Blackfoot-Clearwater Cooperative Stewardship Project

Pack trip on Monture Creek

Just south of the Bob Marshall Wilderness in the heart of big sky country lays a world famous valley carved out of stone in prehistoric times by the collapse of a towering ice jam and the earth-shaking deluge of glacial lake Missoula.

Here, thousands of years have trickled down into 3.700 miles of streams that weave into a single cold river that runs fast and deep, feeding weed-free grasslands and rich hay meadows. This angler’s paradise has inspired timeless literature and one unforgettable film that reminded the world of the peace of mind that is won by those willing to honor the wild.

The big Blackfoot River begins 10 miles northeast of Lincoln, MT and flows westward until it enters the Clark Fork River 5 miles east of Missoula at the town of Milltown. It is a working landscape that provides a home to many productive ranches with a history of stewardship that commands respect across the nation. In the last fifteen years thousands of miles of grassland have been restored, hundreds of miles of stream barriers removed, and nearly one hundred thousand acres of private land protected through conservation easements.

Residents of the Blackfoot have built on these successes, and today a groundbreaking community proposal has emerged with the potential to bring unprecedented restoration of timber lands, sustainable job creation, and a wilderness designation for unprotected mountain passes to this wild and scenic river valley.

The Blackfoot Stewardship Project, particularly its collaborative nature, is the subject of an article, A New Game, in the Summer 2007 Wild Montana. An overview further describes the history and intent of the project, while a factsheet provides pertinent facts and a summary of the Congressional Package.