The Mess at Smurfit-Stone

A Living River, A Toxic Legacy Situated in the heart of the ancestral homelands of the Salish, Kalispel, and Ksanka peoples, theClark Fork River plays an important part not only in the history of the region, but also in the present and future for all who live here. Rising out…

Public Comments Open on Upper Clark Fork Strategic Plan

The State of Montana’s Superfund cleanup of legacy mining pollution from the upper Clark Fork River corridor – between Warm Springs Creek and Garrison – has been underway for 13 years. In that time, the State has removed metals-laced soils from roughly 14 of the project’s 47 river miles and…

Peak Snow Water Equivalent Season

Happy peak SWE (snow water equivalent) season! For those of us who really like to nerd out on the climate data, this time of year is always exciting. Most mountainous locations in western Montana experience peak levels of snowpack accumulation anywhere from mid-March through mid-May (largely dependent on elevation) but…

Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity to Help America’s Wildlife

It’s been 15 years in the making and when it’s done, it will be one of the biggest funding boosts to help wildlife and their habitats in many, many decades. The federal bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) will help conserve fish and wildlife in every state in the country, including many species that…

Racetrack Creek Finally Has Chance to Connect to Clark Fork River

by Andrew Gorder "The plaintiffs are owners of lands requiring irrigation, which could be served by Racetrack Creek, were the waters of the stream sufficiently copious. […]. Conceiving that an ample supply of water might be obtained if the surplus flood and waste waters of the stream were impounded and…

Commissioners weaken selenium standard

by David Brooks, executive Director, Montana Trout Unlimited; Andrew Gorder, legal director, Clark Fork Coalition; Ellie Hudson-Heck, conservation assistant, Idaho Conservation League; Derf Johnson, Clean Water Program director and staff attorney, Montana Environmental Information Center Commissioners not telling the truth about selenium standard As the adage goes: everyone is entitled…

Clark Fork Litter Is a Global Issue

by Sam Dwyer I’ve spent 94.9% of my life in Montana, but a few years ago I had an opportunity to work at an international school in the Middle East. When I moved to Oman, one of the most striking cultural differences wasn’t the Arabic language or the abayas—there was…

Upper Clark Fork Diversion Dam Removal Project

Above: Alvi-Beck site in October 2021 after installation of rock riffle diversion and fish screen. Volunteers planted new willows and shrubs to help the site recover.   A River in Transition By Andy Fischer (Clark Fork Coalition) and Casey Hackathorn (Trout Unlimited) With 43 miles of Superfund cleanup underway at…

Gianforte’s Refusal to Enforce Bad Actor Law Is Dead Wrong for Montanans

GUEST OPINION by Jeffrey Stiffarm, Kathi Slora, Jim Nash, Dave Lyman, and Debbie Lyman After we read Jerry Bennett’s recent guest opinion, “Montana DEQ did the right thing on Hecla mining proposal” (Helena Independent Record, Dec. 7, 2021), we couldn’t help but wonder, “right for whom?” The Department of Environmental…

Making Progress with Beaver Conflict Resolution

Summary of the 2021 field season of the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Program by Anne Greene During the 2021 field season, Elissa Chott was busy as a beaver. It’s hard to avoid the comparison since Elissa is the beaver specialist with the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Program, a partnership between…