All the waiting is over.  I’m putting in.

By Clark Fork Coalition, 6-27-09

This morning I woke up at 5AM. It all starts now. My truck was already all packed up, with the boat hitched up to the back. My wife and I had a little bit of coffee. I kissed her goodbye (but she’s joining me on the river for the day tomorrow) and I gave my kids a couple of big hugs. I can’t believe this day is here. It’s 320 launch day.

Today we’re putting in at Racetrack, near the Clark Fork Coalition’s working ranch, located just downstream of the headwaters of the Clark Fork River. It’s a 2,300-acre working ranch, located in the heart of the Superfund site on the upper river, and it’s one of the largest and most polluted ranches in the valley.  Follow me on Twitter

The Clark Fork Coalition and other groups have been working for over two decades to put the funds and the resources in place to clean up the upper river.  In the twentieth century, extractive mining resulted in extensive damage to this part of the watershed.  At times, the river ran red, contaminated by mining waste.  Farms and ranches in the valley suffered as a result of the massive pollution.  Now, the area is designated as a federal Superfund site, and the EPA is coordinating a Superfund cleanup, set to launch in 2010, that will remove toxic metals from streambeds, streambanks, and the floodplain along 56 river miles.  The State of Montana will then oversee the subsequent restoration work.  Millions will be spent repairing the river, particularly in the Deer Lodge valley.

At the Coalition’s ranch, we’re seeing progress in action.  The EPA plans to take the ranch through the most ambitious cleanup possible.  And, on the Coalition’s end, staff at the ranch is working to augment the cleanup with sustainable ranching practices that complement the EPA’s restoration work.  The Coalition plans to offer up their ranch as a learning site for neighbors to witness first hand the challenges and opportunities that the Superfund cleanup will bring.

In fact, the Coalition’s new Ranchhands Community Coordinator, Bryce Andrews, has already begun showing me some of the ins and outs at the ranch.  I already knew that the upper stretches of the river had some dynamite fishing holes tucked away in certain places.  Now, I know that it’s only going to get better over the next decade.  With mining waste coming out and new vegetation coming in, I can only predict that more trout are going to be hiding out in the upper river’s shadowy holes and new emerging braids.

Time to get back on the river.

Daniel Kiely