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Home arrow River Vision 2020: Upper Clark Fork Restoration
River Vision 2020: Upper Clark Fork Restoration PDF Print E-mail
Goal: Create a model of restoration for the upper Clark Fork that conforms to a shared community vision and creates long-term ecological, economic, and cultural assets for the watershed.  

Background: The upper Clark Fork River corridor and the communities within it will undergo tremendous change within the next decade.  Between the coming Superfund cleanup, which will remove toxic metals from streambeds, streambanks, and the floodplain along 56 river miles, and subsequent restoration work overseen by the State of Montana, nearly $300 million will be spent repairing the river, particularly in the Deer Lodge valley.  

These investments are a direct result of two decades of science-based advocacy on the part of the Coalition.  Now, with cleanup and restoration activities slated to launch in 2010, we are at a critical juncture—namely, bringing together the valley’s diverse community to parlay Superfund cleanup into a vision for how people in the upper river can live in, learn from, use, and interact with the restored landscape over the long run.  

Objective 1.  Community outreach:  During the last three years, we have made big gains coordinating a comprehensive, community-based plan for carrying out lasting, restoration and redevelopment for this degraded agricultural valley.  We have facilitated five planning sessions, and jumpstarted interim stream restoration projects in the valley. We will continue to serve as advisors for and the fiscal sponsor of the valley’s landowner group, the Watershed Restoration Coalition (WRC), and fund a consultant with WRC to help finalize and implement the community plan.

Objective 2.  Restoration vision: Coordinate and compile a valley-wide conservation plan with local buy-in.  For the Superfund cleanup to have maximum positive impact, a solid, science-based watershed assessment needs to be adopted by local communities, regional policy and conservation stakeholders, and the state of Montana.  This assessment, or vision, will delineate prioritization of key restoration projects, highlight the most urgent threats to fish, wildlife, and habitat in the upper Clark Fork basin, and create a “map” of where and when to spend the chunk of money soon to flood into this Superfund site and surrounding tributaries.  

The Coalition will begin this assessment in partnership with the State Natural Resources Damage Program, Trout Unlimited, and the Watershed Restoration Coalition in 2008.  We hope to facilitate public engagement in the prioritization process to ensure that the restoration priorities also conform to a shared community vision.

Objective 3.  Use our ranch as a learning site:  In June 2005, with the help of two conservation partners, the Coalition purchased a 2,300-acre ranch in the heart of the Deer Lodge valley’s Superfund site.  It’s one of the largest and most polluted ranches in the valley. Our goal is to invite the EPA to take it through the most ambitious cleanup possible, to augment the cleanup with agricultural practices that complement the EPA’s remediation work, and to offer it up as a learning site for exploring first-hand the challenges and opportunities that cleanup will bring to the valley’s ranchers.  

A fourth-generation neighboring rancher, Ted Beck, serves as the ranch manager, and is implementing a management plan written by our consultant Todd Graham—a specialist in conservation ranching. In 2008 also hope to hire a Ranchlands Community Coordinator to provide leadership and vision to neighboring ranchers, conduct outreach to communities in the upper Clark Fork, and transfer “lessons learned” from other regions in the West to the Deer Lodge valley. This hire would conduct most of our work in the upper Clark Fork, with technical support from the Missoula field office.

Objective 4.  Ensure cleanup and restoration plans are exemplary scientifically:  An enormous amount of resources--$130 million, approximately--will soon come available for spending during the upper Clark Fork’s cleanup and restoration.  To make certain these investments deliver maximum gains for the river and communities alongside it, it’s critical that the Superfund cleanup is top-notch scientifically. In 2008 we will contribute to the development of site-specific design options and overarching restoration priorities by commenting on and participating in the technical aspects of the cleanup.


Objective 5.  Share success stories and strategies for change:  There are other places in the West where people have come together to chart a course for the healing of their land and water.  In 2008 we will share our experiences with and glean valuable lessons from groups such as the Quivira Coalition, Malpai Borderlands, Grand Canyon Trust, and Sustainable Northwest.
 
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