A boat ramp built on Church Slough in spring 2010 — but closed by court order ever since — may be just a couple of weeks from being back in business.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Monday announced a decision notice approving a “124” permit for the ramp, which was built by Flathead County.

That clears the way for the Flathead County Planning Department to proceed with its court-ordered review of a new flood-plain permit for the ramp.

“What we’ve been waiting on is to make sure the 124 permit we have in our file is still in force,” said county planner Alex Hogle, noting that the permit was never invalidated or revoked. “So we’ll continue to move forward with the processing of a new flood-plain permit for the project.”

The permit could be approved by B.J. Grieve, the county flood-plain administrator, as soon as the end of next week, Hogle said.

“At the time that permit is issued, if it is issued, the facility could be opened and commence with use and operation,” Hogle said.

That would be welcome news to members of Flathead Wildlife Inc., a group that took the lead in getting a fishing access on the slough going back to 2007.

That year, developer Dennis Carver convinced the county commissioners to abandon Wagner Lane, an old road that paralleled the slough and provided public access to the water for decades.

Flathead Wildlife staunchly opposed the abandonment, and that resulted in Carver providing a park-land donation with no deed restrictions for a boat launch on the river.

Carver was able to create several waterfront lots on the slough that were considerably more valuable with the removal of Wagner Lane.

Soon after the access was built, Carver filed a lawsuit in May 2010 that claimed he had agreed to a low-profile access where people could hand-carry watercraft to the riverbank, as opposed to a ramp where boats could be launched with vehicles and trailers.

Over the last year in Flathead County District Court, Carver lost all of his litigation claims other than the court ruling that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks go through a supplemental environmental assessment for the 124 permit, and a ruling that the planning department conduct a more thorough flood-plain permit review.

The supplemental environmental analysis, which included a new alternative that would allow for a hand-carry ramp, was up for public review from June 3 to July 4. About 150 comments were submitted, the vast majority of them supporting an access that would accommodate boats and trailers.

Mark Deleray, a state fisheries biologist, said Carver did not support that alternative.

“In a nutshell, he believes that we’ve failed to consider all the impacts from the county’s proposal,” said Deleray, who noted that issuing 124 permits for ramps is hardly unprecedented on the river. “There is no law prohibiting boat ramps. It’s pretty common.”

In the decision notice, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Regional Supervisor Jim Satterfield said he had to consider whether recommending a hand-carry ramp would “eliminate or diminish” any adverse affects on fish and game habitat caused by the existing boat ramp.

He found “that there is no likelihood of significant impact to fish and game habitat that would cause me to direct my staff to propose the hand-carry alternative to the county.”

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.