Acting superintendent Sene gives Bighorn Canyon update

The acting superintendent of the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area provided a late summer update Monday at the Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon.

Dustin Sene, accompanied by Bighorn Canyon Interpretation and Education Manager Christy Fleming, is the superintendent at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument north of Bighorn Canyon and lives in Ranchester. He has been the acting superintendent at Bighorn Canyon on several occasions, he said as he provided his background with the National Park Service.

While it’s difficult for an acting superintendent to make meaningful changes or lasting decisions, Sene said he wants to work closely with the community.

“In the acting role, there’s always that part where (you ask) how far do you go with things?” Sene said. “There’s going to be a permanent (superintendent) come in at some point, so you don’t want to come in and flip the whole program upside down, change everything and then have the permanent come in and be like, ‘What did you do to this program?’ So we’re trying to do the best we can do with what we’ve got right now.

“The community is a huge part of what this park does, and we can’t do what we do in the park without the community. So I think it’s super important that we are here to work with you guys, to see what you guys need, see what you guys would want to see, give you guys updates on what the park is doing, what direction we’re currently going, and part of that is trying to set up quarterly meetings. We’d love to come and just get feedback.

“How are things going? What do you like? What don’t you like? Here’s some of the stuff the parks working on. Just kind of give an update on the park and try to get a pulse on what we are missing. What can we do better to help you guys? And then, inevitably, there’s a lot of things we’re going to need help with from the community, as well. So we’re trying to work together a little bit better, so that that’s the main goal.”

With the changes taking place in the federal government this year, Sene said, Bighorn Canyon is prioritizing recreation. That means making sure restrooms are open, docks are installed and bathrooms are cleaned, he said, but it also includes improvements at Black Canyon on the north district such as new anchor points for docks to help boaters deal with fluctuating water levels and a new log boom at Horseshoe Bend.

The current log boom at Horseshoe Bend has been failing for a couple of years now, Sene said, noting, “We’re doing our best to keep it running, but we are at a point where the facilities folks have said, if the boom breaks another couple times, we’re not going to have the stuff we need to fix it. So we’re trying to work through that and trying to get a project put in right now to have the appropriate log booms put in so that we can keep them maintained, keep them in place and have them do the job that they’re supposed to do.”

The staff is working on funding the project and is hoping to have a new boom in place next year, Sene said.

He said the aquatic invasive species program is going well, and as of this week some 1,500 boats have gone through the check station near Horseshoe Bend this year. He said three interns have helped significantly with the program.

Visitation numbers are down about 20 percent after a strong start this year, but spending is strong at Park Service bookstores in the region, and the Park Service is seeing a lot of foreign travelers.

The Park Service is also working on bear management, collaborating with the Wyoming and Montana game and fish agencies and the Crow Tribe on a bear management plan for the park. There will be an emphasis on education, he said, noting, “Christy and her team and the rest of the staff in the park are really trying to emphasize teaching the public appropriate bear etiquette. When you’re out in there, you’re not leaving garbage in your tents. You’re not cleaning fish along the lakeshore, that kind of stuff. We have reporting protocols in place, and we’re really just trying to work through that as best as we can right now. We don’t want to have to remove bears. We’d rather try to teach the public how to appropriately deal with the country with bears in it.”

Looking ahead, Sene said the Bighorn Canyon staff is working to prioritize projects for the next fiscal year, working with the national and regional offices.

“We are trying to identify what are the key needs for the park, what are the key projects that we have in the park and what funding do we have available for those projects?” Sene said, again noting the emphasis on recreation. “And as we get those needs identified, we’re putting the projects in to get the money to make those work. That hasn’t been solidified. I don’t have a good list right now, but we are trying to not just throw spit wads at the wall and (instead) trying to make good, solid decisions on what projects we need to go forward.”

The reconstruction of the main ranch house at the Ewing -Snell Ranch is in the engineering and design phase right now, Sene said, with construction likely in 2027 or 2028.

The park will move to winter hours on September 7, Sene said, with the Taggart Visitor Center closing on Sundays and Mondays.