The Montana Streambed Law Challenged

Hey Everybody!!!

This week’s post highlights a legal wrangle that may very well change a 50-year-old law that regulates how we treat our streams and rivers in Montana. The 1975 Montana Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act is the issue—with the Flathead Conservation District and a California couple duking it out over a house.

In writing this post, I’d be remis if I didn’t acknowledge the work of the Hungry Horse News—hands down the best newspaper in Montana. The paper’s close and unbiased coverage of the Ambler vs Flathead Conservation District case has been stellar under the leadership of editor Chris Peterson.

I’m guessing very few Montanans know that in 1965 the owner and publisher of the Hungry Horse News, Mel Ruder, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Ruder's most notable work was his coverage of the devastating June 1964 floods on the Flathead River. His Pulitzer award citation reads: "For his daring and resourceful coverage of a disastrous flood that threatened his community, an individual effort in the finest tradition of spot news reporting."

Mel Ruder Passed away in 2000 at age 85. Hat’s off to Mel and the legacy he left.

Charley

A California couple started building a house on the banks of McDonald Creek in Flathead County in 2022. They say they had no idea at the time they were breaking a Montana law which regulates construction on a streambank. Now they are fighting an order to tear the house down.

The Montana Streambed and Land Preservation Act of 1975—known as the 310 Law—says any person planning to disturb a streambed or otherwise conduct activity between the designated high water marks of a stream or river on private land must obtain permission from their local conservation district.

John and Stacy Ambler, San Diego, CA, contend the Montana 310 Law doesn’t apply to them. The rub for the Amblers is they began building their house on private land—an inholding—in Glacier National Park. They say they’re out of the jurisdiction of the 310 Law.

The area around present day Apgar Village was settled by homesteaders several years before the 1910 creation of Glacier National Park. When Glacier was created the in-holdings stayed in private hands.

By 2019, a tiny chunk of that in-holding rested in the hands of the Amblers. Once they started construction things went south in a hurry.

Early in 2023 a group of local residents filed a complaint with the Flathead Conservation District contending the John and Stacy Ambler violated the Montana 310 Law.

The Ambler house, occupying a 2,300 square-foot lot in Apgar Village, rests on a retaining wall and rock footings built in the McDonald Creek streambank. With no 310 permit in hand.

After a subsequent on-site inspection of the property, the Amblers were formally found in violation of the 310 Law by the Flathead Conservation District.

In March, 2023, the FCD board of supervisors ordered the couple to have the house removed.

They were further ordered to restore the streambank to its original condition—and obtain a 310 Permit to do so.

The Amblers were given a November 1, 2023 deadline to complete the demolition. But on April 3, 2023 the Amblers through their Missoula-based attorneys requested a public hearing and a declaratory ruling, as provided for by Montana law. The ruling would determine if the FCD acted within it’s right to issue the demolition order.

Meanwhile, the Amblers were ordered to cease construction—although they were allowed to cover the window openings and install temporary roof coverings to prevent weather damage to the house.

In an August 2023 hearing the Amblers argued their case at a hearing conducted by the Flathead Conservation District.

The Amblers base argument is that the State of Montana ceded jurisdiction over Apgar Village to the National Park Service when the Glacier Park was created in 1910. That includes the 310 law that was passed in 1975 by the Montana Legislature.

The Amblers also argued that back in 2019 they were told by a Flathead County official they could build on the property because the tract of land was in an un-zoned area within the county.

“Essentially, you can do what you want with the land without restriction,” a representative of the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office told the Amblers in a May 13, 2019 email.

They further alleged they weren’t allowed enough time to fully make their case before the FCD board of supervisors in the time leading up to the board’s March 2023 decision.

While the National Park Service says it has no jurisdiction over in-holdings, the Amblers were allowed to hook up to Apgar’s water and sewer systems which are administered by the Park Service.

Following the August, 2023 hearing in Kalispell, FCD-appointed hearing officer Laurie Zeller of Helena ruled in favor of the District. She dismissed the Amblers arguments—affirming that the state and FDC do indeed have jurisdiction in the case.

She said private property rights were reserved and not definitively ceded in the 1910 act creating Glacier National Park.

Zeller said the Flathead County Planning Office’s 2019 okay to build on the property did not preclude the Amblers from abiding by the 310 Law.

Following the Zeller ruling, the FCD then moved the demolition date to April 1, 2024. That didn’t happen—and there is presently a stay on all FCD proceedings until the outcome of Federal and District Court litigation.

It’s unlikely though that the case will end soon as the Amblers have expanded their arguments.

The Amblers are claiming their Constitutionally-protected due process rights as well as their private property rights have been violated. Additionally, they’re saying they have been treated differently than other landowners—a violation of state and federal Constitutional clauses of equal protection.

Stay Tuned!

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