{"id":16547,"date":"2018-06-04T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T15:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=16547"},"modified":"2024-06-04T16:23:29","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T23:23:29","slug":"fighting-for-the-three-forks-of-the-flathead-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2018\/06\/04\/fighting-for-the-three-forks-of-the-flathead-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting for the Three Forks of the Flathead River"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got my first taste of Montana\u2019s iconic Flathead River in the summer of 2011. Ten of us packed our gear in on mules through the Bob Marshall Wilderness to the confluence of Youngs and Danaher Creeks, the birthplace of the South Fork. It was a legendary high water year, and we were the first to run the remote upper section that season. Between portaging new logjams, scouting unknown rapids, and sawing branches off river-wide fallen trees to line our rafts under, it was the purest form of wild adventure.<\/p>\n

A few years later, I joined the pilgrimage of people that float the North Fork of the Flathead over July 4, with intensely beautiful views of Glacier National Park. It\u2019s a communal river gathering that ends in the tiny, western, windblown town of Polebridge for a decidedly Montana-esque celebration of independence. And, then, last summer, I completed the trifecta, paddling a packraft for the first time down the renowned whitewater section of the Middle Fork. In short, the three Forks of the Flathead are incredibly special to me. And I\u2019m not the only one.<\/p>\n

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North Fork of the Flathead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the river that inspired the writing of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 50 years ago, a piece of legislation that now protects 12,734 miles of river across the country. This year, on the half-century anniversary of that Act, the next chapter of the Flathead\u2019s story is being written. And each one of us is invited to hold the pen.<\/p>\n

Every Wild and Scenic River has what\u2019s called a Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP) that dictates how it\u2019s managed to protect the things that make it special. The Flathead is just now beginning to update its CRMP for the next several decades. It could not be more imperative for us to speak up for these waters that set the bar in what makes free-flowing rivers so important in the American psyche.<\/p>\n