Deer Lodge Community Deserves a Safe & Clean Arrowstone Park

As advocates for the Clark Fork River and the communities that it supports, we believe that the ongoing Superfund work in the headwaters represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for cleanup and restoration. While we might occasionally disagree with decision makers about how cleanup should be accomplished, there are a few underlying…

A New Season for Clark Fork Coalition

Dear Friends, Organizations are a lot like rivers. They don’t stand still. They move and shift. They cut new channels. They have seasonal flows. As the Clark Fork River went about its summer business of moving snowmelt through western Montana, the Clark Fork Coalition (CFC) was busy with its own…

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, the Clark 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…

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…