MAD AS HELL!

If you don't want to hear (or read) a really angry rant then you may want to skip this blog entry. So yesterday I was off do some fun fishing with two guide buddies and happened to pick up the local free paper, The Bitterroot Star. I was hoping that my coffee hadn't kicked in yet and I had misread the headline which stated "Homeowners Reconstruct River". WTF! The article states that a construction company out of Colorado just started the process of completely moving the river out of its current channel to the 2008 channel and away from two existing homes and was approved this winter by Chris Clancy, head fisheries biologist for Montana FWP. I am going to attempt to break down what are, in my mind, the fundamental flaws in the above statement. First of all, Chris Clancy held NO public comment period for this massive project. According to the Bitterroot Star, after the river channel is completely moved they are planing to use 4,800 cubic yards of logs, brush and sod mats to shore up the banks of the "old" channel to prevent the river from coming back into its current location. "Another 20,000 cubic yards of cobble, gravel and sand will be removed from the river channel and placed along the bank, basically digging out a new, deeper channel and filling in the channel near the cliff bank" (where the two houses are). Not only is this having a dramatic negative affect on the fishing now it will continue to do so well in the future. Basically, Mr. Clancy has taken out an entire section of river during the peak of the spring fishing season. For the long term, what affect do you think it is going to have on the aquatic insects that are in the section that is getting diverted? Basically these actions are going to result in a aquatic desert. The last time I checked, fish need those insects to survive! Furthermore, Mr. Clancy decided to attempt this project when we have record low flows on the Bitterroot River and record low snow pack. The silt deposits that will result from this and other projects currently underway on the river (2 others upriver), will not be able to be flushed from the river bottom. There just won't be a "normal" runoff this year and the possible silt build up will further damage the aquatic insect life, further impacting the trout fishery. Furthermore, who was the rocket scientist who hired an out of state contract to do this work. Since the project got railroaded through, what was the reasoning behind not hiring local contractors? The economic hardship that has fallen on the Bitterroot valley has left many of contractors out of work. I am sure one or more would have loved to do this job and probably would have been more cost effective to use! Along those same economic lines, the Bitterroot River is basically one of just a few things bringing revenue to the Bitterroot Valley. The river is literally worth millions of dollars a year. In recent years, the log home industry as well as almost every kind of contractor related services has dried up. Historically, these were the economic mainstays of the Bitterroot Valley, along with logging. In times like these why are these projects being started at the peak of the early fishing season? Wouldn't it be better to do these projects in the winter so as not to loose any tourism dollars?

As I mentioned above there are two other "projects" happening currently on the Bitterroot River. The first is a dam replacement project at Rennakers diversion dam below Wally Crawford access site. This project started in February and is almost complete. However, on Tuesday they diverted water from the west side of the project to the east side. The work has completely muddied up the water from here down to Angler's Roost. Once again, this has taken out an entire section of river in the prime early season! This is further concentrating anglers in fewer sections of river and only adding to congestion problems. The other project is happening above the Darby bridge. Fortunately, this is not having any short-term negative effect on water clarity. However, the homeowner is doing some bank stabilization, which always has long-term negative effects on the river.

The current projects along the Bitterroot River only emphasize the need to have stream side setbacks. As the current law stands, any landowner is allowed to build a house 25 feet away from the high water line. Unfortunately where the high water line is currently does not necessarily dictate where it will be in five, ten or twenty years in the future. The Bitterroot River like all alluvial rivers is constantly moving and changing its course year to year. This is what rivers are designed to do. However, when homes are constructed alongside the banks, bank stabilization is sure to follow. Not only does this create erosion downstream (due to the fact that the river is not allowed to naturally spread out and slow down it will speed up and erode banks further downstream) bank stabilization cuts off spawning habitat by blocking historical channels and springs. Why doesn't Mr. Clancy, the Bitterroot River's head fisheries biologist, understand this growing problem? That is the question we guides and outfitters have been asking for many years. What do they teach fisheries biologist in college these days? If you are still reading this rant there are only a few solutions to this problem that I can see. I am currently drafting letters to Mr. Clancy's office, the main office of Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks in Helena and one to the Governor's office. I don't know how effective they will be but I will at least voice my opinion.