Hyalite to again be accessible this winter

 By Andy Malby, editor

For the second year, Gallatin County road crews will plow Hyalite Road this winter, opening the popular recreation area south of Bozeman for a host of cold-weather uses, U.S. Forest Service and county officials said Monday.

An agreement hatched last year will continue this year and the costs will be evenly split between Gallatin County and the Forest Service, Gallatin National Forest ranger Jose Castro said. Under the terms, the county's costs will not exceed $12,000.

Plowing the road up Hyalite Canyon proved to be wildly successful last year, Castro said, with 3,000 vehicles traveling up the road in February alone.

'It was a really stroke to do that last year and working this out for the public has been great,' he said.

County crews will head up the steep road only after all other road plowing has been taken care of, making the recreational area the county's last priority, said Lee Provance, county road superintendent. Keeping the road clear last year went smoothly, though Provance said he is concerned about the integrity of newly installed guard rails in the winding canyon.

'I'm worried that we'll plow up the against them, then the snow freezes into an ice chunk and when we push more snow against it those things could start buckling,' he said. 'They're only half the size of a normal post.'

The guard rails were installed to keep vehicles from slipping into Hyalite Creek, Castro said. Hyalite Reservoir provides about 40 percent of Bozeman's drinking water and the guard rails were built to protect the watershed from potential contamination.

The county has a 5-year agreement with the Forest Service to plow the road, and has minimal liability for potential damages to the guard rails, deputy county attorney James Greenbaum said.

'It's too speculative to consider what might happen as far as damages and who might be responsible,' he said. 'Obviously, the Gallatin County Road Department employs qualified persons skilled in snow removal. If it turns out the guard rails are damaged through no fault of the county, then we would not accept responsibility.'

Legal considerations aside, the partnership is beneficial to anyone interested in using the vast recreational area, from ice fishers to skiers and snowmobilers to ice climbers, County Commissioner Bill Murdock said.

'I think this great news for Gallatin County residents because they use the heck out of Hyalite Canyon in the winter,' he said. 'It's a good partnership.'

For detailed winter use maps, visit the Gallatin National Forest Web site at fs.fed.us and click the 'Hyalite Canyon Winter Recreation 2009' link or call the agency at 587-6701.