Firm gets exclusive rights three days a week this summer

Wayfarers State Park managers have decided to give a Bigfork business exclusive access three days a week to in-park kayak and paddleboard rentals, which limits other businesses to dropping off rentals at the summer hot spot the other four days a week.

Pat Doyle, the marketing and communications manager with Montana State Parks, said the concession went to the Bigfork Outdoor Rentals, the vendor with the highest bid. Doyle said Wayfarers is the fifth state park in Montana to establish a concession.

“This is really part of a statewide effort to start treating our parks more like a business and increase our revenue,” Doyle said.

He said the decision was based on the Montana State Parks 2015 strategic plan, which aims to double revenue by 2020.

Currently, Montana State Parks has a budget of roughly $8 million a year. Doyle said that’s roughly 68 percent of what neighboring state park systems have to work with, though Montana State Parks has more land under its control.

The agency has a $22.7 million maintenance backlog.

“We’re dealing with major budget issues, with 55 parks around the state, just 64 full-time employees and a record number of visitors,” Doyle said. “We’re looking for ways to move our park system forward.”

In the past, businesses have been able to deliver to Wayfarers seven days a week on commercial use permits.

Mark Schurke, the owner of Base Camp Bigfork, is one of the 13 business owners that has a permit for the park. He’s also one of three businesses who unsuccessfully bid to run the concession.

Schurke said the change in rules a month before peak tourist season hurts local businesses. He estimated 50 percent of his 2015 summer revenue came from delivering watercraft rentals to Wayfarers.

“This creates a monopoly — one business won’t have to face competition and park visitors will have only one choice for who to rent from on the only Flathead Lake beach in Bigfork,” he said.

Schurke said he received a letter in January from Montana State Parks announcing that the permit to deliver at the park would increase by $50. He said with that information, he renewed the lease on his building — half a mile from the park’s entrance — purchased inventory and hired a summer staff.

On March 21, he had a voicemail from a park manager announcing the park was going to take bids for the concession.

According to the final negotiated contract, the bid winner will have exclusive access in the park Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The contract goes into effect Wednesday, June 1, and extends to August 2017.

“What am I supposed to tell customers on those days when they want to go down to the beach?” Schurke said. “Not only can I not operate on the same playing field as my competitor, but, in essence, I’m forced to send that customer-base to somebody I’m in direct competition with.”

According to Montana State Parks, Bigfork Outdoor Rentals won the concession bid with 16 percent of its sales going toward the agency. The contract allows the business to have staff and the infrastructure on the beach needed to rent out its products.

Dale Whalen, owner of Bigfork Outdoor Rentals, said he was surprised when he heard about the concession.

“I definitely share the public’s concern about not having quite as many options, but in the end, it’s a decision that the park was going to make. So we applied,” Whalen said. “We’re not greedy people. We aren’t here to put other companies out of business.”

He said originally the contract called for his business to be the sole vendor to deliver rentals in the park seven days a week with 23 percent of its revenue returning to the park.

However, after a series of Bigfork residents contacted the agency’s regional staffers with concerns, Montana State Parks asked to renegotiate the contract with Whalen for a compromise.

“I was excited to do that,” Whalen said. “We were hoping that would make the sting a bit less. After that, I don’t know what else we should do or apologize for. There’s still enough business in the summer for all businesses to do well, which is what we want as a community.”

Doyle said businesses have other boat drop-off points to which they can deliver watercraft rentals, such as the Bigfork Fishing Access Site, which is roughly three miles from Wayfarers.

He also said the concession will reduce some of the traffic hitting the park during the peak season. According to the agency’s records, visits to the park have increased by 27 percent in the last five years, with 137,000 visitors in 2015.

State Sen. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, said while Montana State Parks had reason to be concerned about overuse at the park and budget issues, the agency moved too quickly on the concession. Keenan said he heard about the decision after the deal was finalized.

He said while state park officials have been easily accessible for his questions and have good intentions, the agency has regularly struggled to communicate well with the Bigfork community.

“In the past, we’ve always been able to work it out. But I don’t know how they’ll unwind this ball of twine — they’ve already made the decision,” Keenan said.

Schurke said while the contract with the concessioner allows other businesses like his in the park four days a week, he wonders if that compromise will disappear over time. Every two years, businesses will have to hope they place the highest bid, he said.

“This is a hard place to start a business. I joke, ‘If you’re not meant to be here, Bigfork will spit you out,’” he said. “I can’t let this go because, like others, I’ve worked too hard at this the last seven years for my business to be hurt by something that’s not my fault.”

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at [email protected].