SAM Magazine—Missoula, Mont., Mar. 12, 2013—Tom Maclay, who has long sought to develop a destination resort at Lolo Peak in the Bitterroot Mountains, has lost control of his property to Met Life Agricultural Investments through foreclosure.
Missoula County Sheriff Carl Ibsen signed a sheriff’s deed over to Met Life on Feb. 27, five days after a one-year deadline for Maclay to redeem his loan from Met Life. Maclay’s 3,000-acre ranch and home were sold at a sheriff’s auction to Met Life on Feb. 22, 2012.
Maclay had twice submitted plans for a Bitterroot Resort to the U.S. Forest Service, but both times the FS determined that his plan didn’t meet minimum requirements for a special use permit application.