Group updates community on recreation projects

Kaniksu Land Trust (KLT) has continued discussions to boost the economy in Sanders County by means of one of its primary strengths: outdoor recreation. KLT participated in a countywide process with Thompson Falls community stakeholders called Recreation Economy for Rural Communities (RERC), a process to help identify the numerous outdoor activities open to locals and people traveling through the area.

Last Thursday evening, KLT held a community meeting in which around 15 community members attended at Limberlost Brewery to share a status update on how the RERC project is progressing and to facilitate questions and feedback from the community. Zachary Whipple-Kilmer, owner of Limberlost Brewery, was in attendance and shared briefly his involvement with the grant that helped fund the RERC project, as well as Katie Cox, KLT executive director.

“Part of the RERC process was to look locally to find what people loved,” KLT Recreation and Outreach Coordinator Kayla Mosher said at the meeting. “We also want to revitalize downtown and make recreation areas better for locals.”

From a series of conversations that were held between the Environmental Protection Agency, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, USDA Rural Development, US Forest Service, Sanders County Community Development (SCCD) and KLT, a plan started to emerge and the group identified three areas of focus in order to enhance recreational opportunities and economic development.

“We are looking at Sanders County and what assets are here, what people love to do here and the potential barriers, whether that’s access to trails or weather,” said Cox. “We then analyzed those recreational opportunities and looked closely at what is here and how we can utilize that.”

From those three areas of focus, the group also identified different actions to implement in order to achieve their goals. One area of focus is to enhance access to outdoor recreation. “There are a lot of recreational opportunities close to town, but people don’t know about them,” Mosher said. “Signs are slightly lacking.”

One of the first major action items Mosher helped complete was an online interactive recreation map in which people can find trails, campgrounds, boat ramps, fishing access and more. “It’s a cool resource a lot of local people have found useful,” she said.

Connective infrastructure served as another identified goal to work on enhancing. KLT says RERC participants identified that there was a disconnect between downtown and nearby recreation sites. KLT says they have “set out to make Main Street safer and more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists, physically connect the Mule Pasture trails to the high school and develop an information hub and community space on one of the vacant lots on Main Street.

Mosher said a high-priority goal was to identify potential partners, resources and opportunities to raise awareness for recreation access which includes developing a destination marketing strategy for the Thompson Falls area, creating a county-level Recreation and Tourism Coordinator position with a focus on supporting Thompson Falls, identifying existing apps targeting specific outdoor activities and other existing promotional materials and making sure opportunities in and around Thompson Falls are included and creating promotional materials to highlight local and regional assets, including videos.

The Recreation and Outreach Coordinator spoke about several other potential projects in the works including wayfinding signage. “I’m excited to get signs in the ground,” she said. “We want to get a wayfinding plan funded and get sign specifics; what we want to direct attention to. We have a lot of roads and a lot of options. I’m looking for a community group to help work on this project.”

KLT is looking at an area in the Mule Pasture as a future project site. “The forest service is going to let some kind of recreational opportunity be developed there,” Mosher said. “We are working on a survey to get out into the community to see what they want there.” Whipple-Kilmer said the Mule Pasture would be a great opportunity for a future project. Rob Christensen, founder of Project ASCENT, agreed and said the area needs some work and it depends on what the community wants to do with the area, but potential for bike trails or a Frisbee golf course could happen.

A survey conducted by SCCD helped tie into another RERC goal, youth enhancement, as expanding outdoor recreation and stewardship activities for local youth is another high priority. Other topics Mosher touched on included a Thompson Falls City Park assessment and the Tour 200 website that KLT and Thompson Falls Chamber of Commerce would take under their wing.

For more information contact Mosher at (406) 827-0487 or email, [email protected].