Swan Valley community council discuss potential housing projects

Griffen Smith of the Pathfinder

Housing has become a national problem for the United States Forest Service, and both the Seeley Ranger District and the Swan Lake Ranger District are in talks of building new housing on USFS land.

The Swan Valley Community Council dived into the need for housing with both Chris Dowling, the Swan Lake district ranger, and Quinn Carver, the Seeley Lake district ranger on June 20.

Both rangers agreed that the lack of housing in the area is holding people off from living and working in the area.

“We can’t hire teachers, I can’t hire people in the Forest Service,” Carver said about the lack of housing. “We had a couple people get jobs here but had to decline because there is nowhere to live.”

The meeting started off with some quick facts on land in the area. Just 13% of land of the Swan Valley is held privately, leaving the government as the major land holder. Of that, much of that land is federal.

Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnik said that the county surveyed its landholdings across the entire county.

“We surveyed every slice of land. There’s not much county land out there that isn’t already in use as something else,” Slotnik said. “As far as I know, none of that land was up in the Swan.”

With the County limited, USFS is prepared to start building out on lands that are nearby existing communities. Accessory Dwelling Units are now legal across residential parcels in the county too.

“We identified a couple parcels that we could permit Forest Service land to occupy, permanent housing,” Carver said, citing how some Forest Service agencies in Colorado have done similar projects.

Congress approved regulations to allow USFS to create housing units on public lands in the last two years. The projects would only be developed on land that is close to electricity, water and can get approved septic under a 30-year Forest Service trust.

There is a hurdle because of septic approval and getting water rights, because the Seeley Lake Water District is almost completely occupied. The Swan Valley has no water system. Those parcels are on either side of Seeley Creek. Apartments, townhouses and small residences are on the table to address housing issues.

Dowling also mentioned the need to start prescribed burns in the area over the next few years. Part of that need comes from forest overgrowth, while also trying

to diminish the beetle killing fir and pine trees in the area.

Dowling said residents can help prevent the spread of the beetles by cutting down infected trees and installing pheromones.

On July 18, the council will discuss the future of the Holland Lake Lodge in detail.