HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPA4175Why the Paradise Valley
isn't underwater By Nick Bergmann
high dam at All enspur Gap-a few miles south
of Li vingst on (see map, page 33)-t hat wou ld
NATIONAL EXPOSURE
The December 1978 issue
of Life included a 10-page
photo essay on the Yellow-
stone River. Nationwide,
public sentiment weighed
heavily against impounding
the river. Wrote Life's editors:
"Paradise Valley could well
become a 30-mile-long stor-
age tank for water users far
down the river." Soon after
publication, a state board
ruled against dam proposals.
the river's bio logica l systems and publicizing
the age n cy's co nservation ethi c through its
media resources . Spec ifica lly, h e ov ersaw
production of an eloquent 32-minu t e film
t itled 7he Yellows tone Concerto and re lease of
an influential special issue of Mon ta na Out-I f not for t he golden age of Montana con-
servation, there likely wou ld be no upper
Yellowstone Riv er f or fish erie s bi ologi sts
t o ma nage.
f lood 20,000 acres along a 30.mil e stretch of doors dedicated to conserving th e Ye llowstone.
the Parad ise Valley.
Opposition to rap id development of Mon-
t ana's coa l at the expense of t he st ate's agri-
cul tura l heritage and envi ron menta l integrity
Posewitz, worki ng with a public relations firm,
invited write rs and photographe rs from ac ross
t h e United States on a scen ic f loat down the
Yellows t one River. Res u lts of the p ublic rela-
As post-World War II urban economic
growth fue l ed increasing energy co ns ump-
tion, coa l-ge nerat ed electrici ty gai n ed re-
gional an d national importance. De sp ite
substa ntial industri a l coa l development
across the Co lora do Plateau duri ng the
1950s and '60s, such activ ity in southeast-
ern Mo ntana, north east ern Wyo ming, and the
western Dakotas re ma i ned quiet. Rumblings
of cha nge began when th e Monta na Power
Company proposed buil ding two power plants
·n the sma ll mi n ing town of Co lstrip.
proved fierce. Local ra nchers in the Bu ll Mou n-tions endeavor incl uded a 10-page co l or photo
Wha t especia ll y alarm ed many Montanans
was the U.S. Departm e nt of the In t erio r's
grandiose pla n i n the ea rl y 197 0s to turn t he
'1\orthern Plai ns i nto a "national sacrifice area."
Con taining 42 coa l-fired power pla nt s t h at
auld produce t he energy equ ivalent of 30
t ains ba nded t oge t her and f ormed the North-
ern Pl ai ns Reso urce Council. Res idents of Park
Cou nty mob ilized to figh t t h e Paradi se Valley
i mpoundment by form ing the Al lenspur Com-
m ittee to Save the Upper Yell owstone . Grass-
root s activism rema in ed important th rou gh out
t he struggle. Yet one of t he most pote nt forces
advocating Yellows t one River protection
e merged f rom t he Montana Department of
Fi sh and Game , as the agency was then called.
Em powered by a fl urry of progressive legis la-
tion and a new, environmentally conscious
state con stit ut ion, Jim Posewitz led the charge.
As h ea d of the age ncy's Envi ronment and
Grand Coulee Dams, t he federa l pl an outl i ned Information Division du ring the 1970s, Pose-
a ::lzzying netwo rk of tra nsm ission lin es and witz coord in ated a sustained effort t o secu re
/ffier projects. On t h e Yellowstone, the pl an i nstream ri ve r flows for t he benefit of fi s h,
::a ed ~or a series of dams, reservoirs, and wildl ife, and rec reation. He found himself in a n
;:;:;..;ec_cts to divert 30 percent of the river's extra ordi nary position of manag ing tea ms of
::--_.a "'a.-.. This included a proposed 380.foot-scien tists gathering criti ca l informati on about
·sa PhD student at Montana State Unive rsity wo rking on a conserva tion history
s· e River. Sha re your knowledge about t he river's history or personal experiences
-::.9-os with him at Bergs456@gmail.com
-..=: ::'0 :; FWP.MT.GOV/MTOUTDOORS
essay of t h e trip publish ed in Life ma gazine.
Whi le t h e m edia bl itz helped bui ld publi c
support, t he departm ent's scientific studies
became in di spensa ble to the Ye llowstone 's
fu tu re du rin g an inte ns ive two-mo nth publi c
hearing in t he s umme r of 1977. Afte r years of
in action, the Montana Boa rd of Natu ra l
Resources an d Co nserva tion finally iss ued a
decision in Decem ber 1978 prio ritizing the
p rotect ion of the Yellowstone River Basin's
econo my and enviro nm ent. Fi s h and Gam e
an d its co nservati o n allies had prevailed in
preve nting a m ajor hydroele ct ric dam on the
upper Yel lowst one River.
As the upper Yell owsto ne fa ces new and
diffe rent challenges, ranging from increasing
resi d enti al d evelop m ent to warmin g tempera-
tures, it is worth rev isiti ng the ri ve r's history.
Dig itized copi es of 7he Yellowstone Concerto, t he
Montana Outdoors spec ia l Ye ll owstone iss ue,
and a collect io n of scientifi c reports known as
the Yell owsto ne Impact Study are publicl y
ava ilable at http:j jwww.arli s.o rgjdocsjvol 1/
Susitnaj 41/APA4147.htm l •