recreation

The City of Missoula has notched its side of an agreement to manage Marshall Mountain over the next year before transferring the park's operation and care over to Missoula County.

The latest numbers show Montana's outdoor economy grew 14% and outdoor recreation accounted for 4.3% of Montana's gross domestic product.

Operators and promoters of outdoor recreation companies said at a U.S. Senate hearing that small tourist businesses like theirs are a critical part of the rural U.S. economy facing multiple challenges.

The effects of climate change are already affecting Montana’s outdoor recreation, but with predictions of even more heat and drought by 2050, the outdoor recreation industry stands to lose thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in earnings, according to a new report.

Calling it a legacy project that only comes along once in a generation, the Missoula City Council and Missoula County commissioners on Wednesday approved tapping into the Open Space Bond to purchase 480 acres on Marshall Mountain.

The New Meadows trail system will serve as a one-half mile loop in a new 8-acre park off Mullan Road.

The increasing recreational use - some of it illegal - over the past few years prompted the need for better management than what was occurring under an interim management plan.

The act would add about 78,000 acres of wilderness to the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Mission Mountains wilderness areas and create two recreation management areas for snowmobiling and mountain biking.

Citing everything from economic opportunity to childhood education, a number of people spoke in favor Wednesday of the proposed public acquisition of Marshall Mountain – a move that will require around $2 million in funding from the open space bond and an estimated $400,000 in annual maintenance costs.

Faced with an increase in usage, the Bureau of Land Management is proposing eliminating camping and adding a day-use fee at the popular Jump Creek Recreation Site located in Owyhee County.