That simple statement floats over a year and a half of debate over how to manage the growing popularity of Frisbee golf on Missoula's hillsides. One of the decisions involved allowing eight months of recovery time for the vegetation along the course.
“We realized there was a lot more to the discussion than just a casual afternoon at Pattee Canyon,” said Jim Parker, a Missoula folfer who took part in the roundtable management talks. “There's a huge recreational demand for folfing. On prime days, hundreds of people go through there.”
“We want to ensure quality recreation experiences for decades to come at Pattee Canyon for not only folfers, but for hikers, mountain bikers, cross-country skiers, picnickers, runners, nature watchers, and the new recreation uses that will develop as the Missoula Valley continues to grow and expand out into the neighboring national forest lands,” Missoula Ranger District staff officer Andy Kulla wrote about the 2008 season closure last week.
Finding a middle ground among all those user groups took about a dozen meetings since the Forest Service raised its scrutiny in 2007.
People have been playing Frisbee golf in Pattee Canyon for about 20 years. Over those decades, they lined out an 18-hole course through roughly 40 acres of trees and meadows around the Pattee Canyon picnic area. A couple of those holes passed through marshy wetlands, while another went up a badly eroded hillside. In winter, some links also crossed trails that Nordic skiers groomed for their sport.
“In peak times, in spring when it gets nice and the college is still here, there's close to 500 people playing there,” said Garden City Flyers president Brian Bjortomt. “In the summer, it's easily 200 to 300 a day. As a club our goal is to have a sustainable course up there.”
Folfers have another public course on Blue Mountain, south of Missoula. While that area is also on Forest Service land, Bjortomt said its popularity pales compared to Pattee Canyon. Blue Mountain is much tougher terrain, although it also has less competition from picnickers, skiers and dog-walkers than Pattee Canyon.
Garden City Flyers has about 70 members. Bjortomt was also part of the round-table with the Forest Service, and the club's members took the lead in volunteer work to improve the course. They replaced nine of the target posts with folf baskets. They raised money for rubber “tee-pads” that protect the starting point of each hole from erosion.
The next step is to redesign some of the more troublesome holes and restore two additional links so the course has a full 18 holes. That's scheduled to be worked on before the course reopens next summer. And Forest Service staff will continue watching the area for parking violations, littering and other conflicts.
A group of University of Montana students from forestry professor Neil Moisey's recreation management class have also been taking observations of the area. Their photos and measurements track how well sensitive areas recover after being left alone for several months, and how fast other areas get damaged after use. Moisey said the information will help guide future management decisions for the course.
The long closures appear to have done the trick on restoring the wetlands and vegetation. The course should reopen for 2009 in June or July, depending on how soon the ground dries out.
Bjortomt said many folfers disliked losing their year-round access, but realized what was at stake.
“There's a lot of people who are disappointed in that (closure),” Bjortomt said. “All the spring college students who don't have an opportunity to use the area for something they love to do. We're a small percentage of overall folf community, but we're the ones who are speaking out and representing them. And I think the more you follow the rules, the more the governing body will work with you.”
Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com.
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