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Fish Hawk Campground near Helena closed due to misuse

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Posted at 1:31 PM, Feb 19, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-19 21:02:24-05

CANYON FERRY LAKE — Trash and misuse of the Fish Hawk Campground along the northwestern shore of Canyon Ferry Lake has led the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to close the recreation site.

According to a news release from the agency on Thursday, February 17, record-high visitors at Canyon Ferry Lake contributed to an increase in trash and litter in the Fish Hawk Campground, prompting the closure.

Lewis & Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton says misuse like litter and dumping garbage is a public nuisance, illegal, and can force closure of public lands.

“Now we see because of misuse and vandalism to campgrounds that USBR has to shut them down to repair. If you are going to be camping and if you see somebody vandalizing or misbehaving, if you see something, say something,” said Dutton.

Previously, Lewis & Clark Sheriff’s deputies would patrol the campgrounds along Canyon Ferry Lake looking for misuse, but now they respond to calls for service around the area.

If you see something illegal, Dutton says to give them a call.

“People leaving garbage, if we could catch them doing that or throwing litter, we would try to catch them doing that and underage possession of a substance we would look for that. If there's vandalism, we would try to track that down and see who may have saw what vehicle it was from,” said Dutton.

To protect the public lands from further closure, Dutton reminds who these lands are for.

“Remember, you're protecting it for everyone these are public use,” said Dutton.


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