The BCPOA newsletter should be in your mailbox by now. The annual meeting of the membership is June 9, 7pm.
Newsletter & General Meeting June 9
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Weeds & Biocontrol
You know your property better than anyone, so make your own weed management plan.
Natives and desirables are not nearly as competitive as weeds–weeds will quickly fill any empty niche left by herbicides. Spot spraying will work better overall, and in the long run, since broadcast spraying also kills desirable plants. You may get rid of one weed temporarily, but another one just as noxious will most likely take over that empty niche. A way to avoid this is to immediately seed with a native. Since natives tend to be slower to establish, planting a quick growing annual along with native seeds can fill that niche until the natives can establish. Success in suppressing weed regrowth may be accomplished by planting an annual grain crop (barley is a good option) along with native seeds. The deer and elk will browse the barley heads while pressing the seeds into the earth with their hooves (along with the added perk of fertilizing in the process).
Biocontrol insects are well established in the Bridger Canyon area. Leafy spurge, knapweed, Canada thistle, St. Johnswort, toadflax, and common mullein all have insect populations present. (Please note that houndstongue agents are prohibited from being moved or marketed, but these insects have already migrated from their release sites in Canada as far south as Colorado.) Our climate can be quite challenging, so some years the insects may only survive and not flourish. Adding to these populations is usually not economically feasible. Once established, the insects will move to new weed infestations on their own.
Having an understanding of how biocontrol works will help with expectations:
- Weed-feeding insects do not eradicate weeds. In the weeds’ original habitats (Europe and Asia) the insects have evolved along with the weeds to keep them in check–the weeds are then simply well-behaved members of the plant community.
- Biocontrol insects cannot prevent weeds–they need food, so they can only move to new infestations.
- Beneficial insects are self-perpetuating–there is no need to put new populations out year. These agents may not always be visible, but they are very hardy.
- Biocontrol agents may be collected and moved around, but they will spread out on their own. The insects follow their food source.
- Biocontrol agents will not spread to crops or gardens–they are host-specific to their target weed.
The Field Guide for Biological Control of Weeds in the Northwest is an excellent resource for identifying weeds and their specific beneficial insects, determining biocontrol establishment, and understanding modes of attack and life cycles.
Thanks to Cyndi Crayton for putting this article together. Also check out our Weeds page.
Draft Zoning Amendment
The board has been working on a text amendment to the zoning regulations that addresses several clarity and maintenance issues. We’re eager to have your feedback!
2025 Newsletter & GM Notice
2025 General Meeting – June 10th
Dear Neighbors,
This year’s General Meeting is dedicated to defining the future of Bridger Canyon, and ensuring that BCPOA can continue its mission.
We hope that this year’s meeting can be less contentious, without the burning issues of short term rental amendments and a board coup attempt. We’d like to focus on a vision for the next 50 years, as our founders did in 1971. We also have an important Bylaws update to consider.
Annual Meeting June 10th, 7pm
BCPOA’s annual General Meeting of the membership sees the election of directors to represent you, and covers a variety of news from the year.
We’ll be meeting in person at the Bridger Canyon FD Community Room, 8081 Bridger Canyon Road. We hope to see you there!
Agenda
· Adopt the Agenda
· Minutes of 2024 Annual Meeting
· Treasurer’s Report
· Introduction of current board members
· Review of Year
· BCPOA business
· Bylaws amendment
· Elections
· Retiring Board members
· Review of Board work and meeting times, dues requirement for voting
· Board Chair election
· Election of new Directors
· New Business
· Discussion—the future of Bridger Canyon and BCPOA
· Canyon Groups
2025 Bylaws Update
The first order of business (almost) at the 2025 General Meeting will be to consider the following Bylaws update.
There are no changes to BCPOA’s fundamental mission—this is an administrative update. Principal changes include:
¨ Clarify membership criteria in the event of multiple ownership.
¨ Stagger board terms and manage vacancies to prevent clustering of elections.
¨ Provide more committee structure for distribution of workload.
¨ Improve the resolution of real or perceived conflicts of interest.
¨ Make liability and indemnification consistent with state law.
¨ Provide a map for clarity.
Final text:
The strikeout/underline version, showing amendments from the 2017 bylaws:
Resolutions of consent for the board’s recommendation to adopt the bylaws and adjust the staggering of board terms (signed copies are on file):
Membership zone map:
Updated testimony for SB 336 requiring STRs
HB 614 for termination of zoning districts
A personal comment on HB 614 (not formally approved by the board, due to extremely short time):
Dear Representatives,
Please oppose HB 614, providing for County termination of zoning districts.
In 1971, when citizen-initiated zoning was created, many citizens banded together to form districts. In Bridger Canyon, in Gallatin County, that district remains a beloved institution, and we view it as substantially responsible for the preservation of our community, our natural resources, and our property values.
Montana Constitution
ARTICLE II
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
Section 1. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY. All political power is vested in and derived from the people. All government of right originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.
These citizen-initiated districts are an example of the best spirit of the constitution, and have been popular and proliferated, with the most recent request in Gallatin County just a year ago. People don’t form them lightly, because it’s a difficult process. Yet they provide predictability in land use that is widely appreciated, as a good tradeoff for an administrative cost that is small compared to the value created.
I have been involved in zoning for nearly 20 years, for much of that time as chairman of Bridger Canyon Property Owners’ Association, which represents about 250 households in a rural district. I fully recognize that the success of citizen-initiated districts has become a challenge for the counties, due to the complexity of administering districts with distinct goals and regulations. We as citizens would value harmonization as much as the county, because it would reduce errors, improve consistency, and perhaps reduce the costs that drive our taxes a tiny bit.
However, we don’t want a unilateral termination process that could be used to pound our diverse districts into a top-down framework without more citizen input that HB 614 provides. Ideally, a termination bill would provide a way for Commissioners to initiate a referendum, so that citizens could decide the fate of their district, as then did when it was formed. Minimally, a termination bill MUST provide more notice and due process than an ordinary hearing affords. This is an extraordinary event, that could be expected to happen once a century, not once a month. A termination bill should also provide standards for an encompassing district and an orderly process for preservation of legacy approvals, similar to nonconforming uses.
Provide the citizens with an attractive, open, bottom-up process, and I am certain that we will respond with enthusiasm for harmonization. Top-down termination will, I fear, lead to discord.
Regards,
Tom Fiddaman
Bozeman/Bridger Canyon
Preliminary Notes on SB 336
At least two bills working their way through Helena continue the PRC’s push to implement the zoning amendment that failed in Bridger Canyon. Like most legislation arising from a small group with vested interests, rather than broad conversations with statewide constituents, these would have problematic side-effects – not just for Bridger Canyon, but other districts in Gallatin County and across Montana. SB214 remains in play, but is currently unscheduled. The worst of the Short Term Rental bills so far, SB 336, has a hearing scheduled for Feb. 24, so we urge you to express your views (see links at the bottom).
LC 1007 is now SB 336 in the Senate Local Government Committee. It will look familiar, because it more or less repeats the Short Term Rental amendment the PRC pursued last year. It:
- declares that STRs – even investor-owned, non-owner-occupied ones, are residential noncommercial uses.
- requires STRs to be permitted everywhere, if permitted anywhere, contradicting the whole point of having subdistricts within a zoning district.
- provides a rentable Accessory Dwelling for every property.
- makes regulation of STRs uniquely difficult, more than any other residential, commercial or industrial use.
This breaks our General Plan and overrides local control, reversing the will of residents expressed by the 56 to 8 opposition to the STR amendment considered by the P&Z Commission in December.
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Land use is exquisitely local. As a general principle, state zoning statutes should create a framework for orderly local control of uses. They should not be used as a cookie jar to provide special dispensation for every interest group’s favorite use. Historically, state zoning law has only singled out broad categories of uses, like agriculture, and that is wise.
What can you do?
SB 336 could be subject to a committee vote today, so the immediate need is to express your view to the Local Government Committee.
- Sign in at https://participate.legmt.gov/
- Choose Standing Committees > Submit Written Comment
- Choose On a Bill > SB214 or To a Committee > Senate Local Government
This is a little lengthy the first time, but sets you up to influence future legislation. Alternatively, you can email the committee members.
Becky.Beard@legmt.gov
Christopher.Pope@legmt.gov
Ellie.Boldman@legmt.gov
Forrest.Mandeville@legmt.gov
Jason.Ellsworth@legmt.gov
Jeremy.Trebas@legmt.gov
Kenneth.Bogner@legmt.gov
Susan.Webber@legmt.gov
Greg.Hertz@legmt.gov
Dave.Fern@legmt.gov
Gayle.Lammers@legmt.gov
Missoula has a nice primer on engaging with legislation,
https://missoulacountyvoice.com/2025-session/news_feed/engag…
Update: full testimony below.
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