Agencies seek comment on Flathead River plan

One a recent Saturday rafters by the dozens floated the North Fork of the Flathead River and many other people with similar plans drove up the dusty North Fork Road toward Polebridge or beyond.

At what point does the North Fork, or the other two forks of the Flathead River, become so congested with rafts and kayaks that the experience of its wild environs begins to wane? When should private parties be required to obtain permits to float?

Those are among a host of questions being pondered by the U.S. Forest Service and Glacier National Park.

The three forks of the Flathead River, when compared to the nation’s other designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, offer especially exceptional wildness, scenery and recreational opportunities, according to the federal agencies who are among the river system’s stewards.

On Oct. 12, 1976, a total of 219 miles of the river’s three forks received Wild and Scenic Rivers designation. The Forest Service and Glacier National Park manage those miles. The agencies say the management goal is preserving for future generations the “outstanding remarkable values” that first earned the designation nearly 43 years ago.

How best to accomplish that goal?

On Wednesday, Flathead National Forest, in coordination with Glacier National Park, announced the beginning of a scoping process for a “proposed action” that is designed to inform an Environmental Analysis for the Comprehensive River Management Plan for the Flathead Wild and Scenic River.

Ultimately, the Comprehensive River Management Plan would guide management for the Flathead Wild and Scenic River system for the next 10 years or more. A draft version of that plan probably won’t be issued until early next year.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act, scoping is intended to “determine the breadth of issues that may need to be addressed when considering or developing an alternative to the proposed action,” the Forest Service said.

People who care about or enjoy float trips on one or all of the three forks of the Flathead River system might want to weigh in.

Toward this end, the Forest Service and Glacier National Park are seeking public comments on the “proposed action” for the Comprehensive River Management Plan. And they will host two public open house meetings, with one on Aug. 13 and another on Aug. 20. The meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Flathead Valley Community College Arts and Technology Building lower level.

The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System inventory notes that the forks of the Flathead River include wildlife such as grizzly bears and wolves and pass through the rugged landscapes of Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Great Bear Wilderness.

The reaches of the Flathead River that are part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System include: the North Fork, from the Canadian border downstream to the confluence with the Middle Fork; the Middle Fork, from its headwaters to the confluence with the South Fork; and, the South Fork, from its origin to the Hungry Horse Reservoir.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act became law in 1968. It notes that certain rivers in the United States “possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values” and shall be preserved as free-flowing rivers.

The proposed action for the Comprehensive River Management plan discusses possible management strategies, thresholds, triggers and “desired conditions” for the Flathead River segments designated Wild and Scenic.

“The public is asked to pay particular attention to how the desired condition statements — as well as the proposed monitoring indicators, thresholds and triggers — protect and preserve ‘outstanding remarkable values’ for the three forks of the Flathead River system presently and into the future,” according to a news release from the Flathead National Forest.

The Forest Service said “this is the foundation of the Comprehensive River Management Plan and will inform management actions and inform how the user capacity process will be done.”

The “user capacity process” could someday recommend permits for private parties for floating certain sections of the three forks.

Chris Prew, forest program recreation manager for the Flathead National Forest, said the proposed action does not specifically call for permits for private parties floating sections of the Flathead River System.

Instead, it identifies indicators, thresholds and triggers designed to protect and preserve the outstanding remarkable values of the three forks system, he said.

“That’s what we’re trying to get public input about,” Prew said.

More information on the proposed action for the Flathead Wild & Scenic River Comprehensive River Management Plan can be found at http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/flathead/crmp.

The proposed action can also be accessed at the Flathead National Forest NEPA page: www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=56536.

Hard copies of the proposed action document are also available for review at the Hungry Horse-Glacier View Ranger Station in Hungry Horse. The public can provide comments by:

- Emailing comments to: comments-northern-flathead@usda.gov. Acceptable formats include MS Word, RTF, or PDF.

- Filling in an electronic form by going to the same Flathead National Forest NEPA page (see above) and selecting “Comment/Object on Project” on the right hand side of the screen.

- Hand delivering or mailing comments to the Hungry Horse-Glacier View Ranger Station in Hungry Horse or the Forest Supervisor’s Office in Kalispell.

The Forest Service said comments should be submitted by Sept. 13 to be fully considered during the project’s scoping phase.

Reporter Duncan Adams may be reached at dadams@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.