Located in Western Montana, the Blackfoot and Clearwater Valleys are one of the state’s most important outdoor recreation hubs, popular with hunters, anglers, and hikers alike. And big changes may be on the horizon. Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-MT) recently introduced the A River Runs Through It Act (ARRTI), a law that proposes new management priorities for this swath of 430,000 acres.
What Does the Law Do?
The law merges two proposals (the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Proposal and the Lincoln Prosperity Proposal) that local communities worked on for years. It covers three major areas: forest management, public access, and wilderness designations.
It would designate 180,000 acres as Forest Restoration Areas, where officials would implement timber harvest, thinning, vegetation management, and prescribed burns to “improve forest health and put more wood products to work in Montana,” a press release from Zinke’s office stated. Work would focus on the forests near Lincoln, Mont. (an unincorporated town of 998 people) in order to prevent potential damage to structures from wildfires.
Recreation is another main tenet of the bill. The law would allocate six recreation areas (totaling 60,000 acres) for public access. Snowmobiles would have permanent winter access, and mountain bikers and OHVers would get new trails.
Lastly, the bill would demarcate 100,000 acres as designated wilderness, as part of the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat wilderness areas. The Wilderness Act of 1964 prohibits roads, commercial development, motorized vehicles, permanent structures, and mechanical transport from wilderness areas in order to protect their natural, untouched character.
The Context
Zinke served as the Secretary of the Interior during the first Trump Administration and sparked controversy for supporting shrinking national monuments and encouraging drilling and resource development on public lands. As a congressman in the second Trump Administration, he’s pushed for delisting the grizzly bear in Montana and renewing the Great American Outdoors Act to fund public lands.
Despite his clashes with conservation groups in the past, many environmental organizations, including The Wilderness Society, have endorsed the ARRTI. “The legislation would protect iconic landscapes, expand recreation access, strengthen forest restoration, support rural economies, and resolve long-standing wilderness study area designations. If passed, it would also establish Montana’s first wilderness designation since 2014,” Wild Montana’s Federal Legislative Director Zach Angstead said in a press release.
It also has the support of sportsmen’s organizations like the Back Country Horsemen of Montana and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. Reports estimate that outdoor recreation contributes close to $4 billion annually to Montana’s economy.
