On Wednesday, Dennison said there's no reason to keep the gliders grounded, given the club's impeccable safety record - a 35-year tradition of safely flying from the mountaintop launch site.
There's also no liability for the university, which owns the site, and no unresolved legal issues, he said.
The tension between the groups arose from two incidents that unfolded last summer and fall, neither of which were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration.
In one instance, a hang glider did not call the airport control tower before flying, as has been a longstanding courtesy. On that particular day, a pilot flew into the unrestricted air space over Mount Sentinel, not knowing hang gliders fly there, and came so close to the glider the pilot had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
In the other instance, a hang-gliding pilot called the control tower and complained that an airplane flew too close to a hang glider.
Concerned about safety issues and the potential for disaster, control tower managers contacted UM officials and recommended they prohibit hang gliders from launching off Mount Sentinel.
Mediation efforts failed this spring, and the matter was recently turned over to Dennison and UM legal advisers to make the final call on Missoula's hang-gliding future.
“Everything I know about the main situation is that the incident occurred because a small plane wandered off-course - it shouldn't have been there,” Dennison said.
Despite the frustrations and time it has taken to fully assess the situation, the conflict has produced a clearer understanding of flying over Mount Sentinel - and that's good for everyone, Dennison said.
“Now everybody really knows what the rules are, and we are hoping airplanes understand that as well,” he said. “The university has been very supportive of hang gliding, as long as we can do it safely.
“This can work, but communication on these matters is very important.”
Because of Dennison's decision, the Lolo National Forest will allow hang gliders to again use the Crazy Canyon access road to drive their equipment up the back side of Mount Sentinel.
UM is considered an inholder on the national forest, and any activity it allows is allowed by the Forest Service, said Andy Kulla, a resource forester on the Missoula Ranger District.
David McCann, operations manager for the control tower, said he didn't really have a comment on Dennison's decision, other than to assert: “We will do everything in our power to assure that flying will be done safely, and that we do the best we can do.”
Bob Shook, the hang-gliding club's faculty adviser, was thrilled with Dennison's announcement.
“This is outstanding - that's some great news,” Shook said. “With their decision, the university has demonstrated their commitment to diversity and the importance of recreational sports here in Missoula. They have supported us all of these years and they continue to support us today. We can't thank them enough.”
“We are overjoyed,” said Karl Hallman, a longtime hang-gliding pilot and member of the UM hang-gliding club. “We are all about trying to make this work as safely as possible for everyone involved.”
“We look forward to another 35-year partnership with the university,” said Craig Johnson, a Missoula hang-gliding pilot. “And we would like to thank all of the people, not just in Missoula and western Montana but from around the world, who in recent past days expressed their public support for hang gliding to continue off Mount Sentinel.”
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