By Gwyneth Hyndman
Interim Editor 

No response on anticipated MDP for Holland Lake Lodge

 

January 26, 2023



Members of the Save Holland Lake Lodge group have requested any new information related to a special use application, master development plan or proposal to expand Holland Lake Lodge - but a spokesperson for POWDR Corporation says there is nothing to report.

In a letter addressed to Flathead National Forest Supervisor Kurt Steele, POWDR Corporation Chief Executive Officer Justin Sibley and Christian Wohlfeil, who has owned the lodged, but is now listed as an employee, it is stated that a request is being made that the entities release the 2023 Holland Lake Lodge Operating Plan, which should have been finalized by Dec. 31, 2022, “to assist in restoring public trust.”

“Due to the fact that the Flathead National Forest had the previous MDP [Master Development Plan] in its possession for 10 months before it was unveiled to the American public (and apparently knew of a transfer of lodge management to POWDR in October 2021), we are requesting transparency from the FNF and to release, without delay, any new proposal details as they are presented to the Forest Service,” the letter states. “The immediate release of any new proposals regarding HLL would give ample time for the public – owners of the public land on which the expansion project is proposed – to properly assess the plan and determine whether it is in the public interest.”

The Save Holland Lake group has asked the Forest Service to deny any proposal to significantly expand Holland Lake Lodge, stating it would fail to satisfy the initial and second-level screening criteria of the USDA Forest Service Special Use regulations.

POWDR spokeswoman Stacey Hutchinson has  said that POWDR would resubmit a new proposal that would not compromise on scale, and the corporation would “share more of those details in the coming weeks.”

In response to the Pathfinder last Friday, Jan. 20, Hutchinson stated they had received the letter, but there was “nothing new to report or share at this time.”

Steele did not respond to a request for comment.

 

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