Distinctly Montana Magazine

N O R M A N M A C L E A N S P E C I A L I S S U E 3 1 Rivers listed the Blackfoot as one of the most endangered rivers in the nation. The breach of the Mike Horse Dam, located at the river's headwater by Rogers Pass, spilled toxic mine waste downriver in 1975. It became a Super- fund site, but the damage was done. Fish and Wildlife and Parks had written off the river, declining to do any fish counts. Finally, through persistence and a $39 million settlement with Atlantic Rich- field Co., funding became available for a reclamation project. So far, it is paying off: the Blackfoot is showing a thriving fish popula- tion. Through efforts from the Big Blackfoot Trout Unlimited and Blackfoot Challenge in the early 1990s, seed money, and numerous meetings with community members and government agencies, the community was made aware of the problems and headway was made. The dam was removed, and work is still underway to reclaim the river. Over the years, the non-profit has become a thriving steward- ship featuring 25 current board members. Their projects include the re-introduction of the trumpeter swan, the establishment of a 5,600- acre area set aside for a critical wildlife habitat called the Blackfoot Community Conservation Area (BCCA), bringing fire back onto the landscape, introducing the industrious beaver back to restore wetlands, and helping landowners use non-lethal ways of dealing with grizzly bears and wolves. Their mission is simple: Invite every- one to the table and start by building trust and respect over good conversa- tions. As one student in the back of the hall said, "It's organizations like yours that make Montana pretty." Today the Blackfoot Challenge has become one of the most significant driving forces for conservation of the Blackfoot watershed. In the afternoon, I was to meet with the Big Blackfoot Riverkeeper, but I had time to spare, so I walked into the general store/inn/espresso bar and chatted with a local who recently moved back into the area. He told me how he used to be able to get off work back in the day and fish without seeing anyone. Now, he says, rafts compete for spots along the river, and people who do not understand conservation are coming from all over. He was not happy about it. This was sub- stantively the same sentiment I found among the locals at Trixi's Antler Saloon. I had also been corresponding with John Maclean, Norman Maclean's son. His new book is called Home Waters: A Chronicle of Family and a River, and he hopes it will bring change and restore some sense of dependable serenity to the Blackfoot River. I asked him his thoughts on recreation on the river, and he told me that the Blackfoot used to be a remote, little-known waterway before the book and film adaptation of A River Runs Through It made it as legendary as rivers like the Madison and Missouri, and in some ways more so. The effects have been both good and bad. BLACKFOOT RIVER HALLIE ZOLYNSK JOHN MACLEAN HALLIE ZOLYNSK HALLIE ZOLYNSK HALLIE ZOLYNSK

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