The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the City of Polson are moving forward with the shoreline restoration project at Salish Point Park on Flathead Lake and hope to complete it early next week.  

The CSKT Forestry Department started removing the grass to reconstruct the bank last week, and Salish Kootenai College’s heavy equipment students brought in gravel. The project aims to address shoreline erosion that has occurred since the first restoration project in 2008.  

“Our goal of this project is to create a more resilient shoreline that protects infrastructure, supports water quality and continues to provide a place the community can enjoy,” CSKT Division of Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation manager, Whisper Camel-Means said at a press conference before the project kicked off. 

Strong winds striking the beach have pushed the gravel onto the other side, causing shoreline erosion and a drop in elevation along the southern boundary, CSKT Fisheries Biologist and Salish Point project manager Barry Hansen said.  

“We want to come back and replenish the beach and modify it by pulling back the grassy portion to create a more crescent-shaped beach that will better adapt to those variable wind directions, rather than the straight beach we built originally,” Hansen said at a press conference.  

Hansen, who was a part of the first restoration project in the early 2000s, explained that Salish Point was part of the old mill owned by Dupuis Brothers Lumber in the early 1900s. He said after some materials were removed, the area was abandoned and needed to be addressed for the community and lakeshore health.  

During the 2008 restoration project, the wooden pilings and the metal left behind were also removed. Hansen called the first project a large effort that made the steep drop off a stable slope.  

This project aims to build a Dynamic Equilibrium beach with proper gravel and a slope that shifts with the waves, a better engineered solution than a concrete wall, Hansen said. The goal of this project is to complete it during low pool, using larger material in deeper water and finer material at the water’s edge.  

During restoration efforts, a portion of the Salish Point day-use shoreline area will be temporarily closed to the public. The boat launch and marina slips will remain open and accessible throughout the project. Hansen noted that they will carefully manage traffic in both directions while perch fishing is popular, and construction crews are in the area.  

The city reinitiated the Salish Point Committee — a joint committee between the Tribes and the city — at the beginning of this year to continue working with CSKT in this area. This is the first project since the committee was recreated.  

Hansen said on Monday that the project is already more than halfway complete and may be finished by the end of this week or early next week. He added that crews are currently constructing the proper slope grade and bringing in large amounts of gravel.  

    Excavator operator Richard Burland with the Tribes' forestry department loads dirt removed from Salish Point into a dump truck last week. (Emily Messer/Leader)