HOLLAND LAKE - The Flathead National Forest announced that Kurt Steele had accepted a new position at the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Region in Missoula in June, stepping down from his role as supervisor after a three-and-a-half-year tenure.
During his time as supervisor, Steele garnered controversy from community members opposing a proposed expansion project at Holland Lake Lodge.
The Flathead National Forest recently appointed a new Acting Forest Supervisor, Carol Hatfield. Hatfield currently serves as the Deputy Forest Supervisor of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
She will provide temporary leadership while the Flathead National Forest works to permanently fill the supervisor position.
The Flathead National Forest, under the supervision of Steele, rejected the initial master development plan for expansion at Holland Lake Lodge from Utah-based adventure lifestyle company POWDR, in November of 2022, citing inaccuracies in their proposal.
A representative from POWDR told MTN News in December of 2022 that they would be resubmitting a master development Plan in due time. We reached out to POWDR for an update on their new master development plan.
“Over the past several months, we’ve been continuing our community engagement efforts and gaining helpful insights from the community on their ideas on how we can improve the MDP. We’re still working to make edits and still plan to re-submit,” POWDR Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs Stacey Hutchinson responded.
Save Holland Lake, an ad-hoc coalition, stands in opposition to development on the shores of Holland Lake. The group says it is concerned about the environmental impacts of the proposed expansion.
They say the Flathead National Forest has not been fully transparent with them in the past and are looking for that to change with new leadership.
"We want to be able to trust the Forest Service that what they're telling us is true. And we want them to be transparent with us and tell us what's happening. They have an operating plan. They have a master-development plan. They have a special-use permit. They need to make that public to the public so we know what's going on. We want them to be transparent," Save Holland Lake Spokesperson Bill Lombardi told MTN News.
