Mike Horse Road ownership issue discussed with UBVCC

A 2015 discovery about the ownership of the original Mike Horse Creek Road has added a new wrinkle to the ongoing restoration of the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex.

Steve Opp, the U.S. Forest Service coordinator for the UBMC cleanup project, attended the Jan. 21 meeting of the Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council to begin a discussion with the community on the future of the road.

Opp explained that until 2015, the Forest Service was certain the road was part of the National Forest road system. However, during investigations into property ownership as part of the White Hope Mine litigation, they learned it was actually a declared county road dating back to 1900, a fact forgotten at some point during the last century by both the USFS and Lewis and Clark County.

The discovery has created a conundrum for the agency, due to an agreement made with the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service related to construction of Meadow Creek Road in 2010.

The agencies involved in the cleanup, the USFS, Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Natural Resource Damage Program, developed Meadow Creek Road as a safe access into and out of the UBMC. The original Mike Horse Creek Road, which intersects Highway 200 near a corner, presented a public safety hazard since the trucks couldn't safely enter the roadway there. During the mine waste removal construction seasons, Meadow Creek Road, which intersects the highway on a straight stretch, served as a one-way route out of the area for the large side-dump trucks hauling mine waste to the repository.

"When we started this project, all the partners' intent was that Meadow Creek road would become the permanent access (to the area)." Opp said. He explained it will serve both the Water Treatment Plant and the Mike Horse area indefinitely.

However, Meadow Creek Road crosses some wetland areas and as part of a mitigation agreement with the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service, the Forest Service committed to the obliteration of the Mike Horse Creek Road. It's removal should improve the health of the Upper Marsh by allowing Pass Creek to flow freely into the area. The road, built with undersized culverts, currently cuts across the marsh and backs up Pass Creek behind it.

County ownership of the road, as well as the fact the powerline for the water treatment plant is buried within it, has quashed plans to remove the road for the time being.

Lincoln District Ranger Michael Stansberry told the BVD the road ownership issue has been known since the White Hope Mine litigation began in 2015, but Mike Horse Creek Road wasn't part of the lawsuit. Rather than complicate matters further at the time, he said the partner agencies concentrated on the cleanup and restoration work, leaving the road issue for later.

Montana DEQ funded moving the powerline above ground from the area of Shaue Gulch to the Water Treatment Plant, but a 2018 grant application to help- cover the cost of above-ground powerlines along the rest of the road wasn't funded, Stansberry said.

After the White Hope Mine lawsuit ended in February 2019, the Forest service revisited the matter. Stansberry said they sent a letter to Lewis and Clark County on April 10, and entered discussions about the road. With restoration slated to be complete last year, they came to an agreement to rebuild the section of Mike Horse Creek Road from Shaue Gulch to Meadow Creek Road, which had been removed during the clean-up, until they could come to a final agreement on its future.

In addition to the powerline issue, the road also provides access for three landowners: the USFS, the Montana Environmental Trust and the private owner of a 20-acre patented mining claim in Shaue Gulch.

Opp explained that weather last fall forced an early end to construction, leaving about three weeks of streambed reconstruction work for this year. That gave the agencies a window to determine the fate of the road ahead of this year's construction season.

"We've had several meetings with the county and several meetings with the (UBMC partner agencies)," Opp said. "We've come up with four options and we're asking, what does the community council think? What would the community think?"

The first option is to have the county quit claim the road to the Forest Service. "We would most likely abandon that road or portions of that road, to be determined, and leave a ford crossing at the Blackfoot River."

The second option would be for the county to retain ownership of the road and abandon the portion of the road from Shaue gulch to the intersection with Meadow Creek Road.

A third option would be for the county to keep the road as is, and leave the existing ford at the Blackfoot River.

The final option is for the county to keep the road and request that the partner agencies fund construction of a bridge across the Blackfoot. Opp explained the agencies are unlikely to pay for a bridge because the cleanup project is effectively out of funds after moving nearly double the amount of waste anticipated in the settlement with ASARCO. "I can tell you right now, we are putting a bridge at the water treatment plant to make sure we can get equipment in there...," he said. "It's a half a million-dollar bridge."

Should the county retain ownership of the road, Public Works Director Eric Griffin said they are unlikely to put a lot of time, money or effort into maintaining the road since they have limited resources and since Meadow Creek Road also accesses the area.

Griffin said the Forest Service needs to have a conversation with the power company, since ti since it shouldn't be up to the county to maintain the state's power line infrastructure.

A second conversation needs to be with the new owner of the patented mining claim, which changed hands in 2019, to determine their plans for the claim and the amount of traffic it might see.

A third conversation revolves local public access concerns.

*Since Mike Horse Creek Road belongs to the county, the local discussion will be coordinated by the Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council.

The road will be on the February UBVCC agenda as old business, but the March 17 UBVCC meeting will serve as the public meeting for an in-depth discussion on the issue, after further information and details have been gathered.

The county will make the final decision after hearing from the Community Council.

*This corrects an mistake in our original story, whichincorrectly said the Forest Service was considering hosting a public meeting.