Grizzly boondoggle leaves county holding the bag

A project that started with a $30,000 collaborative agreement between Lincoln County and the United States Geological Survey has turned into a million-plus dollar boondoggle leaving one Lincoln County government fund more than $300,000 in the red.

The fund was created in 2011 to pay for a study about the endangered grizzly bear population to be conducted by Katherine Kendall of the United States Geological Survey, but has expanded over the years to include the University of Montana Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, with the cost ballooning up to more than $1,200,000.

The first official mention of the study is in the county commissioners’ meeting minutes of Feb. 2, 2011. The commissioners at the time were Ron Downey, Tony Berget and Marianne Roose. The notation is short and details scarce.

“2:35 p.m.: Commissioner Berget talked about the grizzly study. They need $200,000 to do the study. He has been asking for ‘soft’ commitments for donations. He would like to see the county give some as well.”

Downey said he remembers making the decision to proceed with the study as a means of removing the grizzly from the endangered species list and helping to spur economic development in the county.

“We decided to move on it because fish and game didn’t seem to be in any hurry to go forward,” Downey said.

Downey said the commission made the decision to move forward with the study and to solicit donations from other organizations to help offset the financial burden. “We had to commit to the full money and we were counting on donations from private companies,” he said.

That financial commitment began March 2, 2011, when the commissioners approved a motion from Berget to commit a donation of “up to $50,000” from Lincoln County. The minutes do not specify how each commissioner voted on the motion.

It was at this point the University of Montana entered the picture. A sponsored research agreement was signed by Commissioner Roose April 20, 2011, awarding the university $170,000 to begin the grizzly bear population study.

The commissioners’ next official mention of the study came Dec. 14, 2011. “The commissioners discussed sending a letter to Kate to assure their commitment of the finish of the project to the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. This will be an amendment of the original letter because the first agreement was for one year only,” is recorded in the minutes.

Without further conversation by the commissioners, according to published meeting minutes, a decision was made to continue the study and provide an additional $1,058,800 in funding.

A letter dated Jan. 4, 2012 from Commissioner Roose to Mike Mitchell of the University of Montana expressed the commission’s desire.

“Lincoln County would like to modify our agreement with the University of Montana to continue work on establishing an estimate of abundance for the grizzly bear population in the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem.

“Our new grant (M28986) adds $1,058,000 to the agreement.”

Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder Robin Benson confirmed the use of the term “grant” in the letter referred to the money being paid by Lincoln County to the university. This was not in reference to a grant received by the county to supplement the funding for the project.

The project cost breakdown shows, after the last January 2012 modification, a total of $486,691.48 for salaries, $171,981.26 for employee benefits and $200,490.48 for contracted services.

Additional costs included $55,784.89 for project supplies, $1,288.40 for communications, $62,532.31 for travel, $100,368.80 for rent and $7,384.03 for repair and maintenance.

The total budget for the project was $1,228,799.90.

Although the official minutes make no note of the decision, Downey said he remembers taking a vote to move forward with the study, and he recalls the total cost was estimated at more than one million dollars.

“We expected the study to cost between 1.2 and 1.6 million,” Downey said. “But you’d have to speak with Tony to really get into the numbers, he was handling the money.”

Calls to former commissioner Berget go to a voicemail box that is full and unable to accept new messages. Former commissioner Roose was also unavailable for comment.

According to a report provided to Bill Bischoff, the commissioners’ executive assistant, Lincoln County has paid the University of Montana $1,058,223.53 to date on the project. Based upon the total budget of $1,228.799.90, that leaves the county on the hook for an additional $170,576.37 against a fund already $308,456 in the red.

Not all of the burden, however, is falling on the shoulders of Lincoln County taxpayers. According to reports provided by the clerk and recorder’s office, $719,748.42 was raised from other agencies and private organizations to help fund the study.

The donations include $300,000 each from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and Revett Minerals Inc., as well as $100,000 from Mines Management Inc. and smaller donations from 10 other organizations and individuals.

Information provided by Commissioner Mark Peck shows $94,000 still outstanding from pledged donations. There is, however, no documentation of those pledges beyond names and amounts on a spreadsheet dated August 2012.

Commissioner Greg Larson said the county commissioners are still trying to figure out exactly how to approach the problem.

“We are going to contact those folks and try to get all of the committed dollars to the county,” he said.

Even if all of the pledged donations are received, the county will still have spent more than $415,000 for the study. The current negative balance would decrease to $214,465, but there could still be $170,567.40 in outstanding bills waiting to be paid.

While he believes the study to be worth the cost incurred, Larson said the approach taken isn’t one he would use.

“If it were being done today, I feel that we wouldn’t commission a study without the written funding commitments in hand,” he said.