What's expected to be the final negotiating session between the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Foundation and the Bureau of Reclamation regarding the trust fund raised by the sale of cabin sites at Canyon Ferry Reservoir is slated to be held Oct. 16 in Helena.

This will be the third time representatives of the FWP Foundation try to hammer out an agreement with the government over management for the $20 million in the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust. The previous two meetings ended at an impasse, mainly over disagreements regarding duties of the trustee and fees.

The negotiations are slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Unionville Room at the Park Plaza Hotel.

At issue is whether the nonprofit FWP Foundation should retain its current trust management contract with fewer duties and a lower fee; or assume additional duties for the existing fee. Either option would include an ending date for the contract, which is something the current arrangement doesn't include due to an apparent oversight.

At the Sept. 24 meeting, FWP Foundation representatives said they weren't able to drop their annual management fee below 1 percent of the trust fund, which would be about $200,000 annually. Currently the trust gets 1.25 percent, which is about $250,000.

The income from the trust is one of the biggest annual cash payments to the FWP Foundation.

However, trust fund managers are refusing to pay more than 0.7 percent, which would be $140,000 of the $20 million fund. They want to hire an executive director instead, and pay that person or an assistant to do basic administrative tasks, as well as some fundraising.

Mike Ryan, regional director for Reclamation, has been heading the negotiations as part of a five-person Director's Working Group.