Missoula News

River Recreation and Conservation

New Blackfoot River Recreation Plan Nears Completion

By Jonathan Weber , 12-02-09

Ah, summer on the Blackfoot. Photo courtesy of University of Montana.

The Blackfoot River, with its excellent fishing, outstanding scenery, varied whitewater, and proximity to Missoula, is one of the great recreation resources of Western Montana. Its very popularity, though, inevitably creates some issues, and a proposed new recreation management plan could eventually lead to a permit system for use of some parts of the river. The plan has been in development for more than two years by the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife & Parks and a community working group, and the pubic has until Dec. 16 to offer comments and feedback before the plan is adopted.

The plan divides the river into eight separate “reaches,” and specifies the goals and management approaches for each section. The piece between Johnsrud Park and Bonner, for example, sees very heavy summer traffic from tubers and would be managed with the “social” component of recreation in mind; the upstream reaches near Lincoln and Ovando, by contrast, are much quieter, and the emphasis there would be on preserving the solitude and the natural resources rather than facilitating access.

“Regardless of where you are on the river, it’s critical to protect the resource,” said Charlie Sperry, a recreation management specialist with FWP, in explaining the basis of the management plan. The issues examined by the planning group include access sites and facilities, riverside camping, landowner conflicts, litter, and how best to accommodate the broad range of activities - from fishing to bird-watching to competitive kayaking - that people undertake on the Blackfoot.

The most controversial element of the plan involves the possible implementation of permit system for floating on the 12-mile stretch known as Reach 3, from the Harry Morgan fishing access site to the Russell Gates fishing access site. While the plan holds out the permit system as a last-resort option if other means of controlling crowding are ineffective, it still has some people concerned.

“If we’re having trouble with river crowding, the private public shouldn’t be permitted until commercial use has been seriously restricted,” says Dudley Improta, a Missoula resident with long involvement in river management and recreation issues. “I really appreciate the time that the group has devoted to this,” he said. But Improta advocates a system along the lines of what is currently in place on the Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers, where commercial outfitting is banned on certain days on each stretch of the river.

The proposed Blackfoot permit system would have two phases, one for reservations three months before the start of the summer season and one for reservations 14 days in advance of launch. Up to 50 percent of the permits in the first phase would be reserved for commercial outfitters, while the phase two permits would be first-come, first-served for both commercial and non-commercial floaters.

“We looked at a lot of different permit systems and we tried to come up with something that was doable and a balance between commercial and non-commercial,” said Lee Bastian, regional park manager with FWP. “I feel that what we’re proposing will be a balance.”

One thing the FWP and the working group do not know is how heavily various stretches of the river are actually used, and thus a key component of the plan is a registration system for floaters which will enable the collection of data on usage trends. Any permit system, the FWP officials emphasized, would only come into play if it was clear that crowding was becoming a bigger problem.

For Improta, prioritizing private use is a philosophical issue, as well as a practical one. “We have a stream access law which guarantees a right for citizens to recreate on the river,” notes Improta. That right, in turn, is a “cornerstone” of river protection, he says, because people care more if they have a personal stake in the matter. “We need a strong constituency to protect these resources.”

In his formal comments on the plan, Improta also said the non-commercial days on the Big Hole and the Beaverhead have been a great success, in part because it’s more relaxing to fish when you’re not competing with professional guides.

The FWP has already held its public meetings on the management plan, but it’s not too late to share your views. You can send an email to blackfootcomments@mt.gov, or a letter to Blackfoot River Recreation Management Plan, 3201 Spurgin Road, Missoula, MT 59804. Visit the FWP website for more information.

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