“The fact that I have no personal interest in kayaking does not change the fact that this is land that should not have a trophy home built on it,” she said Tuesday.
Commissioners overseeing the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks will take up a proposal next week for the agency to acquire about 20 acres of Alberton Gorge land that Stranahan bought in 2001 to shield it from development.
The department is recommending the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission approve the purchase, which also must clear the state Land Board. The deal would expand public management of the Alberton Gorge Recreational Corridor, a seven-mile stretch of the Clark Fork about 30 miles northwest of Missoula. A land exchange in 2004 gave the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks control of 306 acres along the gorge.
The place draws more than 25,000 visitors a year, many with kayaks or other means of navigating the Clark Fork's whitewater. Trout fishing is popular, as well.
Longtime philanthropist Stranahan, who said she bought the land figuring it eventually would end up in the hands of a conservation-minded agency or group, is not one for water thrills.
She grew up in Ohio, visited the West as a child and said that upon finishing her medical training in Missouri, she wanted a place with mountains and health care needs. She practiced medicine in St. Ignatius, on the Flathead Indian Reservation, and is retired. Stranahan finds Alberton Gorge - which includes habitat important to black bears, deer and other wildlife - “just gorgeous.”
Peter Dayton, a kayaker and Missoula lawyer involved in Stranahan's purchase of the land, said part of the appeal of Alberton Gorge is its opportunity for frothy play even when the water is low.
Dayton began kayaking in the 1980s and said he has shuddered at the thought of homes overlooking the gorge, homes that likely would be accompanied by trails and staircases leading to the water.
“There's constant pressure on any available land there and we're trying to do everything we can to protect this for everybody,” said Dayton, who is in the Missoula Whitewater Association.
The Alberton Gorge land will be up for action by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission on Dec. 14. The board tends to be “very supportive of land action by the department that provides more access for the public,” Commissioner Tim Mulligan said.
On the Net
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks: www.fwp.mt.gov
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