to do with it on either side.
Binx. i applaud your humanistic rational responses to such ingrained hatred and prejudice.
Raising prices for recreational permits on the Flathead Reservation by the tribe, I am surprised it didn’t happen long before now. The tribe had no choice but to do this with the influx of people wanting to live and recreate on the reservation.Having grown up on the reservation I feel confident in understanding their objectives regarding the natural resources contained within the reservation and how increased use impacts those resources.In regards to Flathead Lake it is hard to understand the fishery there unless you have traveled through the drainages that flow into the lake. The South, Middle, and North forks of the Flathead and Swan River. I have traveled through all these areas extensively and have seen cold, clear streams and lakes full of Westslope Cutthroat and Bull trout, an ecosystem mostly intact and connected directly to Flathead Lake. Hungry Horse Dam and a dam on the Swan River restrict passage of fish but for the most part the connectivity is there.The tribe is simply trying to help native species get back to where they once were, I am all for that.Stay safe on the ice!
The Bull trout will never come back. The habitat is degraded past that point and netting half the lake just to collect $$ is not a valid management plan. The lake could grow 40 pound lake trout all day long if they were protected instead of gill netted. There's way more value in 40 pound lake trout vs hoping bull trout recover.
Today I received a message from Cindy Benson with information about the Spring 2022 Mack Days fishing derby, which starts on March 17. She said "Want to clarify the issue of Flathead Lake fishing licenses. The south half fishing license on Flathead Lake is a $19-license plus $2-Prevention Pass for anyone in the state. Out of state south half fishing license is $19 plus $14. Nothing has changed for Flathead Lake. There are changes coming for other categories of recreation fees on the reservation."