Swank secures contract to build ranger station

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead National Forest has awarded Swank Enterprises of Kalispell a construction contract for a new ranger station in Hungry Horse.

The Forest Service received five bids for the contract, and ended up taking Swank's low bid of $3,261,507.

"We received five proposals and were pleased with all of them," said Hungry Horse District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera. The selection was based on technical evaluation, past experience, proposed local employment plan, experience of the firm and best monetary value.

The new facility will be approximately 14,000 square feet. Construction is anticipated to begin soon, with a completion date of fall 2007.

The current ranger station was built in the early 1950s as the headquarters for the Hungry Horse Dam construction project.

The station was recently sold, along with 92 acres of Forest Service land on the outskirts of Hungry Horse through an online auction run by the federal General Services Administration.

The existing ranger station is being leased by the Flathead forest from Byrd Enterprises, a Spokane firm owned by a family from the Columbia Falls area.

Proceeds from the specially authorized land sale are being directed toward the cost of building a new ranger station.