Is Headwaters Legacy Act 'far-sighted' or 'federal overreach'?

For the past two years, Sen. Jon Tester has led an effort to extend federal protections to some of the most loved free-flowing rivers and streams in Montana.

If signed into law, Tester’s “Montana Headwaters Legacy Act” would add segments of the Yellowstone, Madison and Gallatin rivers to the nation’s list of Wild and Scenic Rivers. Additionally, portions of 17 smaller streams including the Smith River, Hyalite Creek and the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone would gain federal protections prohibiting dam construction on their protected segments and would limit new development, grazing and timber harvests within a quarter mile of their shores. Such a designation would also place limitations on the size of float trips going down a river at any one time, both for the numbers of boats and times between trip launches.

In total, the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act would expand federal protections to 377 additional miles of rivers and streams, nearly doubling the total already protected in Montana under federal law.

“Preserving Montana’s most iconic rivers is critical to growing our $7.1 billion outdoor economy and ensuring Montana remains the last best place for decades to come,” Tester said in a recent news release. “This legislation was built by a broad coalition of Montana stakeholders and will guarantee that our natural treasures will be enjoyed by the next generations of young Montanans, and untouched by special interests for years to come.”

The Montana Headwaters Legacy Act is endorsed by a coalition of conservation, outfitting and recreation organizations, including the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission, Montana Outfitters and Guides Association and the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana.

However, support for Tester’s Montana Headwaters Legacy Act is not unanimous. During a recent hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining Montana Sen. Steve Daines said he had reservations about the bill and submitted letters from organizations such as NorthWestern Energy and the United Property Owners of Montana in opposition to the Act.

“In the past we’ve seen such designations hinder and delay aquatic restoration, grazing, fuels management projects which is why legislation such as this should be pursued carefully,” Daines said. “This past year I’ve received a lot of input on this proposal including a petition from over 170 concerned landowners and growing, county commissioners, irrigators and other stakeholders who are opposed to it.”

The Montana Headwaters Legacy Act is an outgrowth of the “Wild and Scenic Rivers Act” of 1968. Sponsored by Idaho Senator Frank Church and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was a cornerstone of the federal government’s response to growing public concern over environmental degradation in the U.S. Other landmark legislation of that era includes the Wilderness Act of 1964, the Clean Air Acts of 1963 and 1967, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

As originally drafted in 1968 only eight rivers were designated as Wild and Scenic, with an additional 20 more designated as “Study Rivers” for possible future inclusion within the WSR Act. None were in Montana.

Today there are 226 national wild and scenic rivers in 40 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, totaling more than 13,412 miles. That total accounts for little more than one-quarter of one percent of the nation's rivers.

However, Montana has lagged behind the national average.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was first applied to Montana rivers in 1976, when three segments of the Flathead River and a 149-mile section of the Upper Missouri River were added to the Act. Forty-two years later Senators Tester and Daines collaborated in the successful effort to have a 20-mile segment of East Rosebud Creek in southeast Montana added to the list. As it stands today, 388 miles of five Montana rivers and streams are designated wild and scenic, accounting for approximately two-tenths of one percent of the state’s 169,829 river miles. Tester’s bill would nearly double that total.

As currently written, the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act would extend protections to sections of 20 rivers and streams within three geographic areas: the Upper Yellowstone Watershed located in the Absaroka/Beartooth region north of Yellowstone National Park, the Missouri Headwaters Region in the Gallatin Range southwest of Bozeman, and the Upper Missouri Watershed in the Little Belt Mountains. That region, closest to northcentral Montana, includes a 24-mile segment of the Smith River extending upstream from its confluence with Deep Creek, and a 21-mile segment of Tenderfoot Creek extending upstream from its confluence with the Smith to Iron Mines Creek.

Support or opposition to the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act largely hinges upon two divergent perspectives. It’s either a far-sighted attempt to ensure that, in a time of expanding development, these streams’ scenic, recreational and wildlife habitat qualities will be preserved for future generations – or it's an example of federal overreach that will ultimately aid environmentalist efforts to block grazing, aquatic restoration, and fuels management.

“Wild and Scenic designations would mean that public access and many traditional uses of these rivers continue, but would ensure that these waterways remain undammed, wild, clean and free flowing, forever,” a letter of support from the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers states. “There's no doubt that this level of protection would benefit Montana’s $7.1 billion outdoor recreation industry while securing some of the most iconic stretches of river in the state for current and future generations.

"Anyone who has floated the Smith, fished the Madison, camped along the Taylor Fork or hunted within earshot of Hyalite Creek can understand the need and the desire to protect these undammed waterways.”

“Senator Tester’s political career has been centered around creating wilderness, eliminating all motorized recreation and access to Montana’s public lands, this time going after 20 of our rivers,” says a letter from the Montana Snowmobile Association. “While the restrictions imposed on these 20 rivers is bad enough, this Act can be used to unfairly restrict operations such as farming, ranching, and industries such as logging and mining near smaller tributaries that eventually flow into these rivers listed in the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act.”

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Montana Headwaters Legacy Act sparks US Senate controversy