FWP declines to renew lease, Parker Homestead no longer a state park
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks has announced that Parker Homestead near Three Forks will no longer be a state park. Citing budget constraints, FWP decline to renew its lease on the 1-acre park when its 25-year-old lease came due on Jan. 1.
“Frankly we are struggling to manage all the sites we have,” Jerry Walker, FWP regional park manager, said on Wednesday. “From a fiscal standing our outlook is not very bright for the future.”
Parker Homestead lies along the Jefferson River southwest of Three Forks on private property owned by a local family. The sod-roofed cabin is representative of frontier homes established by thousands of pioneers who settled Montana during the early 1900s.
“It is one of the last homesteads that is still standing,” said Robin Cadby-Sorensen, director of Headwaters Heritage Museum in Three Forks. “It is symbolic of the early days.”
The cabin was built around the turn of the century by Nelson Parker and his wife Rosa Hardwood, who came to Montana from Utah in the late 1800s. The homestead was used through at least the 1940s before becoming a state park in 1985.
By the mid-1990s, Parker Homestead had fallen into disrepair. Bill Fairhurst, Three Forks mayor at the time, lobbied then Gov. Mark Racicot to preserve the homestead for future generations. In 1998, volunteers from the community, the Montana Conservation Corps and members of FWP made structural repairs to the building.
Walker said FWP had discussions with the family on renewing the lease, but said that the future of the site as a state park was a question mark for them as well. He said given the state’s current financial situation, it just didn’t make sense to renew the lease.
“We, the people of Montana, need to focus on areas that we outright own,” Walker said.
In addition to Parker Homestead, Three Forks is located in close proximity to Lewis & Clark Caverns, Missouri Headwaters and Madison Buffalo Jump state parks. Cadby-Sorensen said the parks have long attracted tourists to the Three Forks area and lamented the loss of Parker Homestead as a state park.
“We were sure disappointed,” she said. “The parks are certainly interesting places to go and see, and I think that is good for our community.”
No related posts.
About The Author
Loading ...
Comments