Vandals hit four Fish, Wildlife and Parks fishing access sites in July in north central Montana, causing an estimated $4,150 in total damages.
The worst incident happened sometime July 15-17 and led to $2,600 of destruction at Widow Coulee FAS on the Missouri River downstream of Great Falls.
“It was pretty bad. It was just random destruction of state property,” said Vicki Robinson, Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 4 FAS coordinator.
The physical damage at Widow Coulee included two broken windows, and a broken toilet seat and riser. Clean up at the site will include repainting the latrine and a trip to the landfill with the remains of a fire of burned wooden pallets left on the boat ramp.
Funds for the fishing access site program come from fishing license dollars, which means anglers pay for clean-up and repair of FAS vandalism.
Other acts of FAS vandalism in July were:
On July 11, a picnic table was busted up and burned at Newlan Creek Reservoir near White Sulphur Springs. Cost to clean up and replace, including labor, mileage and materials: $400.
Approximately July 22-23, a concrete bench was destroyed at Craig FAS on the Missouri River. Cost to clean up and replace, including labor, mileage and materials: $650.
On July 22, a fire burned 1.5 acres at Big Bend FAS on the Missouri River upstream of Great Falls. Cost of cleanup and fence post replacement, including labor, mileage and materials: $500.
Anyone with information on these incidents is urged to call FWP at 1800-TIPMONT. Informants are kept confidential and rewards up to $1,000 are possible.
(via Montana FWP)
