One River.  And A Lot of Loud Voices

By Clark Fork Coalition, 7-06-09

Here it is from the horse’s mouth — my version of events from Friday, July 3 and the community float through Missoula.  I’m sure you saw some of the write-ups in the Missoulian or maybe on TV that night– but for the first time in over a hundred years, a few select folks were able to float the Clark Fork River through the Clark Fork-Blackfoot confluence just upstream of Missoula because of a special order from Governor Brian Schweitzer.  I think Germaine White, Clark Fork Coalition board member and Information Specialist for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) said it best on Friday.  “The river wants to renew and heal itself,” she said.  She also told us about the word “N’ayccm,” which means “Place of the Big Bull Trout,” and is a word used for centuries by western Montana tribes to describe the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers.  “It’s going to be this place, once again,” she said to us.  “I feel like I’m walking in the footsteps of my ancestors.”

I literally had chills from Turah to Sha’ron on Friday.  Seriously– there’s no words to describe the feeling of floating through one of the most legendary stretches of river in the entire world.  James Steele, CKST Chairman, saw a pair of eagles at the confluence– a symbol that means “This is where I’m supposed to be.” And this is exactly how I felt.  There’s something about the coming together of water.  I mean, it’s always magic to a fly-fisherman– casting your line along the riffle where one body of water meets another.  But to be casting at the confluence of rivers that have been blocked and polluted and left for dead– it’s something else all together.  I’ve never felt anything like it in my life.  And I wonder if I ever will again.

OK, the run-down.  The lineup.  On offense we had Joe Maurier, FWP Director.  He fished like a madman.  And, he brought us beer from the Governor’s Estate– Blackfoot IPA, no less.  Seems fitting, don’t you think?  Point-man James Steele didn’t fish with a rod, but he fished with his eyes– I’ve never seen someone read the water so well.  “It’s a great honor to float past where the dam was and enjoy something my people haven’t been able to enjoy since the 1880s,” Steele said on Friday. “This is an area where our people had many wars but also it was our main east-west road to the buffalo. So it’s really important from that aspect, to see this area returning to what it was.” Then, Peter Nielson of the Missoula City-County Health Department explained how last year’s runoff washed away a lot of sediment in the area, exposing stumps and gravel from the floodplain.  Now, native seed beds are sprouting here again for the first time in a hundred years, revegetating the area with native plants without the obstacle of invasive species like knapweed and spurge pulling on their roots or stealing all their sun.

Meanwhile, the Governor gave us a dose of what serendipity looks like.  Just after telling us not to expect much for the mile through the old dam, he cast right into the seam of the confluence and hooked into an 18-inch cutthroat.  Another great omen in a day full of good luck sign.  Meanwhile, Karen Knudsen, Executive Director of the Clark Fork Coalition, sat with a smile on her face for a good eight miles.  We called her our Little River Warrior.

At Shar’on, we met up with Attorney General Steve Bullock and Missoula Mayor John Engen, and more good times and good fish ensued.  The fishing picked up in a major way after the I-90 bridge and into town.  And I sure felt lucky to be the center of attention for a few river miles while the flotilla came through town to Caras Park.  I could hear The Cold Hard Cash Show sinking into the groove while John and I pulled our boat up at the take-out, and that first sip of Missoula microbrew sure felt like coming home.  There’s something about Missoula in the summer.  And there’s something about Missoula in the summer when a major dam above town is gone and I’ve just floated through.

Thanks for your support.

Daniel Kiely