A Wild and Scenic Conundrum

With recreational use on the Flathead River's three forks rising to an all-time high, a new management plan is years overdue for the 219-mile corridor, prompting neighboring landowners to cry foul

BY TRISTAN SCOTT
Excerpt from Flathead Beacon digital
[June 2, 2022]

The Flathead National Forest and Glacier National Park currently manage the 219 miles of the Three Forks of the Flathead River under the vintage Flathead Wild and Scenic Comprehensive River Management Plan, as well as the Flathead River Recreation Management Direction, and the current editions of the Glacier National Park General Management Plan and the Flathead National Forest’s Forest Plan.

Work on the lengthy CRMP process got underway in late 2017 and the plan, along with an environmental assessment, was expected to be released for public comment in early 2020, followed by a final decision later that summer; however, staffing and funding issues forced a delay, and the coronavirus pandemic further disrupted progress. The new timeline anticipates a draft CRMP and environmental assessment will be released in the fall of 2022 for public review and comment, including a public engagement session. The final decision and CRMP is expected next year.

To help members of the public brush up on the finer points of a management planning process that only happens every two decades — and in this case has now spanned more than four — a nonprofit stakeholder group called the Flathead Rivers Alliance (FRA) formed with an education-driven mission.

“Management of the Three Forks of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River isn’t simple, it’s complex. But understanding its value and learning what tools are available to prevent degradation does not have to be complex,” Sheena Pate, watershed coordinator of FRA, said. “Our goal is to promote a better understanding of those values and create new generations of river stewards so that more restrictive tools like a permitting system won’t be necessary.”

Still, for members of the public to gain a better understanding of how they can help inform the CRMP, Pate says it’s important for them to first learn a bit about the Wild and Scenic River designation under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers System has three river classifications: wild, scenic and recreational. A single river or river segment may be divided into different classifications, depending on the type and intensity of the development and access present along the river at the time of designation. On the Flathead River system, all three levels of classification exist, and balancing them under the draft plan involves implementing “triggers” and “thresholds” that will prompt management actions, including permitting and limiting the sizes of float groups and restricting outfitters.

Managers use triggers and thresholds to help them set and evaluate levels of resource condition with a prescribed monitoring plan. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act provides specific direction that a CRMP should describe the existing resource conditions, including a detailed description of the Outstanding Remarkable Values (ORVs) and how to protect and enhance them for future generations.

Before the plan is finalized, the agencies will conduct a final round of scoping and solicit public feedback on the proposed action, including the public’s desired river conditions and preferred markers that would trigger a management decision or action.

“When people hear that we are currently operating on a plan that was created in the 1980s, that resonates with them because they understand that a management plan should be reflective of a landscape and a level of river usage that has changed dramatically,” Pate said. “We can’t continue to manage something so precious based on a user capacity that was set in the 80s. But when the public hears the word ‘capacity,’ they immediately think that the goal of the plan is to restrict their right to access the river. That’s not the goal. The goal is to protect the watershed and promote stewardship.”

“Capacity tolerance can differ depending on the individual: Where are they from? How long have they lived here? Are they visiting from somewhere with a denser population?” Pate continued. “What’s important to remember is recreation is just one of many noted outstanding remarkable values that agencies have to protect. Uniquely unmanaged recreation can adversely affect a wide array of the river’s other protected outstanding remarkable values and water quality.”

Although the years-long delays that have buffeted the CRMP were unanticipated, Pate said it has given the group an opportunity to expand public outreach, including building initiatives to improve stewardship and launch numerous projects aimed at boosting both environmental and public safety. For example, FRA secured funding through Flathead Electric Cooperative’s Roundup for Safety Grant to recruit river ambassadors for the 2022 float season. It also hosted a Wild and Scenic River Webinar Series to bring members of the public up to speed about the CRMP’s progress and how they can participate.

“Our role is to help increase education, outreach and stewardship activities surrounding the Three Forks of the Flathead,” Pate said. “Even though one single individual can be a worthy champion of the resource and rightly so, it ultimately takes everyone working together to not only elevate recognition of the resource, but to be stewards and understand that there is such a thing as loving a place to death.”