These are photos of raw sewage being discharged out of Red Lodge's Municipal Waste Water System into a creek.
Below is the content of a letter that I am going to send tomorrow. Both could be found offensive
Director
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks
P.O. Box 200701
Helena, MT 59620
RE: Outfitters Overwhelming Rivers and Fishing Access Sites
Dear Director:
I am writing you today as a citizen of Montana and an outdoor enthusiast to point out to you that some outfitters are overwhelming and overrunning Fish Wildlife and Parks River Access Sites and the rivers that so many of us enjoy. I am not anti-outfitter. I believe that everyone should be able to enjoy Montana’s rivers and outfitters provide these services as well as provide jobs to college kids and others. However, I believe that outfitters should be setting the example for proper stewardship and river etiquette and not be abusing the resource purely to make money. If you believe any of the statements in this letter are unfounded, I beg of you to head to a river one of these summer weekends without your FWP gear on and see for yourself.
Some years ago, on a nice summer weekend, my friends and I floated the Alberton Gorge on the Clark Fork River from Cyr Bridge to Tarkio. As usual, on a beautiful weekend, the parking lot at Cyr was filling up and outfitter busses/vans were pulling in and unloading customers for a day on the river. I found out that day that it is standard practice for most outfitters to use the small parking lot/put-in as a staging area for their customers to use the restroom, get their gear on and listen to a safety talk. This usually consists of 20-30 customers per outfitter standing around for about 45 minutes while the guides take the boats down to the water or pile them in the parking lot causing congestion in both the parking lot and at the river’s edge.
After finally being able to bob and weave our boats through the outfitter’s customers, around the busses, the paddles and the piles of life jackets, we launched. Our next intended stop was Fish Creek (one of the nicer places to have lunch on the river) to have lunch and possibly fish. When we arrived at Fish Creek, there was an outfitted group leaving and two guides from a different outfitter were setting up lunch for when their customers would arrive. It is my understanding that it is a common practice for the outfitters to launch a lunch boat early to set up at Fish Creek, thus preventing/limiting private boaters from being able to enjoy a nice lunch/fishing spot on the river.
When we arrived at the take-out at Tarkio, there were a bunch of boats eddied out waiting their turn. It was a beautiful day, so waiting wasn’t such a bad thing. A few minutes later an outfitted trip by-passed all those waiting to take out, paddled right up onto the boat ramp and flagged for their van to come down. I got out of my boat, expressed my disdain and educated the head guide about proper river etiquette. They moved the boats.
On a recent Saturday, I was float fishing the Missouri River near Craig. The river was so congested that you had to look around to make sure that you weren’t going to snag another boat with your back cast. I even had one guide row passed me to beat me to a fishing hole. It is also my understanding that when the rivers blow out in the spring, all of the guides from the Missoula/Bozeman areas come to the Missouri to float below the dam.
The reason why I write to you now about this problem is because every time I go floating, the problem seems to be getting worse and I have viewed these outfitter abuses on most rivers in Montana. In the 2005 Legislative Session, HB 260 was drafted, but did not pass. Had it passed, one would need to have purchased an $8 decal for each of their non-motorized watercraft in order to use public boating access sites. The identified use of this revenue was for acquisition, operation, maintenance, and development of water-based recreational sites and fishing and boat access sites. My concerns about this bill are that outfitters run excessive numbers of customers a season through FWP access sites at a profit, and the citizens of Montana were going to have to pay for operation and maintenance expenses. I would imagine that a similar Bill will show up in 2007, so I think proactive steps to find these funds need to be taken beforehand.
I personally don’t like people who complain without justification and without solutions, so I will provide you with both.
My justification lies within the Montana Constitution, which allows:
§ That all persons are born free and have certain inalienable rights including the right to a clean and healthful environment and the rights of pursuing life's basic necessities, enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and seeking their safety, health and happiness in all lawful ways.
§ All surface, underground, flood, and atmospheric waters within the boundaries of the state are the property of the state for the use of its people and are subject to appropriation for beneficial uses as provided by law.
§ The opportunity to harvest wild fish and wild game animals is a heritage that shall forever be preserved to the individual citizens of the state and does not create a right to trespass on private property or diminution of other private rights.
My solutions are as folows:
§ Adopt rules and regulations that make it illegal for outfitters to use FWP River Access Sites as staging areas. Outfitters can provide customers with gear on their own property and then give them the safety talk on the bus ride to the put-in. When they arrive at the put-in, they depart from the bus, grab the boat they are to be in, put it on the river and launch.
§ Adopt rules and regulations that make it illegal for outfitters to send boats ahead to procure lunch spots, campsites, etc.
§ Adopt rules and regulations that make outfitters conduct themselves with proper river etiquette. Outfitters should be the example and not the problem.
§ Adopt rules and regulations that charge outfitters a daily per customer fee to provide FWP income for the necessary operations and maintenance costs of the access sites. If it is an across the board expense, no one will have a competitive advantage.
§ Allow game wardens ticketing authority for violations of any of these proposed regulations.
§ Provide me with information on how one begins the process of getting outfitters and nonresidents banned from certain sections of river during certain days of the week, similar to regulations on the Big Hole. I will gladly play an active role as part of the solution.
I do not think that my complaints are unreasonable nor do I believe my solutions are unreasonable. Since Montana, formerly known as “The L*st Best Place,” keeps getting purchased by wealthy non-resident landowners, we need to preserve our river access and inalienable rights so our rivers don’t turn into the Mitchell Sl*ugh. So I ask Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, through its employees and citizen commission, to provide for the stewardship of the fish, wildlife, parks and recreational resources of Montana, while contributing to the quality of life for present and future generations.
I would appreciate a response. If there are others that this letter should be sent to, please provide me with that information as well. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and address my concerns.
Sincerely,
Groover Eddie
Cc: Governor Schw*itzer
