For more than a decade, Montanans have worked together to create a lasting solution for public lands in the Blackfoot River watershed. That solution is the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act.
This bill will protect the Blackfoot River by permanently protecting its most important tributaries. It will also secure and expand outdoor recreation opportunities in the Blackfoot and Clearwater Valleys, as well as enhance timber production and forest restoration in and around Seeley Lake.
The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project is something we all agree on. It’s time to get it done.
It’s our obligation to future generations to provide them with the opportunity to experience these valuable landscapes.
The BCSP will continue to grow in support. These place-based initiatives are valuable to bring together wilderness designation, conservation areas and recreation.
The BCSP is a grassroots, made-in-Montana, collaborative project.
We have a grassroots proposal that will actually protect the resource.
The vision is this land has value in its wilderness character. Without wilderness protection it’s always just one crisis away from saying there’s a higher and better use through extraction.
There are three components to the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project: timber, recreation and conservation. The forest restoration section is already underway, through the good work the Southwest Crown Collaborative has initiated and continues in the Seeley and Ovando areas. The recreation and conservation portions are yet to be realized; now is the time to finish what we started a decade ago.
The BCSP has championed a sustainable timber economy rooted in restoration of fish and wildlife habitat. The BCSP helped to establish the Southwestern Crown of the Continent Collaborative (SWCC) in 2010. To date, the SWCC has created or maintained an average of 153 jobs and has brought $35 million in federal investments and led to overall investment of $92 million in local economy, resulting in 57,040 acres treated for noxious weeds, 204 miles of stream restoration, and 3,431 miles of multiple use trails maintained. The BCSP continues to push for new tools to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration through collaboration.
Our fastest growing economic sector in Montana is tourism and outdoor recreation. The Blackfoot and Clearwater Valleys have long been a favorite destination for Montanans and Americans. The BCSP will help ensure this corner of Montana remains a world-class place to live and visit. The proposed Otatsy Recreation Management Area would open 2,000 acres to high-quality snowmobiling near Ovando. Additionally, the Spread Mountain Recreation Management Area will preserve prized mountain bike access to Spread Mountain, Center Ridge, and Camp Pass. The BCSP safeguards our favorite places to hunt and fish, and asks the Forest Service to study new recreation opportunities for users.
The North Fork of the Blackfoot. Monture Creek. The wild Swan Front. Grizzly Basin. The West Fork of the Clearwater. These names are synonymous with wilderness in Montana, but they lack a wild guarantee. The BCSP would permanently protect these iconic landscapes by adding 80,000 acres to the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Mission Mountains Wilderness areas, ensuring high-quality wildlife habitat, clean water, and recreational opportunities for the future.
Sign on to show your support of the BCSA by completing the form below. You’ll be urging the entire Montana delegation to put differences aside and work together — as the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project has done — to support the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act in the 117th Congressional Session and pass the bill as soon as possible.
Thanks, we do too. Here’s what you can do to make certain our Montana delegation hear our voices.
Write to your local paper to express your support for the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project
Interested in getting more involved in the BCSP or have a question we haven’t answered? Shoot us a message and we’ll respond right away. Thank you for standing up for Montana’s backyard: the Blackfoot and Clearwater Valleys.
