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Mike Horse Mine Cleanup

In the 1940s, miners used metals-laced tailings to build the Mike Horse Dam at the origins of the Blackfoot River on Beartrap Creek near the Continental Divide. In 1975, the tailings dam blew out, dumping deadly levels of lead, copper and zinc into the Blackfoot. The mine’s corporate owner, ASARCO, rebuilt…
Protecting Selenium Standards in Lake Koocanusa

When the Montana Board of Environmental Review (BER) chose to void Montana DEQ’s protective water quality standard for selenium in Lake Koocanusa, it put the interests of a foreign mining company over the interests of Montana. The review board’s decision seems solely to benefit Teck Coal, the Canadian mining company that is…
Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch

Cattle and Clean Water at Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch From 2005 to 2021, Clark Fork Coalition and partners ran Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch (DCCR), a 2,300-acre working cattle ranch in Montana’s Deer Lodge Valley, to be a living classroom for the largest river repair job in the West, located in…
Cottonwood-Baggs Fish Passage

In the late fall of 2019, the Coalition finished a stream reconnection project on Baggs Creek and Cottonwood Creek in the upper Clark Fork. Eight miles of stream was opened to fish passage for the first time in many decades. Cottonwood Creek also benefited from a large…
Valiton Ditch Split Season Lease

Three landowners are working with us to reduce late season water use on the mainstem Clark Fork. They lease CFC their water right from mid-July through August and cease irrigation if flows reach low levels. We also improved a diversion to help fish passage. This project strikes a balance between…
Broken Circle Diversion Upgrade

Historically, Broken Circle Ranch rebuilt their irrigation diversion every summer using broken concrete and streambed material, which resulted in passage issues for fish and recreationists. In 2023, the ranch worked with the Coalition to install an innovative floating fish screen and river pump that requires minimal structure in the river…
Helen-Johnson Ditch Project

The Helen Johnson project reduced irrigation withdrawals from the mainstem of the Upper Clark Fork by over 15 cfs on three ranches. It removed a…
Community Science Monitoring Miller Creek

On Miller Creek, community science volunteers assessed habitat, noxious weeds, and riparian vegetation species diversity pre- and post stream restoration at two sites. Community science is scientific work undertaken by members of the public in collaboration with professional scientists and scientific institutions. When community members and scientists work together, scientists are…
Grant Creek Restoration

Grant Creek Watershed Restoration Plan As part of our 2024 efforts, we conducted two demonstration shoreline plantings at the Highlander Brewing and Hilton Hotel, showcasing best practices for riparian restoration. The Clark Fork Coalition, with assistance from the Missoula Conservation District and River Design Group, developed…
River Ambassadors

During the summer, Missoula River Ambassadors can be spotted at busy river access sites and community events, on popular day-float stretches, and immersed in conservation and restoration projects dotting Missoula’s urban river corridor. This team of community ambassadors guides the ever-growing river-recreation culture toward stewardship. During peak river season from…
Clean Smurfit Now

The Smurfit-Stone pulp mill operated on the banks of the Clark Fork River near Frenchtown from 1957 to 2010, discharging enormous amounts of wastewater into the river. More than a decade after the mill closed, the 3,200-acre industrial site is still leaching harmful chemicals into the river and our aquifer.
Exempt Wells Loophole

In 1973, the Montana Legislature passed the Water Use Act, which created a process for permitting new water rights. To reduce permitting burdens on small, individual users, it exempted groundwater use for “domestic, agricultural, or livestock purposes.” This meant applicants did not have to prove that the water was physically…