Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 1 9 20 A NATIONAL CRISIS, AND MONTANA RESPONDS (1963 -1980) In 1963, Montana passed the nation's first stream preservation act requiring Fish and Game Department approval for stream channel alterations planned by state government. is constraint later extended to private entities. In the 1970s, with Montana's coal production swelling, the biggest stream alteration surfaced—the Yel- lowstone River was vulnerable. In 1973, an Arab oil embargo intensified the debate. Pressure to dig and drill our way out of the "energy crisis" came from the President, Congress, the federal agencies, and the energy industry. e state legislature responded by strengthening the water law to include in-stream flow protection and other environmental issues. e struggle, involved the entire 670 miles of the Yellowstone. It took seven years and climaxed when the Montana Board of Natural Resources and Conservation reserved 5.5 million acre-feet of water for in-stream values and benefits. It had never been done before. e notion of 42 power plants and their demand for one-third of the river vanished. e "energy crisis" of the 1970s like- wise disappeared, the Paradise Valley survived becoming a reservoir, and Montana people saw the river as an asset worth protecting rather than a resource to be exploited. A PLANET IN PERIL Montana can again offer the conservation leadership our country and planet needs. e achievements listed demonstrate we have a model that works. When Franklin Roosevelt rallied sportsmen in the middle of the "Dirty 1930s," they taxed themselves to invigorate wildlife restoration. When FDR left office, there were an estimated 15,000 elk in Montana. Today, there are at least 10 times that many with 150,000 elk now in Montana. I know of no other environmental cause of comparable achievement. CONCLUSION e Montana landscape spoke to the Stuart brothers in 1857, and to eodore Roosevelt when he lived midst the bone piles left by wildlife's commercial killers. FDR heard the land literally screaming for relief when dust of the Great Plains, some of it ours, darkened Washington D. C and coated the decks of ships 300 miles out in the Atlantic. e Stuarts planted the seed of con- servation as Territorial Legislators. TR created one of the first citizen activist groups to carry the cause. FDR helped us organize and gave the land, a "New Deal." e result was that wildlife was saved and restored. All of these actions were energized by people at the grassroots. at was and is the model and in a democracy, we the people make it work. 9 10 ACHIEVEMENT ACHIEVEMENT (PENDING) FRANK A. VARGO Yellowstone's natural terraces at Mammoth Prepare for a future no one can predict. The future belongs to those who will be able to reinvent themselves again and again over the course of their lifetimes. That's why at UM we help our students develop their critical-thinking skills, find and define their creative talents and master the art of communication. Study here and you will emerge a well-rounded, well-prepared individual – so you can go take on the world. (406) 243-6266 • admiss@umontana.edu admissions.umt.edu STAY CONNECTED WITH US.

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