“When the opportunity arose to purchase it, we were pretty excited because you just don’t come across properties like that with this much water, a lake, the ecological things, the historical and cultural aspects of it,” Fitzwilliams said. “The sky is the limit for what you can offer there, but we always tempered that. Our vision has always been something intimate, unique and in a manner that really takes into account and preserves the values that have been around there for so long.
Bergen Tjossem, deputy director of the Eagle Valley Land Trust, estimates that less than 100 people live close to Sweetwater Lake and said there have meetings with local residents every other week since the fall. He is sensitive to their concerns. When Sweetwater Lake becomes a state park, it likely will allow rowboat rides, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards, officials say.
The forest service, CPW and the Eagle Valley Land Trust this spring are expected to finalize a proposed management plan that would then go through a mandatory National Environmental Policy Act process, most likely this summer. That process will include opportunities for public comment. After the NEPA process is completed, Fitzwilliams will make a final decision.